Frontiers 2003
Review by 22 July 2003

Well here's one for die-hard Eric Martin fans..."Pure" is an acoustic mini-album featuring 8 tracks covering his whole career. We start with "Sucker For A Pretty Face" from the first Eric Martin release, the "Eric Martin Band" album, the get a couple of tracks from his latest album I'm Goin' Sane ("Bigger Man" and "There Goes The Neighborhood"). "Kisses Stain" is from "Somewhere In The Middle" and "Pictures" is from the self-titled first solo album. Mr. Big is not to be forgotten, and indeed it isn't, as "Big Love" and "Promise Her The Moon" are covered here. Last but not least there's "Fly", a track featured on the Japanese version of Martin's latest solo album.

Frontiers Records 2004
Review by Martien Koolen,
17 January 2004

“Destroy All Monsters” is the sixth solo album of former Mr.Big singer Eric Martin, and I am afraid that it is not his best one. Eric describes the music on this album as “distorted pop”, whatever that may be; but it sure is “poppy” for most of the time. Just listen to “Living In Black And White”, “I Can Die Now” or “Burnin’ My Mind”; they are nothing more than mediocre, boring pop songs. In other words, unworthy for a great rock singer like Eric.

Things get worse during the acoustic ballad “You’re Too Good For Him”, which I would describe as Top Of The Pops material!! Eric also surprises me with a genuine rock and roll track called “What If”, and last but not least he covers the Bread song “If”; a track that was made “famous” by Koyak, the New York television police cop. What’s wrong with Eric; I really love his voice and his previous album “I’m Goin’ Sane” was much, much better; at least it rocked!!!

Target Records 2003
Review by Kimmo Toivonen 26 April 2003

Portuguese newcomers MARVEL have already recieved much praise from some critics and more importantly, some rock fans, who chose them to best unsigned band in Powerplay magazine. I can see why, they surely have the basics together. "Everafter" is a well-produced, well-played and well-sung album, and unlike so many Latin rock bands, vocalist Ivan Almeida doesn't overexpress himself.

Marvel play melodic hard rock that sounds a bit like a cross between early Harem Scarem and Ted Poley's Melodica & Poley-Pilcher material. The production and the riffs are more in the vein of Harem Scarem, while the melodies and the choruses are quite "Poley-ish". To be honest, I'm not completely won over by the song material: most of the songs are good, but the extra spark that would take them to the next level is missing. It's also easy to notice that the band isn't writing in their native language, as some of the lyrics are a bit on the "odd" side.

Still, a good start for a promising band. Just a bit of fine-tuning and possibly some outside help for the lyrics, and they are onto a winner.

Lion Music 1999
Review by

The subtitle of this album is "Keyboard & violin music by Johann Sebastian Bach performed on various guitars", and that's what you get here. Not a lot on this album suggests that Alex Masi is in fact a metal guitarist, apart from the occasional bursts of distorted electric guitar.

The melodies of J.S. Bach are still as fascinating as they have ever been. While your attention might drift away a few times when listening to this album, the familiar-sounding melodies - even for a non-classical music listener - will wake you up ever so often.

Most of the album is acoustic material, which I think is a good thing. The acoustic guitar seems to suit these compositions better, which is clearly demonstrated by the two versions of "Presto from Violin Sonata #1 in G minor BWV 1001" included on this album. The electric guitar does work on the opening track "Toccata and Fugue In D minor BWV 565", which is normally played on an organ.

This is a decent classical music album, and I can recommend it to anyone after a relaxating piece of beautiful music.

Lion Music 2002
Review by Endre "Bandi" Hübner 13 February 2002

Lion Music decided to reissue Alex Masi's records. Generally I have no problem with reissues, it gives a chance to people to catch up with releases they missed and are out of print now. However I prefer if a reissue give something extra to those who already know the original, and this one clearly does not. Not only is the track listing the same (no bonus tracks) but I'm afraid the production of the CD was as simple as possible. Having taken a look at the artwork I am almost 100% sure that all the label did was that they scanned the original artwork, put their name and address on it, and reprinted it. The result is an artwork with awful quality because of some low-resolution scanning or bad printing. What a shame! Oh, well…

I'm aware that this album was nominated for the Grammy award when it was originally released in 1989 but the reason of it is beyond me (not that I would give any credit to Grammy). The majority of the album is guitar gimmicks without any soulful playing or catchy harmonies or extraordinary ideas. Weird to say about an instrumental album but the best track is the only vocal track that is featuring Jeff Scott Soto and he delivers his usual quality performance. Some of the tracks that have some musicality and aren't only about technicalities are "Average Green Band", a mid-tempo rocker that recalls the Satriani of those years, "Twilight Passion", a very melodic, moody, almost ballad-like track, and "Wasted in the West", an up-tempo rocker with a great opening riff, a cool groove, and "La Lattaia" of the Satch vein again. The rest of the songs do not have a big impact on me, didn't have back in 1989 either even though there weren't as many similar artists back then, as there are now.

