Archived Reviews: # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Reviews Index

In whole the album sounds a bit shallow, but it really doesn’t take away much from the mood, that all the great hooks bring to it. I wonder what these guys sound like on their year 2000 release called “ Eyes Of The Mirror”. I could imagine them having even greater songs on that one, as they have a very promising touch here.

Fahrenheit may not be the most original band [e.g. right off the top of my head I know a French, a German, a Hungarian, and two US bands with the same name] and their production needs to be improved if they wanna compete with the European or American bands of the genre but they deserve a chance cuz they rock. Speaking of rocking: Before I played the album I asked Urban who had heard it earlier what it was like. He said: "it rocks in a dumb way" and knowing him I guess he meant it in a rather positive way. I played it a dozen times since then and I couldn't come up with a better or more appropriate way of wording it. So ladies and gentlemen, Fahrenheit rocks in a dumb way. Rock with them and get laid on your prom night! Or on your business reception if you have already graduated.
www.fahrenheitonline.net

FAIR WARNING: "4" 8

Frontiers 2000

You may not find anything "new" on this CD! It does sound a lot like ... FAIR WARNING (big surprise huh?) But Hey! that´s not a bad thing after all... How many times have we been disappointed by bands that have gone "grunge, more 90´s, or just bad"? No... this is a good, solid AOR/melodic hardrock album with many great songs. "Through the fire" is another good uptempo song that rocks and "Break free" is a superb ballad with a killer hook and Tommy Heart sings like a GOD! "Forever" is a song that both fans of F-W and TEN, Bob Catley/Magnum will enjoy. Let´s not forget that both Helge Engelke & Andy Malecek are good guitar players! Just listen to "I fight" a great uptempo song filled with licks & tricks from the two riff-masters, the song is really catchy and the guitar work is excellent. "Eyes of love" is a great mid-tempo song and "Wait" is a hit for sure. Make sure to check ´em out, the album will be released on March 28th www.frontiers.it & www.nowandthen.co.uk

Frontiers 2000

AOR Heaven 2000

Best songs are "RAT TRAP TOWN", a superb uptempo song a-la PAT BENATAR with some great work by the other two full-members TOM DaPRATO (Guitars) & JAY AHL (Keyboards). I can also hear some influences from HEART & JOAN JETT in this AOR Rocker. "BEAUTIFUL BOY" is a good ballad with a catchy chorus; "WILD CHILD" is a nice semi-ballad that sounds a lot like VIXEN. But I must also say that a couple of songs are not so good, "CHAINS" is a pretty boring song that sounds like a poor version of HEADPINS/JOAN JETT and "HARD TIMES" isn´t much better. "CRY ALONE" is a superb semi ballad with a catchy chorus and "TIME FLIES" sounds like a bit rougher version of KIM WILDE, the English beauty that had many hits in the early 80s (Kids in America, Cambodia, etc.). So if you´re into the above mentioned artists or if you like female fronted Melodic Hardrock find out more about them and listen to some songs at www.mp3.com/rubyfaith and email the band at: rubyfaith@hotmail.com You can Buy this CD at www.aorheaven.com (of course).

And I'm asking you... how can you not enjoy a refrain that goes: "Light This City We're Dancin' This Saturday Night - Another Dancin' Smashin' Sleepless Night". Yeah, I thought so... it's all very 'cheesy' and predicable somehow. However, let's not forget about words like: catchy, uplifting, and darn right funny, either. On the other hand you'll also have a couple of boring parts as far from everything is positive about this CD. The production by Luis Barros (Tarantula) is however very professionally done. Highlights includes the Bon Jovi-ish "I've Been Missing You", the Firehouse meets Bonfire rocker "You Won't Get Me Now", the epic ballad "Ending Song", the uptempo rocker "Melting Your Ice", and of course the smashing title track. Not to forget the mega catchy "Learned My Lesson", with lovely harmonies. Lots of kick-ass guitars and superb performance by Sabino makes this an interesting CD for all fans of fun, MTV rock, a'la 1990. Bottomline: Don't expect rocket science and simply just enjoy Faithfull for what they are. Approx. 1 hour of uplifting hairmetal with goofy lyrics and catchy, kick-ass, music (minus a couple of fillers).
www.vinnyrecords.com
www.cdtotal.com

