Month: October 2012

Rick Springfield – Songs For The End Of The World Album Review

 For all his accomplishments as an actor, a best-selling author and the subject of a recent documentary, Rick Springfield’s first love has always been music, since the first time he picked up a guitar at the age of 12 in his native Australia. That passion for writing and performing songs, as well as playing guitar, comes through loud and clear on his new album, “Songs for the End of the World”.
  
“There’s real feeling in it, but you can’t write about that stuff too seriously,” he says of his sometimes tongue-in-cheek approach to serious subjects. “In the end, it’s about the world in flames, but from a personalized viewpoint. I take what’s happening to me and place it in a universal context. It’s what I’ve always tried to do with my songwriting.”

 

 With 25 million albums sold, 17 U.S. top-40 hits, including “Don’t Talk to Strangers”, “An Affair of the Heart”, “I’ve Done Everything for You”, “Love Somebody”, and “Human Touch”, as well as a 1981 Grammy® Best Male Rock Vocal win for his No. 1 single hit “Jessie’s Girl” behind him, Springfield proves that he has still got more to say


Considering the bloke is 63, and been a music performer since 1969 ( I was just two!!), hes still as relevant today as he was at his pinnacle in the 80’s. Listening to the new album, nothings  missing at all, not a single fault in his vocal rage. Fuck me, he still looks great too.

His 2010 autobiography, Late, Late at Night…: A Memoir, for Simon & Schuster’s Touchstone imprint, entered The New York Times best-seller list at No. 13, hitting the Los Angeles Times and Publishers Weekly lists as well, with Rolling Stone recently naming it one of the Top 25 rock autobiographies of all time. In the book, Springfield revealed the life-long depression he’s battled throughout his career, a theme he returns to in such songs as “I Hate Myself” and “Love Screws Me Up.” “I’m not the shiny, happy guy people think I am from my role in General Hospital,” insists Springfield. “I tend to put that angst into my music.”
 


Its is first album in four years since 2008’s Venus In Overdrive, and all the songs on Songs For The Edge Of The World are all short, trimmed little Duracell power packed nuggets with hardly a song over 4mins. If youre a fan of ‘The Springfield’ then this one will have you in multi-orgasm territory. All his trademarked strengths  are here, take the opener for example, Wide Awake has a chorus that just gets under your skin immediately (in a good way I might add). In a similar vein is the extremely catchy ‘A Sign Of Life’. ‘My Last Heartbeat’ is a groovier/ heavier rocker than most on the album, and also features Mr Mister’s Richard Page on backing vocals. Going back to the 80s, Rick had a knack for writing pop songs, and Theres a couple on offer here in the acoustic ‘Gabriel’, and ‘Joshua’ in particular.
 

Im guessing Springfield’s long term friend and guitarist Tim Pierce is in session on the rockier ‘Depravity’ as it’s the sole song with a guitar solo. It would be a waste otherwise if Pierce wasn’t utilised in one way or another. (Check out Pierces allmusic page for all his credits…astounding work)
Springfield has set his sights on the collector in us all. Its being sold as four different versions, each one complete with different bonus material, and covers
So to round up, looks great…check, sounds great…double check, as an album, I doubt there’s many better than this for your buck in 2012. Power pop/rock, unashamedly 80s in parts, all delivered with a style and panache that only Rick Springfield can.
I hate the bloke!!!
SCORE 90/100

Tracklisting:  Wide Awake; Our Ship’s Sinking; I Hate Myself; You And Me; Gabriel; A Sign of Life; My Last Heartbeat; Joshua; Love Screws Me Up; I Found You; Depravity; One Way Street ; Let Me In (Bonus Track); My DUI (Exclusive Bonus Track).
 
The Bug – album only I-tunes exclusive track

 

RICK SPRINGFIELD

Rick Springfield: Guitars, Lead Vocals
Matt Bissonette: Bass & Keyboards, Background Vocals
George Bernhardt: Guitars
Rodger Carter: Drums
Additional Guitars: George Nastos, Dan Strain, Tim Pierce
Additional percussion: Ronnie Grinel
Additional vocals: Richard Page on 2,7,12
Additional vocals: John Waite on 2

Jimi Jamison – Never Too Late Album Review


Often referred to as one of the American top Rock vocalists, Jimi Jamison has been the singer with Target, Cobra and finally Survivor – who rejoined in late 2011 – for more than a decade, apart from being an accomplished solo artist on his own.

