Frontiers records 2004
Review by Martien Koolen,
22 August 2004

In 1994, so ten years ago, the voice of rock, Glenn Hughes released a fantastic live album called "Burning Japan live". A decade later he surprises me with an even better live album called: "Soulfully live in the city of Angels". It is a double album with 11 live tracks and two bonus studio tracks.

Among the 11 live songs are 7 "oldies", featuring "Seafull", "Coast to Coast" and "Medusa", from Trapeze times, "First Step of Love" from the Hughes/Thrall period and three Deep Purple "classics", namely: "Mistreated", "Getting' Tighter" and "You Keep on Moving". Especially the latter one and "Mistreated" form the absolute highlights of the second CD.

Mascot records 2004
Review by Martien Koolen
25 August 2004

The first time I heard Jordan's keyboards howling was on the debut album of the famous "Liquid Tension Experiment", with John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy and Tony Levin as other musicians. Then in 1999 Jordan joined my favorite prog metal band Dream Theater and I got more and more familiar with his amazing keys playing. In 2001 Jordan released his first solo album called "Feeding the Wheel", a CD that I reviewed for the Dutch metal magazine Aardschok, and which I "awarded" 9 points.

His second solo album "4NYC" was released in 2002 and it was dedicated to New York city. Now his third solo CD will hit the stores and it is again a beauty. The album features great musicians like: Rod Morgenstein (drums), Joe Satriani, Steve Morse, Vinnie Moore, Greg Howe and Daniel J. on guitar, Dave Larue (bass) and guest singer Kip Winger.

SPV/Steamhammer 2004
Review by Martien Koolen,
22 August2004

Dio's previous album "Killing the Dragon"(2002)was not my favorite Dio CD; in fact I found it a rather average hard rock/metal album, which only caught my attention because of Ronnie's incredible voice. Then Dio released his first DVD and hit me in the face with all time Dio classics like "Holy Diver", "Stand Up and Shout" or "The Last in Line". This DVD made clear that 'Holy Diver"(already 21 years old) is still his absolute best album.

His new album "Master of the Moon" can be best compared to "Killing the Dragon", so in my opinion this CD misses "freshness", new ideas and most of all energy. Do net get me wrong, this is not a bad album, but it is however a little bit Dio-unworthy. The song writing on this album is definitely not as good as on classic Dio albums like "Holy Diver", "The Last in Line" or "Dream Evil". Nine of the ten songs are just mid tempo hard rockers which "drag along" and where nothing really exciting happens ..

Sentinel 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
19 August 2004

Scavanger are Ireland's premier Heavy/Power Metal outfit. At least according to their label and they must be telling us the truth I guess... or??? I'm not even sure I'd classify them as they did, since I can mostly hear old Thrash Metal influences and parts here. The very early Megadeth, Xentrix, and indeed some Metal Church and Maiden, comes to mind while listening to their new CD.

The production is quiet raw and the varied vocals by Peter Dunne certainly fit the music. Appearing almost out of nowhere in late 2002, they took the Irish Metal scene (at the local pub?) by storm. Indeed do songs like "Prisoner Of Time" remind you a lot of early Megadeth, and you expect to hear the whining vocals of Mustaine by any second now. Something which obviously never happens. Guitarist Noel Maher is a real riff master and his work on this track is something out of the ordinary. Hello to 1985 somehow and a flashback to all the Thrash guitarists of the past (Scott Not, Mustaine, Hammett, Skolnick, Arnett, etc).

Big3 records 2004
Review by Martien Koolen,
22 August2004

On the 9th of July I saw Cheap Trick for the very first time live on stage during Bospop in Weert. As you have probably already read my Bospop review you know I was rather unsatisfied with their performance; the sound was bad and the guys on stage looked like they did not have any fun at all.

Two weeks after Bospop I received this DVD of Cheap Trick, which was recorded in Japan. I remember that I bought my first (and only) Cheap Trick album "Live At Budokan" in 1979 when I was 19 years young. At that time I quite liked the poppy rock of Cheap Trick and the strange escapades of guitar player Rick Nielsen. Now 25 years after their Budokan album Cheap Trick return to Japan to relive the memory of long forgotten days.

Frontiers Records 2004
Review by Martien Koolen,
22 August2004

On this double live album you find recordings from 1998 till 2002, recorded in Lana's favorite country Japan. CD 1 contains 13 tracks and features the full Lana Lane band, this means with two guitar players and of course Erik Norlander on keyboards. The sound on this CD is great and the songs are "heavy" symphonic, melodic and sometimes dramatic examples of typical Lana Lane's music. Highlights are: "The Introductory Medley", "Escher's Staircase" and "Evolution Revolution".

