You can find older
reviews and everything else in the Reviews Archive. We also have this year's reviews linked at the bottom of this page for an easy access to them.
Sony
Music 2004
Review by Endre 'Bandi' Hübner, 
27 July 2004
A week after the G3 show in town [see our Live on Stage column for a review of the gig] I came across the new Satch album in a shop. Being quite disappointed with the musical direction Joe took with "Crystal Planet" and "Engines of Creation" and not being able to judge the overall sound and direction of the new album from the songs he included in his live set, I was rather worried when shelling out the price of the disc. But at the first listening all my worries vanished.
Though "Is There Love in Space?" is a modern album, it cleverly melts the experimenting spacey sound of the latest albums with the signature Satriani melodies of the early albums. As a result of the well-balanced mixture of the "old" and the "new" Satch we get the best Satriani album since "Flying in a Blue Dream", one that lives up to "Flying" or "The Extremist". The album opens with "Gnaahh" and "Up in Flames", two uptempo numbers, both academic examples of the finally-found balance between the new, spacey sound and the signature-Satriani playing. If you take the crunchy rhythm guitar sound away from "Hands in the Air", it could easily be a Surfing- leftover, while "Lifestyle" and "I Like the Rain" prove that Satch still hasn't learned to sing but he can still write funny lyrics that have something to say at the same time.
The title track is one of the highlights of the
album, it hits big live as well while "If I Could Fly" with its haunting
melodies and straightforward acoustic accompaniment became my personal favorite
right away and it keeps ringing in my ears ever since I played it the first
time. It is definitely the song to check out to convince you into buying the
album. So is "Just Look Up", another great tune, a bit more laid-back but carved
from the same wood as "If I Could Fly". The reasons I didn't give the album the
perfect ten were songs like "The Souls of Distortion" reminding me of the worst
moments of the [you could have already guessed: my least favorite] "Engines of
Creations" album and I found the over 10 minutes playtime of "Searching" a
little too overwhelming though the song definitely has its moments [don't run
for cover, it has nothing to do with the ill-fated "Woodstock Jam"].
Quite frankly (I hate to admit my skepticism) I didn't expect the album to be
this good and all I can say is that it totally restored my faith in Satch and if
you were as skeptical about his music lately as I used to be, make sure to go
for this one because "Is There Love in Space?" is just what you need!
www.satriani.com
Lion
Music 2004
Review by Endre 'Bandi' Hübner,
27 July 2004
The most unlucky band of today's melodic rock scene is back (again) with a new album at another label (again). Both press and public agree that this band should have made it a lot bigger than they had done so far as their music has always been a cut above the competition, yet for whatever reasons (record labels disappearing, albums released the wrong time with minimum promotion, etc.) after three studio albums, an ill-fated best of and a hard-to-get live album they are still considered an underground band of the underground scene.
"First Class" again melts the highly melodic vocal lines with a diverse songwriting. The album features straightforward hits like "You Are" and "Hey Lord" both spiced up with thick backing vocals, more complex numbers like "Creep" and "Black Barn" that are bordering progressive rock ala Queensryche's "Empire" album, and laid-back acoustic songs "Black and Blue Skies", "Sunshine Song" or "Chicago Blue". The sound of the album is perfect regardless if we are talking about stripped down acoustic songs or complex arrangements.
The band's strongest points are their tightness,
the diversity of their songwriting, Andreas Eklund's crystal clear vocals along
with the wonderful backing vocals the band provides all through the album. House
of Shakira has already proven countless times (both on albums and live) that
they are a lot more than just "big promises", let's hope this time they can
finally break out of that category. "First Class" is yet another album that
could make them do so.
www.house-of-
shakira.nu
Majestic
Rock 2003
Review by Endre 'Bandi' Hübner,
16 July 2004
With "In Heat" we end the chapter started by Kimmo and Urban (see below in the reviews of the last two weeks) reviewing the Black n' Blue albums re-released by Majestic Rock, just like the album ended the career of the band. Not that "In Heat" was any worse than the previous albums, it just wasn't strong enough to make the big breakthrough for the band and Geffen simply didn't want to wait (and invest) anymore. Gene Simmons' influence was probably even stronger on this album than before (he co-wrote 4 of the 10 songs) but they were just like all the other songs he penned with the band: okay but nothing special.
„Okay but nothing special" can be said about the whole album basically, the majority of the songs are midtempo stompers. Even though the album included the outstanding "Get Wise to the Rise" and showcased the band's (up until then) hidden talent for more complex and moody tracks like "Stranger", it went unnoticed. After all it was released in 1987, the same year as Whitesnake's classic, the year when Bon Jovi, Europe, and Mötley Crüe dominated the rock scene. Those who decide to invest into the reissues, hearing the bombastic "Rock On" and "Great Guns of Fire" again may serve as a nice time- travel back to the glory days of hair metal. You can't complain about the packaging of the CD either, the booklet includes an interview with Jamie St. James as well as all the lyrics and songwriting credits.
Taking all this in consideration I'd still say, this release is rather for collectors, and not necessarily for those who haven't heard of the band before. With Tommy Thayer fooling around in Ace Frehley's make-up, the efforts to make the band reunite seem to be wasted, or at least the whole thing starts to look similar to the fishy White Lion reunion (BTW their classic "Pride" also dates back to 1987 just like "In heat"). However if you got interested in the band and its releases, make sure to check the classic debut by Harlow, Tommy Thayer's post-Black n' Blue project too.
Lion
Music 2004
Review by Endre 'Bandi' Hübner,
28 June 2004
After contributing to countless albums, the busiest keyboard player of the progressive rock scene is back with a solo album. It was time for the guitarists "using" Vitalij's services for their own solo albums to return the favor, and as a result of this there's an impressive line- up on the album.
The opening title track features George Bellas whose new album also featured Vitalij, Michael Romeo and Michael Harris are featured on two tracks, Javier Leal from the Ferrigno-Leal-Kuprij project is on one, so is Jeff Kollman. [BTW reviews of the projects mentioned here can all be found in our archives along with Artension, Ring of Fire and Vitalij's other projects.] As you'd expect the music is melodic progressive rock with stunning musicianship but finally this time with the emphasis on melodies and entertainment. There are no speeding keyboard solos with the much over-used and rather annoying harpsichord-sound, much rather well- built compositions with impressive new keyboard sounds and melodies to remember.