Indie 2001

I especially enjoy the Swedish lads (no, not because I´m from Sweden myself) as Lars Säfsund is a really superb vocalist and the three songs they cover here (Endless, I´ll supply the love & A Secret love) are all of top class and that typical Scandinavian sound adds something extra to the classic Toto songs. You could say that they are almost up there with bands such as T´Bell or Grand illusion and somebody needs to get hold of this Säfsund character as he could very well end up fronting a famous band. The only person here that is pretty well-known in the AOR scene, with a bunch of albums behind him is Phil Vincent. His version of "White sister" sounds marvelous and he handles also the lead vocals for "Hey little girl" a song never recorded actually by Toto as it has only been performed live before. American Ed James does a nice cover of "St.George and the dragon" and Dutch vocalist Gert Kraayenzang is yet another fine singer who delivers some classy performances on the Toto classic´s "All us boys, I will remember & Home of the brave" the later is a duet with female vocalist Jose Bosschers and this girl can really tear the roof down. Add that Michael Riesenbeck himself is all over this CD with some flashy guitarwork and you got yourself a great album here. The first stock of "Fanfields" is already sold out and you might wanna hurry if you´d like to get hold of this very fine piece of craftsmanship. Find out more at: http://home.wanadoo.nl/michael.riesenbeck/ttcd

The description above fits many of my favourite albums, and while Far North have all the ingredients, their songwriting isn't on the same level as on the "real" classics. The best tracks ("Yes I'll Try", "Never Trust A Stranger", "The Run" and "Phantoms") are worthy examples of Scandinavian melodic rock, but unfortunately most of the tracks are only decent enough. I keep looking for that killer hook, but in many cases it's nowhere to be found.
www.mtm-music.com

"Dawn Of Forever" is their debut release at MTM Music and it may attract fans of other German acts, such as Casanova or Jaded Heart. Tracks like "Living In Extremes" or "I Remember" are perfect If you like 'em hard and heavy, yet still very melodic, while tracks like "Coast To Coast" or "Long Way Home" are perfect for your laidback days. Especially the latter is a ballad which fellow German rockers of Scorpions would have been darn proud of. "Material World" with its 'ignorence is bliss' line is something out of the ordinary. The song is almost done in a medievial way and Somapala's voice is almost magical. You could say that he's like the German version of Johnny Gioeli (Hardline, Axel Rudi Pell, Crush 40), even though it's may not exactly be the whole truth. The real winner and hitsingle would have to be "Surrender" with its mega catchy refrain. All that glitters ain't gold though and there's a couple of really lame fillers included here. We would have been better off without songs like "We Entertain Ya", "I Am What I Am", and the cheesy "You're On The Run". The rest is not bad at all really and fans of above mentioned bands could be in for a treat here.
www.mtm-music.com

Indie 2002

The best way to describe his style of playing would be to compare it well-known acts, most of the times he sounds like Satriani mixed with the slowed down, more melodic Vinnie Moore (from the 90s on). The opening "Mah, chi puo dirlo?" [looks like the ingredients of some Mexican appetizer... :)] and the personal favorite of mine "Rock In Blue" [no, not only because I can read its title] showcase the above mentioned style, while "Risveglio" is a little more jazzy, "Spot" and "Rebel Hot" are pure Satch on rocks, the other personal favorite "Apripa" is a tasty ballad with beautifully layered guitar and synth parts. The longest track "New Miles" closes the demo and it summarizes everything we heard so far, melts all different aspects of Nicola's playing and songwriting into one. I would like to emphasize it once more: I included this CD here to make it KNOWN to public. This guy proved there's no need for a million dollar recording budget, you can make it with talent and professionalism, using the right tools if you are good enough to make use of them. The world would be a better place if he got the chance to record this album again, and get it to a wide audience. There's a wonderful album hidden in Nicola Fassi. Wait a minute! Why do I say "hidden"? It's here, playing in my CD player! Someone, please release it! www.nicolafassi.com

All in all the EP is a good appetizer for the album, if the rest of the songs are in the vein of the ones showcased here, "Simplicity Rules" should be a real winner. Check the label at www.hellman-wallmman.se.