The second CD however is only filled with acoustic songs(I hate unplugged shit!!) and even worse, acoustic covers (I loathe covers!!). How can you "rape" a classic rock song like "Dream On"(Aerosmith) or a fantastic, symphonic highlight like "Season's End" by Marillion. Do not go that way; sing your own bloody material, please. But it gets worse, because there are two more remastered bonus tracks (with full band) and they are also covers!!! First Lana Lane and Band try their luck on a King Crimson classic called: "In the court of the Crimson King" and then finally they cover "Long live rock and roll" a Rainbow classic. Well, it cannot get any worse than that, because a female voice on that track (and I am not a sexist pig here and never) is really the pitch, it sounds like pure shite. This whole second CD bores me to death by the way, so this album is only food for Lana Lane addicts.

Frontiers 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
20 August 2004

The led clones of the 80's are back with a new album and not-so-fresh sound. I'm sure you all remember the fuzz back when as both Page & Plant (and everybody else?) wanted them for dead. How dared they play music with such obvious resemblance to the inventors of hardrock? Not much has changed for the last 15 years as Lenny Wolf (vocals, all instruments except guitar solos, production), continues to perform classic rock in the vein of classic Led Zeppelin. In fact, this is probably the most "Zeppelin" sounding album since the selftitled debut in 1988. Only darker and not even close to being as good.

I'm actually a major fan of the first two albums and I've always enjoyed the vocals of Wolf. I can also recommend his pre-Kingdom Come act (Stone Fury), with Bruce Gowdy (World Trade, Unruly Child) as guitarist and sidekick. "Perpetual" is however mostly recycled melodies and guitar riffs of above mentioned super group and past work of Lenny. You can't help to get a feeling of deja vu as you already know the next move/line, even before Wolf has manage to sing it.

Frontiers 2004
Review by Petri Kautto 17 August 2004

I first heard of Richie Kotzen when he replaced CC Deville in Poison for "Native Tongue". Since the split with Poison he’s been busy doing everything from fusion bands to filling the shoes of Paul Gilbert in Mr. Big. He’s also done solo material in the past so he’s made his mark in the rock music scene.

Kotzen is a great musician no doubt. He even plays all the instruments on the album. The material, however, leaves room for improvement. The melodies are mediocre and at the times it feels like he’s trying to do too much in one song. The title track "Get Up" is a prime example of this. The song is somehow messy and it’s hard to get a good grip on it. The strength in this album is in slow, bluesy rockers. "Remember" is the high point of the album. Kotzen keeps it simple and performs the songs smoothly. "Made for Tonight" follows along the same lines and does not disappoint.

LionMusic 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
21 August 2004

Book Of Reflections is a brand new all-star metal project in the neo-classical, melodic metal genre. The material was all written by guitarist Lars Eric Mattsson and you can expect a lot of high-speed riffing and flashy duels with out-of-ordinary keyboardist Vitalij Kuprij. Perhaps I'm a bit too negative in my overview of this project. However, with nothing too spectacular to jolt you out of your ordinary happy reverie, BOR feels more like an dodgy pocket story than the mother of all metal books.

It's high energy songs with nice performances by the four lead vocalists - Andy Engberg (Section A, Lion's Share), Mikael Holm (Winterlong), Hubi Meisel (Dreamscape), and Torgny Stjärnfelt (Condition Red), and it's all powered by good musicianship. The main problem is the approache to music or rather the lack of it, since it hardly differs from any other neo-classical project out there. The massive wall of fast shreding licks and complex chords at large makes it all rather boring in the end. It's the same old story with guitar w***ing and look-at-me, I-can-play-faster-than-you attitude.

SPV 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
20 August 2004

I'll have to say that "Weight Of The World", reminded me a lot more of Iron Maiden than Metal Church. It's unfortunately the poor version with Blaze Bailey upfront and dodgy material in the vein of 'Virtual XI.' or whatever they named that album. New vocalist Ronny Monroe (ex-Rottweiller - who let the dogs out?) comes actually through like a mixture of Blaze and the singer of White Cross (Scott Wenzel).

Since original vocalist David Wayne has once again moved on (he briefly returned for the 1999 comeback album, his departure can hardly be a surprise as he was frequentely leaving and returning in the past), the only two original members left are guitarist Kurt Vanderhoof and drummer Kirk Arrington. I'm not sure what you call "original" anymore as Vanderhoof started up the band in San Francisco, before moving to Seattle in 1982. I guess you'll have to go with the first line-up on record to make any sense of it all (and that goes for any band out there really).

GC 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
19 August 2004

"A Humarock Song" is the title of the new single by Greg Cherone and it's most certainly a very laidback story. All profit of the CD will actually be donated to the Humarock Beach improvement association. It seems to be a special place with fond memories for the entire Cherone family as they used to go there as kids. Clocking the tide and the childish adventure(?) of finding sand dollars and starfish, etc.

