Retroactive 2008
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
24 June 2008

Be Afraid... be v-e-r-y afraid. No seriously, this is one scary CD in the old fashioned punk rock style of The Misfits, The Ramones, verses the metal sound of Dictators, plus the goth rock of Danzig and Type O'Negative. And what about the monicker, Grave Robber, and they're an Christian act? Wow, I haven't been exposed to this much fun since the last time we dug up grandma from the graveyard the other year.

Now, I couldn't care less about image, since we let music do most of the talking here (really?), however, I guess I need to type down a couple of words about these clowns. Yep, not only do they have scary career names such as: Wretched (Vocals), Nameless (Guitars), Maggot (Bass), and Dr.Cadaver (Drums). Nope, they also sport a shocking horror outfit in the style of GWAR, Lordi and Slipknot.

But according to the band,'the brown and red paint on the costumes symbolizes the blood of Christ covering our dirt or sin. The Zombie-like masks that cover our faces symbolize our earthly flesh or our sin nature'. Yeah, whatever, call me jaded, I'd say it's just another cheap trick to lure the kids into buying their CD's. Not necessarily a bad thing, since the music does kick like a mule to the head, if you fancy a punk/metal experience of above mentioned acts. However, I really don't see the point with their 'Zombie' outfit??? You know, considering the music they play (punk-ish) and the fact that average U.S. Christians won't take kindly to zombie nonsense. Seriously, I can't see too many folks inviting these lads to play at their church.

They have possible recorded the song of the year so far though. "I Wanna Kill You Over And Over Again" is amazingly fun and tongue-in-cheek. Not to mention catchy with a hook that The Ramones would kill for. Vocalist 'Wretched' does his best Elvis vs. Joey Ramone impression and it's a huge sing-a-long party for start to finish. They have a bunch of other really catchy songs: "Skeletons", "Burn Witch Burn", "Bloodbath", "Rigor Mortis", "Screams Of The Voiceless", Schizofied", "I Zombie", "Army Of The Dead", etc.

SunCity Records 2008
Review by Satu Reunanen
23 June 2008

Those who lived the 80's glory days in Finland remember Finnish Androids (don't confuse them with the Aussies, Irish or Scottish The Androids), the dreamy hairband, who were among first hard rock bands in Finland coming up with a more melodic style, and delivering it in english. They first started out with singer Johnny Lee Michaels, then hiring Scarlette (Tommy Eriksson) and shortening their name to Androids. Their biggest hit was "Same As You", which caused the type of hysteria not very often seen in Finland back in the day. Teenage girls followed the band everywhere, who were quite the rascals, causing headaches to few who encountered the band. Still, I have only good memories with the guys and from their shows.

Back in the 80's it was tough for Finnish rock musicians, and there weren't many equiped with the world class skills. Although Androids had potential in their genre, their fame never reached any further than Spain, where their debut, their only album ever, was also released. The following hits for "Same As You" were an emotional acoustic ballad "When The Sun Turns To Rain" and the rockers "Let It All Out" and "Hard Lovin' Girl". Androids got aired on Finnish TV and radio a lot between 1987-1988, but the band was forgotten soon after the 80's hard rock scene faded. The guys are still working in the music business, and bassist/singer Jone Ullakko still plays in Jone's Bros, while singer Scarlette has been seen in Ageness, a progband and guitarist Ade Manninen in Monsterbore, a Finnish all-star band.

Krescendo 2008
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
20 June 2008

Hey... look what the cat dragged in... sheer poison in the hands of Welsh rockers, Tigertailz. I've been told that Mark Hughes (Man Utd player at the time and Man City manager nowadays) danced along to the music of "Young And Crazy", but probably needed to be dead drunk to admit it (not really a problem since all U.K. football players were heavy drinkers in those days).

On the glossy cover of "Young And Crazy", their first and only release for MFN in 1987, the 'lads' appear in all their GLAMourous glory, a mess of lipstick, mascara, rouge, and hairspray. Yep, pretty much every band from U.K.'s Whitesnake to the U.S. Jesus rockers of Stryper, were professional crossdressers back in those days. Hey, I'm not passing any judgement thoughts merely stating the facts.

Krescendo 2008
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
21 June 2008

Let's see... Paul Chapman as 'The Good', Fin, 'The Bad', and obviously Pete Way as 'The Waysted'. Originally released in 1985 and during the height of their notorious substance abuse, this platter followed on the highly coveted support slot on Iron Maiden's 'Powerslave' UK tour. Although Britain doesn't seem overly desperate for Waysted right now, this supper went down smooth in the mid-lands.

Starting up with a couple of raw AC/DC kind of rockers in the name of "Hang 'Em High" and "Hi Ho My Lady", what followed next would still end up as the biggest surprise. The fluffy piano ballad, "Heaven Tonight", doesn't really match their U.K. rock rather than a posh MTV friendly hairmetal powerballad. Fin's barbwire vocals, much like a spooky version of Rod Stewart, doesn't really fit the song, and thus why he was out of the band by late -85? The band decided to aim for the stars and America with a new U.S. singer (Danny Vaughn - Tyketto), a MTV friendly sound, and a posh re-recording of Heaven Tonight.

Retroactive 2008
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
24 June 2008

Remember Titanic? That ship went down fast after a tragic meeting with an ice berg (not to be confused with Connors after a tennis court meeting with the Ice Borg). Ehhh... I'm obviously talking about the nineties act featuring Robert Sweet of Stryper and with two rather dull albums on their conscience (Maiden Voyage & Screaming In Silence).

Well, it seems like the very same geezers of Titanic were previously known as 'Final Axe' as they recorded the 'Beyond Hell's Gate' album on EastWest records in the late eighties. Anyhow, "The Axe Of The Apostles", meant to be their sophomore release in 1990, hasn't seen the light of day until present date. It's a more solid construction than their forthcoming debacle, then again, pretty much everything would stay better a float than a brick aka Titanic.

PFS 2008
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
25 June 2008

"...A Bitter Beginning", dude, you can't help to wonder what they'll sound like after a couple of more albums and years under their belt. You know, when they r-e-a-l-l-y have stuff and issues to be bitter about. Like, music business, not the best environment for ever lasting companionship.

Prey For Sleep, formed 2006 in Austin/Texas, the band quickly set out to conquer the world through their powerful blend of melodic death and thrash metal. This is their 10-track CD debut (they have previously recorded a 5-song EP) with Grammy nominated producer Tim Gerron (M.O.D./Deadhorse) behind the control desk. I might as well inform you already: strickly intended for the real headbangers out there as you're immediately overthrown by a cascade of Pantera metal and hatered.

"Escape" is a mind opener and also a real kick to the head. It's been a while since I've heard such a demon-ish vocal performance. Actually, comparisons with Pantera are perhaps a little unfair, singer Hunter Townsend does not let anything go to waste, it's obvious that he's got a lot of issues and managed somehow to unleash them all into his vocals [:-)]. The lyrics are straightforward and speak of broken promises, empty words, betrayal, misconceptions, sell outs, and lack of remorse. Oh, it's a deadly bitter little CD, featuring double-bass drumming not of this world and ultra heavy power riffing.

Krescendo 2008
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
21 June 2008

Now you can finally pick up a copy of the legendery Waysted EP or mini-album on CD. Released by Krescendo Records in remastered and expanded form, it's been something of a missing link in the Waysted story. There's actually a "funny" story behind this mini-album. Everything started out ok in 1983 with the UFO sounding album "Vices" on Chrysalis records. However, later on tour with Dio things got ugly or rather heavily toxicated.

Pete Way, drunk as a skunk on stage in Brussels, where the band ended the show with Ufo's 'Only You Can Rock Me', and the musicians walked off stage. Way doesn't realize this (due to you-know-what) and goes on singing and playing all alone on stage. Doing this he knocks down several amps, that fall on top of a roadie, who at his turn starts throwing things at Way and fists were soon flying in the air (hic!).

