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Post by DreamTide on Apr 16, 2008 18:59:55 GMT -5
Asia "Phoenix" (Frontiers,2008) The original line-up of Asia is back with a brand new album filled with nice pomp/AOR like they did back in the 80s. Yes, John Wetton, Geoff Downes, Carl Palmer and Steve Howe has recorded a good comeback album with lots of fantastic and beautiful keyboards mixed with strong vocals from Mr. Wetton and the harmonies are just amazing. Soundwise this is very close to the 2 Icon albums that John and Geoff released and they deliver both great rockers and ballads and more laid back songs. I think when Asia deliver pomp rockers like Never Again they sound best. But it’s a shame that they don’t record more up-tempo songs because many of the songs are mid-tempo and therefor the grade just gets 3.5. But on the other hand these guys knows how to play quality music and many of the songs needs a couple of spins before they gets stuck in the head. They also have 2 epic songs called Sleeping Giant/No Way Back/Reprise and Parallel Worlds/Vortex/Deya that has a running time over 8 minutes, both are two nice songs. Alibis is a up-tempo AOR-pop rocker that takes you back to the debut album with a wonderful melodic chorus and listen to the stunning keyboard sound. Like on the 2 first albums Roger Dean has designed the cover art and its really nice but not close to the two first classic albums. This album will be released in two versions, a regular jewel box and a slipcase edition which will include an acoustic rendition of An Extraordinary Life. This is an album that will make Asia/Icon fans really satisfied because this is a good album with a top-notch production and with lots of amazing keyboards. Welcome back guys. 3,5/5
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Post by DreamTide on Apr 16, 2008 19:01:21 GMT -5
NAZARETH - The Newz 13 songs (64'48) Release year: 2008 Nazareth, Edel Wow...I can't believe that this is the first Nazareth album to be reviewed here at Metalreviews.com. This band was a huge influence on bands like AC/DC, Saxon and Motorhead with classic albums like Razamanaz, Loud and Proud and Hair Of The Dog. Suffice to say that there's a severe lack of really influential 70's hard rock albums in our database that requires some immediate attention.....stay tuned!! These veteran Scottish rockers suffered a huge blow in 1999 while on tour when original drummer Darrel Sweet dropped dead of a heart attack. They eventually re-grouped with original bass player Pete Angew's son Lee on drums. Along with original vocalist Dan McCafferty, the band now sees fellow Scot Jimmy Murrison handling the guitar duties. Vowing to carry on, the band has continued their sometimes gruelling tour schedule and after 1999's Boogaloo album, vowed to give up recording any new material and continue playing the classics to their devoted fan base. Well, all that's apparently out the window as Nazareth has just released a brand new album entitled The Newz and I'll be damned if it isn't one of their best albums in decades!! I grew up listening to Nazareth and remember when tracks like This Flight Tonight, Love Hurts and Hair Of The Dog first hit the North American radio waves and ever since 1974 or 1975, I've been a huge fan. They have always had a knack for mixing bluesy hard rock, heavy rock and pop music with their albums and even to this day, tour regularly to a very strong worldwide fan base. With The Newz the classic Nazareth sound that many of us know and love has returned and is in very fine form indeed. The album starts with Goin' Loco, a bluesy romp with some seriously heavy breakdowns and it's obvious that Dan McCafferty still has that great raspy yet strong voice that was always such a staple of their sound. The light pop feel of Day At The Beach leads into a crushing heavy number entitled Liar. A scathing attack on George W. Bush, this one has the classic hypnotic heaviness of their heydays in the 70's. See Me is a great acoustic celtic flavored track with a soaring spirit and Dan's voice absolutely shines. I really love the feel of this and it reminds me more of the very early days of the band. Enough Love is a great radio friendly