Lion Music 2002
Review by 1 April 2002

I remember the time when guitarists were making albums like crazy and back then I was also into instrumental guitar albums. I guess I can thank my brother from that, since he’s played the guitar since I was still in diapers or close. But Masi was one of the guitarists that I never really listened to that much. It’s his style, something about it that doesn’t give me much. I prefer Steve Vai, he’s an amazing persona and brings so much feeling to his music. He can say so much with his guitar.

But back to Masi, “Vertical Invader” is much better than I remembered. It was first released in 1990 by Metal Blade Records and somehow was forgotten on my brothers shelf to collect dust, until he gave it to me last year. But it wasn’t until now that I got the cd in my hands that I gave it more thought as a more mature (hmmm ?!)person and I have to give credit to Masi’s abilities. Or maybe it’s my style that has changed in the past 12 years. Eventhough I still think Masi concentrates on his guitar too much, there’s too much jamming and combining different styles that make it a bit of a chaos, but I’m sure musicians will love to listen to and that’s probably it.

Lion Music 2004
Review by Endre "Bandi" Hübner,
23 February 2004

Following "In the Name of Bach", probably the best thing Alex Masi has done so far, "In the Name of Mozart" is here and [dare I say] this one is even better than Bach. We get an all-acoustic instrumental album that is not only technically perfectionist but also the selection and transcription of the material is really well thought of, leaves nothing to desire for and would please anybody into Mozart's music and [I hope] also those who are not. Alex was wise enough to concentrate on Mozart's late works featuring melodies familiar even to those who are not into classical music.

Keeping this in mind, he opened the album with the Allegro, the best-known part of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik followed by the Romanza from the same piece. A stunning introduction for sure, especially if we take into account that the tempo Alex takes for the Allegro is even faster than the original. [Okay, I admit I compared it to my version conducted by Sir Neville Mariner who is known to take moderate tempos... must be because of the considerable age difference of the two :)] The sound of the guitars is just crystal clear and due to a well-prepared transcription you don't lack the orchestra at all. The 2 two parts of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik are followed by another late Mozart piece, the Piano Sonata number 15, and we get the Allegro again as track 3 here. Another stunning performance, performed considerably faster on the guitar than the original on the piano. My jaws dropped when hearing this transcription, the scaling parts are just awesome, notes are rolling out from under Alex's fingers like pearls. And if you got overwhelmed by acoustic guitars only so far, another late Mozart piece, Piano Concerto number 24 follows transcribed for the guitar, the orchestral part played by the Stuttgart Symphony orchestra. The change in the arrangement is welcome and the piece is easy to digest even for those who aren't into classical music at all even if the piece may not be as well-known as the others on the album. To include better-known melodies the album continues with the Rondo Alla Turca with melodies everybody would know. The tempo is faster than the usual again just to impress anybody who had doubts so far. The album is closing with the Andante of the Piano Sonata number 15 (the Allegro was already featured from the same piece) and with a piece "Theme with 12 Variations in D major" that I have to admit I didn't know before but its Koehl register number [284 that is] suggests it is an early work by Mozart.

Pony Canyon/Japan 2002
Review by 14 August 2002

Are you ready for some new and very melodic metal from the land of the rising sun? Then sit back, relax and brace yourself for a CD full with excellent twin-guitar work. Indeed, this particular Mastermind was founded in Tokyo/Japan back in 1995 and has nothing in common with the Progressive Metal band (with the same name) from US.

I'm really impressed by the work of the two lead guitarist Yoshiyuki Watari & Yoshiva Sato here. They are all over the place with technically perfect licks & tricks, massive riffing, wicked melodies and flashy solos. Overall a world class performance by the two virtuosos, the brilliant production helps a lot as the guitar tone is far from being messy or disturbing. Check out the instrumental "The Ancient Dream" for size and then try to prove me wrong...