Vitalij also emphasizes his classical pianist
background here switching to the piano every now and then, cleverly including
extracts of well-known piano pieces in his own compositions, making the familiar
melodies enjoyable even to those who are not into classical music at all. This
makes the two European bonus tracks "Phantom Flurries" and "Idol Tribute" along
with "Piano Overture" my favorites of the album. All in all instrumental
progressive rock does not get any better than this and if something can't get
any better, fair play calls for a perfect 10 point rating.
www.vitalijkuprij.com
MTM Classix 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom, 
11 July 2004
"I Wont Stop, I Wont Stop This Time" - I can still remember the first time I heard this tune on the radio as a kid. I spent hours infront of the weekly hardrock show here in Sweden [Rockbox], recording all the new and exciting stuff. It took me several years to track down a copy though and I can't say that I was lookin that hard either. I was [still] mostly into KISS, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, etc, and thought this to be too wimpy somehow. The best AOR/Melodic Hardrock CD to ever come out of Denmark? Quite possible so as Fate pretty much nailed it with their sophomore release. Originally formed by ex-Mercyful Fate guitarist Hank Sherman in 1985, the music had very little in common with the satanic approach of King Diamond though. I'm sure that more than a few of Sherman's old fans threw Fate straight into the garbage bin in complete disgust.
Simply put, if you wanna know what the "Scandinavian" AOR is/was all about, "A Matter Of Attitude" is the perfect start. The "Attitude" was indeed everything that the 80's were all about. Catchy hooks, fluffy keyboards, wimpy outfits, and over all fun melodies with a positive message. The excellent vocalist Jeff "Lox" Limbo came actually through like a better and upgraded version of Bo Lindmark [Dalton].
The music of Fate and "A Matter Of Attitude" is in fact very similar to Swedish acts like Dalton, Bad Habit, and sometimes even Europe. Or the other way around perhaps? as at least Dalton must have spent hours infront of the stereo, listening to their Dannish friends. Take the best songs from the two albums "The Race Is On" and "Injection", and you'll end up with this somehow. It's about time that someone re-released and remastered this as several bootlegs have appeared lately. The two bonus tracks are unfortunately with singer Per Henriksen from the "Scratch N'Sniff" album. Not all bad, but the style had changed to a sleazier, US version of rock, and the hooks simply isn't there anymore. Still quite essential for any wimp rocker out there and finally a CD worthy of its label's name.
BMG/RCA 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
6 July 2004
Lil' Avril Lavigne bounces right back with a really fine sophomore release. This time with the assistance of power pop legend Butch Walker and Chantal Kraviazuk. "Under My Skin" is slightly heavier and darker than "Let Go", but you can still find both melodies and hooks in the same style as the debut. Just check out the cocky, punk-ish, attitude and approach of "He Wasn't", or the moody ballad "How Does It Feel", for some class act music. "Don't Tell Me" and "My Happy Ending" are already major hits and well deserved ones too.
Downers? Well, everybody talks about how much Avril's voice has matured since last time around. Sure, into a little Morrissette wannabe perhaps and that's not a good sign in my opinion. I guess it's same situation with all the male singers really as they all try to be Eddie Vedder [Pearl Jam]. I actually prefer the latter vocalist though as he's not half as boring as the female version. Why do they all try to sing like Alanis Morrissette anyway?? Is she like the Goddess of everything above and below all of sudden? Hardly... I've never been that impressed by her music in the first place and that voice of hers is darn annoying in my book. The crappy opener "Take Me Away" could as easily have been a Morrissette tune and the awful "Forgotten", really is Morrisette rock at its worst. You can also add "Who Knows" to the rather stinking pile of horse.... ehem.
If you try and ignore the most horrific you-know-who similarities, you can definitely find some truly great songs here [as already stated above]. And it's not like Avril's music is quite as boring as you-know-who either. I only wish I could find some more of that power-pop-punk stuff like "Sk8ter Boi", from the debut album. Bottomline: Yes, It's good modernrock for sure and I guess I needed to find something to complain about really.
Avril's Place
Century 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
11 July 2004
It's once again time to walk down those tricky steps to the dungeons. Find your old broad sword and sheild and head off to the battle field. With a title like "Battle Metal" you already know what to expect from the Finns of Turisas. It's over-the-top, bombastic, pagan metal, without any mercy or understanding for anything that isn't "true". Then again, these blokes are a notch or two above the rest of the pack.
Obviously inspired by the likes of Finntroll, Rhapsody (and a lot of it), Bal Sagoth, and those two legendery Viking albums by Bathory (R.I.P. Quothorn). Throw in the pagan approach of Skyclad and you're even closer to the core, even if this comes with distored vocals and everything. Turisas were formed by vocalist Warlord Nygård and guitarist Jussi Wickström in 1997 in Hämeenlinna, a small city namned after an ancient Finnish war god [Finnish reviews ed: What? That part of Finnish mythology I'm not aware of!]. After a couple of demo releases, Century Records finally signed them to a world wide deal in 2003.
What surprised me the most was the silly amount of keyboards used on this record. They are simply all over the place and they come in every shape and colour. Fanfare, dut-dut, Stratovarious synth, Final Countdown alike, or like a doomy pattern in the background. Not to forget the constant use and abuse of all the pipes, flutes, accordion, and violins, to be found here. A very pleasant surprise I must say and the songs are definitely based around and upon the keyboards. And the choirs, wow... they really do add another dimension of folk/heathen/battle metal with this release. I don't even mind that two of the twelve tracks are with Finnish lyrics only... and I'm not normally into Finnish stuff (unless it's Linda Lampenius in centre fold). You could almost tag Turisas with a sticker that reads "a more aggressive version of Rhapsody". Not the entire truth perhaps but darn close I'd say. Recommended, if you don't mind the mixture of distorted and normal vocals.
Turisas'website
UBP
International 2004
Review by Endre 'Bandi' Hübner,
28 June 2004
After the disappointing performance of their football team at Euro 2004 Bulgaria strikes back with Clearland, a melodic rock duo with an album that wipes the floor with many of the US or Scandinavian releases. Nikolay Raikov (vocals) and Konstantin Jambazov (vox, guitars, bass, keys) may be seasoned veterans under Bulgarian conditions but their names sound totally unfamiliar on the international scene. More of a surprise of the quality of the album!
Their music is firmly rooted in classic AOR of the early 80s with strong touches of Styx, Chicago, or Journey and Nikolay sounds like a dead-ringer to Dennis De Young minus lisping and the feminine overtone. The only downside is the strange sentence complexion of the lyrics. Must be a cultural and linguistic problem here, some of the lyrics sound really anti-English [and the management – lead by Koji Fukita, obviously of far-eastern origin – did not help much either on this field as the bio sent along the album is in equally bad English]. However the smoothness of the compositions and the professional performance helps to forget about the squeaky lyrics. The title track is a real winner, a piano driven mid-tempo rocker, so is the Chicago- flavored "Love and Tenderness". The 70s flavored "I Will Fly" is also very Chicago-like with its horn section and jazzy guitar-approach and "Keep The Spirits High" reminds me of "Babe" by Styx. However these similarities are not annoying at all, I'm just trying to compare Clearland to better-known bands. The quality of the performance really raises the duo into the league of the above- mentioned stars.
I could have done without the two tracks with Bulgarian lyrics, though musically both are impressive (especially "S Teb") the weird language gives them an annoying Eurovision song-contest of the 70s feel. However an instrumental cover of the Queen classic "Bohemian Rhapsody" washes the bad taste away. I have no information about the international distribution of the album but check the website of the label UBP International to see where you can get the album and while you are there check the soundbytes offered.