Jimi performed back up vocals on recordings by ZZ Top, Joe Walsh and numerous other recording artists. Billy Gibbons refers to Jimi as the fourth member of ZZ Top and Casey Kasem (kids of a certain age know him as the voice of Shaggy, in Scooby Doo, before Scrappy came on the scene and fuckin’ ruined it!!), on his nationally syndicated radio show American Top 40, referred to Jimi Jamison as “The Voice”. Among Jamison’s best known performances are “Burning Heart”, from the Rocky IV movie which hit #2 on the Billboard Charts, “High On You” (#8), and “The Search Is Over” (#4).

His solo career started in 1991 with the release of “When Love Comes Down” followed in 1999 by “Empires”, the album which included the theme, “I’m Always Here” for Baywatch. In 2008 he teamed up with ex Survivor band mate, Jim Peterik who wrote and produced for him the acclaimed album “Crossroads Moment”. On the heels of this superb release, Jimi toured Europe a few times and culminated with an appearance at the popular Firefest in the UK in 2011.

In the meanwhile Jamison started to work together with Swedish songwriter and producer Erik Mårtensson (W.E.T., Eclipse etc), who had met “virtually” while working on the successful Kimball Jamison duet album to which Mårtensson had contributed with some songwriting. 

 
So there you have it, whether you admit to it or not, practically everyone knows Jimi Jamison, unless you’ve been living under a rock, or in a cave for the last 30 yrs, or if you thought your dad had a surname called Fritzl!!
So what we have here is a mighty fine slice of modern contemporary melodic rock. The heaviest he’s done (as Frontiers PR states)? I’m not so certain of that, considering other Mårtensson projects (Eclipse and Toby Hitchcock) this year have rocked (much) harder than this album. That aside, it’s the best album that Jamison has put his John Hancock to quite some time indeed.
‘Everybody’s Got A Broken heart’ and ‘The Great Unknown’ really kick the album off to a great start with Jamison’s trademark vocals having more polish than Mr Sheen’s door knob. Couple this with infectious choruses and more licks than my dog can muster, and ‘Never Too Late’ doesn’t look back for a moment. We also get out obligatory ballads. If you want ballads, then there’s a feast of them in the way of the excellent ‘The Air I Breathe’ and the heartbreaking, ‘Heaven Call Your Name’.
If you’ve a hankering for 80s Survivor themed songs then look no further than ‘Never Too Late’ as Mårtensson has delivered a set of songs that they can both be very proud of. ‘I Cant Turn Back’ is huge, and stands up well against any previous Survivor song. ‘Street Survivor’ is and edgier song than most, think Survivor on Viagra!
With a voice that has not waivered over the years, I can see this in many a melodic rock fans Top 10 albums of the year
Score : 70/100

Tracklisting: Everybody’s Got A Broken Heart; The Great Unknown; Never Too Late; I Can’t Turn Back; Street Survivor; The Air I Breathe; Not Tonight; Calling The Game; Bullet In The Gun; Heaven Call Your Name; Walk On (Wildest Dreams).

 

 
JIMI JAMISON
PRODUCED BY : Erik Martensson

Jimi Jamison – Lead Vocals
Erik Mårtensson – Lead & Rhythm Guitar. Bass, Keyboards & Backing Vocals
Magnus Ulfstedt – Drums
Jonas Öijvall – HammondB3, Piano & Analog Synthesizers
Magnus Henriksson – Lead Guitar on “Street Survivor” & “Heaven Call Your Name”