The result, the band lost the Chrysalis deal and this very mini-album was sort of a test-run for their new record label, Roadrunner. You know, to see if they could handle all the problems with a band such as Waysted [:-)]. The six original tracks, "Won't Get Out Alive", "The Price You Pay", "Rock Steady", "Hurt So Bad", "Cinderella Boys", "Ball And Chain", are all among the best numbers Waysted ever recorded. In fact, you could almost name this their best overall release. Short and sweet, but viciously rough around the edges. Plus, the raw and close to off key vocals by Fin does add a certain charm to the hardrock songs. This is true and blue collar music, sort of a UK working class salute of the year of 1984.

Spinefarm 2008
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
27 June 2008

It comes as no surprise that the release of this single (or "EP", whatever you want to call it) was delayed. Spinefarm already messed around with the release of the album ("Heart Full Of Fire"), pushing it several weeks from the original release date. Unfortunately the first advertising campaign took place around the time of the first announced release date, just when there first reviews were published... and there was no product in the stores. Oh well, shit happens. The album's done nicely in the Finnish charts anyway, 6th week in top 30 as I write this.

The title track of the album follows "Runaways" as the band's second single. The nice, but somewhat bland "Runaways" would have never been my choice as a single, but I can't argue about the hit potential of "HFOF". The song flirts with dance sounds, and the chorus is as catchy as anything you'll likely to hear this year. And then there's the "guest star", Anette of Nightwish, who shares lead vocal duties with Pekka... that could be the X-factor to push this song to the playlists.

The remix by JS16 is an interesting one. The well-known Finnish dance music producer (Bomfunk MC's, Darude) has stripped everything but the vocals from the song, and turned it into a somewhat ambient-sounding dance track. I can't say that I'm too crazy about it, it's slower and the chorus doesn't work nowhere near as well as in the more bombastic original version. Still, if this remix gets them more airplay, then more power to them.

The other two songs are what make this EP more interesting. "Two Hearts" is a nice, ethreal ballad that reminds me a bit of Berlin's "Take My Breath Away". This would have been a worthy addition to the album, especially since there are no full-on ballads on the album. "Hungry For Heaven" has always been one of my favourite Dio songs, and Firetribe's cover turns it into a real killer AOR song with keyboards more prominently on display and bigger background vocals. Another contender to be the cover song of the year.
www.brotherfiretribe.com

Integral 2008
Review by Alan Holloway,
16th June 2008

You should all know about Stone Gods by now, the band formed from the ashes of the mega successful Darkness, but without the catsuited shrieker Justin Hawkins. “Silver Spoons & Broken Bones” is their first album, and it's a million miles away from their former sound, bringing in big brass balls to replace the camp excesses associated with the Darkness.

Straight off, “Burn the Witch” nails it's colours to the pole and dares the listener to ever mention the “D” word again. This monster mosher is more like something from Black Sabbath or Priest than anything else, a full on fistful of metal that tells you in no uncertain turns that this is a new band with a new sound. Mind you, it's a cracking song with a good melody behind it that allows newly promoted vocalist Richie Edwards to get all his frustrations out as he does his best Rob Halford with gusto. It's not all shouting and swearing, though, as this is by far the heaviest track on the album. What you get elsewhere is a total mix of styles that may infuriate some but delight others. There's the 3 Colours Red stylings of brilliance that is “Don't Drink The Water”, the Western feel of “Where You Coming From”, the acoustic balladry of “Magdalene Street” or the Darkness flavoured “I'm With The Band” for starters. The album bounces around like a puppy on speed, throwing loads of ideas at you, with every one working in one way or another. For fuck's sake, they even do a Status Quo on “Making It Hard” and manage to make it work.

“Silver Spoons & Broken Bones” is an album that really shouldn't work as well as it does. It's a bit of a reviewers dream, as it's more of a brilliant compilation album than something you'd ever expect from one band. There's plenty of heavy shit, plenty of melodic shit, plenty of mid tempo shit, and the fact that none of it actually is shit is a bit of a miracle. As a singer, Richie Edwards does a great job coping with the different songs, able to scream like a banshee for the likes of “Knight Of The Living Dead”, another moshpit rocker, or croon like a soppy old git on “Magdalene Street”. He's not one of your technical super singers, but he's definitely the right man for the job here. It's about time the UK produced another truly original band to take on the world, and Stone Gods could be that band.
www.stonegods.co.uk

Escape 2008
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
12 June 2008

Steve Overland attract what must be the most stubborn minded fans in the world. Wildlife turned out to be a disasterous affair in the early 80's and even though FM received good critical acclaim, the band never really managed to lift up and reach outer space. But if anything is guaranteed to make an old Overland fan go bezerk in the dark, this surely should/could be it?

This is supposed to be Overland's first solo album, however, all music is the work of former Grand Illusion man, Anders Rydholm. The Swede is also responsible for production, recording, arrangements, as well as keyboards, rhythm guitars, and bass. What exactly did Stevie do on his own solo album? Well... all the excellent lead vocals of course and most of the lyrics too.

Thus why you can find a lot of Grand Illusion and typical "Swedish" melodies on this CD. It's very AOR poppy at times, pompy at others, but always quite interesting and intriguing. However, do not expect an instant homerun as you need to spin this sucker several times to get the full impact. Opener "This Time" is like Grand Illusion lite as it's a mix of pop, pomp, and AOR. "Alive And Kicking" is more guitar oriented and in the vein of early FM. "Like A River" is hi-tech AOR of finest quality and similar to the Work Of Art CD. "Look Into Your Eyes" is a great ballad that Mark Free and Signal would have been darn proud of. "After The Fire" features dut-dut keyboards and a catchy refrain which we haven't really heard from Steve since his very early FM days.

LionMusic 2008
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
12 June 2008

I had to check the disc several times for misprint as I certainly didn't expect it to sound like it did. Lars Eric Mattsson is an 'old dog' in this game and you know what they usually say about old dogs and new tricks. Not this time however as "Dream Child" is definitely a completely new chapter in the musical book of the guitarist.

Wave goodbye to all the husky male lead vocals of the past (well, you can still find Baltimoore's Björn Lodin on backup vocals on a couple of the tracks) and say hello to angelic female vocals by newcomer, Adrienn Antal. The music has also taken a slightly new direction and you could almost compare this to Lana Lane, Lacuna Coil and Within Temptation. Very progressive as always when it comes to Mattsson releases and now more gothic than ever before.

Z Records 2008
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
16 June 2008

Originally released in 1999, this album was a compilation of unreleased recordings and more or less polished demos. Although this re-issue has been remastered and contains two bonustracks, it's still a rather mixed bag of more or less polished demos. As a collection of songs, I actually like this more than the latest "real" Lillian Axe album "Waters Rising", but at the same time, it's easy to see why some of these songs did't make it to the Axe albums. The production or the lack of it doesn't do justice to the songs, but that's what expected when we're talking about an album of demos.

Lillian Axe has always had a rather distinguishable style, and the melodies of songwriter Steve Blaze set them apart from their contemporaries. There are a few songs on this album which showcase this "magic of Lillian Axe" quite well, especially coupled with Ron Taylor's superb vocals. My absolute favourite is "Do It", which pretty much sums up the band's finest elements: power, melodies, great vocals, musicianship. Other favourites of mine are "For Crying Out Loud", "Kill Me Again" and the fine ballad "When It Rains". The Likes Of "Pulling The Rats Out" and "Blood On The Moon" are just plain dull, and unfortunately there a few songs like this album. The bonus tracks aren't anything too special, although it's a pity that especially the better one, "Throw You Away" suffers from a really poor production.
www.lillianaxe.com

Krescendo 2008
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
9 June 2008

"Crash And Burn" from the ancient time of 1980 was an adventures attempt to break new territory as it's a slightly more varied approach to music 'ala Pat Travers. The Canadian's previous albums were (find reviews in our massive archive) more basic 'meat and potato' rock in the old school of blues. It takes merely a couple of seconds of opener and title track, "Crash And Burn", to realize that other influences were at play this time. Its cloase to jazzy approach will certainly not please each and every fan of the man.