Majestic Rock 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
6 July 2004
"Rock, Rockin'On Heaven's Door, It's Everything I'm Livin'For" - Back from Germany with Deiter Dierks at helm, Black'N Blue now decided to hire Bruce Fairbairn (R.I.P.) to produce the all American sophomore release. Apparently the idea was to record a slick, fresh, more MTV oriented, follow up album to the rather successful debut. They even brought in Canadian songwriter and Bryan Adams' sidekick Jim Vallance, to co-write a couple of tracks.
It's permed hair, spandex, and flashy outfits, which match the style and era right down to the core. The album begins with the excellent and bombastic rock of "Rockin' On Heaven's Door", it's also the best track of the bunch and the album never really recovers again. Sure enough tracks like "Without Love", "Stop The Lightning", and "Nature Of The Beach", are all crockers and winners in my book. However, "Without Love" is in my opinion B'N B's weakest release and not as good as the debut, or the other albums for that matter. Nevertheless, originally released in 1985 it was long over due for a re-release. No longer need to pay $60-80 for the CD at Ebay as Majestic Rock has done good with the whole package, including liner notes by Dave Reynolds. No bonus tracks in sight I'm afraid and that's always a downer I guess. It's definitely the mid 80's L.A. sound at large and "hair metal" at its fullest, but not always at its best.
Majestic Rock 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
10 July 2004
Chapter two in the history of Black'N Blue really, even though "Naughty Naughty" was their third release and originally released back in 1986. Enter Gene $immons of KISS as producer and co-writer and exit all that wimpy stuff 'ala "Without Love". It's once again straight-in-your-face rock with a slightly heavier apparoach in the vein of their debut.
The band really wanted a 'back to basics' release as they hated the direction, the record company pointed out to them with previous attempt. It was all too polished, polite, and produced, words all unheard of to the mighty Gene $immons though. Black'N Blue toured with KISS during their "Asylum" tour -85 and it was apparentely 'luv at first sight'. $immons even played with the band in rehearsals and bounded really well with guitarist Tommy Thayer especially. Something which every KISS fan are well aware of as Thayer is the new 'Space-Ace' guitarist nowadays [I'm still having problems accepting this].
The albums kicks off with the title track, co-written by $immons he later borrowed the main riff to conduct "Domino" of KISS' "Revenge" album. A fun uptempo rocker as are all the other, four, songs co-written by Gene. The marvelous "I Want It All (I Want It Now)" is without a doubt my favorite and perhaps the best B'N B song ever? The hypnotic drum beat and killer chorus "Day In Day Out, Gotta Let Go, Gotta Let It Out, I Want It All - I Want It Now", sticks like glue under your feet. Jaime St.James sings at the top of his lungs and the band never sounded better. The difference between the meat and potato rock and wimpier stuff of "I'll be There For You" (composed by Jonathan Cain of Journey, The Babys, fame), doesn't always go hand in hand, but the latter is a really good song after all. A solid pick up in any weather and you had to pay some $80-100 for this at Ebay, until this very re-release of course.
Majestic Rock 2003
Review by Martien Koolen, 
11 July 2004
Another review of another old time rocker, Pete Way. Of course we all know him as the bass player of the legendary band UFO, but he also made some albums with his own band called Waysted. Furthermore Pete played with musicians like John Norum and Ozzy Osbourne.
This album was recorded at a place called The Revolution in Cleveland on 4 October 2002. The band consisted out of Walt James (guitars and backing vocals), Scott Philips (drums) and the old “bassmaster” himself. The album contains 14 tracks, 4 Way/Schenker songs, 1 one golden oldie by Cochran/Sheely, 1 UFO song (Way/Mogg) “Too Hot To Handle” and 8 songs composed by Way himself.
The music of course is typical hard rock, sometimes even kind of rock and rollish, and Pete tries to sing like UFO vocalist Mogg. Best tracks are: “That’s Tuff”, with a screaming guitar solo, “You And Me”, a classic rock track dedicated to Bon Scott and Michael Schenker, “Hole1/Hole2”, a bluesy ballad with lots of guitar picking, “Crazy”, a slow blues song which reminds me of legendary Humble Pie and “Hand To Hold”, a heavy rocker in the best UFO style.
All in all a must for lovers of UFO and solo projects of Pete Way, 77 minutes of high energy rock!
www.peteway.net
3Chord Records 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
8 July 2004
What started out as a great idea and concept, turned out to be a small disaster in reality. The new Liberty N'Justice CD was supposed to be another "Mastedon" thing, if you can recall the legendery project from the 80's. A great collection of christian hardrockers came together to record two albums with written material by the Elefante brothers [Dino & John of Kansas fame].
And fair enough, "Welcome To The Revolution" do hold a bunch of famous musicians and the following vocalists sing lead on one track each: Michael Sweet [Stryper], Jamie Rowe [Guardian, Tempest, Adriangale, London Calling], Lou Gramm [Foreigner], Paul Q Pek [One Bad Pig], Mitch Malloy, Ken Tamplin [Shout, Solo], Bob Carlisle [Allies, etc], Harry Hess [Harem Scarem], Scott Wenzel [White Cross], Robert Fleischman [Journey, Vinnie Vincent], John Schlitt [Petra], Greg X Volz [Petra], Dale Thompson [Bride], Rick Florian [White Heart], and Jeff Fenholt [Black Sabbath, Joshua]. The material are the musicians own work though [mostly], and Jamie Rowe is the real villain here with some really crappy songs [apart form his own, he also wrote the material performed by Scott Wenzel & Rick Florian].
The Pros - "Blind Man's Stuff" is a nice melodic rocker with Michael Sweet, nothing out of the ordinary, but a decent start. "Rebel Son" - OK, it's a Survivor cover but Pek of One Bad Pig has never sounded better [I was never into their weird punk music anyway]. "Only Heaven Knows" is a fine mid-tempo AOR tune by Mitch Malloy and "The Lord's Prayer" is a nice ballad by Robert Fleischman.
The Cons - "Noise" by Jamie Rowe is exactly what you'll get as it's one boring, noisy, modern metal tune. "Shed My Skin" is fine ballad featuring Lou Gramm or at least that's what it says on the tracklisting. I could barely recoignize the man anymore as the voice has suffered a lot from years of bad health and disease. Simply put, Gramm doesn't sound like Gramm of Foreigner anymore and it's a darn pity and shame. "Rise" with Scott Wenzel is an awful rap-metal song, "Bargain Bin" is another rap!!! tune with Greg X Volz (you're in my prayers), and last by not least, another rap tune by Rick Florian. The bottomline - You'll have to take the good with the bad I'm afraid as there's both up's and down's with this record. It's great to witness the 'comeback' of many 80's rockers, but what's up with all that rap/metal music anyway???
