Having shown a pretty strong dislike for the Benedictum albums and an even stronger dislike for frontwoman Veronica Freeman’s scream powered vocals, I had absolutely zero interest in The V – Ms Freeman’s debut solo outing. Expectations dare I say, were even lower.
So imagine my surprise to find a rather enjoyable, beautifully sung melodic hard rock (and slightly metal) album right here.
After checking I was playing the right CD, I sat back and took in the “melodic” side of Veronica’s persona and really enjoyed it.
Now or Never features a huge array of special guests, including Pete Wells, Aric Avina and Rikard Stjernquist of Benedictum, Michael Sweet (Stryper), Garry Bordonaro (The Rods), Jeff Pilson (Dokken, Foreigner), Mike Lepond (Symphony X), Tony Martin (Black Sabbath), Jerry Dixon (Warrant) and more.
A strong musical performance and a solid production are immediately noticeable, but what makes it most enjoyable are the lead vocals.
Naturally there are some big metal moments, where the aggression and power are front and center (Again, Ready To Run, King For A Day – featuring Tony Martin on vocals), but the beauty of this album is the range displayed.
There’s groove (Now Or Never, Kiss My Lips), punky hard rock (Rollercoaster), melodic hard rock (L.O.V.E, Line In The Sand, Love Should Be To Blame) and even a track that could be described as AOR (Starshine).
This won’t have me looking forward to a new Benedictum album, but I will certainly hope to see a sequel to The V at some point in the future and commend Veronica Freeman for trying something a little different and pulling it off successfully.
While the continuing change in musicians from track to track do cause some variations in sound and production throughout the album, the songs (mostly written by Freeman and Wells, but including tracks from Nigel Bailey, Vince O’Regan and two from Michael Sweet) and the vocals are the glue that holds this together.
Journey former lead singer STEVE AUGERI releases single entitled 'In the Moment'
For nearly a decade, Steve Augeri was the voice for the iconic band 'Journey.' He has gone on to create a solo career that is garnering some fantastic new music while, 'Living in the Moment.'
Following the critically acclaimed single 'Faces,' Steve Augeri has produced a musical statement reviving the vintage 'Classic Rock' style and has transported it into the modern age. With influences such as Queen, The Who, Humble Pie and contemporary rockers Muze, this new radio friendly rock anthem 'In the Moment,' conveys a positive message not unlike the transcendent hit by his former band mates with, 'Don't Stop Believing.'
Augeri has written, produced and played all the instruments on this cut which surely showcases his phenomenal musical abilities. 'In the Moment,' will take you back to a time when guitar anthem songs ruled radio.
Augeri is currently touring worldwide with 'The Steve Augeri Band,' performing your favorites from his 'Journey' days and his new songs that are sure to become classics.
'In the Moment,' is now available on iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play, Amazon, Rdio, Deezer, Tidal, YouTube, and Beats/MediaNet. You can find out where Augeri is performing live by visiting his website.
MelodicRock Records is excited to announce a partnership with Swedish AOR favourites STREET TALK for a limited reissue of the band’s best three albums.
On August 30 and limited to just 500 units each, MRR will reissue the STREET TALK albums ‘Transition’ (from 2000); ‘Restoration’ (from 2002) and the AOR classic ‘V’ (from 2006).
All three albums are long out of print, highly sought after and when listed, fetch tidy sums on Ebay.
The new MRR reissues will feature exclusive new artwork and each album will feature several bonus tracks, which will be revealed shortly, along with details of a pre-order deal for all three albums.
STREET TALK is the brainchild of Swedish keyboardist/songwriter FREDRIK BERGH. Their debut came in 1997 with the album ‘Collaboration’.
The album featured, amongst others, guest vocalist Göran Edman who would continue to work with Fredrik throughout the Street Talk history.
In 2000, the album ‘Transition’ was released featuring Goran again on a set of smooth Westcoast/AOR tunes.
In 2002 STREET TALK signed to the now defunct MTM Music label for the excellent album 'Restoration'. The opus featured vocals from Goran once again and also two popular tracks from American AOR vocalist HUGO.
