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
Nightmare Records 2001
17 April 2002
Who's this dude? Well, Ben Jackson (vocals, guitars) is mainly known as a founding member and guitarist with the legendary Prog Metal band Crimson Glory. He was a key ingredient in creating the classic sound of the Florida Metal act in the mid 80's.
Crimson took a hiatus from their cause in the early 90's (due to grunge) and Jackson formed a new group 'Parish', who recorded one album in the mid-90's with a more 'commercial' rock sound in the style of Winger, Slaughter etc. It was a short lived project though and Jackson started working on this, his first solo album in 1998.
"Here I come" didn't come through until late last year though, due to the Crimson Glory reunion in 1999. This is actually pretty far from the Prog Metal of CG as it's very commercial 80's rock. Call it melodic or classic rock, it really doesn't matter as the music is really an combination of all this and more. It's not that far from the 'Parish' sound, even if the guitars are more up front here (no keys are to be found either). The instrumental "Misty Rain" is actually one of the highlights on the album. Not that the vocal tracks are bad rather than old Misty being a darn good instro' tune. Other highlights are: "Feel Me" with some smashing guitar work and a sound straight from the 80's. "Closer To Soul" continues in the same path, even tho' this is a mid-tempo tune. The title track "Here I Come" is another winner with some good vocal parts by Jackson and the same goes with "Touched". He may not be the best singer out there, but he sure know how to make the best outta' his voice. The final verdict must be 'quite good', espicially since I never really cared for Crimson Glory that much.
www.nightmare-records.com
AOR Heaven 2001
I really must say that I´m not exactly sure what to write about this album! It kinda leaves me cold and untouched here, is it me or do many of the songs sound very uninspired and darn right boring? Don´t get me wrong here! You might like this if you´re into smooth AOR from Sweden without anything that sticks out or are in contrast to the rest of the tracks, while me finds this to be utterly boring indeed.
One thing´s for sure Pete Sandberg (ex.Alien, Snake Charmer, Madison, Bewarp, Von Rosen, etc.) is still an excellent singer and the production done by Anders Theander at the famous Roasting House studio in Malmö/Sweden is as always a fine piece of craftsmanship.
Still, the highlights would be opener "Northern Light" a catchy uptempo track from Sandberg´s days with Madison, recorded at first already back in 1989. "Power of Gold" which sounds like something that Snake Charmer could have done. "Where there is a will" is a great aor rocker with a catchy chorus and same goes with "Time and again" and let´s not forget about the hidden track "Me and my piano?" a really wonderful piano ballad where Sandberg sounds at his best. Five good songs won't make an album though but try and find some MP3´s to listen to before buying this CD as I´m sure that others (newcomers and aor rookies?) will enjoy this more than I did?. www.aorheaven.com
Indie 2002
Review by
28 November 2002
I'm not quite sure how to label the music of The Jade Farrows? Call it Nu-Breed, call it Rock? It really doesn't matter as long as it's quality music from start to finish. Some of you may remember that I was raving about the band Coppertree, a couple of years back (see review in our archive). Well... vocalist/songwriter Jim Gray is back with a new project and a 6-track CD.
I still can't believe that Gray isn't a more famous musician by now. Sure... not all of the songs here are radio hits!!! However, something like "All The Way Gone", "What About Us" or "Get In Line", really should be out there on the waves. Heck, I'm listening to much worse bands and songs on the radio each and every day.