"Can't Be Right" is more straight rock in the vein of Eddie Money. However, the real winners of the bunch were the two most basic blues rockers of the album. "Snortin Whiskey" and "Born Under A Bad Sign" are the songs that have stayed with him through the years and are still important ingredients and favourites of any Pat Travers live performance.

SoundPollution 2008
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
9 June 2008

War, war, bloody war, it's yet another friggin' album about the art of war. Nope, we are not a bunch of peace lovin' hippies and do enjoy a good bloodbath in the form of game, movie, or CD. However, it's getting a bit boring already as it's yet another war concept album by the Swedes of Sabaton. It's like Manowar and all of their song titles featuring the word 'metal' or Running Wild and their pirate outfits.

And don't get me wrong, 'Death Or Glory' by Running Wild is the best friggin' speed power metal album in the world (superb from start to finish). We all know that 80's Manowar albums are all essential pieces in any metal fans private collection. No reason to rush out and buy every second rate version of mentioned acts though. Not entirely the truth as Sabaton do have their own sound and style, it's merely hidden under a thick layer of all the 80's ga ga.

Frontiers 2008
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
12 June 2008

(F)irst (U)nderground (N)uclear (K)itchen. Oh, it's almost too clever really. What you get is FUNK and it's hardly the A+++++ quality in the vein of Prince or Dan Reed Network. Nah, this is more like a mindless Funk without any proper direction or charm. It merely keeps on boppin' in the background and it's darn difficult to recall any melodies at all really.

There's however always an exception to the rule and "Love Communion" is possible the track of the month. Marvelous funky guitars and with a catchy hook featuring a fake (keyboard) horn section. I'am also very fond of the aggressive funk of, "We Shall Be Free", plus the sweet, seventies, soul ballad of "Imperfection". Check out the latter for an excellent vocal performance by 'The Voice'. But the song is no way near the high quality of the soul, r&b of The O'Jays, Temptations, Gaye, Bill Withers, Hayes, etc, etc.

Frontiers Records 2008
Review by Alan Holloway,
5th June 2008

Okay, so you all know the story, right? You know... Journey get a new singer from YouTube of all places, with Neil Schon jetting in young Arnel Pineda and changing him from being a covers singer to the real thing. So far, so Judas Priest I suppose, but the proof is, as they say, in the pudding. “Revelation” is that pudding, seeing Pineda tackle eleven brand new Schon/Cain compositions as well as getting his vocal chords on eleven Journey classics. As puddings go, it's bloody tasty, and it's time I dropped the food metaphors and started talking about the music, yes?

From the off, it's one hundred percent no holds barred Journey, with “Never Walk Away” cementing it's place as one of the band's all time classics. Complete with catchy chorus, cool guitars and, to be frank, amazing vocals, it's gonna stay on my ipod forever. Pineda sings like an angel, albeit an angel that sings like Steve Perry, if you see what I mean. You can pick your corner in this fight, and for myself I acknowledge that the guy is what some would refer to as a Perry Clone vocally, but as that's the sort of voice that goes perfectly with the music I'm not going to complain. At the end, he sounds great, and that's what counts for me. After such a storming start, “Like A Sunshower” is a little disappointing, as it's a very “Lights”-esque offering. “Change For The Better” brings back the harder edge, and it's another classic sounding tune, showing that the guys can still write songs as well as they ever could. “Wildest Dream” follows up nicely, afetr which we get a new version of “Faith In The Heartland” from “Generations”. I say it's a new version, but really it's almost identical, and an odd thing to include here, even though it's a classy song. It's back to ballads after this with “After All These Years”, a pretty standard Journey slowie that reminds me of a mixture of “Faithfully” and Westlife's “You Raise Me Up”. As with Perry era ballads, the songs is really made by Pineda's soaring vocals, and I can see it going down well live. It's a pattern prevalent throughout the album, with the band cranking up the guitars for one or two songs before throwing a big ballad straight at you. It makes it hard to really get into the album, because as good as the ballads are there are too many of them. It reminds me of “Raised On Radio” which had the same problem of being overloaded with slower songs. Okay, so it's only really 4 out of the 12 songs, but it really would have been better if the ballads had been limited to 2.

Perhaps the biggest surprise here is the inclusion of an instrumental song, "the Journey (Revelation)", which is five minutes plus of masterful musicianship that showcases some exceptional guitar playingfrom Neil Schon. Another nice thing at the end of the album is the European release bonus track “Let It Take You Back”. A great song that we can piss of the Americans with, it's a foot tapping party track that sees Pineda lowering his register slightly and sounding more like himself, one would assume. It's a good closer to an album that will relight the fire in the hearts of Journey fans, except those too pig headed to give it a go.

A couple of months ago I raved about Italian band Myland, whose “No Man's Land” album seemed to out Journey Journey themselves. If you stand the two albums side by side it's a close race, as “Revelation” has plenty of songs that could only have come from Schon and Cain. On the other hand, Myland rock out for just about the whole of their album, which makes it more fun to listen to. Having said that, some of the ballads here are very good, and Arnel Pineda is an even better singer that Myland's Guido Priori (quite a feat). Hmmm... what to do. Tell you what, just buy both albums and you won't regret it. I think Myland have the edge overall, but "Revelation" is a really classy album that will give you pleasure for years to come.
www.journeymusic.com

Demolition Records 2008
Review by Alan Holloway,
6th June 2008

I've been reading up on Kentucky band Hydrogyn, and have read quite a few glowing tributes to their last album “Bombshell”. The phrases “Great song writing” and “Catchy hooks” were raised, but after listening to “Deadly Passions” a dozen times I just can't see or hear anything to get over excited about.

First up, the obvious focus of the band is singer Julie Westlake, a woman not afraid to look both cheap and ridiculous on an album cover. Sticking such images on the front of your CD is a good way not to be taken seriously. The ten tracks contained within are neither great nor awful, nestling somewhere in between. All the ingredients are there, like pretty good singing, some cool guitar, some good choruses, but nothing stands out, except perhaps the chorus to “Seroquil”, which stuck in my head more than anything else on the album. After this many listens I should be able to at least sing along with a track or two, but “Deadly Passions” is so unremarkable it just goes in one ear and out of the other. There's a decent cover of Alanis Morrissette's “You Oughta Know” that works pretty well, but the original is such a classic the cover is pretty redundant.

Although not as soulless as Lauren Harris, Hydrogyn is female fronted rock by numbers. There's just no real spark, nothing that makes you go “Woah!” at any point. Colour me unimpressed but slightly entertained nonetheless.
www.hydrogyn.com

Demolition Records 2008
Review by Alan Holloway,
5th June 2008

Okay, so here's the Legend: Russ Ballard (yes, that one) spotted this pretty girl singing and was so impressed he blah blah blah (you know the drill), without even knowing she was the daughter of Iron Maiden's Steve Harris. The part of this I find hard to believe is that anyone would see Lauren Harris singing and think that she could ever make it. It's not that she's a bad singer, but she's so painfully average that I sincerely believe that if it wasn't for her parentage she'd never get out of the pub rock scene.