Black Country Communion – Afterglow Album Review


Well there may well we trouble a t’mill within the Country of Black Communion, but I can tell you all from the very first listen, that there is absolutely bugger all wrong with the music being turned out. When me ‘n No.1 son were down in ‘dat dare London’ the other week for the marvellous  ‘50 years of Loud – Marshall’ gig, a bit of a rift was opening within Twitter between Hughes and Bonamassa (who is probably the only person of the planet whose output is more prolific than BCC), and in the weeks that have passed, time has proven not to be a healer with a one off UK gig being arranged and swiftly cancelled, with Bonamassa stating that ‘’principle still stands for something in 2012. I’m ready to move on’’, with a swift response of ‘’Me, too!’’ from Glenn Hughes. Phew!
Apparently the songs on Afterglow were going to be for Hughes’ next solo album, and frustrated that they couldn’t really get together as a unit, the songs became the next BCC ones for Afterglow. That doesn’t mean a step in the wrong direction for lovers of the previous two releases. Far from it, to be precise. Whereas Hughes has been the undoubted king of funk these past years, Afterglow ‘s songs are planted firmly in the Classic Rock genre of the 70s, only with better production!
Whereas BCC1 seemed like a quick get together (but the songs still kicked serious ass), BCC2 was a more of a band affair with the songs having a much better flow and cohesion, Afterglow comes at you like a runaway train with 1000W of Marshall/Orange Cabinets strapped to the front. Which leads very nicely into Big Train, and for me is one of the best tracks to come from the pen (or keyboard) from Hughes, fuelled not by coal, but by Bonham’s drumming, and a great bluesy solo from Bonamassa. 
The plan this time round was to give Sherinian more keyboard time, and this is more prominent on the 70s influenced ‘This Is Your Time’. ‘Midnight Sun’ sees Bonamassa give a very Pete Townshend /The Who feel to proceedings, with Hughes being Hughes and just singing his Wolverhamton ass off! On ‘Confessor’ the sound goes back to BCC1, mean, lean, a Black Country fighting machine.  On ‘Cry Freedom’ equal vocal time is given between Hughes and Bonamassa and the end result takes me back to the first time I heard Deep Purples Burn album. A sledgehammer of a blues rock number, with both singers fighting it out for blues supremacy rights! Even Bonamassa goes all Hughes on us.
The lighters come out for the slowed down title track, and is an instantly memorable number, with Hughes’ voice taking centre stage going from soft and subtle vocals to powerful and screaming, then pastoral to full on heavy hock in a little over a heartbeat. Very Zeppelin-esque. Bonham’s drumming drives ‘Dandelion’ forward, and ‘The Circle’ is a more tranquil affair, atmospheric and haunting, with a riff straight from Bad Company’s finest. Rush have just been on the phone, and they want the opening riff to ‘Common Man’ back! ‘The Giver’ harks back to the DP Burn Stormbringer era, and the final track ‘Crawl’, gets all manner of genres thrown in with the proverbial kitchen sink. Funk, rock, blues, 70s rock, Puprle, Led Zep all in this electric blender of a song. Sherinians eastern sounding keys even take me back to my youth with a Rainbow (Tarot Woman/Stargazer) vibe running through the song like a 70s stick of Rock!!!
After 3 albums in quick succession, and the recent and hopefully not terminal fall out between Hughes and Bonamassa, it would be criminal if they didn’t sort out differences and gave us a tour in the not too distant future. Even if there’s no tour, please give us more albums. It would be a shame to bow out after three, but if this is their last album, fuck me it’s a good ‘un!!
SCORE : 88/100
BCC are
Glenn Hughes
Joe Bonamassa
Derek Sherinian
Jason Bonham
the 5th member – Kevin Shirley
 Track Listing

  1. Big Train
  2. This Is Your Time
  3. Midnight Sun
  4. Confessor
  5. Cry Freedom
  6. Afterglow
  7. Dandelion
  8. The Circle
  9. Common Man
  10. The Giver
  11. Crawl

Geoff Tate – Kings & Thieves Album Review

 