Reading the lyrics it now seems to be a place for Greg's own family to hang out, every once in a while. The song itself may not exactly spark like a radioactive cat in the dark. Don't expect to find any "hardrock" or even much of electric "rock", since Cherone has gone with the 'back to basics' approach here. Guitarist Markus throws in a single acoustic guitar upfront, while Steve Catizone lays down some laidback percussion in the background. Catzone also produced, engineered, and mixed the whole she-bang at Sanctum Sound Studio in Boston, Massachusetts.

SPV 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
12 August 2004

First Scorpions and now Magnum, it's not every year these old geezers manage to record something this good. Forget about the rather disappointing comeback album a couple of years ago (Breath Of Life) as "Brand New Morning" is better in every aspect. Bob "The Cat" Catley and Tony "The Hat" Clarkin have also managed to find that special chemistery again, which made them one of my favorite acts during the late 80's. I can still recall discovering "On A Storytellers Night" as a kid and introduced them to all my friends. Little I knew about their long background then and that they had already released the new album "Vigilante". In fact, they released "Wings Of Heaven" shortly after, which reached the amazing No: 2 position here In Sweden. It's always been their home away from home somehow.

"Brand New Morning" is their finest moment in years and definitely a worthy chapter to the neverending saga of pompous rock. I kid you not as Catley (Jerry Williams' long lost brother?)sound better than ever? and Clarkin has obviously found his magical touch when it comes to songwriting again. The production is perhaps not up to the standard of the over-the-top anthem "Wings Of Heaven", (quite raw actually) but you can't complain really. Clarkin handles everything as always and comes through with shining colours I must add.

Heritage Records 2003
Review by Endre 'Bandi' Hübner
12 August 2004

You'd expect quality stuff from seasoned session musicians (almost the complete backing band of Fish), don't you? Well, you get that here for sure! John Young (Uli Jon Roth, Bonnie Tyler, Fish, Asia, Scorpions, etc.) put together a great band to tour his own music and was wise enough to record one of the shows. These guys (Robin Boult on guitar, John Jowitt on bass, and Dave Stweart on drums) are so tight and the sound quality is so good that it's sometimes hard to believe we are talking about a live recording here.

After all the touring with countless artists it was high time to showcase John's songwriting skills. He delivers an album full of quality progressive rock, performed just as tights as if it were a studio album. He confidently handles the vocals and does not overplay the keyboard parts. The songs are laid-back, complex yet melodic and catchy rock numbers with thick arrangements. The keyboard and guitar sounds are simply breathtaking, tasty but thick enough to give a feeling as if there were dozens of layers recorded even if it's just the four musicians. It's hard to name personal favorites from the album as the song quality is so consistent that none of the tracks really sticks out. I enjoyed the slow and mellow tracks like the opening "Significance" with great keyboard sounds and very melodic vocal lines or "Underside" with an equally stunning vocal performance but the straightforward keyboard intro and pumping midtempo groove of "Childhood's End" made the track one of my faves.

Black Lotus Records 2004
Review by Martien Koolen,
18 augusztus 2004

The last Savatage album dates already from 2000 and Chris told me in the interview I had with him during Bospop that they have not even started to record a new album…. But, fortunately Chris Caffery releases two solo albums now and I can tell you that they are probably even better than the new Savatage material… The 25 tracks on the two CDs are true melodic heavy metal songs, powerful, progressive and Chris plays his guitar like never before. And that is without any doubt the most distinctive difference between Savatage and this material, almost all the songs are really guitar driven and the guitar solos are speedy, melodic and heavenly; like for example in a song called "The Mold".

The band that plays along with Chris on the two albums consists of: Paul Morris(ex-Rainbow), keyboards and piano, Jeff Plate, drummer of Savatage since 1994 and Dave Z(bassguitar). Maybe the greatest surprise on this album is the fact that Chris sings like a young metal god, a mix of Jon Oliva, Alice Cooper and David Lee Roth, need I say more?? The music on both albums could best be described as Doctor Butcher meets Savatage, or Alice Cooper meets the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

Poko Rekords 2004
Review by Petri Kautto 12 August 2004

Zero Nine has an album out after 8 years of silence. They had some success in the mid 80’s and even had Ian Gillan producing one of their albums. Not much has changed (maybe a bit of AOR in one or two songs) but they still can deliver the goods and they have not slowed down. This is one of those albums that gets bigger every time you listen to it and I’ve grown to like this quite a bit.