melodic yet heavy rock tune that would've been top 10 if it had been released in the 80's and once again, the passion in Dan McCafferty's voice just rips your heart out. Warning and Meanstreets are both solid rockers but Road Trip really tears it up. Fast and reckless with huge guitar riffs, this again brings the Razamanaz/Loud And Proud era back to mind. The album highlight for me is the track Gloria. It might go down for me as one of the greatest Nazareth tracks ever and from the very first time I heard it, the chorus sections brought chills down my spine. A gut-wrenching story about a man spending life in prison and watching others come and go is brought to stark vivid reality by Dan McCafferty's very poetic vocals. His soaring vocal for the chorus of Gloria-a-a-a-ohhh is one of the best things I've ever heard. One of the lines, "Fear is not respect, and it won't make a boy a man" is one of those phrases that rings so true and is something that I will treasure from this album from this day on. The Razamanaz/Loud And Proud era is once again revisited with Keep On Travelin' complete with fat guitar riffs, some great slide work by Jimmy Murrison and a huge Nazareth gang style chorus. Loggin' On is a very topical look at how the youth of today relies on the internet for most of their social interactions. Dan McCaffery sings, "They've gotta get out again, make some friends....They've gotta get out again, make some trends". Being a teenager in the 70's, I can really relate as there was much more face to face interaction socially and, common interests amongst groups of people start trends. If you don't meet and interact as a group, social trends and ideals are going to stagnate. The Gathering is an atmospheric and slow heavy metal romp with decidedly Saxon-like qualities and shows that this band can still crank it up and play music that was part of the origins of heavy metal. The album finishes with a quiet little "soliloquy" entitled Dying Breed, an ode to all the veteran rockers still out there giving it their all. This album was a huge surprise and has been stuck in my car CD player for a while now. I love the way that it weaves in and out of all the different eras of the band from the celtic and folk flavored sounds of their first 2 albums to the heavy metal punch of the mid 70's and even some of the more AOR and pop styles of the 80s. This is a collection of great Nazareth songs and a few would go down great live along with all their other classics. They are currently in the midst of their 40th Anniversary tour that's seeing them play well over 100 shows this year. Retire?....not a chance! There's still lots more life yet left in these veterans and just when it appeared that they were going to take the "play the classics only route" for the rest of their career, they come out with a new CD that is as good or better than many of their others over the years. Fans of the band are going to love this and The Newz has really put me in a "Nazareth mood" lately with almost all of their CDs getting regular listening. Some haven't been heard in a very, very long time. A little nostalgia is a great thing now and again isn't it? 86/100
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Post by DreamTide on Apr 16, 2008 19:02:48 GMT -5
PAT TRAVERS BAND Crash And Burn © 2008 Krescendo Records (KRECD7) bluesy hard rock re-issue 8 tracks - TT 39:25 release date: March 3, 2008 www.krescendorecords.com A lot of Pat Travers albums have been released since his self-titled album saw the light of day in 1976, but I don’t get it why the good guys behind Krescendo Records have selected his fourth studio album, “Crash And Burn” (1980) for a re-release. Personally, I would have chosen the fantastic live album “Go For What You Know” (1979) anytime! Anyway, if blues-drenched rock ‘n’ roll is your thing, you might be interested in this re-issue, that shows a well-oiled band (thanks to coast to coast tours joining bands like Blue Öyster Cult and Roadmaster), that shines most on the tracks “Snortin’ Whiskey” (a live favourite at the time), “Born Under A Bad Sign” and surprisingly enough a cover of Bob Marley’s “Is This Love”. Like I said: not an essential album in the whole of Pat Travers impressive body of work, but a goodie nevertheless. 4/6