Painful Lust/AFM 2002
Review by 6 December 2002

If this is the Masterplan, then stick to it! This new band featuring the magnificent Jorn Lande on vocals and Helloween-axeman Roland Grapow might very well be THE band of 2003, if these tracks are anything to go by. "Enlighten Me" is a five track CD single featuring two tracks from the forthcoming album, one track to be included on the Japanese release only and a Led Zeppelin cover. The fifth track is a single edit of the title track.

Since I've never been too big a Zeppelin fan, we'll pass the cover by saying that it's very well done and Lande belts out like the rock god he is. The Masterplan originals are more interesting, as they are all fine examples of modern day melodic metal. The band and producer Andy Sneap have managed to create a great sound, heavy and hard-hitting but modern and melodic at the same time, which fits these tracks perfectly. "Enlighten Me", "Kind Hearted Light" and "Through Thick And Thin" all have good hooks, faultless musicianship and to top it all, great vocals from Lande. The only thing that puzzles me is the fact that "Through Thick And Thin", my favourite track out of these, has been chosen to be the Japanese bonustrack only. Surely a potential hard rock hit like this should be included on the album?

To sum it up, I'll use a tried'n tested cliché..."I can hardly wait for the album"!

AFM Records 2003
Review by Martien Koolen 4 February 2003

The year has just begun and already we have a musical masterpiece to love and cherish. An album that will definitely find a place in my top-ten albums of this year!

Of course if your band consists of musi cians like Roland Grapow(Helloween), Jan Eckert(Iron Saviour), Ulli Kusch(Hello ween) and last but not least singer/ shouter Jorn Lande your album almost has to become a masterpiece. Jorn, who impressed me with his ARK-album, is the leading force on this album. Just listen to his duet with Michael Kiske in "Heroes", or other extraordinary rockepics like "Sail On" and "Spirit Never Bie". Both Jorn is at his best in the dramatic rockballad "When Love Comes Close". Naturally it is obvious that with a good composer like Grapow in your team, you can expect a perfect combination of neo-classical metal with traditional melodic rock such as in "Enlighten Me", "Soulburn" or "Crystal Night". All the 11 songs on the album are great but my personal favourites are "Crawling From Hell" and the superballad "Into The Light". I am really surprised by this cd and I think that it almost doesn't get any better than this...

Lion Music 1999
Review by

Lars Eric Mattsson & co. deliver us a decent slice of traditional metal with some progressive elements. Their music could be described as less classically influenced Malmsteen, and a bit rougher around the edges.

Most of this album is quite heavy, like Deep Purple with an attitude or something! Since I am more into melodies and hooks, I'd rather skip the likes of "Hell" and "Burn The Witch", even though they may be very good in their own genre. The ones I enjoy the most are the heavy yet melodic numbers like "Road To Babylon", which sounds like a crazy mixture of Dokken, Malmsteen and Deep Purple, and the closing trio of "Memory Lane", "Wait For The Angels" and "Cry No More". The two ballads, "Angel Blue" and "Don't Lose Your Patience" are quite good as well, and allow the vocalist Bjorn Lodin to showcase some different aspects of his considerable talents.

LionMusic 2003
Review by 27 February 2003

My first impression while listening to this CD... what the heck is up with those drums? Smash, crash, splash-splash, with lots of kaboom and other weird noises. You do know that all drummers are into those satanic symbols (cymbals) don't you? Seriously though, this is what I'd call a pretty lousy drum production. It doesn't make the drummer justice at all I'm afraid, especially not at loud volume on your stereo.

Guitarist Lars Mattsson is back with his latest neo-classic epic, "Power Games" and with a new singer behind the mic. The vocalist is non-other than Lance King (ex-Balance Of Power, etc.), which is the same as quality singing in these days. He really does add an extra strenght and dimension to Mattsson's music.

BMG 2003
Review by 3 November 2003

Country music artists seem to relay strongly on professional songwriters, and this album isn't any different. This means that all the songs are well constructed, professional...but at the same time they are a bit faceless. There are quite a few country artists who sound exactly like this, well produced, well-sung and mainstream-friendly, with songs written by the same songwriters. Having said that, the album is still a pleasure to listen to, Martina is indeed a fine singer and the songs here contain nice, sometimes touching stories. While country fans might argue that the music's not "country enough", for me the songs here are "not too country", except maybe for "Wearing White", which is a bit too honky-tonk jangly or something.