The overall sound of The Jade Farrows isn't that much different from Coppertree really. U2 guitars mixed with the 'mature' sound of Counting Crows, Matchbox 20, Goo Goo Girls, Invertigo etc. The line-up of Jim Gray (vocals, guitar), Matt Hallahan (guitars), Ken Berardinangelo (bass) & Jon Rutkowski (drums), have managed to come up with some really strong material here. I must admit that I really enjoy the vocals of Gray. He may not be the best technical trained singer out there. Still, he sings with lots of heart, passion, and not to mention soul. It diffentely helps that he's blessed with one of those voices, that you can tell apart from other singers at once. All that Jade Farrows really needs is someone to help them out with distribution, promotion etc. Or better yet... a label to support them wouldn't be that bad either I guess? Check them out at the site below for more info and soundclips.
www.thejadefarrows
CD at CDbaby.com
MTM 1999
Review by 
Jaded Heart teamed up with producer Bobby Barth for this album, and the results are at best quite impressive. The production of "IV" is really bombastic, but unfortunately the songwriting cannot always match the sonic excellence.
"Live And Let Die" is a suitably pompous opener, a true anthem with an anti-war message, children's choir singing the intro and a big sing-along chorus. "Hey God Don't Hesitate" is a bit Aerosmithy hard rock song, while "Way Back Home" is a traditional power ballad, and quite a good one. Rainbow's "Stonecold" is the first of two covers, given here a very faithful treatment, with Michael Bormann sounding uncannily like Joe Lynn Turner.
"When You Hear The Thunder" is a melodic yet heavy track, and one of the highlights for me. The hard rocking "Ain't A Perfect World" sounds quite good too, but I am more impressed with the melodic "With Your Eyes", which just might be my favourite track on this album.
The rest of the album pretty much falls into the gategory of "good, but not so special", including songs like "Take My Soul"(reminds me of Guild Of Ages) and the bluesy ballad "She's A Woman". The last song is quite special though, a hard rocking cover of Phil Collins' & Philip Bailey's "Easy Lover". Jaded Heart pull it off brilliantly, adding some muscle into the song.
Ulftone 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
12 March 2004
"It feels like home so raise your glasses" - Indeed, make yourself at home, turn up the stereo, and put your "Trust" on Jaded Heart to come up with some familiar rock. You surely can't blame Michael Bormann (vocals/guitar) and the rest of the gang, to even remontely drift away from their chosen path.
They are still doing their Bon Jovi meets Bonfire kind of music and it works nicely every now and then. The marvelous "Feels Like Home" with its 'Raise Your Glasses' line, will have any old fart up and dancing on the tables. The keyboard work here is simply irresistible catchy and you'll be singing along with the refrain at once. It's one of those choruses that you simply can't get out of your head, once you've heard it. "Healer" could almost have been a leftover from the Bon Jovi debut back in 1983. These both tracks are opening up the album, along with the solid "Anymore", and I honestly thought this to be a great CD.
It's unfortunately mostly downhill from now on, even if "Burning Heart" (not the Survivor hit), the Bon Jovi sounding "Love Is Magic", and "Masquerade", are all fine rock anthems. The rest of the material is however a bit too much on the safe side. Nothing to really stick or poke you in the eye with and it's simply too familiar somehow. I'll have to admit that Bormann do actually sound better than ever and his singing style is clearly getting better with each release. I guess he know his limits by now and kudos to him. You will probably still find things to enjoy if you're a Jaded (no pun intended) fan of the past. And I'm leaving this disc with that "Feels Like Home" tune, still in the back on my mind... too bad that not all of the tracks could have been this good.
Frontiers/USG 1999
Eleven years after the release of "Too Hot To Sleep", the last Survivor album, Jimi Jamison returns to the scene with his version of Survivor. Original guitarist/songwriter Frakie Sullivan and vocalist Dave Bickler have another "Survivor", and they may have won the lawsuit, but that's not to say that Jamison's version doesn't do justice to the name. "Empires" is a fine piece of AOR for the nineties, faithful to the style of old Survivor, but with enough spirit and fresh ideas to keep it interesting.
"Cry Tough" opens the show with a traditional AOR style, yet not sounding dated, and Jamison sounds just as good as way back in the eighties. The song is an instant singalong anthem, and one of the best on the album. "Run From The Thunder" is an average hard rock number that sounds like it could have been taken from the disappointing Jamison solo album "When Love Comes Down", while "I'm Always Here" is indeed an old Jamison solo track, the theme song from Baywatch. Somehow it sounds a bit out of place here, but it's not a bad track and I am sure it's a wise inclusion marketingwise.