“Calm Before The Storm” is Lauren's first album, mixing up nine original tracks with three covers. Starting off with Gun's “Steal Your Fire” certainly works well, as it's a great song. Lauren does her best with it, and comes off pretty well, although as with so many covers it's not a patch on the original. Even the first original song, “Your Turn”, made me think that this wasn't going to be a bad album at all – it's a good, uptempo track that is nothing new but a good listen nonetheless. Unfortunately it all goes to shit with two excruciatingly old school plodders and a slower track (“From the Bottom To the Top”) that sounds like a poor demo, then it goes downhill. I had to double check that the album was mixed by Kevin Shirley, with the difference between this and the new Journey album being vast. The main problem is that Harris puts almost no emotion into the singing, and coupled with an average voice and songs in the key of 'meh', it all adds up to a lackluster album that should never have been recorded.

When I was a teenager, I would buy everything as long as it had a pretty girl on the cover. I went to see the likes of Gypsy Queen and Lisa Dominique because their music was okay and the looked hot. Lauren Harris would fit in nicely with these, but unfortunately she's twenty five years too late. There's a few good tracks, including a decent version of the 70s classic “Come On Over” (originally by Stray), and the catchy “See Through”. Overall this album doesn't even show potential, with too many below average songs to make it worth checking out. All that's left for Lauren Harris is an undeserved gig at Twickenham, followed by a slide into obscurity and perhaps a tour with the equally middling Kelly Osbourne is she's lucky.

(Dammit! I was determined not to be too mean, but I went and listened to the album again!)
http://www.myspace.com/laurenharrisuk

Krescendo 2008
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
25 May 2008

Ka-blaam!!! Here's a slightly different blast from the past. Like all the other kids, yours truly grew up watching MacGyver on tele. A rather sappy U.S. series about the adventures of a secret agent armed with merely his dodgy sense of humor and a swiss army knife. It had it perks though, like the lovely Penny Parker (Teri Hatcher) and of course, the recurring villain and MacGyver's nemesis, Murdoc. What's that you say? Murdoc is a hardrocker??? Get out of town, no, seriously, give me a call when you hit Reno!!!

OK, it's appearantly all true, Murdoc was a hardrocker of the name of Michael Des Barres. And yes, I knew of him as a brief member of Power Station (he actually fronted the band at the Live Aid Concert in 1985), but I never put two and two together. Mainly due to the fact that I couldn't care less about any Duran Duran side project as a kid. Funnily enough, I do enjoy all that 80's Pop nowadays.

Anyhow, Des Barres started out as a Silverhead in the early 70's, continued with Detective, went solo in the early 80's before teaming up in 1983 with Steve Jones (Sex Pistols), Nigel Harrison & Clem Burk (Blondie) and former Iggy Pop guitarist, Tony Hunt. The five of them became Chequered Past, who, with their one and only release for EMI records in 1984, produced one helluva cool guitar oriented rock album.

This is frankly just a barrel of fun. Kikk-azz rock'n'roll in the vein of: Shark Island, Billy Idol, The Cult, and the at the time future solo album by Steve Jones, 'Fire And Gasoline', 1989. It's loud guitars, catchy choruses, and one helluva attitude. Opener, "A World Gone Wild" is THE perfect mix of Billy Idol, The Cult, and Shark Island. Seriously, people always talk about how Axl Rose of Guns'N Roses stole the Richard Black (Shark Island) persona and stagecraft. Well, I'm sure Black noticed Des Barres in 1984 as they played the same L.A. scene and stole a lot of his fire and attitude. Des' is however more of a classic rock vocalist than both of them though... and perhaps a better one too.

Krescendo 2008
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
24 May 2008

Robin 'H-H-H-Heartline' George (Life, Notorious) and Glenn 'The Voice' Hughes (Deep Purple, etc, etc.) recorded this album in 1989. This was supposed to be the first step on the ladder back to success and to the top for Hughes after his stint with Black Sabbath. No such luck though as the project halted abrupt and the 10-track album was never officially released.

Unreleased no longer though as Krescendo Records has finally made it avaliable. Produced and recorded by George at his studio in Wolverhampton (Steve Bull forever?), the semi guitar hero was also responsible for playing all the instruments and writing most of the songs. Hughes co-wrote four of them though. You'll quickly notice tracks such as: "War Dance", "Don't Come Crying", "Flying", and "Machine", they could just as easily have been from George's 'Dangerous Music' release.

Krescendo 2008
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
25 May 2008

Marcus? Who the f**k is Marcus??? One of the most obscure and underrated 70's hardrock albums ever - that's who. Well, not as much 'underrated' as 'we've never even heard about you', since you can't really underrate something as criminally ignored and underground as this release. Named after power vocalist, Marcus Malone (a natural vocal hybrid of Glenn Hughes & Rod Stewart) and with Tim Bogart (Vanilla Fudge, Bogart, Cactus) as guest bassist, they released a one off album in 1976 before disappearing into complete and utter obscurity. Malone would not turn up on the face off the earth again until late 90's/early 00' as a blues performer of the old school.

According to the sheet, in issue 1 of Kerrang, this album was featured in the 'Strickly For Konnoisseurs' section. Yeah? well, that only helps older rockers, the first kerrang was issued when? 1982? Nevermind. Let's do a quick track by track. Opener "Black Magic" starts with a riff similar to Purple's 'Space Truckin' before it turns into Alice Cooper. "Salmon Ball" is heavy funk rock, "Kelly" is basically a fine Rod Stewart ballad with the gutsy attitude of Aerosmith. "Gypsy Fever" is very much 'out there', almost too much hippie rock for my personal taste (much like a lot of 70's Scorpions).

Krescendo 2008
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
27 May 2008

It's hard to remember... I reckon, and even harder to forget. I'm obviously talking about the silly effect of 'super stardom gone sour'. You know, at least according to all the great (hint: sarcastic mode) A&R representatives of the mid 80's. They must all have gone completely bonkers - not wanting to sign a deal with Phil Lynott's post-Thin Lizzy act, Grand Slam.

Grand Slam - fair enough, not exactly the best thing since sliced bread. But, c'mon... they would easily have sold a couple of million copies of albums anyhow. And they were certainly worthy of a record deal looking at the line-up with Lynott (vocals/bass) and Magnum keyboardist, Mark Stanway, Lawrence Archer (gtr), Robbie Brennan (drums), Doish Nagle (gtr). Recorded live at Glasgow's Mayfair in October 1984, the band opened up the show with a keyboard oriented attack of "Yellow Pearl". Giving the audience and faithful a sneak preview of what later would become a Lynott solo hit, "Nineteen", and not the expected first single release off the Grand Slam album. Again, what were they thinking?

The continuing with "Sisters Of Mercy" make an impressive start despite the band's struggle with record labels and, I guess, new members such as the at the time, twenty one year old, Archer. It may somtimes appear cheap and nasty, soundwise, mainly due to a average PA system? However, no worse than any Frontiers or Metal/AOR Heaven live release. And here you have a major joker in the deck. Lynott sure could sing the 'blues' and his soulful voice breaks through any speaker - no matter what.

Artist Worxx / MusicBuyMail 2008
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
03 June 2008

Sometimes it's hard to keep up with the ever-revolving merry-go-round of the Hard Rock world. Everyone seems to have at least a couple of bands going on, and especially many of the vocalists in the genre are real "travellin' men". One such travellin' singer is Carsten "Lizard" Schultz, who's been in Domain, Evidence One and Midnite Club during the last few years. Of course it's understandable that musicians need several projects to make ends meet, but at the same time, it might be confusing for the end customer.

The driving force behind Midnite Club is guitarist Steffen "Seegi" Seeger, who has produced the album and co-written the songs with Schultz. A couple of the songs were co-written with Robby Boebel of Evidence One/Frontline fame, and the track "Danger Zone" is a cover of the Top Gun-track originally sung by Kenny Loggins.