I probably would have chosen some other song as an opener but "You Drive Me Crazy" is still a nice song with excellent nuances and small details. "Quiet Men (Shouting!!!)" is a big, intriguing track and it has a special feeling to it. I can’t sing but I was shouting a lot along this one. The first single of the album, "Key to the Paradise" opens with an intro that they could have left out. Fortunately the jingle soon stops and they let the guitars do the talking. Zero Nine seems to specialize in weird openings because the beginning of fourth song "Everytime" has a middle aged men jamming kinda feel to it. Then when you thought all hope is lost the song gets going and does so in a big way. "Everytime" is one monster of a song with big chorus and extremely catchy melody. "Wish You Were Here" is a Pink Floyd cover and they just give it a bit of polishing by gearing things up a notch. Up next is "Wounded Heart Still Bleeding" which is a well written sing-along song. There was only one song that made me reach for the remote and it was "Madre Mia". It is a bit different from the others and it might be good for some but didn’t do it for me. "Here I Am" is a calm, mid-tempo song that opens up to a clinging chorus that is supported nicely by a little guitar lick. "Someone Like You" is a basic melodic rocker and slow "Northbound" calms the mood before the last song of the album. I might have had my complaints about the opener but they sure know how to wrap things up! "Your Eyes Could Kill" is a positively charged party rocker. Singer Kepa sounds like he’s 18 all over again and he’s just tearing things apart with his voice. A perfect ending for the album.

MTM Classix 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
15 August 2004

Hey-Hey Annica, Hey-Hey Annica, - Sorry, I'm stuck with this absolutely horrible Swedish tune inside of my head (Hej Monica). Originally released in 1988 at the Lighthouse label (Finland), this is one of the most sought of items in female rock. Without a doubt *THE* album everybody talks about when mentioning melodic hardrock out of Finland. You actually had to pay an average price of approx $200 at Ebay, if you were lucky enough to find the original CD release. Obviously overpriced and overhyped at times and that goes for pretty much anything with the "rare" stigma at large.

Not to be confused with the average or poor release of some artists though, since this is a really fine album after all. Especially if you're into female rock of course and strong vocals in the tradition of Sandi Saraya or Alannah "Black Velvet" Myles. Throw in the mandatory accent of Scandinavian singers and there you have it.

Perris 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
15 August 2004

"I'm a Hellraiser In The Heat Of The Night, I Do Not Sleep I Race With The Light" - A leathal weapon in the hands of any sleaze rocker as the Nasty Idols takes it to the next level. Finally a U.S. release of this close-to-classic (or even classic) release by vocalist Andy Pierce (Nasty Idols), with Cliff (guitars), Lefty (bass) and Stanley (drums). The Sweden release from 1995 were one of the last good albums of the MegaRock label. Machinegun Kelly were probably mostly known for being banned on MTV as the video "Whiteline Offside", shows scenes of the band snorting "coke". Not the most intelligent move in rock history and looking back at it all, Pierce admit to being out of control from times (check our massive interview archive).

The entire album kikks like a mule to the head and there's only way one to describe the whole she-bang and it spells F-U-N. It's heads down in tinseltown times two and that's only to try and describe the vibe and attitude of it all. Tracks like "Crackhouse", "Sister Sin", "Bullshit City", and "Kikk That Habit" are among the best sleaze rockers out there. "Rosalie" is something as rare as the perfect sleaze ballad, freakin' great stuff. I even find it hard to come up with the correct words here. You wanna know what Sweden could offer post Shotgun Messiah and pre Backyard Babies, then Machinegun Kelly is the perfect substitute.

Majestic Rock 2004
Review by Endre 'Bandi' Hübner
12 August 2004

After testing(?) the market with releasing an old live recording Robin George returns to the scene with a semi-acoustic studio album of quality bluesy rock. Gone are the long hair, the cranked up guitars, and the big harmonies; say hello to laid back, atmospheric tracks with unusual lyrics and interesting arrangements. However be careful if you expect the polished AOR sound of the 80s because this album has quite a few psychedelic touches making it hard to compare anything Robin has done in the 80s.

Robin played almost everything on the album, his vocals are not as rough as they used to be (actually he sings in a somewhat higher range than before) and the female backing vocals add a "world music" feel to some of the songs. He also took the producing and the weak drum sound withstanding he has done quite a stunning job. Highlights would be the opening "Bluesong", the groovy "Pride" with its melodic backing vocals, and "American Way", another groovy, semi-acoustic track with rather provocative lyrics. A few songs tend to get too "alternative" or "thinking" for my taste though; the relatively withdrawn, acoustic arrangement and the weak drum sound do not help in the long run either and by the time you get towards the album you'd welcome a little change. "Lovepower & Peace" brings some with its catchy vocal melodies and well-written chorus parts but a few good songs are not enough to make a decent record.