AMT 1995

Review by 19 December 2001

In my books 2001 has not been that good of a year when it comes to new releases and as the year is coming to an end I wanted to rate one tenner this year. So I went through my CD’s and dig up a masterpiece. [Kimmo: well we don't usually rate Dig'Em Up -items but if you insist...it's a tenner!]

Andy McCoy released “Building on Tradition” back in 1995 and then I was quite sure that this was going be the CD that’s was to get him back to the limelight since there had not been that many highlights in his career after the break up of Hanoi Rocks. For some reason the record company decided not to pay attention to marketing etc and the album didn’t get that much attention.

No tricks or bullshit, just rock ‘n’ roll. That’s what you get here, nothing more, nothing less. So much great music that so few ever hear because they don’t even know that the album exists. “Strung Out” is a perfect opener, not a real party rocker but a melodic piece that keyboards compliment nicely. Just when you think that the song can’t get any better Andy finds one more gear of delight. The second song “I’m Gonna Roll You” is straight in your face with a mind-blowing riff that leaves you craving for more. “Born Again Electric” is a true rocker with great hooks and roaring guitars going straight in to “She’s Doing with Lazers” where Andy unfortunately tries to sing high notes to which he really is not capable of. That aside, another great rocker. A bluesy “Unconditional Love” slows things down a bit but “Foxfield Junction” is there to take you back for a ride on a rock ‘n’ roll train. Hanoi Rocks released a song called “Heart Attack” and Andy delivers here a rougher version of the song. “ Love and Hate” is a mid-tempo song and one of the best songs on the album and one of the best songs that I’ve ever heard. “Dreaming of Japan” is an interesting mix of Japanese mood and rock. Next one is an adrenalin pumping rocker “Let it Rock” and the list goes on up to fourteen songs and there are no fillers here. You gotta be happy with that.

Truth be told Andy McCoy has never been a singer. Here he takes care of most of the vocals and some high notes are really painful. Nevertheless his vocals are surprisingly good in the majority of the songs. But the music is superb and that’s why I forgive him. One of the best albums I’ve ever encountered (and done with a quite small budget I might add). I hope that the recent reunion with Michael Monroe will work out, I know my fingers are crossed.

Brian MCDONALD: "Wind It Up" 10-

Rock-It Records 1997
Review by Vesa Nourala

The difference between this Cd and The Situation I reviewed last month is like a night and day. This one actually is worth of listening. I guess this is the beauty of doing reviews is that there are some suprises like this one, but it's just music we're dealing with, not too serious opinions.

This CD is mentioned in AOR Heaven as a record tip. They mention a band called Julliet but I have never heard of them before - a well kept secret from me. The comparison that AOR Heaven makes with Great White... I don't see it. Maybe some of the songs have the blues there, and one song "Something in Your Smile" surely could be from a Great White album, but not the rest. The comparison to Ratt/Dokken is more close, but somehow this one brings Tora Tora and Sweet FA to my mind.

This CD Rocks. I was taken by a suprise with the first song "Don't Ya Worry" and had to turn the volume up. This song gives maybe a too good picture of this CD because the rest of the songs are not too special, or anything that no one have heard of. Music should entertain and this one does. So that is well taken care of.

This is really worth of checking out and even though it might be hard to get your hands on this, it's still worth the effort. This one gets 3 out of 5, so average, but still better than average. Here is their website: kennymcgee.com.

Metal Mayhem Music 2002
Review by 18 January 2003

Kenny McGee has been busy lately with reuniting with Juillet and releasing also some solo material. His self titled album is a solid rock album with strong melodies. Kenny McGee has a unique voice that has kind of a rough edge to it and it is really suitable for the music he’s playing. One of those voices you either love, hate or love to hate, it really has character.

This album is produced well and the musicians (Tommy Vincent, Billy Weber, Dean Domizio, Christian Hamlett) take care of their duties flawlessly and altogether this a good album. This is for the fans of late 80’s/early 90’s melodic hard rock and if I had to compare it with something I would put this album somewhere near Poison-Skid Row-Tuff-Slaughter section. There are good ballads and true rockers and I was happy listening to this. Nothing surprisingly new, just rock with big heart.