There's more stuff than meets the eye and Symphonic, High-Tech, AOR, with lots of progressive keyboards, would perhaps be the best description of their music (simplicity my ass). The line-up of Anders Fältsjö (vocals), Thomas Nilsson (guitars), Magnus Petersson (bass), Patrik Eriksson (keyboards), and Mattias Sjögren (drums), mixes influences of Asia (the band), Mr.Mister, with the whole 'David Foster' approach. For example, "Perfect Dream", is blessed with a brass section and everything (synth work, but still), while "Unknown World" shows a lot of Bubbles "Video Killed The Radio Star" and of course Asia. The Mark Spiro meets Asia sounding "Head Above The Water", is a real winner with its catchy refrain and acoustic guitar driven approach. Fältsjö has a strong, clear voice (which reminded me of Adolphson & Falk in certain places), that clearly works best with this kind of material. "Anything It Takes", "In The Heart Of The Soul", and "Stay On The Line", are all fantastic uptempo rockers with sing-a-long choruses. Add that "Valley Of Heaven" is a really fine 'epic ballad', with similarities to both Styx & Asia. A couple of lousy fillers won't stop this from being a nice CD after all. You could also try and imagine a less 'progressive' and 'complex' version of Grand Illusion (the band from Sweden), and you'd be pretty close to the core actually.
www.adrenaline.it

Fatal Smile 2000

Guitarist/Songwriter YUKSEL UNUTMAZ is all over this demo with his great guitarplay and the rhythm section with MARKUS JOHANSSON (Bass) & RICKARD JOHANSSON (Drums) sounds very tight. "The Saviour" is a song with a very catchy guitar riff a strong chorus and some outstanding vocals by ANDERSSON. "Beyond reality" starts with a brutal guitar riff (almost like Metallica) before the more melodic verse begins, the chorus could have been a bit better since I don´t really think it´s catchy enough and it´s for sure the weakest track on this demo. Last track "Love has Mysterious Ways" is a keeper though again with some really cool licks & tricks from UNUTMAZ, a nice chorus and I must say that the production of this demo is pretty good. FATAL SMILE are right now at work with writing a couple of new songs for their full length CD and I´m sure that we´ll hear a lot from them in the future to come. For now check out their site at: http://listen.to/fatalsmile and like the URL says, listen....

Check out the marvelous "Crush On U" which really is the perfect mixture of 80's and today's hardrock. Opener "Bad Kharma" hits you like a ton of bricks with its heavy groove and excellent performance by vocalist H.B. Guitarist Unutmaz is all over the place here with massive riffing and other tricks & licks. "The Saviour" is from their earlier demo and a darn catchy song while "Butterflies" is simply magical. "Circle Of Fire", "Xcuse Me", and the semi-ballad "Scene Of A Crime" are other highlights here. The production by H.P. Camper (aka Jonas Östman - Yngwie Malmsteen, Mental Hippie Blood, Thåström etc.) is of top class and "Beyond Reality" is something that no fan of guitar oriented rock can simply ignore. Since this is yet another great hardrock CD from Sweden with both hooks and power. There's three real downsides with this disc though, #1 - I really miss the cool song "Love Has Mysterious Ways" from the Beyond Reality demo. #2 - Erhmmm... what's up with H.B's hairdo anyway??? It's freakin' purple dude and way too much skateboard punk for this true rocker's ticker. #3 - Reading through the booklet and the credit list... who the heck is Urban 'Wally' ENGström??? [:-)].
www.fatalsmile.nu
www.gmrmusic.se

If the band has more songs to match the quality of these two, I'm pretty sure that they won't remain hometown heroes only. I'll be looking forward to hearing more, and hopefully I'll catch the band in a live setting sometime soon!
Contact: faultline_music@hotmail.com

"I Like It" is completely done by the band, from songwriting to cover art, with Allardyce working as the producer. He has certainly created an excellent sound for the group, quite powerful and crystal clear. As for the songs, they range from 80'ies-like hard rockers (some of them reminded me of Twisted Sister!) to sentimental ballads in the Journey-vein. The songwriting isn't quite "there" yet though. Still, these songs do show promise, with "Gettin' It", "Dreamer" and the ballad "Everyone Knows" sounding quite excellent.
www.ftrmusic.com

I've always thought of Feehan as a excellent singer indeed. He can both handle the smooth parts and let it rip like Dave Meniketti (Y&T), or why not Steve Overland (FM). Lots of other celeberties like James Christian (House Of Lords), Randy Jackson (Journey, not the Zebra dude), Steve Lukather (Toto), Bruce Gaitsch (Madonna, Richard Marx etc), Mike Reno (Loverboy), and even the late Brian MacLeod (Headpins R.I.P.), helps out with stuff here. The result is a darn fine, but pretty typical AOR album, without any hickups or sudden suprises. Old fans already know what kind of stuff to expect here, there are no major changes since last time around really. It's very much like a mixture of his previous albums... not that strange either, since this is after all "leftover" from those projects. For newcomers, you could place him in the same category as Loverboy, Eddie Money, Stan Bush, or why not Chicago (during the later part of the 80's). You need however to spin this a couple of times to really let the material sink in. Some of the tracks such as "Love Junkie", "Caught In The Middle", or "You Gotta Love That" are a bit rougher than his previous work. "Call Of The Wild" is very much like the work of Loverboy and Mike Reno helps out with bg vocals here. A fun 80's summertime tune, which fits perfectly in your car stereo with the top down. "Don't Need No Invitation" is a darn fine song with a catchy chorus, the Chicago similarities really shines throught here. "You Still Breathe" is the ballad of the album and it reminded me also of Chicago somehow. Solid AOR material in the end and not bad at all for "leftover", a couple of lame fillers goes with the territory I guess. Feehan fans can safely pick this up without feeling embarrassed and the same goes with the rest of you... I guess?... again.
www.mtm-music.com