The title song is the only song co-written by "original Survivors" Frankie Sullivan and Jim Peterik, and it's a good ballad that keeps getting better with every time I hear it. It also features the vocal talents of Lisa Frazier. "First Day Of Love" is a surprising track, starting like a typical melodic Survior track, but suddenly the guitars crash in with Jamison singing on top of everything like a hard rock semi-god! The chorus is still just as melodic as anything else on the album, and quite brilliant too. "Have Mercy" follows the same heavy melodic style successfully. A special mention must go the intro of the song - very cool!
"Just Beyond The Clouds" is a more traditional AOR ballad, and 10-15 years ago it would have been all over radio. With "A Dream Too Far" Jimi & co. return to the aforementioned heavy melodic AOR style and believe me, they do it well! This song is probably my favourite track, full of athmospheric keyboard textures and blessed with an amazing hook. Unfortunately, it is followed by the weak "Love Is Alive", which doesn't really go anywhere. However, as "November Rain" is an OK ballad and "Calling America" sounds very good too, the album ends with a high note. Except that it doesn't end, as two live tracks, Survivor classics "Burning Heart" and "Rebel Son" have been added to the album. Great tracks and well performed too, and I am sure they make this album more appealing to the common man. He might take a chance on an album that has a couple of songs he already knows, "the Baywatch song" and "the Rocky IV song", rather than a brand new product.
Frontiers 2003
Review by
19 October 2003
Four years ago Jamison released this album under the name of "Jimi Jamison's Survivor". There was some debate and law suits regarding the name, but it's all history now, as Jimi is back in the "real" Survivor. "Empires" gets a re-release as a Jimi Jamison solo album, what it really was to begin with. There are two bonustracks on the album, a nice christmas song "Keep It Evergreen" and a live version of the Survivor track "Too Hot To Sleep", which was first released on the "I'm Always Here" single back in 1999.
Here's an edited version of my original review of the 1999 release - the album was good back then and it's still good in 2003!
"Empires" is a fine piece of AOR for the nineties, faithful to the style of old Survivor, but with enough spirit and fresh ideas to keep it interesting.
"Cry Tough" opens the show with a traditional AOR style, yet not sounding dated, and Jamison sounds just as good as way back in the eighties. The song is an instant singalong anthem, and one of the best on the album. "Run From The Thunder" is an average hard rock number that sounds like it could have been taken from the disappointing Jamison solo album "When Love Comes Down", while "I'm Always Here" is indeed an old Jamison solo track, the theme song from Baywatch. Somehow it sounds a bit out of place here, but it's not a bad track and I am sure it's a wise inclusion marketingwise.
The title song is the only song co-written by "original Survivors" Frankie Sullivan and Jim Peterik, and it's a good ballad that keeps getting better with every time I hear it. It also features the vocal talents of Lisa Frazier. "First Day Of Love" is a surprising track, starting like a typical melodic Survior track, but suddenly the guitars crash in with Jamison singing on top of everything like a hard rock semi-god! The chorus is still just as melodic as anything else on the album, and quite brilliant too. "Have Mercy" follows the same heavy melodic style successfully. A special mention must go the intro of the song - very cool!