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Post by DreamTide on Apr 16, 2008 19:03:44 GMT -5
WHITESNAKE: "Good To Be Bad" 9 Review by Alan Holloway, 9th APril 2008 “Ere's a few new songs for ya!” is something that David Coverdale hasn't been able to shout for over ten years now. Regardless of what you thought of “Restless Heart” from 1997, there are gonna be plenty of people waiting in rabid anticipation to hear live versions of songs from “Good To Be Bad”, which is the spiritual successor to the mind bogglingly successful “1987”. The album has been getting a goodly bit of hype, not least because of the upcoming double header tour with Def Leppard (not forgetting Thunder as well). The album cover is emblazoned with a big X, I assume because it's the band's 10th studio album. Amazingly, there have been more live and compilation albums of the band than there have been studio releases, with all of the compilations bar one coming out post 2000. It's fair to say that since “1987” Whitesnake have been a bit of a cash cow for the likes of EMI and Geffen, so it's nice to see this new album come out on SPV, a hardworking rock label. Anyone who doubts the return of the 'Snake only has to listen to the title track, which is a glorious mix of Seventies and Eighties Whitesnake, with Reb Beach and album co-writer Doug Aldrich delivering riffs more monstrous than a mother in law convention, whilst Coverdale belts out some of his tackiest lyrics with style, including a cheeky little “To the bone” which will please fans of “Slow & Easy”. For sheer rock bollocks, this is up there with “Still Of the Night”, one of my favourite ever Whitesnake songs. Vocally, he doesn't miss a trick throughout the whole album, showing time and time again why he is regarded as one of the best rock singers of all time. There's eleven tracks here, and it's a collection that should really please old school fans, as Coverdale and Aldrich haven't forgotten where this band came from. “All Fro Love”, for example, is more of a laid back bluesy number that could easily predate “1987”, and “Summer Rain” is the sort of soulful ballad that Coverdale would more likely have done in the late Seventies. For fans of the more recent kind of soppiness, “All I Want, All I Need” is more of a drippy ballad that will probably trouble the singles chart one day but leaves me rather cold. I've always preferred Whitesnake when they rock out to cheesy lyrics and big guitars, and “Good To Be Bad” does not disappoint in that area. “Lay Down Your Love”, “Best Years” and the title track have enormous riffs, whilst “A Fool In Love”, “Can You Hear The Wind Blow” and the cheeky “Got What You Need” carry on the good work with more of a retro feel. Trust me when I say that these songs are staggeringly good. As an album, “Good To Be Bad” is right up there with the best the band have produced. The three slower songs break it up nicely, but in all honesty they left me wanting to skip forward or back to the rockier stuff. Coverdale is still a frickin' rock god, and you can picture him singing these songs with a glint in his eye and a big smile on his face. If you were ever a Whitesnake fan you have to have this album, and go and see the tour whilst you're at it. www.whitesnake.com
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Post by DreamTide on Apr 16, 2008 19:04:57 GMT -5
PALLAS :"Moment To Moment" DVD Metal Mind productions 2008 Review by Martien Koolen, 11 april 2008 Another DVD by Scottish prog rockers Pallas and again it is a beauty. This DVD was recorded in Poland and besides the 12 amazing songs you can also enjoy two bonus videos filled with tales from the tourbus and a couple of rehearsal tapes. The setlist is great especially the 5 songs from their last album "The Dreams Of Men". The oldest tracks are "Hide And Seek", "Fragments Of The Sun" from "Beat The Drum" and "Cut And Run" and "Heart Attack" from the album "The Sentinel". My favourite Pallas album "The Cross & The Crucible" is only represented with one song, namely: "Midas Touch". The sound of this DVD is great and therefore this album is a true must for fans of great progressive rock music.