This is actually "Heavier Than Thou" and will most certainly attract both old and new fans. They're signed to Magic Circle Music in the states, which of course is Manowar's own production company and Joey Demaio is the executive producer of "Third Wish". Something that only contributes to the high standard and overall classy performance by all parts included. Lead vocalist is the excellent John West of Artension, Royal Hunt, and he actually sounds better than ever here. This is my kind of metal and probably yours too, if you've enjoyed The Rods in the past, along with mid 80's Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Dio, Malmsteen, and classic metal albums with classic metal riffs. This is sooo much 80's and old school that you'll almost have to pinch yourself every once in a while. You can't help to think about Artension every now and then too, mostly, if not only, due to the voice of West, since the music is definitely what I described above. The main riff to "Far Beyond" is quite similar to Dio's "Holy Diver", even if it's not a question of stealing or blue print copying. "Live To Ride, Ride To Live" is a title that Manowar would have been proud of and it's heavy metal to the core. Highly recommended and one of my fave albums of the year (so far). Yet another fine example of the fact that simplicity rules.

Sadly the production leaves much to ask for as it's very much demo quality. The sound is not allthrough lousy, but just remember that you've been officially warned. The lead vocalists Bob Reynolds & Keith St.John, do both sound like a distant cousin to Ron Keel somehow. I don't know about you, but I've always thought of Keel, to be a very average singer. This may not be the most important thing here though. But the material sung by the above two are also pretty boring, meat-and-potato rock a'la the worst material by Keel. Things looks much brighter with "Chance of A Lifetime" though, since it's performed by the great singer Todd Taylor. The below mentioned songs do all sound good, production wise too! The track "Too Hot To Stop", was written by Ferrari and Steve Plunkett of 'Autograph' and solo fame. The latter do also sing this fun party-tune which is a winner in my book (like a mixture of Autograph & Keel). Another great vocalist, namely the famous Stan Bush handles the power ballad "Capture The Dream". A darn fine AOR ballad with a solid performance by Bush. "Depths Of My Soul" is a nice blues-rock ballad with vocals by Todd Smallwood. Needless to say Ferrari do add some really tasty guitarwork all over this album. And guitarist/keyboardist Paul Taylor (ex- Winger/Alice Cooper), has co-written almost all of the songs together with Ferrari. Bottomline, a couple of really good tracks do not save the album and I expected alot more by the speedy Ferrari.
www.zrecords.net

One thing's for sure, Ferreira is an excellent songwriter, with not only one but two great projects out there (see the 'Monkey Bite' review). I must admit that I was already a fan of his other project, when I first heard this CD. I never expected this to be almost as good without sounding the same or being boring. Then again, this is his 80's thing while 'Monkey Bite' is more modern, nu-breed rock. Not only a good songwriter and singer, the sob can also play guitar like a possessed demon [gee, who said that life's fair? :-)], the instumental track here is really something to talk about. Opener "I'll Be There" really sets the pace and vibe for the rest of the album. Lovely melodies and chorus oriented rock would be the key words here. "Searching" is Melodic Rock a-la (early) Bon Jovi/Harem Scarem and the title track "Fallen Heroes" continues on the same path. "You Better Wake" is something that Nelson could have done and the same goes with "Give You Away". The vocal harmonies are really great throughout the whole album. "That's What We Stand For" is a groovy guitar rocker with cliched 'woah-oh' shouts and everything. "Born Again" is so freakin' good that it hurts inside and "Missing You" is a superb power ballad. I started out thinking this could never be as good as the Monkey Bite CD. But it almost is... I simply can't understand how the very same person could write all those marvelous songs though. Recommended, even if two of the songs here are what I'd call "fillers"
www.shirerecords.com