"Just Beyond The Clouds" is a more traditional AOR ballad, and 10-15 years ago it would have been all over radio. With "A Dream Too Far" Jimi & co. return to the aforementioned heavy melodic AOR style and believe me, they do it well! This song is probably my favourite track, full of athmospheric keyboard textures and blessed with an amazing hook. Unfortunately, it is followed by the weak "Love Is Alive" (also covered by Anastacia), which doesn't really go anywhere. However, as "November Rain" is an OK ballad and "Calling America" sounds very good too, the album ends with a high note. Except that it doesn't end, as the aforementioned christmas song and thre live tracks (two on the original release), Survivor classics, "Too Hot To Sleep", "Burning Heart" and "Rebel Son" have been added to the album. Great tracks and well performed too, added value to the customer no doubt!
www.frontiers.it
Indie 2001
AAAAARRRRRRRGGGHHHHHHH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My oh my this is Finnish aggrometal at its worst ? best ? I must say Jane Doe 69´s - Solid EP 2001 is by far the most brutal CD I ever got for review during all my years as a hardrock reviewer. Maybe not so strange either, since I´ve never done any "brutal metal" stuff and neither do any of us here at AOR-Europe.
O.K. this is maybe my fault after all, since I´ve told many people that I´m into thrash metal like Metallica, Anthrax, Sacred Reich, Xentrix, Megadeth etc. Heck, I even enjoy listening to the black metal band "Samael" sometimes (the song -macabre operetta- from the album -blood ritual- is ultra cool man!) This how ever is far too annoying for my (our) wimpy taste in music thank you very much, and this is really something for all you bands out there to think about.
If your music sounds like Machine Head on acid (or like acid on machine head?) well don´t bother sending it to us as we´re NOT into this kind of music. Thrash metal like the bands mentioned above are pretty much our limit. Or maybe I should say my limit, since I believe I´m the only one here at AOR-Europe that enjoys everything from Westcoast, AOR, Glam to Prog-Rock, Power Metal, Thrash and classic hardrock. The band Jane Doe 69 ? Good musicians! Check em out at www.janedoe69.cjb.net . Send your demo to the Suomi Finland Perkele magazine for better luck. Sorry about this, but we gotta draw the line somewhere.
Indie 2001
Catchy Hooks indeed! Canadian artist Robert Jansen may be something for you all to check out if you´re into music that mixes Beatlesque arrangements and harmonies with melodic power guitars of Def Leppard & Cheap Trick. Oh... and add a lot of modern day pop like: Tal Bachman or Collective Soul. In fact you could also add Jean Beauvoir to the list as some of the songs remind me of the solo albums that he did in the mid-80s.
Jensen co-fronted Ottawa band Moving Target in the early 90s before he decided to stand on his own two feets, and he´s indeed a self contained artist as everything is written, performed, engineered and produced by himself. I must say that he handles everything pretty well, the vocal harmonies are really great and not to mention his guitarwork. Maybe not so strange either as he started out as a classical guitarist in the 80s, the only downside are the sometimes annoying computer drums.
Some of the tracks may be too much pop for my personal taste, but you just can´t ignore hit songs like "Rockstar" a lovely rock/pop tune with a really catchy chorus. The funky "I´m free" with some great guitarwork, the ballads "Please", "My oasis" and "B4 U GO" and not to forget the Tal Bachman sounding "No way to treat a lady". I do believe that Jansen is caught in the middle between pop & AOR as many of the songs are none of them, and I would love to hear a "pure" AOR album with the man. Still many of the songs are really addictve and I recommend you all to check him out at www.mp3.com/robertjansen.
Valentine Records 2003
Review by 
3 May 2003
Those were the days….1984 when AOR and POMProck were really worth listening to. Just think of bands like Loverboy, Sheriff, Styx and Kansas, just to mention a few of those rockgiants of the eighties.
Jaugernaut also belong to the list of those excellent bands and now twenty years later they bring out their superalbum “Take Em There”; as a 20th anniversary edition and for the first time on cd. In 1984 the music of Jaugernaut was labeled as dinosaur rock or undanceworthy music, but lovers of AOR and pomprock really appreciated this album.
With songs like “Love You I Do”, “Anti-Freeze” and “On Top Of The World” these four guys really rocked. Ofcourse you can enjoy typical singalong refrains, catchy melodies, prominent keyboardsounds and a few poppy tracks with a progressive edge. But most of all you will like the typical lyrics and the sweet sound of singer Jin Johnston.