A lot has happened in Geoff Tate Land these past few months. Severe ructions with his Queensrÿche band mates saw him evicted/sacked from his lead position in one of the greatest modern metal prog bands I have ever witnessed in my 30 years of attending rock gigs. Tate was fired from his own band, and accusations were levelled at Tate’s door, mainly in trying to punch Rockenfield’s lights out.  Then there’s the whole Rocklahoma thing (google it!). Tate has also had the balls to admit his failings when some (many) would not, and for this alone deserves huge credit to the fellow! The last thing that anyone wants is two bands plying their trade as a pair of Queens(rÿche’s). This sacking all seems strange as it’s killing the goose that laid the golden egg as Tate is responsible for over 80% of The Rÿche’s output over the last 30 years!
Now over the years I’ve been a huge Queensrÿche  fan after seeing them support Dio in the UK when they were promoting ‘The Warning’. I must admit that the last 10-15 years have been a bit difficult for me, and I often wonder how on Earth Queensrÿche  have lasted this long, based on the commercial output over this 10-15 year period.
Currently we have two? Yes, two Queensrÿche’s about to do the rounds, the other (non Tate version) now operating under another name. Basically after getting thrown off the horse, he’s back on it straight away going what he does best, and that’s getting his music heard. 
Now most of you all know that Geoff Tate is best known for his work with the progressive metal band Queensrÿche. Geoff is regarded as one of the most skilled vocalists in the genre with hundreds of modern, popular artists citing him and his band as a major influence.
Combining social consciousness and expertly crafted lyrics with high-energy, melodically complex music, Geoff and his band have become internationally recognized as the thinking man’s rock band. The band’s first three albums — their self-titled EP (1983), The Warning (1984) and Rage for Order (1986) — all hit gold status selling over 500,000 units each. With the release of their landmark concept album Operation: Mindcrime (1988) — which won critical and popular acclaim and comparisons to the Who’s Tommy and Pink Floyd’s The Wall — Queensrÿche went on to bring their progressive music to sold-out audiences the world over. I have to add here that ‘Mindcrime’ is one of the ‘Every Home Should Have One’ albums. If you haven’t heard this then shame on you matey!
Following the album’s platinum success, Queensrÿche released Empire, which quickly entered the Top 10 on the Billboard charts, eventually generating sales of more than 3.0 million copies. The album featured the hugely popular hit, “Silent Lucidity,” which would be the band’s first Top 10 single (#9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart).
The band celebrated their 30th Anniversary in rock by releasing Dedicated to Chaos and, once again, toured extensively. Since their inception, the band has sold over 25 million albums worldwide and has performed in over 46 countries.
Enough of the history lesson, what about Geoff 2ndsolo album? Remember his first, way back in 2002? Me hardly, either! But one thing is for certain, ‘Kings & Thieves’ isn’t up there with the best that Queensrÿche  has to offer, but it’s probably better than most of the Queensrÿche albums churned out after Promised Land. . That doesn’t mean it’s a great album, but it’s not shite either . So don’t judge this purely on the best Rÿche output as that’s grossly unfair to the individual. Geoff’s vocals come out rather well, although there are a couple of songs I don’t really care to hear ever again – ‘The Way I Roll’ is one in particular. ‘TWIR’ is a bit of a whoozy, jazzy number that’s too mid 90s Queensrÿche  for my liking, but Tate blows his own sax on the track! (make your own jokes up, I’m being serious for once). ‘Say U Luv It’, with spoken word lyrics is a strange one which gets under my skin, but not in a good way.
Start with the negatives and move onto the positives I say. Bringing Kelly Gray on board was an inspired move, his playing is varied and interesting, and proves a good foil for Tate. The first couple of songs ‘She Slipped Away’, and ‘Take a Bullet’ are both decent songs, both two of the melodic, and heaviest on offer and Tate seems to be enjoying his new life with some of his strongest vocals being present in many a recent year. The split has done him a world of good. ‘She Slipped Away’ sets out Tate’s musical habdashery for the 21stcentury, with Kelly Grays guitars shining brightly, giving an Empire/90s Queensrÿche era feel to proceedings.
‘Tomorrow’, the longest track on the album, is a stripped back affair, with a rather nice mid-section with Gray playing an Eastern influenced sound , then up the tempo with ‘Evil’, in which Geoff sings, “Why don’t you say it to my face, you don’t move me, you don’t fool me, it doesn’t matter because what you give is what you get…”  a slant at his former band mates? Highly likely! ‘Evil’ is definitely one of the highlights  due to the darker tone and subject matter. ‘Dark Money’ goes back to the lighter, poppier tones of the opening track. Apart from ‘The Way I Roll’, the biggest departure away from what you’d (possibly) expect, is the synth/piano led ‘Change’ and it makes for a refreshing,  well , er….change! After a couple of listens, it turns out to be the finest track on the album by a long chalk.
So..don’t expect any of Queensrÿche’s power prog metal anthems of yesteryear, Aside from Kelly, Geoff has also employed fellow Seattle musician (and former Mother Love Bone member) Gregg Gilmore on drums, Chris Zukas on bass and long-time collaborator Randy Gane (with whom both Geoff and Kelly played in Myth) on keyboards. The band also features harmony vocals courtesy of Jason Ames and Emily Tate.
Despite the foibles, Tate has his own direction away from the prog tinged power metal of Queensrÿche, preferring a more condensed, modern sounding melodic rock (but not in its purest AOR form).
I doubt it will bring in too many Queensrÿche fans who probably gave up after ‘Empire’, but I’m certainly glad that I got the opportunity to hear it. Tate has shown the musical direction he wishes to take for his solo work and it’s diverse and interesting. It was an inspired move in bringing Kelly Gray to contribute to mixing/production and guitar as his bluesy style is a great fit for Tate’s, warm and trademark vocals. Not all of it appeals to me, but one things for certain, its 100% Geoff Tate!
65/100
 