Majestic Rock 2004
Review by Endre 'Bandi' Hübner
12 August 2004

What's the point in digging a 1985 live recording of an artist up who hasn't been in the spotlight for years anyway? The only reason I can think of is paving the road for the new release [Bluesongs - also reviewed here] and having legal problems to re-release the old studio albums. Whatever the reason is, the live album is here and even though the performance is really good the recording suffers serious quality problems. Obviously the whole thing was mastered from an old tape recording (at best a 4- track one if any). There are serious EQ problems all through the record: highs simply don't exist and there are too much deeps as if you have blown your speakers out. If the idea was to capture the original atmosphere of the concert (and release it "as is") then I really can't understand why the tracks were messed up, announcements left off, breaking the natural flow of the concert.

Musically there are a few great parts though like the bass-drum groove on the intro of "History" or Huey Lucas' great guitar work on "Heartline". Robin's vocals are okay all through the album, his range is more than limited but he's confident within it and does not try to go for things he cannot pull. The majority of the songs are tight and played well though it's kinda fun to hear that the keyboard player does not know "Dangerous Music" and starts the refrain twice (during the verse) before it actually is coming.

Century 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
12 August 2004

Ice cold wiiiinterlaaand!!! The masters of Swedish Death Metal returns with their best album in ages. Sadly it also include some of the most awful lyrics in the history of metal. Whatever makes grown up's to write complete and utter b.s. like "I Only Fuck The Dead", goes way over my head. What the heck where they thinking about? I'm absolutely disguisted by their poor attempt of making history as the worst lyric writers on planet earth. This can hardly be the work of any intelligent lifeform and let's hope they all crawl back to where they came from.

I could actually end the review right here as "Helljoy", "Insane For Blood", or "I Bring You Death", are hardly worth mentioning either. I guess that Johnny Hedlund? (ex-Entombed, Nihilist) must have spent several minutes on the lyrics as they remind you of any nine year old with a bad and tacky sense of humour. I do enjoy the following info sheet where they actually write "Unleashed are also showing a good sense of black humour in "Only (Fuck) The Dead". Please, some of us doesn't need diapers anymore and let's leave it to that.

AFM Records 2004
Review Martien Koolen,
17 augusztus 2004

When I think of Switzerland and rock I think of bands like Krokus, Gotthard and Crystal Ball. But now a new band Swiss rock band tries to get a piece of the rock pie. Pure Inc. is a four piece band, consisting of members from Germany and Switzerland, and the name stands for the personal friendship of the musicians; Gianni Pontillio (vocals), Sandro Pellegrini (guitar), Genti Gentner (bass guitar) and Dave Preissel (drums).

Pure Inc. has already been on stage with bands like Gotthard and the Michael Schenker Group. The roots of the band go back to 1994 when they began under the name Pure Yeast. The self-produced CD "Genius"(2001) brought the band their first national success, as the title track became a radio hit.

Locomotive Music 2004
Review by Martien Koolen,
17 augusztus 2004

Eyes of Shiva is a rather new Brazilian melodic heavy metal band. The band came into being in the year 2001, when guitar players Renato Mendes and Ricardo Gil began writing their own songs. Bass player Gustavo Boni, singer Andre Ferrari and drummer Ricardo Longhi completed the band.

As producer for their debut album they asked nobody less than Fabio Laguna, keyboard player of the famous Brzalian metal band Angra. He was assisted by Dennis Ward, from the German melodic hard rock band Pink Cream, who took care of the mix. The musical direction of Eyes of Shiva can be best described as a mix of bands like Shaman, Angra, Pink Cream and Stratovarius; which means a huge sound, sometimes even pompous, filled with nice melodies and some orchestral parts. Take for example a song like "Eagle Of The Sun", which has all the ingredients I mentioned before.

Locomotive Music 2004
Review by Martien Koolen,
17 augusztus 2004

Circus is a Spanish rock band from Madrid, founded in 1998, under the name Contradiction. The band recorded two demos and kept playing in different clubs all over Spain. It was not until the year 2002 that they decided to change the name of the band into Circus. The highlight of the band's career so far is without any doubt supporting Metallica in their hometown Madrid in 2003.

The band traveled to Los Angeles to record some demos and after recording these they signed a record deal with Locomotive Records, recorded their debut album at the Sonora studios and it will be released 27th September.

Black Star Records 2004
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
16 August 2004

American guitarist Stuart Smith and Heaven & Earth will release a follow-up to the good "Windows To The World" later this year, but before that you're able to have a taste of what's to come with this EP. It's an eight-track affair with four new songs and four from Smith's first album, "Heaven And Earth". The tracks from it are the instrumental "Dreams Of Desire", the Purple-cover "When A Blind Man Cries" with Richie Sambora on vocals, "Heaven & Earth" with Joe Lynn Turner singing and "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" with Glenn Hughes. You can find my review of "Heaven And Earth" in the archives.