Not only a good songwriter and singer, the sob can also play guitar like a possessed demon [gee, who said that life's fair? :-)], the instumental track here is really something to talk about. Opener "I'll Be There" really sets the pace and vibe for the rest of the album. Lovely melodies and chorus oriented rock would be the key words here. "Searching" is Melodic Rock a-la (early) Bon Jovi/Harem Scarem and the title track "Fallen Heroes" continues on the same path. "You Better Wake" is something that Nelson could have done and the same goes with "Give You Away". The vocal harmonies are really great throughout the whole album. "That's What We Stand For" is a groovy guitar rocker with cliched 'woah-oh' shouts and everything. "Born Again" is so freakin' good that it hurts inside and "Missing You" is a superb power ballad. Recommended, even if two of the songs here are what I'd call "fillers".
www.shire-records.com

Lion Music 2003

However I really can't believe any average melodic rock or metal fan can enjoy this album. So as always with these kind of albums: my advice is PLAY it before you decide upon buying in order to avoid getting disappointed.
Lion Music

This is perhaps the worst attempt of (sleaze) rock since "Tattooed Love Boys" recorded the ultimate low point "Bleeding Hearts And Needle Marks" in the 80's. Their songs are actually darn good comparing to some of these tracks and Andrew WK comes through like a bloody genius. Reading through the following info sheet, they want us to believe that press reactions such as "at last a band who makes you stamp your feet" are all good credit. I guess they forgot to mention that all those reviewers would probably like to stamp their feets all over this disc... until it breaks into 1000's bits and pieces. I'll have to admit the KISS/Ace Frehley cover "Hard Times" is not that poorly performed at all. It's not really a question of being lousy musicians either... at least not as much as being really crappy at writing their own material. Most of these songs are in the vein of Andrew WK, Alice Cooper, Motley Crue, only without any hooks, fresh ideas, or something else worth pointing out. Nevertheless, this is pretty much the reason to why MTV kids of today are still laughing at the idea of 80's hardrock. Bottomline: Fiinky Pie is a bunch of good/nice musicians without the ability of writing good, solid, material.
www.brennus.fr.fm

C'mon... give them a break, you say? Well... it's not like I have anything against the musicians of Final Frontier. Mladen is all over the place with nice guitarwork, fluffy keyboards and a mean bass. Moratti is an excellent vocalist and I must give extra credit for his background work. On the other hand, the songmaterial leaves much to ask for. For every good track they seem to play at least one crappy tune. But when they are good they are REALLY good!!! Songs like opener "Restless Heart", "The Power", "Show Your Love", and "Forever's A Heartbeat Away", are all great AOR anthems. The sound is very much mid-80's with catchy hooks and big choruses. Imagine a mix of Journey, Von Groove & Harem Scarem and you're pretty close. The ballad "Ambrosia" is really, really good too. Sadly, songs like "Two Strangers", "Long Live Those Golden Years", "Hello & Goodbye", "Once Touched By Love", & "Soul Surrender", all sounds like a long and boring deja vu experience. The whole CD will not end up on my 'best of the year' list. But some of the songs like Restless Heart and Ambrosia will for sure. Final Frontier does everything perfect on 5 or 6 of the 11 tracks here.
www.zrecords.net

Like I've said before, Moratti is an excellent singer and the songwriting has definitely reached a different level on their second album. Ten smashing tracks of which the unbelievably catchy "Lydia" is better than anything out there right now. Harmony vocals out of this world and a refrain that Perry/Schon (Journey) would kill to have written. I simply can't get enough of that song. "Run, Run, Runaway, Love Is Gonna Find You Someday" is perhaps lyrically taken directly from the Journey book of songwriting, but really, who gives a crap as long as "Runaway" is such a magical and catchy tune. Check out the laidback ending with those marvelous vocal harmonies again. Ouch! And just wait until you've heard "Somebody's Gonna Pay The Price" or "Lost Inside A Dream", where music get a different meaning completely really. "After The Fall" is THE ballad, with lighter in the air and goosebumps all over your body. I must also mention "Can't Stop Falling In Love" here as it's yet another winner, along with almost every other track by the way. Downsides? Indeed, you wish the production could have been as good as back in the 80's. Then again, the recording budget today, can't really be compared with the sum of money the artists received back in the heydays. Kudos to Final Frontier for sticking to their guns and continuing making music which they obviously love as much as any AOR fan. "The Second Wave" will have any wimp rocker out there in tears... of joy (I hope).
www.zrecords.net