BMG/RCA 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
8 July 2004
Can you hear them calling "wimps only, this will attract wimps only". Still, there's something about the songs that makes it perfect as background music [no pun intended]. You can simply remove or turn off a large part of your brain as this goes straight for the dumb-o-nerve. Unless you're a girly teenager in luv of course, then you probably need all the help you can get. Hold your horses people, this wasn't supposed to be an insult to all the young ones out there. I confess to buying a couple of albums while not thinking with the correct instrument [I especially recall a certain 'Fox' and her big pair of... lungs].
Nontheless, the music of The Calling is about as exciting as watching wet paint dry. Nothing really happens during the entire time and the melodies are all steeped into the same formula. Let's face it, The Calling comes through like a wimpier version of Savage Garden [reviews ed: that is simply not possible!], Matchbox 20, and modern day U2 most of times. However, there's something about the music that gets on your nerve in the end. It may not be all that super catchy and it certainly 'goes with the flow' so to speak. And like I wrote in the Avril review, a vocalist [Alex Band], that reminds you a lot of Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam [are there any other singers out there?]. Ok, he also borrows a lot from Bono and U2 to be frank.
Nothing much happens unfortunately and "II" really is background music if anything. Not totally crap or bad enough to make you cry, it's just simply boring and without any real meaning or life of its own. Cult person and producer Clif Magness helps out with his knowledge and production, and there's nothing wrong with that I guess.
www.thecallingband.com
BMG 2004
Review by Kimmo Toivonen, 
13 July 2004
"Blood Red Sandman" is the second single from Lordi's second album, but oddly enough, the video was already released on the album's extra dvd. Although not quite as instant as the dangerously infectious first single "My Heaven Is Your Hell", "Sandman" does have hit potential, and I'm sure this will get airplay on rock radio. The song is very much in the vein of Alice Cooper's "Hey Stoopid"-era material, with angelic choirs as a contrast to Lordi's not-so-angelic vocals.
For the Lordi fans the most interesting thing of this release are the two extra tracks, "To Hell With Pop" and "Pyromite", which aren't on the album. Both of them are solid Lordi-rockers, and especially "Pyromite" beats many of the songs that actually made it to the album.
With a strong video backing the song up (and indeed the video is something special), this might end up being a big hit for Lordi.
www.lordi.org
Frontiers Records 2004
Review by Martien Koolen,
2 July 2004
This Italian progressive metal band started their career in 1999, when Dario De Cicco and Emanuele Colella created a band that would try to melt the sound of prog metal classic bands like Dream Theater, Symphony X, Vandenplas and Royal Hunt with a newer, more song oriented approach. They recorded four songs which they used for their first demo entitled "Welcome To Another Reality"(2000). In 2001 the band was picked up by Frontiers Records for the production of their debut CD "Journey of a Rough Diamond".
This album proves that these guys can play, but maybe they have to work on their compositions a bit and come up with some new ideas and then these Italian prog metal heads can really make a stand with their music. This album is filled with influences from bands like Dream Theater, Vandenplas, Symphony X, Eldritch, Empty Tremor, Elegy and Dreamscape and therefore it is rather difficult to tell if these guys have developed their own style yet. In songs like "Love Remains The Same" or "Lord of the Flies" the DT influences are so obvious that it rather smells like "copycatting". Do not get me wrong, they are both great songs, but watch out for becoming a DT clone.
The highlights of this album are the fantastic opener "Secret Dream", a true prog metal track, with cool rhythm changes, typical riffs and great musical solos, and the final one called "Waiting for the Answer". That song opens with a marvelous instrumental part, dominated by a heavenly guitar solo, before it turns into a neo classical rock song with staccato guitar riffs that make you want to bang your head for a few minutes. The only real weak song is the bittersweet piano ballad "Without Ann"; the rest of this album is just sheer excellent prog metal music from a promising new band. Watch out for these Italian guys, a must for DT lovers this one!!
Majestic Rock 2004
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
6 July 2004
Here's a blast from the past! Originally released in 1984, this album is considered by many as the best Black'n Blue album and an 80'ies hard rock classic, and I'm not about to argue with that. Recorded in Germany with Scorpions-producer Dieter Dierks at the helm, it was apparently a bit of a disappointment for the bands' fans, sounding too polished...don't know about that, compared to the second album "Without Love" this is a rough sounding record, with no keyboards in sight etc.
If you're fond of the classic L.A. hard rock bands such as Ratt, Mötley Crüe and Quiet Riot, this album is definitely a worthy addition to your collection, now that it has been released as a CD again. Compared to many of the releases of the era, the song quality is very consistent. I'd say that only the tracks "One For The Money" and "I'm The King" sound a bit too ordinary for me, and the Sweet-cover "Action" isn't too special either. Otherwise it's good 80'ies styled hard rock (I think we called this "Heavy Metal" back then!) all the way through.
Majestic Rock 2003
Review by Martien Koolen,
6 July 2004
British hard rockers UFO have always been one of my favorite bands in the seventies and eighties. In 1969 Mogg, Way, Parker and Bolton started UFO, but the band became really famous and musically interesting when a certain guitar player called Michael Schenker joined the group. UFO came up with amazing albums like “Force It”(1975) and “Lights Out”(1977), which became their final breakthrough in the USA. In 1979 UFO made a classic live album called “Strangers In The Night”, an album that is a true rock icon of our time and which is essential in every rock collection.
This album was recorded in New York in 1975 and found UFO in transition from popular home-grown act to genuine international contenders. The release of their second Chrysalis release “Force It” had begun that process, and the US tour that followed built on that nicely. This performance is filled with great UFO classics like “Rock Bottom”, “Shoot, Shoot”, “Let It Roll” and “Mother Mary”. Besides that you can enjoy some rather “unknown” UFO tracks like “Oh My”, Built For Comfort”, “Space Child” or All Or Nothing”.
The line-up is great: Phil Mogg, Michael Schenker, Pete Way, Andy Parker and Danny Peyronel, the only disadvantage of this album is that it sometimes sounds like a bootleg, it has a rather hollow sound. But for UFO lovers, like me, this album is a must and a true masterpiece of their fantastic hard rock musical career. Highlights, of course are “Rock Bottom” and “Out In The Streets”
Frontiers 2004
Review by Petri Kautto, 
2 July 2004
Hodson is a band with an impressive history even thou “This Strange World” is their first album. The band is named after Ten and Bob Catley keyboardist Paul Hodson who’s definitely made his mark in the British melodic hard rock scene. Hodson takes care of the vocals in this album which is a new territorial conquest for him.
It’s hard not to hear the Ten/Catley influences on this album. It’s equally hard to find anything bad about the songs, production or the skills of the musicians because they are all good. Unfortunately it’s also hard to find originality here either. Mainly this album is Paul Hodson doing what he knows best which is writing and producing quality melodic rock with a close to perfect touch. Everything is in place but for me this is just taking it way too safe. For many of you out there this is probably a secure choice and if you like the above mentioned bands, Rainbow (there’s also a Rainbow cover on the album) or melodic rock in the vein of those bands I’m sure you’ll be pleased. A Bonus video of the opening track “This Foolish World” is also included which is a nice addition to the nine songs on the album.