Track Listing:
1. She Slipped Away
2. Take A Bullet
3. In The Dirt
4. Say U Luv It
5. The Way I Roll
6. Tomorrow
7. Evil
8. Dark Money
9. These Glory Days
10. Change
11. Waiting












Recorded & Mixed by Kelly Gray
Produced by Geoff Tate
Geoff Tate Online:
http://www.geofftate.com 
Geoff Tate – Lead and Harmony Vocals, Saxophone
Kelly Gray – Guitars and Bass
Randy Gane – Keyboards
Gregg Gilmore – Drums
Jason Ames – Harmony Vocals
Emily Tate – Harmony Vocals

Chris Zukas – Bass

 http://www.insideoutmusic.com/
Release date – 29th October 2012

HRH AOR/Prog Gig – 6th & 7th April @ Magna, Rotherham

If you’re into AOR & Prog in particular, then I can think of no better place to be than Rotherham, (yes, you heard me, ROTHERHAM!) on 6th & 7th of April 2013. Not known as a hotbed of gig venues, HRH have found a great arena for these two genres to come together and be united under one banner, and that’s Magna.

Magna has been a working steel foundry in the past but has enjoyed a well earned lottery funded make over top the tune of 40 million and turned itself into a fully interactive science adventure with multi arena capabilities.

The venue is nothing but stunning as some of the teaser shots will show, however with five zones namely, Earth, Steel, Wind, Fire & Water in full interactive immersion, we only had to add the HRH magic n vision to stage a production that will be hard to beat in any conventional place. Expect the unexpected with full on trading stalls from the minute you collect your HRH passes, to freaky circuses to the all out sound of HRH’s quality production.

Compliment that with 30 of the best Prog / AOR n Melodic Rock acts from right across the huge spectrum it enjoys and you’ll start to see yourself immerse in an overall experience like no other on this earth.

HRH like to make things hassle free and have taken all hotels (who reach the criteria) within a 1 to 2 mile radius, as well as providing an HRH hosted shuttle bus to and from the venue, just to make sure you can enjoy yourself and get about easily without driving.

Check it out here for starters –  http://www.hrhaor.com/   and  http://www.hrhprog.com/

Jon Lord – Concerto For Group And Orchestra Album Review

It’s getting to the point in my like whereby a few of my musical heroes are passing on to that great gig in the sky. The most recent loss being the greatest exponent of his instrument, Jon Lord.  I didn’t know the fella, but all the interviews I’ve  read over the years in the likes of Sounds, Kerrang!, and more recently Classic Rock, he always came across as an absolute gent, when quite a few come over as complete arses. He was present at my first ever gig, Whitesnake at Deeside leisure Centre in 82. He wrung the neck off that frigging Hammond organ, and a love story was begun….Happy days!
Right at the dawn of Deep Purple, Lord wanted to express his Classical tendencies with ‘April’, but the highlight for Purple fans was when Jon and Ritchie used to fight it out note for note. I always feel he was wasting his talents in Whitesnake, but I suspect it paid the bills.
Just before he died, I was watching the same (original) Deep Purple concert on the telly, and yes it looked dated, but it was an absolute joy to watch.
Here we are some 43 years later from the original release. ‘’Over these last years since leaving Deep Purple. I’ve played it over 30 times with different orchestrations and conductors all over the world, and, of course, in 2000 I did it well over 30 times with Purple on the Concerto tour, so I’ve been honing the piece live on stage, and I’ve had the opportunity to change things on the score that weren’t sounding quite right. It is therefore a marvellous and exciting prospect to have the definitive recording of the definitive version of the score’’ Jon Lord, May 2012.
He recorded the rhythm section – Guy Pratt (Floyd, Madonna) & Brett Morgan (Jon Anderson, Sting) and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra  in June 2011 in Liverpool – conducted by Paul Mann. Production then moved to Abbey Road Studios to record Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson (on vox with Steve Balsamo and Kasia Laska) and Joe Bonamassa, Darin Vasilev (who played all the guitars in the first movement) and Steve Morse on Guitars. Wow!
 Guy Pratt (bass), Jon Lord, Paul Mann during the Liverpool recording
The original score was lost in 1970, and it was performed again in 1999 with a recreated score. Dutch composer Marco de Goeij had the unenviable task of recreating the score by listening to the recording and watching the video of the 1969 performance.
The premise is that the rock band, and the orchestra vie for the main musical theme over two movements, and by the third movement, both are knitted together in harmonious synchronicity. Its a three movement composition. The movements are “Moderato-Allegro” (16:20) I have to say that Vasiliev performs out of his skin, “Andante” (19:34), and “Vivace-Presto” (10:48). Most rock officianados will gravitate towards the final movement, but after many listens over the years, I’ve come to appreciate the total classical work of all three. It just has to be listened to in its entirety
Just hearing the final version is enough to make a grown man cry. All the artists make great contributions to the piece. Lord is one of the few people who make his Hammond sound meaner than a guitar and truly has a trademarked sound. This version is the one he wanted us all to hear.
Thankfully just before his death Jon Lord gave it is approval. He leaves behind a truly great legacy of music. He will be sorely missed. A great epitaph to a great man
SCORE : 90/100
 