The new songs feature the new Heaven & Earth vocalist, Paul Shortino. He's a veteran of the scene, having sung in Rough Cutt and Quiet Riot, not to mention other projects. He does a good job here too, and his raspy voice suits the material really well.

Perris Records 2004
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
17 August 2004

I can imagine that early eighties rock radio programming sounded a bit like this album. "Leeches" is a mixture of various influences and styles, mostly from the 70'ies or even 60'ies, with some eighties sounds added to spice it up. The album kicks off with the straight-forward title track that reminds me of Hanoi Rocks and the likes, although the keyboards are very much in the eighties vein and add a nice twist to the song. The next song "American Wet Dream" is somewhat in the same style, as is the ballad "Are You There For Love".

Threeman 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
9 August 2004

Yawn! Patrik Wiren is jumping on the bandwagon again... now there's a surprise... not. What else to expect from a man that started out with Thrash during its heydays (Midas Touch), continued with Industrial Rock during its hype, with the likes of Ministry and Nine Inch Nails (Misery Loves Co.), and now finally this. I believe he's actually a couple of years late with Alpha Safari though as you can't find a lot of Radiohead into this.

AFM Records 2004
Review by Martien Koolen,
18 augusztus 2004

A compilation album of all Doro hitsongs and ballads, as well as a few new songs, newly recorded with a 40 piece orchestra, is that such a good idea??? I always admired Doro for her enthusiasm and her hard work she has been doing over many years, but I was never really a fan of her music; not with Warlock and also not with her own band Doro.

I could and can never understand why people in Germany or Spain voted her as the best female singer, as I find her voice rather mediocre. Now she releases an album with orchestral variations of all time Doro classics like "Fur Immer", "All We Are", "Love Me In Black" or "Rare Diamonds" and I almost fell asleep during those tracks, they sound like f*** lullabies!! However it can get worse, and it gets worse...Namely with the acoustic cover version of the all time Priest "classic" "Breaking The Law". Doro sings this together with Udo and this version is really devastating. Why, because first of all I hate covers and secondly I hate unplugged songs; and last but not least I find "Breaking the Law" one of the worst Priest songs ever...

Ryko 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
14 August 2004

Errrr... the opening track "Looks So Pretty" litterely scared the crap outta me. Whatever happened to the sweet, innocent, little kittens of yesterday? These women can surely not be the same outfit that released albums such as "Spit" and "Oracle" in the past. Sure, they always had something savage and untamed about them, however, these wild cats will probably scratch and bite all nite.

They've moved closer to pure Death Metal and further away from their melodic Nu-Metal tendencies. "Until The End" is certainly different from previous albums and I believe it to be rather monotonous instead. A bit of a disappointment as I expected great things to come outta Morgan Lander (vocals/guitars) and her sister Mercedes (drums). New guitarist Lisa Marx do rip and shred like any death/nu/metal bender out there, but where's all the guitar solos??? It's almost like listening to the latest Metallica alster... solos??? who needs'em??? Well, we bloody do as most of us are into real music and if Kittie wanna play "real" metal, they better include some asap.

Perris 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
14 August 2004

Where the hell do I know the name Ken Anthony from??? A quick check and a search later, I noticed that Switchblade's vocalist used to run around in the offices of Metal Forces in the past. Perhaps he should have continued with his daytime work as he's hardly among the best shouters out there. Quite possible the most likely singer to be mistaken for a chainsaw in heat!!!! Vrooooom, vrooooom, meow! - vroooom, vroooom, meow!

Frontiers 2004
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
8 August 2004

Fabrizio V. Zee Grossi is at it again...yes, after working with Joseph Williams, Kelly Hansen and Mickey Thomas, the oddly-named producer has hooked up with another high-profile melodic rock singer, namely Danny Vaughn of Tyketto/Waysted fame. The formula's similar to that of the Perfect World album, well-known pop songs have been turned into hard rock tracks, although it has to be said that this album contains more songs written especially for it.

I've liked all of the previous FVZG-products, but this might just be the best one of them yet. The production is excellent, Danny Vaughn sings like the Rock God he is and the song selection is very good. In fact the first half of the album is pretty breathtaking, one killer song after another. There's the very Tyketto-like opener "Nothing At All", followed by an excellent remake of the Desmond Child-penned LeAnn Rimes-track "Suddenly". Next up are the killer moody melodic rock track "Fight For Love" and a cover of Martin Kesici's similary dark and moody "Losing Game", with another LeAnn Rimes-number "Damn" offering some balladic relief before the uptempo Martin Stenmarck-track "Stop".