Besides the 10 old tracks you are treated to 4 “new” songs, all written between 1997 and 1999. The ballad “A Matter Of Conscience” and the longest track of the album “Totally Human” are excellent melodic rocksongs, which could stand the test of time. But this album is a real treat to all those forgotten AOR and Pomp rock lovers all over the world.
Those were the days!
Jaugernaut website
Indie 2002
Review by
14 July 2002
I reviewed the demo mini-CD of this band a few months ago, and now they're back with a full CD, recorded with the assistance of former Wild Force vocalist Chris R. Holm. The first demo was promising, and I am glad to tell you that the promises have been fulfilled. The production is better and the songs are much stronger, with bigger 'n better hooks all over the place! Their sound can still be described as being a bit Hanoi Rocks-like, but now even more melodic than before.
"Welcome To The Sightseeing" is a good start for the album, a good rocker that reminds me of several late eighties' L.A. glam/hard rock groups. The average "Game Of Love" follows, an OK track but with a chorus that doesn't really work IMO, while "I Don't Love (U Anymore)" is a very traditional 80'ies-like glam rock ballad.
"Broken Hearts" is a good melodic mid-tempo track with a nice chorus, and one of my favourites of the album. "Summerdays" however isn't, as it's just too "nice" for it's own good. It's an acoustic celebration of summer, and a bit cheesy at that - it reminds me of the Monkees! Thankfully, the harder-edged "Superman" leads us back on track.
"Christine" is the second ballad, another textbook example of a glam rock ballad, while both "Everytime (U Knock Me Out)" and "Sometimes" are good melodic rockers with sharp hooks. Finally, there's "Long Way Home", the last of the three ballads and arguably the most orginal of them.
All in all a decent selection of songs, and a proof that the guys have improved as songwriters and going to the right direction.
Website: http://www.jaybrocks.cjb.net
Jay B. Music 2001 (Indie)
Review by
5 March 2002
Attention Hanoi Rocks-fans! Here's a new Finnish band that is keeping the flame alive with a very Hanoi-like style. Their image may not be quite as flamboyant, but the music should please most Hanoi-fans, and hard rock fans in general. Jay B. could be described as a more "mainstream rock" version of Hanoi Rocks or a cross between the Scandinavian AOR sound and the late eighties LA Sleaze style...
"Lonely Nights" is a five-track EP and you can download it from mp3.com. There's a full album in the works, but meanwhile you could do a lot worse than to check out these songs. The best ones of the bunch are the cool hard rocker "I Don't Care" and the melodic "Always Gonna Love You", which is a duet with a female vocalist. The latter reminds me particulary of Hanoi Rocks, the song bears some similarities to Hanoi's classic "Tragedy".
The three remaining songs aren't too bad either: "I Wanna Know" and "Without Sayin' A Word" are no-frills rockers, and "Lonely Nights" is a decent enough ballad. I am quite interested to see what these guys have in store for the full album!
Website: http://www.jaybrocks.cjb.net
Indie 2000
Here´s another good multi-talented musician from Canada who plays some cool melodic hardrock with influences of sleaze/glam & blues rock. DANNY JEFFERIES have been in the biz for a while and this is a "Re-release" of some of his old songs that he cleaned up before he sent them to MP3 for a CD deal. So what you get is music straight from the 80s and hey, that´s what we like.
DAN has got a great voice and he can reach really high notes! He sounds almost like the mighty TONY HARNELL from T.N.T. on some of the songs, while on others sounds a lot like STEVIE RACHELLE from the old but maybe not so famous to all SLEAZE/GLAM band TUFF.