Vince O’Reagan handles his guitar duties very well and the rhythm section (Josie Vespa and Lynch Radinsky) makes sure that the sound stays tight throughout the album. All in all this is an album that is very easy to listen to and good musicianship shines through. But once you’re done listening to it none of the songs really stick to your mind.
Horus Music 2004
Review by Petri Kautto,
2 July 2004
Mantra’s second effort “Hard Times” follows along the same lines as their first-born “Roots”. The band is managing to find a bit more of its own sound but their it is still at times very Led Zeppelin-like which was a dominating factor on their first album. Another recognizable factor in Mantra’s music is their lead singer Jacopo Mielle’s voice. You either love it or hate it. Personally I guess I do a bit of both. For some songs his voice fits perfectly but sometimes, especially with high notes, it gets a bit annoying.
“Dark Rising” is indeed a very dark song and it is the first song of the album. Pounding and quite heavy guitar dominates the beginning. The refrain is very good on this one thou the aah aah’s before the refrain are a bit irritating. The fourth song on the album “The Big Wave” has a bit of a Pearl Jam-vibe to it in the beginning. The chorus is a bit different and melodic. I must say that in some songs Mantra manages to come up with really enjoyable refrains. In this song and some others too, the problem for me is that the song is too versatile. There are so many different elements fitted in to a song that it’s hard to get a comprehensive impression of the song. “Still Looking Out” suffers a bit of that too but in this one Mantra manages to keep it together pretty well. Simple yet nicely layered guitar on the chorus complemented with a good guitar solo represent the highpoints on this song. “Endless Circle” was one of my favorite tracks on this album. The song has a cozy atmosphere but the chorus is more aggressive and the backing vocals are mixed well in the refrain.
No doubt Mantra consists of talented players and with 13 songs that in all is about an hour of music there’s a decent amount of material to go through. It is really hard to describe their music with one word. After listening to “Hard Times” a few times a still had a bit of a mish mash in my head. For me to really like this album it would have to be more concise. Many times I got a feeling that there are two or three songs fitted into one. If you’re into that kind of stuff then this album is definitely your thing. For me there were highlights and potential but it didn’t do the trick just yet.
http://www.mantranet.it/
BMG 2004
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
2 July 2004
Lonestar came to my - and I guess most non-american people's - attention with their fine hit single "Amazed" a few years ago. "Lonely Grill", the album it was taken from had its' fair share of good songs, and it's still one of my favourite country/poprock crossover albums. Many of the songs were really very close to eighties' styled AOR with some country overtones, and I recall that the album was a big hit among the melodic rock community. The band's made one album and a greatest hits compilation after "Lonely Grill", which I haven't heard, unfortunately. With "Let's Be Us Again" it seems that the band's taking a few steps towards more traditional country music, and I have to say that it's not necessarily the direction I'd like to see them moving.
"Let's Be Us Again" is produced again by Dann Huff, the guitarist/vocalist of AOR gods Giant, and it does sound very big, in a nice, country-kinda way...with those fiddles, steel guitars and mandolins all over the place, of which I'm not so crazy about. As for the songs, I can divide 'em into three categories: the ones that are just way too country or too honkytonk-let's-linedance-yeehaw for me, the ones I don't mind and the good ones. Unfortunately there's only two, maybe three that fall into the last category: the title track, which is an excellent Lonestar ballad á la "Amazed" and nthe rock track "Summertime" which could be a Bryan Adams track, if the country coating was removed. "Now", one of the many other ballads is quite good too.
I absolutely can't stand honkytonk country rockers like "Country Fair" , "T.G.I.F." and "Mr. Mom" and I must say that many of the ballads offered here are just too lightweight and bland for me. I realize that there's millions of people who'll find these songs wery appealing, especially with their heartfelt and down-to-earth lyrics, but I don't think that the band will increase the number of their fans among rock fans with this release. Not that I think they are really worried about that...
Perris Records 2004
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
6 July 2004
I don't know what's the point of this release, but then again, I've never cared for bootlegs either...don't get me wrong, this is a legitimate release, but parts of it sound like a poor bootleg. A shame really, because the band -featuring Billy Rowe of Jetboy fame - isn't too bad. I just think that they could've saved the money put into this release for a real studio album.
The album is divided into three parts. The first one is "Live", and it is by far the worst-sounding part of the album. You can go on about "capturing the raw energy of the band" or whatever, but to me it sounds like it was recorded with a tape recorder in someone's pocket. The songs aren't bad, somewhere between Poison/Pretty Boy Floyd-styled glam and punky nu-breed á la Marvelous 3 etc, delivered with a lot of attitude, but the real highlights are missing (or destroyed by the lack of production). I'll give this part 4 points.
The second part is "Acoustic", and it's much better soundwise. The bands' performance is very live and loose, and in this format the songs bring back memories of dozens of late eighties' L.A. styled glam/hard rock bands. Decent songs, but something is still missing...let's give this part 6 points.
The last part is the band's earlier EP remixed, and it's at least as good as the "Acoustic" part. The production is again far from perfect, but compared to the "Live" segment it sounds damn good. These electric songs don't sound as "eighties" as the acoustic ones, which is something the band is aiming for I guess. This part of the album is apparently "a bonus", but it does make the release much more interesting, giving the listener the best idea of the band's sound. Again, the songs aren't bad but I'm not completely sold on them...6 points for this part. I guess the overall rating is still closer to a "5" though...
Will the band make themselves more popular with this release? Probably not. What they need now is a killer studio album. I wonder what a producer/co-writer like Butch Walker could accomplish with American Heartbreak...
Indie 2004
Review by Endre 'Bandi' Hübner,
18 June 2004
Wow! An independent release with such a bombastic sound! These guys managed to come up with a full-length album that sounds better than the majority of the big-label releases of the genre. Their music is traditional heavy metal in the vein of Running Wild of the mid- and late 80s but without the annoying German features. Fraise is from Sweden, the land of good musicians and good studio production, so I shouldn't be so surprised after all.
The album opens with the impressive title track "Hellicornia" that is more of a choir-intro than a song but it definitely sets the mood. Then the band rushes through the next four tracks by one breath, all of them heavy, mid- or up-tempo tracks with thick guitar sound, tight rhythm section, okay vocals and impressive backing choirs. The Running Wild comparison is strengthened by song-titles (and the matching lyrics) like "Saratoga" or "Fight With Fire", not to mention the intro of "Ice Cold" borrowing one of the riffs from Running Wild's "Death or Glory" album along with a few vocal melodies in the refrain that we have already heard on Helloween's "Keeper of the Seven Keys" album. [These are just similarities, no brutal rip-offs, so I guess fans like me rather smile content instead of grinning with disgrace.]