The second half of the album is a bit less explosive, but not bad by any means. All the five remaining tracks are good, with uptempo pop rocker "Always" being my favourite out of them, followed by "Blessing In Disguise", which reminds me of Tyketto's "End Of The Summer Days".

Escape 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
4 August 2004

Grand Illusion is definitely one of my favorite "new" acts in the last couple of years. They've pretty much nailed everything from hooks and melodies, to lushy keyboards and multi-layered harmonies in the melodic, and very pompous rock genre. They're hardly "new" kids on the block though as we're talking about middle-aged men with a soft spot for long gone days. "Ordinary Just Won't Do" being their third release, you can find more info and previous reviews in our massive archive, which include some other 1800 CD reviews by the way [we really need to promote that every once in a while].

I haven't really been disappointed by any of their albums so far and this is yet another winner in my book [and they wrote "The Book Of How To Make It" after all]. It's slightly different from previous attempts as they're moving closer to "AOR" and further away from "Pomp" this time. It's actually quite "heavy" in certain places [at least on a "wimp" scale], and they've even included a heavy metal riff or two by now.

Frontiers 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
10 August 2004

With the above cover pose [see picture] and all that bling-bling, you could almost mistake him for a gangsta rapper. Jean Beauvoir [ex-Plasmatics, Little Steven] isn't exactly the last mohawk anymore as he returns with a brand new solo album. The first since he moved out of Sweden back in the 80's actually and he's appearently a Chameleon nowadays. It's only fair to point out that the music doesn't really have *that* much in common with the Crown Of Thorns project.

Don't expect to find that much of "hardrock" here as you'll only end up disappointed. It's flashy, modern, pop, with a hint of rock every now and then. The first single is co-written by Lionel Richie and was remixed by the Jiggy-Joint team, who most recentely worked with "metal acts" like P-Diddy, Britney Spears, and Arrested Development.

Frontiers 2004
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
8 August 2004

The king of all travelling man vocalists is back with another solo album. If his previous album "Prism" was a bit heavy on the ballads, "Lost..." is more of a heavy rocking affair, with only two ballads among its' eleven tracks. AOR fans shouldn't worry though, there's still plenty of big backing vocals and good melodies.

The album opens with "Believe In Me", a track co-written by Jeff's current bandmate in Soul SirkUS, Mr. Neal Schon of Journey. The track is quite similar to the melodic rockers on Journey's latest album "Arrival", a good track but not necessarily worth all the praise it has gotten from the melodic rock media. Next up there's the hard rocking but a bit bland "Soul Divine", which is followed by "Drowning", a strong straight-forward hard rock track. "If This Is The End" is the first ballad, a very good one like we've learned to expect from Mr. Soto. The title track and "Doin' Time" represent the more "groovier" side of Soto's songwriting, reminding me of the last Talisman album, while "High Time" is the uptempo melodic anthem of the album, and one of my favourite tracks. "Beginning 2 End" is another good Soto-ballad, paving the way to another duo of hard rockers, the groovy "On My Own" and the more melodic "Find My Way". The last track is a bit of a throwaway acoustic number called "Sacred Eyes", easily the weakest song on the album. Apparently the retail version contains an additional bonustrack "Dulce Lady" but it's not included on the promo version I've got.

RP Inc 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
4 August 2004

I heard a lot of great things about this Canadian act (not to be confused with the Swedish band), and was really looking forward to receiving "On The Edge". Indeed, Renegade is a true and blue 80's AOR act and most of their material was recorded back in the days (1985-87). They were just one of many great bands from Canada, that never quite made it outside of their own home turf.

"On The Edge" is the second CD release in a couple of years time and it's a showcase of everything that Canadian AOR stood for. It's Boulevard (BLVD), Haywire, Honeymoon Suite, and Loverboy, all over again, and it's not exactly "original" music. The quality of the songwriting is however way above average and it'll certainly bring a smile all over your face. It's wimpy, corny, even childish at times, but darn infectious and catchy, in that special 80's tradition. Perfect stuff to listen to while playing "Grand Theft Auto - Vice City", in other words.

Majestic Rock 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
6 August 2004

Glasgow and entire Scotland's answer to the five lads from Sheffield??? The tartan version of Def Leppard with other words??? Perhaps as at least "Lettin' Loose", with the Heavy Pettin' clan members, showcased a lot of similarities to Def's music at the time (High'N Dry). The unmistakeable singer (Hamie) had more in common with another "Britt" rocker though. He actually came out sounding like Biff Byford (Saxon) toxicated on laughing gas. The combination worked rather well and the album was a small success all over U.K. It was originally released in 1983 and produced by Queen guitarist Brian May.