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Post by DreamTide on Apr 16, 2008 19:06:31 GMT -5
JON OLIVA'S PAIN - Global Warning AFM Records Hard Rock / Heavy Metal 13 songs (60'30) Release year: 2008 Jon Oliva's Pain, AFM Records Jon Oliva's Pain returns with their third album and once again, Jon dips back into the "vaults" so to speak to his many "riff tapes" that he and brother Criss Oliva had made many years back before Criss' untimely death back in 1993. The last album Maniacal Renderings was the first album to benefit from these long lost snippets of the Oliva brothers legacy and right away, the move towards a more classic Savatage based sound was very evident. With this new album entitled Global Warning, Jon delivers an album that is much more like 'Tage Mahal in that it is a lot less "metal" in nature yet delivers some of the best heartfelt and emotional vocals that he has ever done. Global Warning is not necessarily a concept album yet it deals with the state of the world we live in socially, economically and environmentally in assessing the physical damage we are inflicting upon this fragile planet of ours. Whereas Maniacal Renderings had more of an older Savatage feel, much of Global Warning brings me back to the best era of the band as far as I'm concerned and that is the Gutter Ballet and Streets (A Rock Opera) albums. The title track gets things underway in a very theatrical sense with orchestrations and the classic Savatage drama in a song that blends big booming guitar riffs with classic 70's era Hammond organ in a retro Kansas sort of way. The Queen-like twin guitar harmonies in this track make many appearances throughout this album and in an unusual arrangement; the vocals don't start until about the last minute of the song. Look At The World with it's bouncy Supertramp type of feel is one of many tracks on Global Warning that although are certainly not heavy metal, highlight just how brilliant a song writer Jon Oliva truly is. His voice is stronger than ever and he holds notes higher and stronger than he ever could before. Other tracks in the same vein include the massive epic Firefly where it builds in intensity with amazing emotion in Jon's voice. The horrors and the human costs of war are examined with an arrangement that shows Jon's love for the music of The Beatles. In one of the best tracks that he has ever written, his soaring voice, big crescendo ending complete with screaming vocals is Jon's Hey Jude. The Ride mixes Led Zeppelin like acoustic layered sounds with heavier riffs for the choruses with yet another strong vocal performance from Jon. O To G is a touching yet brief piano/voice ode to loved ones lost before Upon The Water graces our ears with it's great classic rock feel. Jon examines his own spirituality here with an amazing track that features a huge Believe (Streets album) type of chorus. Open Your Eyes is an emotional power ballad that once again shows Jon's voice being stronger than ever with the final track Someone/Souls being another very reflective and moving split track mainly consisting of just Jon and his piano. Getting to the more "metal" side of things, Adding The Cost gives us a more up-tempo Poets And Madmen type of track with Before I Hang sounding downright nasty indeed! Written from the perspective of a Middle Eastern terrorist, the angry and nasty tone comes from Jon's scalding rasp of a voice in a track that musically sounds like something left over from the Streets era. Master gives us a surprisingly funky and almost *gulp* danceable track that uses heavy riffs and synthesized voices to mimic the voice of the "darker" side that tempts us in everyday life. Both Stories and You Never Know are big riff driven Savatage like tracks that really live up to the very high standards that both Jon and his fans expect to hear. This album might surprise a few. It took a couple of listens to really see what Jon was trying to accomplish here. Going from the very heavy Maniacal Renderings to this lighter edged almost classic rock like album was a bit of a surprise. What really becomes evident is that although there are about 4 really solid heavy metal tracks, they're not necessarily the best tracks on the album. The songs where Jon gets very personal, emotional and bears his soul for all to see are the ones that make this album truly special. Time will tell but a couple of tracks rank right up there with songs like Believe and Alone You Breathe in being some of the best that he's ever written. Much like the Streets album, Jon's spirituality is front and center and with the undying spirit of his brother Criss flowing through this album, fans of Jon's work are in for a real treat and easily the best solo album he has done so far. Marty 93 / 100 Aleksie 89 / 100
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Post by DreamTide on Apr 16, 2008 19:08:40 GMT -5