The first change as far as the arrangement goes
comes with "July", an acoustic-only ballad with arpeggio guitars and melodic
vocals. The rest of the album continues in the vein of the first part, up-tempo
heavy metal tracks, "Profile of the Day" brings a welcome change lyrically, but
both "Rise Again" and "Kings and Queens" get a little overwhelming by the end.
Some tempo-changes and a little diversity in arrangement and song-writing
approach would help the band (the closing "X9", a beautiful piano-driven
instrumental was almost like a soothing to my worn-down ears and along with the
opening choir-driven track they were definitely my favorite tracks of the
album). Anyway Fraise is a band to pay attention to, especially for those who
would like to refresh their old heavy metal collection with new, well-produced,
talented bands.
Fraise's website
Frontiers 2004
Review by Petri Kautto,
23 June 2004
Zillion blasts out a very promising self titled album delivering melodic hard rock with an appealing sound. The band consists of three guys (Sandro Giampietro (v,g), Jens Becker (b) and Mike Terrana (d)) who have already made their mark on the German music scene.
The album has an impressive opener called “You and Me”. This song has an infectious guitar riff and a melody that sticks to your head and refuses to leave. With a song like this they set the standard pretty high for the remainder of the album but I feel like Zillion is up to the task. “This Day Is Gone” is up next and again very powerful guitar gets things going. A catchy chorus and heavy guitars make sure that the band remains on the path of quality. “Dirty Little Secret” is not the best song of the album but it has an interesting melody that I’m sure appeals to many. “Never Down” has one of the catchiest refrains of the album. They mix very heavy guitars with a rather positive atmosphere that the song has and it makes a pretty good entity. “Kryptonite” is a well done melodic rocker but after that I was left with a problem. I somehow managed to scratch my disc or something happened to it in the mail but the next two songs “The Smile” and “Wonder Why” I have to skip on this review. “Take It Away” was the next song I was able to listen again. It’s a mid-tempo song that is both powerful and heavy. Up next is a slow song “Day or Night” which is an ok song with a nice solo, but these guys are not build for writing ballads. “The Hose” puts them back on track and the last song “Say Goodbye” ends the album with a melody and vocals that reminded me of Queensryche, a side of the band that doesn’t show in the other songs that much.
This is a very consistent hard rock album. The guys know what they’re doing and they write quality music. No disappointments in this album, many highlights and good tight grip on things all the way. This album does now have enough to be a real classic of its genre but it’s nevertheless a good album that Zillion can be proud of.
http://www.frontiers.it
Escape 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
27 June 2004
There's always been a special love/hate relationship between the two countries of Sweden and Finland. Like any good neighbours I guess, since you can find this "strange phenomena" all over the world. Bare this in mind as I'm not quite sure if Finland's House Of Mirror, will appreciate the compliment of being 'very' Swedish in their approach to music. Something which I already pointed out during the review of their demo a year and a half ago.
You can pick up melodies of both Glory [during the '2 Forgive Is 2 Forget' era] and Talk Of The Town [pre the excellent debut] here. Add that the excellent guitarist Jaakko Niitemaa works and shreds in the tradition of Jan Granwick [Glory]. Not quite as impressive perhaps but Niitemaa is [or has been?] teaching guitar at a local music school in Finland. House Of Mirrors are now signed to Escape Music in England and "Nightflight To Paradise", is indeed a nice debut in the AOR/Melodic Rock genre. Only a bit too safe in certain places and some more adventures moves wouldn't have been all bad.
Nevertheless, mastered by Mika Jussila at the famous Finnvox studios, you at least know this to be a rock solid release. Finnish readers might also remember vocalist Pekka Rautiainen as he recorded a rather successful CD, for EMI records and under the pseudonym of Julius [hey! anything is better than 'Nasty Suicide']. They've even managed to pen down some better tracks than demo favorite "Heart Is The Key". The smashing "Spirit Of Freedom" will have any rocker in motion, even if I believe they borrowed the structure of the bassline from Talisman's smash hit "I'll Be Waiting". "Deep Inside My Heart" is a nice breather from the uptempo tracks [great ballad], and "Alive" is definitely vintage Glory rock. There's unfortunately a couple too many fillers included and the quality differs throughout the album. Hardly earthshaking material but still good enough to dig into and explore if you're into the above mentioned bands. I would have changed the running order though as two of their most impressive songs [Nightflight To Paradise & Move On], are now the last tracks to show up on the CD.
www.house-of-mirrors.com
Ruf
Records 2004
Review by Endre 'Bandi' H¨bner,
18 June 2004
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the existence of the label Ruf Records released an appetizing sampler to promote bands signed to the label. The German the label and its bands may be little known in rock circles as they seem to specialize in traditional blues; the only names I heard before listening to the sampler were Canned Heat and Omar & the Howlers. However the rest of the bands didn't differ from them that much musically.
The album opens with the Imperial Crowns doing a traditional blues number "Lil' Death", the vocals are rather annoying and only the percussions add a little color to the otherwise rather boring, midtempo number. It's really beyond me why the label chose this track to open the sampler, it is among the weakest ones. I always enjoyed female fronted blues bands and Ana Popovic's "Comfort To The Soul" is also okay, yet I can't really get into her chanting vocal style. The guitar fills with a cool wah sound are really good though. Omar & the Howlers are featured with "Boogie Man" here, the typical Blues Brothers filler track, a simple tune that you put together in 5 minutes at a dirty garage in a rehearsal when your band is bored with your old songs and jam the 1-4-5 blues circle 50 minutes long till the drummer decides to take a break to piss on the tires of the neighbor's car. [Man, I've been there too many times, far too long!] Walter Trout's acoustic ballad "Jericho Road" starts out rather promising, the acoustic guitar sound is really great and the solo is more than tasty but the vocal performance does not match up to the musical brilliance of the track. Too bad it could have been one of the highlights of the album. Michael Hill's Blues Mob brings the first unusual lyrics on the album with "Something in the Sky", a quite good, laid-back, soft- blues number, again the vocalist could have done better but in general the song is one of the best ones on the album.
Aynsley Lister's "Sometimes It Gets 2 Me" is the rockiest, most modern sounding track with a thick guitar sound, good production, and really good vocals. All that makes it my personal favorite of the album and it is one of the few tunes here that reaches the aim of a sampler [read: makes me want to buy the complete album of the featured artist]. As a contrast Canned Heat are featured with a rather jazzy tune that sounds right out of the years of the Depression or as if it was a soundtrack to some movie about Al Capone. The song is really good, has a special mood that one has to get into. Luther Allison's reggae-blues crossover "I Wanna Be With You" is my next favorite, a really melodic track with great vocal performance both the lead and the female backing choir. Candye Kane's "I Got A Secret" also builds upon a reggae-like guitar-groove yet Candye's vocals are more than annoying here ruining the otherwise cool tune. Check the brass section, along with the trumpet solo that's the real fun part of the song! The album closes with two "clean" blues-ballads with Ian Parker's beautiful "Awake At Night" and Friend n' Fellow doing Hendrix's "Angel" turning the vocal part into a beautiful one; both songs are rather impressive! All in all I enjoyed the sampler and about a quarter of the tracks featured on it woke my interest for the bands playing them which is not bad for a sampler. Hopefully others find even more and then the sampler was worth releasing and can deliver the music of the bands of the label to an audience that was unfamiliar with them so far.