Night Ranger – 24 Strings And A Drummer Album Review


The 90s heralded a change in format for many a rock band. MTV kicked off their unplugged series, and some of them were damned good. Looking back, Pearl Jam and Queensryche were personal favourites in this MTV format. Then Tesla came along a blew away all-comers with their ‘Five Man Acoustical Jam’. Just like ‘Mindcrime’ is the modern concept album to be judged by, Tesla followed suit with ‘FMAJ’. Everyone tried it in the 90s, and I mean everyone, come with not so favourable results unfortunately.You know who you are.
So 2012, sees one of USA’s finest taking on the acoustic genre, 20 years later than the rest. Me personally, I’d rather see them come out with a live set of rockers, especially as their (and I use this term in its loosest sense) ‘UK Tour’ consisted of one gig in London, 2 yrs in succession. Go North next time!!!!!! So yes I’m jealous that I couldn’t go to London twice to see them. I’m over it now, nah I’m not!
Anywho with a back catalogue like ‘the Rangers’ have, it’s a positive shoe in for some of their faves, and not so faves to be converted acoustically. As a celebration of the 30th anniversary of their debut album, Night Ranger has planned a very special release: an album/DVD recorded live in an intimate all-acoustic setting, with a select number of fans at The Studio D Recording in Sausalito, CA in May 2012.  The result is compelling and exciting live renditions of the band’s classic hits with new, refreshing arrangements; tracks include “(You Can Still) Rock In America”, “Sister Christian”, “This Boy Needs To Rock” or “Four In The Morning.” 
Titled 24 Strings and a Drummer, it asks the question of keyboardist Eric Levy. He clearly plays a part, as he proves on his intro to Sentimental Street, so throw in the number of keys as well!!!
Night Ranger start of with some well known tried and tested faves, ‘This Boy Needs To Rock’, & ‘When You Close Your Eyes’. The newer and very decent ‘Growing Up In California’, gets an airing, but the first ‘prick of the ears’ moment is the very cool ‘Secret Of My Success’. Night Ranger wouldn’t be Night Ranger if they didn’t have the golden tonsils of Kelly Keagy, and still shows he has what it takes on their mega hits Goodbye and Sister Christian. I love Jack Blades to bits, but Keagy gives them a different sound. The band really sound as if they are enjoying the gig immensely.
Don’t Tell Me You Love Me is as good as the electric version, and they close out with 2 highlights in You Can Still Rock In America, and a cover of Don Henly’s Boys Of Summer.
Despite me personally wanting a full on electric live album, Night Ranger (and Frontiers) know much better than me as the acoustic album we have here is a delight. I just wish I’d gotten the DVD to review as well, as I much prefer to see live gigs than just listening to the buggers
24 Strings and a Drummer (and a keyboard) shows what a legacy of songs that Night Ranger have in their song writing portfolio. I’d have loved to have seen them play something (nay,anything) from the very underrated Man In Motion. Again, I know nothing!
Score : 78/100