Dokken Lightning Strikes Again Ever since Dokken took a left turn with the hideous Shadowlife album, there have been calls for the band to return to their classic 80s sound. While recent releases have been more melodically friendly, there is one thing that is clear. Dokken will never return to the sound of Under Lock And Key until vocalist Don Dokken sings in the manner he did on those old releases and that is simply never going to happen. So we must accept the new Dokken for what it is. Don cannot sing like he used to and it is a sad fact that Don himself must be considered the weak link in this release. Don's voice is far more restrained these days and now of a lower register and if we are honest here, Don generally sounds as if he is singing within himself until he goes for a bigger note, where he then sounds as if he had to strain to get there. There are examples all over this record, but the verse vocal in Give Me A Reason is one of the worst. Jeff Scott Soto can be heard throughout adding texture to the backing vocals and at times he is responsible for lifting the choruses out of second gear for the band. The star of this album for me – without any shadow of a doubt – is guitarist Jon Levin, who has produced his very best to make this album as punchy as it can be and closest to the band's heyday sound as possible. And he achieves his goal and further's his good name in the process. Jon's authoritve riffing and the generally punchy sound of the album as a whole are the two reasons it works. His guitar is all over this record. The opening trio of rockers – Standing On The Outside, Give Me A Reason and Heart To Stone are all cool, guitar fueled old-school rockers and will keen Dokken fans happy. The even more uptempo Point Of No Return is another solid track; Judgment Day and the groove filled closer This Fire are also highlights. There are a few fillers here also though. Don slips into old habits on the modern rock influenced tone of Disease, which does nothing for me and Oasis is similar. And How I Miss Your Smile is a very bland ballad. Thankfully I Remember is a little better. The Bottom Line The album sounds great musically speaking (aside from a couple of modern sounding tracks) and the production is first rate. The songs (again with a couple of exceptions) are strong and memorable, but the lead vocal does let things down a little and with a more intense in your face vocal, the album could have been quite menacing. 85/100 www.melodicrock.com/
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Post by DreamTide on Apr 16, 2008 19:10:21 GMT -5
MAGNUM Wings Of Heaven Live © 2008 Steamhammer (SPV 98702 2CD) AOR/melodic rock live album 19 tracks - TT 116:32 release date: February 25, 2008 www.magnumonline.co.uk I don’t know about you, but personally I reckon “Wings Of Heaven” as one of Magnum’s best studio albums ever. This album was released almost twenty years ago and today it hasn’t lost any of its original impact. When the band prepared to hit the road last year, it was decided to perform the full album as part of their UK tour in the autumn. The tour was a great success and it was only a matter of time before a live album would be released. “Wings Of Heaven Live” was released a week ago (25.02.2008) and consists of two CDs. CD 1 counts 9 tracks and can be considered as a fine crossection of songs from the band’s body of work, featuring such ‘classics’ like “How Far Jerusalem”, “All England’s Eyes”, “Vigilante” and “Kingdom Of Madness” as well as four tracks from their latest studio album “Princess Alice And The Broken Arrow”. CD 2 is a live version of the “Wings Of Heaven” album, preceded by a special intro and followed by the legendary track “Sacred Hour”, known from the album “Chase The Dragon” and serving here as a kind of ‘grand finale’. Recorded between November 10-18, 2007 in Glasgow, Cambridge, Birmingham & London and produced by guitarist Tony Clarkin (who else did you have in mind?), this is another jewel in the crown of UK’s best melodic/symphonic rock band ever, Magnum. I can only hope a DVD will follow soon! 5,5/6 Tracklist CD 1 1. When We Were Younger 2. Back Street Kid 3. Out Of The Shadows 4. Like Brothers We Stand 5. How Far Jerusalem 6. Dragons Are Real 7. All England’s Eyes 8. Vigilante 9. Kingdom Of Madness CD 2 1. Intro 2. Days Of No Trust 3. Wild Swan 4. Start Talking Love 5. One Step Away 6. Must Have Been Love 7. Different Worlds 8. Pray For The Day 9. Don’t Wake The Lion 10. Sacred Hour
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Post by DreamTide on Apr 16, 2008 19:11:34 GMT -5