MTM Music 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
22 June 2004
Ex-Scudiero singer Hans Andersson is no longer frontman for Token, since he decided to put all his focus on other projects like Fatal Smile. The new kid on the block is Mattihas Ahlen, that just happens to be yet another fine power vocalist. "Punch" is their sophomore release and the style has dramaticly changed since the 2002 debut "Tomorrowland". It's an awful mish-mash of various influences thrown into the blender. The result is rather confusing as you actually don't know if they're playing metal, AOR, or modern rock.
Every third track is a completely different issue and in the end, you don't even know your left from right. I believe I prefer the modern rock influences though as tracks like "Sometimes", "Wake Up", "Media Doll" (like a slightly heavier version of The Rasmus), "Can't Heal" (a minor flirt with the Max Martin sound), are over all catchy, uplifting, and fun.
You can't argue with the quality of songs like "Turn Back The Time" or "Tear Down The Wall" for that matter. However, it feels like "Punch" is too experimental in it's desperate search for the perfect approach and sound. I'd recommend that Johan Sjvgren (guitars), Niclas Holmkvist (bass), keyboardist Mikael Rosengren (ex-Scudiero, Damned Nation), and drummer Patrik Johansson (ex-Yngwie Malmsteen), would sit down and talk about which direction to choose for the next album. I'd go with the modern rock approach if I were them, since they are obviously capable to write some really catchy stuff after all. Bottomline, "Punch" ends up with the description "feels more like Mike Tyson during his 'ear chewing days' than anything else". Still quite dangerous to face in the ring, but not enough with stamina to knock you down for good [gee... I'm a freakin poet... NOT!!!].
www.token.se
Mascot 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
21 June 2004
George is furious!!! Why is George furious??? It may have something to do with this record and all that late 60's/early 70's rock. Or the fact that he's about to turn 50 in September [heck, my dad isn't much older]. Seriously though, this is yet another tribute album and a chance for Lynch [ex-Dokken], to give kudos to some of all the musicians, songwriters, and guitarists, that inspired him to pursue a life of crime... ehem... music.
With a helping hand from vocalist Kelly Keeling [Baton Rouge] and drummer/vocalist Jeff Martin [Racer X, Badlands], the Lynch band is all set to go. They're going through oldies with such classic acts as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Grand Funk, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, ZZ Top, Montrose, Cactus, Captain Beyond, and Mountain.
Not always the obvious choice though as they're doing "Blood Of The Sun", instead of the indispensable "Mississippi Queen". "Sins A Good Man's Brother" isn't the most famous Grand Funk rocker, and not every ZZ Top fan will recall "Precious And Grace". Keeling does a mean 'beard' impression and Lynch manage to find a thick bluesy tone here. Like every tribute album there's up's and down's and you always pull out the original record in the end. "Dancing Madly Backwards" with Captain Beyond is not every man's poison perhaps. Still interesting if only for the fact that Rod Evans was the original Deep Purple vocalist. Speaking of DP, they cover "Stormbringer" instead of any Gillan track, which at least I find to be kinda boring. That would be like covering Dokken without Lynch. The production by Mike "The Legend" Varney is a nice piece of craftmanship and George is clearly not so furious after all. Not a bad performance by any of the musicians involved, but I'd rather take a new, great, Lynch Mob CD. There's an upcoming release slated for later this year and let's hope it's more in the vein of "Wicked Sensation" than "Smoke This".
www.georgelynch.com
Metal Heaven 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
29 June 2004
The experienced Ralph Santolla has been adding yet another piece to the grand puzzle with "Jericho". The ex-Death guitarist has been rather busy lately, since he was asked to join Iced Earth for their 'Glorius Burden' album and tour. Millenium will therefore have to step back to be just another side project for the more money bringing work.
Millenium were previously known as Eyewitness and original vocalist Todd Plant is now back among the ranks. The departure of Jorn Lande (Masterplan) is obviously a major setback, even if Plant is indeed a solid vocalist. I've always thought of him like a poor man's version of Jeff Scott Soto [Talisman, Yngwie Malmsteen, Takara, Eyes, etc] somehow.
The attitude is slightly heavier than previous album and the Iced Earth influences certainly shows. "Jericho" now ends up, soundwise, somewhere between the music of above mentioned act and later day Yngwie Malmsteen. It's a huge step towards real heavy metal and simply don't expect it to sound anything like "Hour Glass". I can't say that I'm all that impressed by the song material though. I'm air drumming along with the songs [much thanx to some excellent work by Iced Earth/Demons And Wizards drummer, Mark Prator], and trying to keep up with all the wicked power riffs. However, when it comes down to actually remembering the refrains and such, I'm afraid that I often draw blank. Tracks like "Enemy Of The Sun" or "Wheel Of Fortune", do remind me of any of Malmsteen's releases lately. A shipload of licks and tricks without the real melodies and hooks of the past. I also noticed to my very suprise that Tere Bertke of the multi platinum act BlackHawk, play bass guitar on most tracks. It really doesn't add much to the over all picture though and "Jericho" is a rather average release in the end. Hardly rubbish, it's more a case of 'been there, done that' already.
Mayan/Sanctuary 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
23 June 2004
I always hated that 'Jesus Built My Hotrod' tune and I deperately tried to get someone else to review this at RockUnited. No such luck I'm afraid as I'm stuck with the industrial metal and the second coming of messiah... ehem... Al Jourgensen. To my very suprise I actually ended up enjoying quite a few of the tracks from "Houses Of The Mole". It's perhaps a sign of the times as you can hardly escape the force driven music of Ministry anymore.
Any rocker with the sense of including samples of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana [La Fortuna], can't be all that bad. And it really doesn't hurt if you're at the same time taking a shot at the conservative middle America [or simply anything too conservative]. Then again, I guess Al never payed much attention to Love/Hate and their straight forward message, "Why Do You Think They Call It Dope". This rabbit will probably chew his arm off rather than kick the habit. The rock idols of today [and yesterday for that matter] are truly walking the thin line between insane and genius.