"Circus Of Life" is a well-produced melodic hard rock album which should appeal to the fans of German Hard Rock band such as Frontline, Domain and Jaded Heart. I don't know why, but German rockers tend to have a sound of their own. Schultz tends to sound a bit like Michael Bormann (ex-Jaded Heart), and some of the songs remind me a lot of Frontline, and not only the ones co-written by Boebel.

The highlights for me are the keyboard-driven opener "Circus", "Afraid Of Love", "Behind My Eyes" and the cover "Danger Zone", which has been given a harder edge than the original. Steffen Seeger throws in some tasty shredding, and guest keyboard player Ferdy Doernberg adds some cool touches to the song. Unfortunately the rest of the songs aren't nowhere near as good, and don't leave a lasting impression.
www.midniteclub.de
www.myspace.com/midniteclubofficial

Krescendo 2008
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
26 May 2008

Spider, not to be confused with the U.S. act, consisting of Amanda Blue, songsmith, Holly Knight, and future Ace Frehley and David Letterman drummer, Anton Fig. And they changed their name to Shanghai anyhow, simply to avoid any confusion with their English namesake. Nope, this particular Spider was formed in 1976 by the Burrows Brothers (Brian - bass/vocals and Rob -drums). They first played the club circuit in their native Meresyside until they moved to London in November 1978.

The 'undisputed U.K. kings of boogie rock' during the years of 1983-85, you know, when Status Quo decided to call it quits for their first of many 100's attempts. They've done a lot of 'farewell' tours since and they're still at it - cheeky buggers. It's basically twelve bar boogie and three chord rock, the Status Quo kind of way, only not quite as impressive and fun.

I must say that I find this to be the poor man's version of Quo and not really something to dance the night away to. Yes, the two albums, "Rock N' Roll Gypsies" (1982) and "Rough Justice" (1983), did receive a lot of praise in U.K. magazine at the times, but there's absolutely no reason to wet your pants. They also believe to have the best football team in Europe... but you won't find them at Euro-Cup in June. Ouch, that's just rude, no need to get ugly (too late), just for the record, U.K. footie and Premier League rules - ok.

Emperor/Naxos 2008
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
27 May 2008

The #1 Bryan Adams wannabee of Sweden in the past. Hardly anymore though as Stefan Andersson's latest CD reeks of laidback singer/songwriter stuff. But let's be honest, his sort of slick radio friendly albums of the past were always about hits and misses. And let's be really frank (I thought he was Bryan?), it was mostly about misses and a couple of really great songs in between (Catch The Moon, It's Over Now, Walk Right On).

The Gothenburger delivers a collection of tunes that will either drive you completely bananas or help you find true serenity. I can't say that I noticed much of the latter as there's simply not enough of hours in a day to make me wanna play this over and over again. At first listen, "Nr 90 Kleist" sounds like a nu-psychodelic take on Bob Dylan without much of either a structure or plan. At second listen it's merely just modern singer/songwriter material without any real killer song(s) or meaning.

Sakara Records 2008
Review by Lasse Korpi
24 May 2008

From melodic guitar intros to massive vocal performances and with an tight and well fitting drum performance the new Diablo album "Icaros" is everything you would want from a band of the new age of heavy metal.

The first time I heard about Diablo was when I found out they were going to open for Metallica in 2007 with HIM. I didn’t quite know what to expect but after a couple of songs I could tell that this band was great. Any band that has to open up for a band like Metallica should keep a low profile, but these guys did it with style. So the question is can a great live band like this make an even greater album? Even if this is Diablo’s fifth album, it is always hard for a band that mostly is know for there great live performances to make an album that will leave the listeners with the same feeling of excitement and hunger for more. All I can say is that "Icaros" will leave the listeners hungry for more like never before. Songs like "Resign From Life", "Bad Sign" and "Chagrin", just to name a few, will hit the listeners like a wall of sound and rock attitude that will get anyone begging for more.

Diablo has quite a list of great guest stars on the album like Tuomo Saikkonen (Mokoma), Tommi Salmela (Tarot), Jarkko Ahola (Teräsbetoni) and many more. Probably the only thing that bothers me is the fact that almost all the songs sound the same but why would anyone care when it still sounds so good that you could listen to it over and over again. The lyrics and the album cover have got their influence from the Finnish movie "Kahdeksan Surmanluotia" by director Mikko Niskanen. Like Rainer Nygård (lead singer and rhythm guitarist) says that the album cover and the lyrics would be completely different if it weren’t for the movie. I haven’t seen the movie so I can’t tell how it reflects to the lyrics but the lyrics remind me of the older Diablo material so I don’t really mind cause I like it.

The new Diablo album "Icaros" is great, maybe not great enough to be epic, but still an album to be a must for every metal lover. If only Diablo would make their next album with a little variety and maybe some kind of twist so that they could capture the elements of their live performances. Still, "Icaros" is a great start of something special.
www.diabloperkele.com

Violent Journey Records 2008
Review by Satu Reunanen
May 2008

The Finns Domination Black are continuing the horror music saga Lordi hyped Europe with. Might not be intentional, which I doubt, because Mr. Lordi himself does guest vocals on this EP's "The House Of 1000 Eyes", a track that has a playful swing to it with light keys in the back. A juicy kickoff for the 5-track EP with 80's feel a´la Ozzy and Judas Priest, even early Sentenced. The dynamic arrangements hit right at home, DB is a classy act with each member standing out as equal and strong.

The Kiss cover "A World Without Heroes" has gotten new life to it, being more powerful than the original and updated, and DB has managed to hold on to the emotion too, the keys and guitars crying and Kilgast singing the song warmly. "Evil Has Found A Home" sounds like a soundtrack to a horror film featuring additional evil voice, that reminds me of Chucky or something similar to what King Diamond would do, it's also on "No More Again (H.F.H.)". On the first mentioned track they've found the right place. DB should in the future be really careful not to overdo the horror cliches to keep this level of credibility.

AOR Heaven 2008
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
24 May 2008

The fourth album from German hard rockers Dark Sky sees the band fine-tuning their sound and becoming a tighter unit than before. This is a slightly more metallic effort than their previous album, and if I previously compared them to Scorpions and Bonfire, I might throw in Helloween, Masterplan and the likes to the mix as well.

The album kicks off with "Hands Up", which is bound to be a live favourite. Straightforward uptempo beat and cool riffs lead the way to a strong chorus, and I'd imagine there will be a lot of hands up in the air during this song... The title song is another cool song that showcases the newly-found urgency of the band - sharp riffs, uptempo rhythm and excellent melodies. Many German hard rockers tend to favour the plodding "marching beat", but thankfully Dark Sky do not. Track number three is another proof of that, a good uptempo rocker called "Slave Of Time".

"Send Them To Hell" is one of the less impressive tracks, a bit of a "German Metal by numbers" kind of track with a strong Accept-influence. The melodic "Chase Your Dreams" is better, as is the Michael Sembello-cover "Maniac" from the movie "Flashdance". "Saints Beneath The Sky" has another strong chorus, but even better is "Pleasure & Pain", which is one of my favourites with its' excellent hook.

The moody "Believe It" is a remake of a song from the band's first album I believe. I haven't heard the first version, but this one is a good one. I can't say that I'm too crazy about the band's big ballad "Meaning Of Life", which sounds a bit too contrived to these eyes. It has a big hymn-like "wave-your-hands-in-the-air" chorus for sure, but it borders on being corny. The hidden track "Final Day" is also a ballad and it's more sincere, unfortunately it doesn't have enough meat around the bones.