ROYAL HUNT Collision Course © 2008 Frontiers Records (FR CD 368) neo-classical metal studio album 10 tracks - TT 51:38 release date: March 14, 2008 www.royalhunt.comwww.frontiers.it Just as Royal Hunt were getting up to speed with John West on vocals, they decided to part ways last year, after 8 years of collaboration. “No longer able to creatively contribute to each other’s future musical development” and “time to move on and explore different musical paths” were the official statements that accompanied the news. And what a risk to make a sequel to your most successful album ever with a new vocalist, in this case the renowned and respected Mark. I’m sure Danish hard rock veteran and leader of the band André Andersen knew what he did, but he sure took a risk. It all turned out very well in the end though. Besides the in- and outro taken from the original “Paradox” album (1997), the overall musical style and feeling on “Collision Course” reminded of the classic prequel, albeit its quality is never reached. The threesome “High Noon At The Battlefield”/”The Clan”/”Blood In Blood Out” and “Hostile Breed” come close though. Mark Boals, not a newbie in the neo-classical metal scene having earned a penny or two with Yngwie Malmsteen and Ring Of Fire in the past, does a very great job. Just as John West however, he cannot bring back the punch and atmosphere of the band’s heyday, when he-whose-name-I-swore-I-wouldn’t-mention-in-Royal-Hunt-reviews-anymore was in front. Anyway, he seemed to have integrated very quickly, helping to deliver a rock solid album in the true Royal Hunt tradition: catchy as hell, speedy at times and highly melodic overall. It’s just a pity that my voiced-over promotional copy sounded a bit flat and hollow. I’m pretty sure it will be different on the final product, as the production is courtesy of Mr. Andersen himself. If not, you may add this to the list of small shortcomings if you like… Bottom line (quite literally): very solid album of a very solid band 5/6
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Post by DreamTide on Apr 16, 2008 19:12:29 GMT -5
THUNDER: "Half A Dozen of The Other EP" STC Recordings Records 2008 Review by Alan Holloway, 14th APril 2008 Well, you can't keep a good band down, and Thunder never seem to stop working these days. After the well received “Six Of One...” EP, the rather predictably names “Half A Dozen Of The Other” follows the same format, giving fans three new songs and three live ones. The three new songs are all pretty impressive, showing no slowdown, a good feat for a band nearly twenty years old now. “Make My Day” and “Bette Davis Meltdown” are both good, hard rocking slices of the now familiar Thunder formula, whilst “I Believe” is a powerful new ballad that should knock people out live. The three live tracks are “Last Man Standing”, “Chain Reaction” and “Like A Satellite”, and it's no surprise that they are all well up ti scratch, something you'd expect from a band with so many live albums under their collective belts. In a nutshell, Thunder fans should certainly check this out (along with the previous one if you haven't already), cause the boys have still got it where it counts. www.thunderonline.com
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Post by DreamTide on Apr 16, 2008 19:15:53 GMT -5
The Very Best of Outlaw Country by: Various Artists The thing that sets this compilation apart from the plethora of others that are always being flooded into the market is the fact that it brings together Southern rockers and “outlaw” country artists on one excellent CD. It could be used as a perfect illustration of what GRITZ is all about, classic Southern rockers and young country artists who have been washed in the blood of Southern rock. This one reminds me of my own old college “mix tapes,” except, that is, for the inclusion of hot new artists like Gretchen Wilson (“Here for the Party”), Shooter Jennings (“4th of July”) and Travis Tritt (“Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde”). These artists mix very well with The Allman Brothers Band (“Ramblin’ Man”), Marshall Tucker (“Can’t You See”), Molly Hatchet (“Flirtin’ with Disaster”), Lynyrd Skynyrd (“Gimmie Three Steps”). Of course there are the founders of Outlaw country, Waylon Jennings (“Are You Sure Hank Done it This Way?”), Willie Nelson (“Whiskey River” Live), David Allan Coe (“You Never Even Called Me By My Name”), and Hank Williams, Jr. (“All My Rowdy Friends are Comin’ Over Tonight.” Add in some Billy Joe Shaver, Charlie Daniels, Jessi Colter, Steve Earle, Johnny Paycheck, Tanya Tucker, The Georgia Satellites and the legendary Johnny Cash (“Cocaine Blues”) and you have yourself a bonafide redneck party on one 20-track disc. The disc includes a 12-page liner note booklet written by Rich Kienzle, which wraps with a statement I could not agree with more. “Decades ago, country and rock followed two separate paths. Today, a collection like this proves that what began with Waylon and Willie, with The Allmans and Skynyrd, lives on, it thrives and excites audiences. That ain’t likely to change soon.” -Michael Buffalo Smith
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