Opening track "REAL LIFE" is a nice melodic rocker that sounds very British! Almost like a mix between late FM and BAD COMPANY but the chorus is maybe a bit weak, I like the verses better. "NEW DREAM" is a great GLAM meets AOR that sounds very 80-ish while "TOO YOUNG TO SING THE BLUES" is a slower blues song that only a real Blues lover can like. "WE GOT LOVE" is a superb ballad with acoustic guitars and a sound a-la the ballads from TYKETTO & DAN REED NETWORK. Then we can hear a more rough rock song, "THE FURY" sounds like a mixture of T.N.T and JUDAS PRIEST with some lovely vocals by DANNY and the guitar-solo on this song kicks ass; really great stuff. "GET AWAY" is a good sleaze/glam ballad a-la TUFF, POISON or KING OF THE HILL. There´s also a couple of not-so-good songs like "DAY BY DAY" (pretty boring ballad) and the instrumental "Mr.SPOCK". But this is over all a good melodic hardrock album with great vocals. Check him out at: www.mp3.com/danjefferies where you can also buy his CD.
MTM Music 1999
Review by
Formely known as "The Innocent", this is a band led by Jesse Bradman, a former member of Aldo Nova's band and Nightranger. The other members of the band are Bob Gilles (guitar) and David Sikes (bass), and in addition there are some quite famous guests on the album, like Ritchie Kotzen and Frank Hannon (ex-Tesla).
The music of Jesse's Powertrip is melodic hard rock/AOR, not too far from the likes of Nightranger (surprise!). The songwriting is good throughout the album, not counting a few fillers. I am not a huge fan of Bradman's voice, but he does a good enough job on tracks like "Let It Roll", "Lonely Girl" and "Desire". However, maybe it's just me but I can't help thinking that the unreleased Bad English track (?) "Hole In My Heart" would have sounded much better with John Waite on vocals!
All in all, a decent album with quality songs, well worth the four stars.
MIB Music Publishing 2002
Review by
18 May 2003
This Oregon, USA, based Jesters Moon at first listen gave me the creeps, they seemed like a band that was in a helluva hurry to put out a cd without any more work on it. But when I went through the songs a bit more I noticed this band is not all that bad. They’re plain heavy metal, though the way their vocalist sounds, this band sounds a bit funny or corny at times. Surely you get used to his vocals, but for me they really don’t work. Bryce van Patten sounds like a cross between Lemmy and UDO and the songs follow the old school metal too, sometimes even bringing out Venom-like cheesyness. And sometimes sounding like the old Judas Priest.
Now there’s nothing wrong with UDO or Lemmy, you get used to their vocals too, but they’re not as disturbing as the ones heard here. It’s like Patten didn’t try hard enough. If he bursted more power into the songs, he would sound more convincing. And I can’t help wondering about what’s the deal with this cd, ’cos the sounds are really raw and give out an unfinished feeling and thus makes the band sound really unbalanced too. Jesters Moon gives the image that they’re still very much an underground band. But these guys (the rest of the guys are: Vido Sinn-guitars/ Dr 5 synth, Alvin-bass, Preston Hatch-drums) have more background than this. They’ve been involved with bands like Bangin Moon, Pipe Dreams, Blackthorn, Panic, Rising, Circus Mind, Gene Pool, Warhead, Wild Dogs, just to name a few.
As much as Jesters Moon can play, the song structures have a good base along with some good melody lines, I still can’t get into this more than this, the mix and the vocals just sound too unprofessional. And on top of that as a whole there’s not much outstanding songs, I didn’t find any favourites. But if you like old school metal, UDO and the likes a lot, you might be interested in this. I do like all of those, but in this form the band doesn’t give much. Information: http://jestersmoon.iuma.com
Perris Records 2002
Review by
20 January 2003
"One More For Rock'N'Roll" is a collection with material largely taken from Jeyboy's two MCA albums (Fell The Shake - 1988, Damned Nation - 1990). Being one of the pioneers of 80's Glam revival, this American band had quite some success at MTV and on their road trips.
Inspired and influenced by Finnish rockers Hanoi Rocks, they set out to conquer the world in their days. In fact, Sam Yaffa (Hanoi Rocks) recorded all the bass tracks for the first album, and was a full-time member of the band, until he decided to team up with old Hanoi mate, Michael Monroe again.