I may have granted the previous album the same rating, but having re-visited it, I must say that I was perhaps a bit too generous back then. "Empty Faces" does deserve its' rating as it's quite a bit stronger than its' predecessor.
www.dark-sky.de

Prog Rock Records/SPV 2008
Review by Martien Koolen,
19 May 2008

This new young Italian prog metal band has probably listened to Dream Theater a lot because on their debut album called "Flowing Portraits" you can recognise a couple of familiar DT riffs and melodies. Soul Secret was founded in 2004 and after a couple of personnel changes the band finally found their ideal line-up and signed a contract with Prog Rock Records. "Flowing Portraits" was mastered by no one less than Karl Groom, guitar player of Threshold.

The music of Soul Secret can be best described as a blend of prog rock, metal and symphonic rock. Certain musical passages remind me of DT, Dynamic Lights and Mind Key. This is obvious as the ex-lead singer of Mind Key, Mark Basile, did all the vocal parts on this CD, as Michele Serpico was too ill to do the recording.

"Dance Of The Waves" is the opener and this is a great prog metal track filled with staccato riffs, amazing guitar parts and outstanding melodies. During "First Creature" and "Inner War" the piano tends to become more dominant and because of that the music sounds much more like Dynamic Lights during those two songs. The abolute "failure" on this album is the boring, acoustic song called "Regrets". But if you skip that song then you can enjoy a rather great prog metal album after all.

Rivel Records 2008
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
22 May 2008

Holy Water and Mother Mary. There's truly high-pitched vocals to be found on this CD. It's almost too much and over the top at times, especially since we're talking about male lead vocals here. ReinXeed is more or less a one man project and the creation of Tommy Johansson (vocals, gtr, keys, bass, orchestration, programming, and of course: songwriting).

Discovered by a member of Majestic Vanguard at MySpace, signed by Rivel Records, and co-produced and mixed by Jani Stefanovic of Divinefire, "The Light" is something as unusual as a christian, fantasy, concept album. It's about the two kingdoms, Reindhill and Heelh, once united, the latter fell to greed and the harmony between them ended in silence (what? no violence and bloodshed?). It's of course up to God to retain the goodness and restore the kingdoms, for the prophecy of a perfect world had to be...

It's double-bass drumming, tempo furioso, and music in a similar mode to Dragonforce, Rhapsody, plus the fluffy harmonies of Robbie Valentine. But although the CD flexes the power metal muscle, the projects diversity has to be heard to be believed. Tommy has the gift of hi-pitch flexibility veering from spine-tingled Michael Kiske stuff to a more not of this earth-esque mood.

Rivel Records 2008
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
22 May 2008

Stonefuze is merely Cornerstone under a new banner. Indeed, we're talking about the Swedish band, formed already back in 1989 and with albums such as "Dust", "Flying Gasoline" and "Jesus Rides A Harley Too" in their vast back catalogue. I guess the name changed took place to avoid any confusion with their namesake featuring former Rainbow vocalist, Doogie White.

Nevertheless, the Christian heavy blues band are still quite reminiscent of Finland's Peer Gunt. A lot heavier and more intense than in the past though. They're actually using a similar approach to guitar and bass sound as Leviticus did on "I Shall Conquer" and "The Strongest Power". It's raw and naked with a wealth of grinding noise and gasoline.

DMV Music 2008
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
24 May 2008

Back in 2001, I got a package from David Vaccaro. He sent me his "Lost Demos" CD, which featured songs sung by Robin McAuley and James Christian. Despite the lo-fi equipment the songs were recorded with, they sounded pretty good, and I stated that in my review. Now, 7 years later, Vaccaro's "V-Project" returns with a "New Machine", and once again, Robin McAuley is co-piloting the vehichle. Only this time, Mr. Vaccaro sings many of the songs on his own, and does and okay job with them actually.

The "Lost Demos" was a bit of mixed bag, but on "New Machine" the V-Project seems to have found a more defined style. As vague as the term is, "Classic Rock" does describe the album quite well. You'll find a lot of influences from the 70'ies and some from the eighties - a bit of Zeppelin there, some Aerosmith here, and I'll be damned if one of the songs didn't sound like ZZ Top's eighties' material. The biggest nods towards modern sounds are the instrumental "Desert Run" which combines almost techno-like sounds with gentle acoustic guitar parts, and the orientally flavoured "You Don't Care" with it's aggressive chorus. McAuley doesn't often sound as angry as he does on this song...

Even though the album has its' merits, I just can't really get into it. Many of the songs seem to follow the blues-rock formula with the emphasis on the lyrics, and that doesn't appeal to me that much. Some of the lyrics on the album did save otherwise average songs for a while, I didn't skip to the next song just because I wanted to know how the "story" would end... of course, that effect didn't last for long. No matter how good the lyrics are, in the end it's the music that counts, and this time the music didn't win me over. A few songs with bigger hooks would have been a worthy addition to the tracklisting.

Once again I'll have to say that don't take my word for it, if you're into the classic rock sounds of the seventies you should really check this album out. Vaccaro's production is good and the fine lead vocals from McAuley are an added bonus.
www.dmvmusic.com

Blue Violet 2008
Review by Satu Reunanen
May 2008

MoonMadness has had their debut underway for a long time, also going through singer and drummer changes, Antto Tuomainen and Heidi Bergbacka being the bands fresh"men". In between the album process they've been gigging, also supporting Yngwie Malmsteen, and releasing one track singles, which have gotten good rotation on radios. Their 70's-80's classic rock style is easy for anyone to digest, and for the old Feedback members Otto Hallamaa (guitar) and Juha Leppäharju (bass) playing this type of melodic rock came natural. Their earlier bands, including a Deep Purple cover band, weren't far from what they're playing today.

Having reviewed the bands each release since 2006 I still stand behind those good words. MoonMadness is still strong, and since their first single release "Thunder" they're now even stronger. This debut includes all the single songs, and finally after the one track releases "All In Between" shows the bands capability in the whole rock genre. Releasing their demons, or moreso angels, they with ease churn out exceptional classic rock ballads and rockers. "Stroke Of Midnight", "Shot Through The Wing", "Too Much To Lose", the straight shooter "Torn", truely Purple-mannered "Ain't No Angel" and the thundering "Thunder" are the rockers, while the melancholic "Before It's Too Late", a chillingly longful track "Victims Of The Moon" and the closing track, mid-tempo rocker "On The Edge Of Madness" are more or less ballads and/or emotional rides.

Phil Vincent 2007
Review by Alan Holloway,
14th May 2008

Okay, here's another release from rock workaholic Phil Vincent, once more going under his solo guise after the slightly disappointing Circular Logik album. Straight away, “White Noise” is an improvement, with Vincent delivering some first class melodic rock with “How Long”, a song that throws a catchy riff with some great harmonies that immediately makes me sit up and look forward to the rest of the album.

Thankfully, “White Noise” is as consistent an album as Phil Vincent has ever made, scrubbing away the averageness of Circular Logik with some proper classic rock that will delight existing fans and hopefully win him a few more. As per usual, Vincent does just about everything himself, save for some lead guitar on seven of the thirteen tracks, as well as writing and producing the album. By now he should know what he's doing, and the album sounds pretty good, with a decent mix that doesn't short change any of the instruments. Musically, this is no frills classic hard rock that mixes up the likes of Deep Purple, The Scorpions and Whitesnake, along with a dozen lesser bands. There's plenty of big riffage and some excellent guitar solos, with most of the songs following a well tested template.

“White Noise” can be seen as a positive album for Phil Vincent, delivering some good music. Whilst it doesn't leap out and kick you straight in the balls like some of the better albums of the year so far, it should stand the test of time as a solid, enjoyable disc that is worth coming back to if only to play a little air guitar to.
http://www.philvincent.com

SunCity 2008
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
15 May 2008

According to the info-sheet, the Johnny Crash CD should feature Dizzy Reed and Matt Sorum of Guns N' Roses fame. Not that easy to check and confirm actually, since there's absolutely no info about any band member in the sheet nor CD booklet. But... I did find a small pic of the former Jeff Paris drummer, Matt Sorum, so I guess it's ok, then?