The "lyrics" are mostly anti-Republican, anti-Bush, and pretty much anti everything. Hmmm... rock'n'roll was never supposed to be about politic, huh? And it was never intended to serve as your agenda for any "personal" vendetta, huh? The holier than thou approach never works that well in rock business. And I couldn't care less about which president the united states are having at the moment. Not my country, not my business. All nine song titles start with the letter "W", except the first track: "No W". It's clear what this is all referred to if you pay attention to the big picture. Me? I just wanna have some fun while listening to a CD [words spoken of a real air-head :-)], but that's what music is all about really. 50-70 minutes of your time, when you don't have to think about personal problems, politic, war, drugs [ok, skip that one], gangs, terrorists, and all that other s**t. Sure, lyrics are important but there's a limit for everything. The buck stops here, this is where at least I draw the line. It's all about entertainment folks, not a rally for misfited politicians. And I still hate that "Jesus Built My Hotrod" tune [just to clearify things]. "Houses Of The Mole" is noisy, dusty, industrial metal, that certainly rocks every once in a while. If you enjoyed Ministry in the past, I can see no real reason to why you shouldn't also enjoy this. However, if you're looking for some really great AND groundbreaking industrial rock, try Shotgun Messiah's "Violent New Breed" for size instead. Now there's a sadly underrated and great album. The singer/bassist Tim Skold [Tim-Tim for the die-hard fans], is now a member of the Marilyn Manson band [producer too]. "Shake, shake, shake, (Oi!) Rokkin' in bop city".
LionMusic 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
26 June 2004
A little push would perhaps do the trick since they are standing "On The Edge". The annoying vocalist John Jeff Touch has obviously fallen down a couple of times already... pipes like these are hard to find. The narrow minded people will of course object to his flashy artist name too, especially when his last name is in reality 'Papagiannidis' (from Greece). It's actually quite difficult to describe the vocal attribute and performence of "Out-Of-Touch". Like a second rate... ehem... make that third rate version of Mark Slaughter [Slaughter, Vinnie Vincent], with tons of high screaming vocals and over-the-top stuff. It works great on a couple of tracks while others are almost unbearable to listen to.
The comeback of Vision with out-of-ordinary guitarist Lars Eric Mattsson isn't all that impressive I'm afraid. It's a collection of songs that had been composed for their second album that never saw the light of day, until now that is. Keep in mind that Mattsson wrote the songs with another vocalist in mind too [probably Conny Lind of Alex Masi and Amaze Me fame]. The material isn't all crap but it's hard to find any structure or thread really. The guitar work is however very impressive as always and it's clearly the main focus, production wise, so to speak. The rest of the work is anything from okay to not so great. The mysterious drummer Eddie Sledgehammer [Ian, is that you?], beats the crap outta anything that moves and Touch pours his heart out. Best of the bunch is the uptempo rocker "Stranded", complete with a power riff and matching, soaring, vocals. Final verdict: Papagiannidis is a rather cool name after all.
* * * * * REVIEWS OF WEEKS 21-25/04 * * * * REVIEWS OF WEEKS 21-25/04 * * * * *
Ayreon, Metal Majesty project, Dokken, Jing Chi, Hanna Pakarinen, Tears Of Anger, Cea Serin, Statetrooper, Cooper, Q¨eensrÿe, Hall and Oates, Voodoo, Voodoo Hill, Human Temple, Hendrix Tribute, Magna-Fi, Dare, Bloodstained, Under-Radio, Pro-Pain, Stan Bush, Perzonal War, Glen Burtnik, Tommy Denander's Deacon Street, Iron Savior, Heart, Toxic Virgin, Snakeryder, OHM featuring ex-Megadeth Chris Poland , Patrick Linman, Zero Nine, Nightwish , Evergray, Patrick Rondat, London Calling, AOR, Hira, Altaria, Freedom Call live, Frontline, Smeer, Hardreams.
* * * * * REVIEWS OF WEEKS 16-20/04 * * * * REVIEWS OF WEEKS 16-20/04 * * * * *
707, Powder, Fahrenheit, The Creek, Imperial Crowns, Masters of Reality/Chris Goss, Crossfade (U.S.), Gene Simmons, Scorpions, Daniel Liverani's Genius rock opera and his solo album, Loud'n Nasty, Syanide Kick, Alyson Avenue, Messiah's Kiss, King's Karma, White Skull, Leaf, Raging Speedhorn, LORDI, DEATH ANGEL, Dakota, ROXX, Vick Le Car, The Rise, Memorized Dreams, Viking Skull, Wicked Sensation, Lionsheart, Madison Paige, Pyramaze, Edgar Winter, State Of Mind, Midnite Sky, Anubis Gate, Blaze, Kotipelto, Saga, Marillion, Over The Edge, WASP, In Flames, Crossfade featuring Göran Edman, Mar De Grises, Cans, Jettison Eddy, Eric Burdon, Dream Evil EP.
* * * * * REVIEWS OF WEEKS 11-15/04 * * * * REVIEWS OF WEEKS 11-15/04 * * * * *
Frameshift, Tim Donahue's Madmen And Sinners, Kane, Panik, Evil Masquerade, two albums from Rick Wakeman, Kataklysm, Jeff Pilson's War & Peace, Tony Hernando, Milbajac, Dragonforce, Tygers Of Pan-Tang, Alternative All Stars, Wolf, Rick Springfield, Tesla, Bunny Brunel, HIM, The Allman Bros, Uli Jon Roth, Rick Wakeman, Norther, Apostasy, The Withering, Takara, Feinstein, Kingcrow, Jorn, Entwine, Eclipse, Lowemotor Corporation, Danny Danzi, Jaded Heart, UDO, Frontiers, Magnitude 9, Valensia, Threshold, Zinatra, RAW, Axia, Grip Inc, Shylock, Autograph, Tower and Life.
* * * * * REVIEWS OF WEEKS 6-10/04 * * * * REVIEWS OF WEEKS 6-10/04 * * * * *
Alex Masi, Mister Kite, Axel Rudi Pell, Powerquest, International Pop Overthrow, Sinn, Sequel, Secret Heroes, Flame, TNT, Mennen, Spin Gallery, Mother Mercy, Reckless, Charlie Souza, Bowes & Morley, Pretty Boy Floyd, Jack Foster, After Forever, Kristy Krash Majors, Runner, Empty Tremor, Edguy, Monster Magnet, Grandma Moses, Shadowman, Kurt Nilsen, Exodus, Double Cross, Final Frontier, Force Of Evil, Metalium, The Gathering, Orion Riders, Mr. Big Tribute, House Of Lords, Ufo, Metallica Tribute, Manigance, Omar And The Howlers, Malediction.
* * * * * REVIEWS OF WEEKS 1-5/04 * * * * REVIEWS OF WEEKS 1-5/04 * * * * *
George Bellas, Seventh Key, Anand, 7th Heaven, Baltimoore, Jack Blades, Universe, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Street Talk, Heavenly, Pink Cream 69, Requiem, Hess, Shiva, VII Gates, Pilot To Gunner, Eric Martin, Rox Diamond, Axenstar, Iced Earth, Erika, Infinite Dreams, Last Autumn's Dream, Faithfull, 220 Volt, Primal Fear, Chris Catena, Bottle Rockets, Alan Whittaker, Velvet Dreams.
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