Tracklisting:
CD: This Boy Needs To Rock; When You Close Your Eyes; Sing Me Away; Growin’ Up In California; The Secret Of My Success; Sentimental Street; Four In The Morning; Let Him Run / Goodbye; Forever All Over Again; Don’t Tell Me You Love Me; Sister Christian; (You Can Still) Rock In America; Boys Of Summer (Bonus Track).
DVD: This Boy Needs To Rock; When You Close Your Eyes; Sing Me Away; Growin’ Up In California; The Secret Of My Success; Sentimental Street; Four In The Morning; Let Him Run / Goodbye; Forever All Over Again; Don’t Tell Me You Love Me; Sister Christian; (You Can Still) Rock In America.
Bonus feats: Night Ranger all access – Growin’ Up In California(videoclip) – Making of the Album “Growing Up In California”.

 

Musicians:
Jack Blades (Lead Vocals, Guitar, Bass)
Kelly Keagy (Lead Vocals, Drums, Percussion)
Brad Gillis (Lead Guitars, Background Vocals)
Joel Hoekstra (Lead Guitars, 12 String Guitar, Background Vocals)
Eric Levy (Keyboards, Background Vocals)

Nubian Rose – Mountain Album Review


Now! I have a bit of a hankering for female fronted rock bands, Ann Wilson, Leigh Matty, Pat Benatar, Sandi Saraya, Loraine Lewis, Robin Beck, and so on. None of these will ever replace my dear departed Dio, but I do like the way a female rock singer stamps her authority on a song
I was pleasantly overjoyed when the Nubian Rose hit my inbox (I prefer cds, by the way). NR are fronted by Swedish Idol judge (good job Sweden, whereas the UK version, X Factor, is staffed by a bunch of Fucktard judges who couldnt find their arses with both hands tied behind their backs).
The debut album, Mountain, was released in Sweden in the end of June. The reputation of the album reached way outside of the Swedish borders just within weeks. Nubian Rose has already been played on radio in Italy, Spain, France, Greece and USA. Fans from all over the world has signed up to their Facebook page and the album has even been number one on rock charts at international mail order companies. All this has happened without any international releases or any kind of pr, just through the power of the Internet, rock fans and great music.
The music of Nubian Rose is influenced by the makers of great hard rock riff in the 80’s; Whitesnake, Dio, Scorpions, Michael Schenker to name a few. ”Mountain” has a powerful, up to date sound and is mixed by swedish star producer Tobias Lindell (Europe, H.e.a.t. Hardcore Superstar).
Nubian Rose proudly wears its Melodic Rock badge firmly on their sleeve, its pure unashamed, unadulterated AOR. And rightly so, what with AOR enjoying a renaissance these past couple of years, and long may it continue. Its great to new bands coming along to take Melodic Rock into the future as well as the existing 80s bands plying their trades….still!
Opening track ‘ Ever See Your Face’ is so 80’s I had to dig out my leg warmers just to continue listening to it! Sofia Lilja certainly has the chops for this style, and has certainly been beaten with the ‘pretty stick’! ‘Mountain” continues pretty much in the same punchy vein, all guitars blazing. Everything here is short and sweet with production letting the music (and vox) really do the talking. Songs like How Am I and Your Love  have that FM Radio appeal. Living For Tomorrow sees Europe’s (the band) guitarist Kee Marcello adding his weight, and Mats Leven (Malmsteen / At Vance) joins Litja on a cover of Qzzy & Lita Ford’s Close My Eyes Forever. Someone has good ‘guest’ contacts. Guitarist Christer Åkelund does a Ronseal (what it says on the tin), production is sharp and polished and his guitar playing is no different.  Songs like Reckless, and Once Bitten in particular leave me wanting a little more. 
Whilst its nothing spectacular, it still has enough to appease the melodic rock population. Its metal by numbers, and has all been done before. I’m not being critical, just stating a point. Nubian Rose whilst unadventurous is still a decent album
SCORE : 70/100
Tracklist:
1.      EVER SEE YOUR FACE
2.      MOUNTAIN
3.      LIVING FOR TOMORROW
4.      HOW AM I
5.      GET READY
6.      YOUR LOVE
7.      ONCE BITTEN
8.      RECKLESS
9.      CLOSE MY EYES FOREVER
10.  SISTERS

www.nubianrose.com
line-up:
Sofia Lilja – vocals, Christer Åkerlund- guitar, Thomas LIndgren – guitar, Henrik Uhrbom – bass, David Algesten – drums, Fredrik Åkerlund – keyboard.