The music of Johnny Crash is straight and simple Acca Dacca stuff with a sleazy twist. Every other track will either have you thinking about AC/DC or Junkyard. The three-chords are literally flying across the room and it's hardly the most original sounding release of the year.

"Monkey See Monkey Do" is the most basic 'meat and potato' rocker of them all. Its simple, raunchy riff, vaguely reminiscent of each and every Acca Dacca tune of the Brian Johnson era, will do just fine on any friday night. "Mama Don't Care (What She Don't See)" is a rather predictable, but strong on adrenaline, rocker in the vein of Junkyard and Skid Row (the 2nd album - 'punk' tunes). But it certainly works and I can't blame them for wanting to sound like these fine acts.

Plastic Passion 2008
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
13 May 2008

"Marseille" is the fourth album from Hundred Million Martians. Although the band is based in the same corner of Finland as I am, these are the first songs I've heard from them. I've seen their name in the local magazines every now and then, but somehow I was under the impression that they are some sort of a boring, pseudo-intellectual college pop band. Shame on me, as I've now learned that they are actually a decent pop-rock band.

The band has an interesting selection of tunes which range from the almost Ramones-like "Across The Street" to the Rolling Stones-flavoured swagger of "UC/BC", with a couple of more indie-tinged pop tracks in between. My favourites are among the more uptempo rock tracks, of which the opening trio of "New Year's Eve", "Backseat Of My Car" and "Life Ain't That Bad, Girl" stands out. With a little help from fellow Turku-based rockers Ben's Diapers, the band has put together big background vocals for these tracks, making the choruses quite strong. The "men's choir" is used throughout the album, and on a few occasions it sounds a bit too much, bringing up images of a quartet of elderly gentlemen in suits and ties humming the choruses next to a rock band...

Even though the song material is varied enough, as an album experience "Marseille" is doesn't really work that well. The somewhat one-dimensional vocals of Jyrki Mäkelä work ok in small doses, but after a while they tend to start irritating me.

PS. Hanoi Rocks fans might be interested to know that Michael Monroe is featured on three of the tracks, playing harmonica and saxophone.
wwww.hundredmillionmartians.com
www.myspace.com/hundredmillionmartians

Playground 2008
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
15 May 2008

"On The Verge"... of a nervous breakdown. Indeed, there's no real temptation in listening to a full CD of mediocre vocals. Asgård was formed in Krasnodar/Russia in 2003. The lyrics are all in the language of "English", however, the eastern accent will spoil an otherwise fun, melodic, power metal album.

Honestly, it's like watching a Eurovision Song Contest, half of the competition wouldn't know how to pronounce "live" from "life". Ehem, not that 'Opus' ever took part of the euro crap, if you can recall a rather horrible pop-hit of the 80's. The music on the other hand is pretty good though. Steeped in the U.S./U.K. rock of Rainbow, Crimson Glory, and Yngwie (yeah, he's a swedish meatball), Asgård doesn't want their band to be seen as a part of the Russian folkmusic. And who can blame them. There's actually far more to the band than such a restrictive tag would suggest, and it's just too much of a stereotype really, poor lead vocals if you're an Russian act.

ZinkMusic 2008
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
8 May 2008

Robbie Dupree, one of those artists which I've only heard about and never actually had the pleasure of listening to in the past. "Time And Tide" is my very first encounter with the man and his music and I can honestly say, I would/could not have appreciated this sort of stuff as a kid or teenager (too bleedin' soft and corny).

I believe you get a broader, more open-minded, approach to music as you enter adult-hood. If not, well, then you're basically a juvenile, narrow-minded, piece of %¤¤#"%. But seriously though, what about Dupree? Well, there's absolutely no intent of being 'hip' or modern, nevertheless, "Time And Tide" is a timeless display of bona fide smooth, soulful, jazzy, westcoast music, which just as easily could have been recorded in 78', 88', 98', or for that matter, 2018.

There's no gimmick, merely an musician's honest endeavour to produce the best friggin' soft platter of the century. Indeed, there's no better representation of ultra-smooth "Westcoast" music. He's practically building bridges out of air and turning water into wine (easy now, he's not the actual savior, you know), right infront of your eyes... ehh... ears. It's so easy somehow, simplicity at its finest content, yet, complicated enough to have you scratching your head in disbelief. Excellent production, colourful texture, killer vocals, and overall top class performance and musicianship.

Indie 2008
Review by Endre 'Bandi' Hübner
7 May 2008

Taking a look at the artwork for the obvious reason Icon's classic album "Right Between the Eyes" came into my mind. When I played the album I thought to myself it was pretty much Icon in 2008: bombastic melodic rock with catchy hooks and a great sound. Hard to believe it is an independent effort.

Taking a further look at the photos of the CD booklet one will see we are not talking about teenagers but seasoned veterans, hence the instrumental confidence and the studio experience. The band produced the album themselves and the result is as good as a major label release, sometimes even better. The song material lives up to the classic late 80s/early 90s materials, obvious comparisons would be bands like Treat, early Pink Cream 69. Heaven's Edge, etc. Yet this ain't no nostalgic material but absolutely fresh stuff full of energy. Sometimes I had a hard time believing the songs were recorded these days and not back in '89 or so, they really sound so authentic. When taking a look at the photos of the guys (they do look as bad as Dr. House) you have to ask yourself how they managed to conserve so much energy for so many years.

Massacre Records 2008
Review by Satu Reunanen
May 2008

German melodic progband Dreamscape decided to re-record a selection of songs off their first two albums, "Trance-like State" (released 1998) and "Very" (1999). All the songs have been re-arranged and completely re-recorded. The bands discography also includes "End Of Silence" (2004) and "5th Season" (2007). Roland Stoll was the singer on the latter one and "Revoiced", but his place has now been given to Mischa Mang. Since the first two albums both had different singers it seems like the vocalist spot is really windy in the band.

This year should treat the fans with another album, "Breathing Spaces", and hopefully Mang will stay longer than just one or two albums. "Revoiced" includes a bonus, the title track from their forthcoming album, which shows the talents of Mang, and his deep tone sounds good, he's quite the Tobias Sammet when he's not screaming. The song has various influences and tempos and jumps from feeling to another using heavy riffs and pianos. Another bonus is the video "When Shadows Are Gone", which wasn't included in the promo cd. Mang isn't the only change in the band. Their drummer is mentioned to be Michael Schwager now, who doesn't play on this album though.

Metal Heaven 2008
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
7 May 2008

This was supposed to be an exclusive double CD package, where disc two hold bonus tracks from the archive of Soul Doctor. Yeah? well, we've merely received disc one for review though, nevermind the rest, it could probably not stand the RockUnited test.

"That's Live!" was recorded over Europe (yup, it clearly reads 'over' on my CD) between 2005 and 2007. Bloody 'ell, it took them 48 months to record 13 tracks? There's however an unmistakable confidence about Soul Doctor's retro rock swagger. Almost too much of a self belief at times, these German euro contenders setting out on a well trodden path of melodic hardrock music.

Gravitas Records 2008
Review by Alan Holloway,
9th May 2008

A few years ago, I enjoyed listening to and seeing Brit hopefuls The Ga Gas, a band that was all guitars and attitide and seemed tied together with other new exciting bands such as Hurricane Party, The Glitterati and The Black Velvets. It was a pretty exciting time for fans, but none of the bands really made the impact they should have, with the Black Velvets vanishing and Hurricane Party now trading under their new name Heavens Basement. The Ga Gas called it a day as well, but have resurfaced as Slaves To Gravity with a new album that presses pretty much the same buttons as they did before.