Frontiers 2004
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
8 August 2004

Unlike many of the other Frontiers releases this year, Bonrud are a new act with no "familiar" names involved. Okay, the album was mixed by Keith Olsen, but the names of band members Paul Higgins (drums), Dave Hendricks (vocals) and Paul Bonrud (everything else!) don't ring any bells. That's about to change though, because they're all highly talented. Vocalist Hendricks sounds like the lost cousin of both Lou Gramm and Skagarack's Torben Schmidt, while mainman Paul Bonrud throws in some magnificent AOR axemanship.

Bonrud's first album could be described as very well performed textbook AOR and melodic hard rock, reminding me of such acts as The Storm, Ten, Lost Weekend and Burns Blue. Still there's something missing, when it comes to the songs. They're all decent enough, but only occasionally reaching the next level. As good as "Date With Destiny", "Once In A Lifetime" or the ballad "Desperate Heart" are, even they are unlikely to make it to the list of my favourite tracks this year...and no, none of them are covers! Indeed, this album won't win any awards when it comes to original songtitles, as there's also "Take Me Home" and "Leap Of Faith" on it...

GEP 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
7 August 2004

I truly enjoyed IQ's previous record [The Seventh House] and believed it to be one of their best ever. I even said that it was way better than any of Marillion's efforts lately. Well... "Dark Matter" may not reach the same excellent standard of "Marbles", but classic Prog-Rock fans will probably find this quite essential anyhow?

The curse of the band has always been to walk in the shadow of Marillion. The music of IQ is however still pretty loyal to the "classic" prog-rock genre and sound of the past. This record is by far no exception to the golden rule of progressive stuff. Only five tracks to be found and they are each 10 minutes [give or take], and simply jam packed with atmospheric keyboards and otherwise complicated structures. The lyrics by vocalist Peter Nicholls are always thought worthy and yet direct to the point somehow. It's the thinking man's music after all and you won't find anything as blunt as the pure rocket science of "Unskinny Bop" or "Let's Get Rocked".

Majestic Rock 2004
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
8 August 2004

The die-hard AOR fans are most probably familiar with "When Midnight Comes", the only official Surgin' album. from mid-eighties. The band featured vocalist Russ Arcara (later in Prophet and Arcara) and guitarist/songwriter Jack Ponti, who went on to become one of the biggest songsmiths of the late eighties hard rock boom. This album is a sequel to a similar collection of Surgin' demos which was released a couple of years ago, under the title of "Tokyo Rose", if I remember correctly. Apparently everything worth releasing from Ponti's Surgin' archives has now been released, as this album has been named "The Final Chapter".

"Electric Nights" contains 13 tracks of good mid-eighties melodic hard rock, comparable to the first two Bon Jovi albums for instance. You might even recognize some of these songs, as they've been later recorded by other artists: there are two songs that made it to KEEL's self-titled album ("Don't Say You Love Me" and "Waiting In The Shadows", re-titled "Somebody's Waiting" on the Keel album), "Somebody's Falling" made it to SHARK ISLAND's "Law Of The Order" and "Crossfire" was remade on the first Babylon AD album.

Majestic Rock 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
3 August 2004

This is more or less Bedlam without a proper vocalist and material. David McTavish (vocals) decided to leave prior to "Live In Hamburg" was recorded, at a small club near Hamburg on the 3rd of December 1970. It's the only official release by the band as they never recorded a studio album, due to crappy management and an ego-maniac (Tedder?) as A&R. The Ball brothers (Dave - vocals/guitar, Denny - vocals/bass), would later form Bedlam with the legendary drummer Cozy Powell (RIP). This was one of his first recordings and for that reason only, this could be very interesting to many drummers out there. Cozy sure could bash the skins better than most, even though he wasn't the best 'technical' drummer out there.

LionMusic 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
1 August 2004

Ehhh... I'm not sure what to think or believe of Stella "Starqueen" Tormanoff from Bulgaria. Her singing style is v-e-r-y much in the tradition of old, eastern Europe. It actually reminds you alot of the most horrible contenders of the Eurovision Song Contest. "Your True Self" is all about progressive, symphonic, and gothic metal, which obviously has already been done to death, and much better I must add, by the likes of Finland's Nightwish.

Thorbjörn Englund of the power metal act Winterlong has taken her under his wings and contributes with this and that. Tormanoff has appearantely moved to Sweden too and will probably beat the crap outta me if we should ever meet. I simply can't understand the charm with this CD at all I'm afraid, since it lacks of quality in both songwriting and vocal attributes. All tracks are steeped into the mid-tempo formula and you hardly can't tell them apart in the end.

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