This is a compilation with mostly alternative and demo versions of their album songs. It features a previous unreleased version of "Feel The Shake" (the hit single), and other goodies. I'm especially fond of their "Missing You" tune, which you can find re-mastered here. You can also find demo versions of "Trouble Comes", "Stamp It Down To The Bricks", "Heavy Chevy", "Rock'N'Roller", and "Evil" here. Acoustic versions of "Bloody Hands & Poisoned Minds" and "Live & Die In A Day". The KISS cover "Hard Luck Woman" (nice) and some other tunes. All songs were transfered from cassette to CD, so there is some hiss noise and rough spots here and there. The overall demo quality is not bad at all really. Die-hard fans will love this comp, while others may only think about it as average. It's pretty nice to have in your collection though and glam-sters better check this out. Not to mention that the mohawk hairdo of singer Mickey Finn is an all-time classic.
www.perrisrecords.com
Eagle Records 2002
25 July 2002
Concept albums of folk rock/art rock with flute can't be anything else than Jethro Tull right?. If all this wasn't enough, Ian Anderson and the other geezer's have now released thier first DVD and associated CD in the year of 2002. Not bad for a band who started out in the small, southern town of Luton, Bedfordshire, UK, back in 1967.
I simply can not understand the success of this band though. Then again with sales of around 60 million albums and more than 2500 concerts in 40 countries, they've sure had their share of fame & glory. They are still touring and recording all over the place, with some 100 concerts to around 300.000 people each year. Who said that flute is a lame instrument in rock biz??? 60 million record buyers can't be wrong.
"Living In The Past" is mostly recorded during last year's performance at Hammersmith Apollo in London. You can also find some acoustic tracks recorded in 2002, 'The Zurich Dressing Room Tapes' from 1989 (3 tracks) and a couple of songs from a TV show in Holland. 21 songs overall and a nice treat for all the die-hard fans. All the classic songs are included here and I do enjoy tracks such as "Aqualung" or "Locomotive Breath". Still, this is way too much "flower-power" music for my taste and not really 'hardrock' in the traditional style or meaning. Old fans of Tull already know what to expect here and I'm afraid it won't attract that many new ones either. Still, 60 million record buyers??? Holy crap!!! I guess I should have continued with my school flute lessions after all.
www.eagle-rock.com
Nuerra Records 2003
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
13 April 2004
What is AOR, Adult Oriented Rock in 2004? The answer could be Jettison Eddy. I'd imagine that many of you readers would associate AOR with Journey, Survivor, Bad English and the likes, but if you think about the term Adult Oriented Rock...Jettison Eddy are clearly making rock music that's aimed for the adult audience, as opposed to the rock bands catering for the younger audience - nu-metal, emo-rock and other "hip" styles of today. Surely this is more likely to please any fan of the melodic rock genre than the the latest CD by Linkin Bizkit or whatsitcalled.
Somehow the band has roped in the legendary Keith Olsen to produce their album. Indeed the production is top notch, and you can't find anything wrong with the musicianship either. When it comes to the songs, the AOR'04 style is a bit more understated than the classic 80'ies AOR style which I do prefer, but at it's best it's not bad at all.
The best songs here are the brilliant opener "Long Break", the catchy "Trippin' On Time" and the moody "Tonight We Run". You can hear that the band is influenced by the likes of Matchbox 20, Pearl Jam and Three Doors Down, but it might just be that the band has also listened to some more "classic AOR" acts such as Journey. Interestingly enough, more than once I was reminded of early nineties cult AOR band Tall Stories, a band that was ahead of their time back then...
It's a bit disappointing that almost half of the album is filled with tracks which are totally forgettable, as the songwriter/vocalist/guitarist Jon Manitta proves on the other tracks that he can come up with fine melodies and hooks. Therefore my rating won't go any higher, but still, this album is worth of investigating if you're after new flavours to your AOR diet.