“Scatter the Crow” is, if I'm honest, a rather grungy album. It makes you think of the mid nineties and bands like Send No Flowers or Pearl Jam, thrusting bass heavy riffs and mournful vocals at you like a child poking a tiger with a stick. The problem is that, good as it is, it never really gets going, never reaches out through the speakers and gives your brain a good shake. You can listen to Slaves To Gravity and know you're listening to some damned fine grunge rock, but it's hard to really care that much if it doesn't reach the parts other albums reach. “Scatter The Crow” is a pretty good album, and I'll lay money on them being shit hot live, but as a whole it doesn't pull all the strings that I hoped it would.
http://www.slavestogravity.com

DM 2008
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
3 May 2008

"The Inner Circle" is a independent Prog-Rock album by Germany's Dante. First of all, I really must congratulate the lads for an excellent display of design and concept on their twenty pages booklet. It's the work of vocalist Alexander Göhs, appearantly a rather skilful photographer and art director (check out his site at MySpace).

Secondly, Dante have achieved a sound and production that compliments their IQ [the band - not their actual intelligence :-)] vibe and overall nice Prog-Rock influences. "The Inner Circle" is a growing, rather professional sounding CD that will surely appeal to people who like their Prog without the metal edges and melodies of the late 80's acts.

WildKingdom 2008
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
4 May 2008

Gemini Five - fast earning themselves the tag of "Sweden's new sleaze sensation" in the early 2000. We're writing down 2008 now and they are fading quick like a flower in the presence of Lemmy. Though they are still hanging on to their rockabilly sleaze, the Swedes now lack all the trademarks of proper quality rock.

Frontiers 2008
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
7 May 2008

I don't get it... why would you try so hard to erase your musical past??? Michael Kiske is clearly ashamed of his Helloween past, considering he's been constantly trying to piss off his old fan base, you know, ever since he left the pumpkins. It's funny though, according to the info-sheet, Kiske is one of the most respected and loved singers of the scene. Really? all this must have been taken place some time before he basically named all the fans "idiots" for still enjoying the Helloween albums.

"Past In Different Ways" is Kiske's laidback take at the Helloween material which he wrote. The acoustic arrangements are indeed basic and they've sometimes even changed around the key to make them sound better? But the thing is, Kiske sings the melodies at the top of his lungs, like it would still be the loud power metal of the past and not the acoustic rock of this CD.

Polygram Records 2008
Review by Alan Holloway,
1st May 2008

I'll be honest, and admit that Def Leppard's 2006 covers album "Yeah!" left me pretty cold, even arctic at times. There were a few good tracks but mostly it was pretty dire and looked like the final throw of Def Leppard's career dice was a double one when they needed a couple of sixes. Two years on, and "Songs From The Sparkle Lounge" has arrived to coincide with the bands much hyped co headlining tour with recently rejuvenated rock monsters Whitesnake. The good news is that The Leps are back with an album that should delight the loyal fans that have stuck with them over the last 28 recording years. The bad news? There isn't any, which i suppose is more good news.

At first, this album didn't quite ring my bells, and on first listen I was happy to dismiss it as a good album but nothing more. A couple more spins and the songs started to worm their way into my head, and I found myself eagerly awaiting certain tracks (Elliot's "Bad Actress" being a pure hard rock standout). A bit later I found myself looking forward to hearing the ballad (the very White Lion-esque "Love") and I knew that the album had me. In fact, the only thing that I don't look forward to is opening the booklet and looking at a picture of Rick Savage that, quite frankly, makes him look like Suzi Quatro after a makeover...

Musically, "Songs From the Sparkle Lounge" is stuffed full of great melodic rock. It's not immensely innovative, and those who want 'another Pyromania' will be disappointed once again. Realists, however, will enjoy a well crafted rock album from a band that, like Whitesnake, have proved that they can still make it happen where it really counts. The opening riffs to album leader "Go" rattle out from the speakers, followed by a thundering bassline that reminds me of "Slang" but a little better. It's a good start, an aggressive opener that says Leppard may be melodic rock but that doesn't mean they can't wave their balls in the air every so often. Single "Nine Lives" has more of a traditional riff and melody akin to "Armageddon It". Throughout the album some superb melody lines are dragged out, with all the band except Rick Allen contributing to the writing pretty equally. With only one ballad it's a full on hard rockin' album, with all the other tracks being well paced and designed to be listened to with a smile on your face and a foot that won't stop tapping.

"Songs From the Sparkle Lounge" is, for me at least, the most complete album the band have produced since "Hysteria", and even then it's more concise and not worried about impressing listeners and critics with how awfully clever it's being. I didn't think that Leppard as a band could match Phil Collen's side project Man-Raze, but I would rate both albums as being as good as each other, although this is more clean cut. If you're going to see any of the gigs this Summer then this, as well as Whitesnake's "Good To Be Bad", is pretty much an album you just have to get.
http://www.defleppard.com

Escape 2008
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
2 May 2008

Welcome to the magnum opus of Alliance. To be frank, I sort of gave up on this "super-group" years ago - Robert Berry (Hush, GTR, Ambrosia), Gary Phil (Boston, Sammy Hagar), David Lauser (Sammy Hagar), Alan Fitzgerald (Night Ranger). All of their previous attempts had been nothin' bout disappointments and average rock. It seems like they've finally found their "Road To Heaven" though, since this is a great collection of songs in a classic sort of way and style.

Indeed, they are no longer stuck in their early albums rut. They have progressed, but managed to do so without compromising themselves too much. They've basically taken what they already had and improved on the formula with a more basic rock approach. You'll find more influences of Bruce Springsteen, John Cougar Mellencamp, and Tom Cochrane, than ever before, and it works nicely along with the Giant (Last Of The Runaways), Bad English, and Night Ranger sound.

Tracks such as "Make A Stand" and "Anything Goes" are almost classics in their approach, complemented by Robert Berry's distinctive vocal style in the vein of Dan Huff (Giant). The excellent keyboard work by Fitzgerald makes tracks such as "Like Me Like That" and "Broken Glass" sound like stuff off the first Bad English album (great!). "Comin' Home" is a rough guitar rocker with matching vocals in the style of Mellencamp and Huff. "Walkin' Away" is a 50/50 affair in the style of Tom Cochrane vs. Giant, and "Remember Those Days" borrows quite a lot from the sound of The Last Of The Runaways.

Demolition Records 2008
Review by Alan Holloway,
24th APril 2008

Some of you may be aware of Joseph Poole, better known as Wednesday 13, from his work eith the Murderdolls or even Frankenstein Drag Queens From the Planet 13. He's a busy little chap, apparently having a lot of fun making horror themed music, something he's been doing for over ten years now with quite a bit of success. Whereas fellow shock rocker Marylin Manson sparks outrage wherever he does (mostly for no good reason, admittedly), Wednesday 13 comes across as more mischievous scamp than Satan worshipping loony.

One look at the tracklisting tells the listener exactly what to expect here, as titles like “Scream baby Scream”, “Gimmie Gimmie Bloodshed” and “All American Massacre” suggest that perhaps Mr 13 isn't a fan of kittens and bunnies (unless they're being decapitated or something). Musically, it's nowhere near as bad as it could be, with the songs coming across as pretty well thought out, meaty and often quite catchy, despite the themes. It's an easy thing to compare him with Alice Cooper, so why shouldn't I do that? Wednesday 13 and Alice would go well together, perhaps augmented by a bit of the Misfits for good measure. Sure to delight rebellious teenagers everywhere, “Skeletons” is a good piece of horror rock that isn't half as nasty as it first appears.
http://www.myspace.com/officialwednesday13

Frontiers 2008
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
23 April 2008

Wow, "Never Again" is a great opener for an album. It's such a great little number that I started thinking in big words and a raving review. It's definitely just as good as the best of Asia. However, they were always about hits and misses anyhow. Serious