In 2006 the band released their fourth all-original studio album – the distinctly more powerful, pure AOR masterpiece ‘V’. Featuring Goran Edman on all vocals, the album was the defining moment of Street Talk’s history.
Since the release of ‘V’ in 2006, STREET TALK has been on hiatus, but Fredrik has been as busy as ever as a founding member of melodic metal band Bloodbound as well as writing and working with such artists as Revolution Saints, Steve Augeri, Steve Overland, Joe Lynn Turner, Rob Moratti, Harry Hess, Bob Halligan jr, Phenomena, Seven and Anette Olzon
Further details of the reissues will be available soon, but in the meantime, please enjoy one song from each of the albums:
From ‘V’ – Responsible
From ‘Restoration’ – Why Is My Heart Feeling Lonely Tonight
Rich Davenport's Rock Show this week features interviews with Jim Peterik, Helloween's Michael Weikath, Paul Raymond of UFO, guitar master Michael Angelo Batio, Jeff Scott Soto and heartland rocker Melissa Etheridge, and is now available for streaming at this link:
In the first hour, UFO keyboard player / rhythm guitarist Paul Raymond looks at the writing and recording of the band's latest album 'A Conspiracy of Stars', and discusses their current setlist on their ongoing live dates. Paul also looks at his career-spanning solo collection 'Rewind 50', recorded to mark his 50th anniversary in the music business, and featuring new recordings of songs he's written for UFO, MSG, and other projects.
Also in part 1, Melissa Etheridge talks about her latest solo album 'This Is M.E.', which sees her delivering her gutsy brand of heartland Rock with a few new twists. Melissa chooses two new tracks and a classic from her debut album.
In the second hour, Helloween guitarist Michael Weikath discusses new album 'My God Given Right', the band's 30th anniversary, and their touring plans, with 3 songs from the new release.
Jeff Scott Soto also drops in to talk about his new melodic Metal band Soto and their excellent debut release 'Inside The Vertigo', which sees Jeff returning to his Metal roots, whilst retaining the melodic sensibilities that have characterised his work in the Melodic Rock genre. Hear the band in action on Jeff's choice of 2 tracks from the album.
Guitar Jedi Master Michael Angelo Batio, who has taught countless guitarists around the world via his instructional DVDs and columns is interviewed about his recent 'Shred Force 1' collection, which features some of his best instrumental songs along with vocal numbers, on which he's accompanied by Queensryche frontman Todd La Torre and a stellar cast of Metal axemen including George Lynch, Mark Tremonti, Chris Poland, and many more.
And finally, one of the finest songwriters in the Rock genre, Jim Peterik, looks at his two recent releases, the Peterik-Scherer album 'Risk Everything', and a career-spanning package from his original band the Ides of March, who celebrate their 50th anniversary with the 'Last Band Standing' box set.
You Will Never Walk Alone is the second single to be released from Nubian Rose’s critically acclaimed sophomore album, MENTAL REVOLUTION. The first single was the heavy metal tasting “Break out”, but with 'You will never walk alone' Nubian Rose is proving that they truly are a melodic force to reckon with.
The video is also the first public appearance of the bands latest new member, bass player Micke Danielsson from Sweden’s melodic Mekka, Upplands-Väsby, north of Stockholm, where such heavy weights like Europe and HEAT derive from. In a few days Nubian Rose will perform on Europe’s number one melodic rock festival, Väsby Rock festival, with HEAT, Danger Danger, Michael Schenker, Eclipse, W.A.S.P. etc.
NUBIAN ROSE are:
Sofia Lilja Åkerlund - vocals
Christer Åkerlund - lead guitar
Micke Danielsson - bass
Thomas Weijnesjö - Drums
NUBIAN ROSE evolves around the magnetic charisma and majestic voice of Sofia Lilja, combined with the unique talent of guitarist Christer Åkerlund. In combination with powerful guitar riffs and great melodies, they put a new spirit in the classic melodic hard rock.
Music Buy Mail is proud to announce the re-launch of German based mailorder www.musicbuymail.eu. The rock specialized mailorder was founded in 2002 and grew over the years to one of the most important rock / melodic rock / heavy metal mailorder worldwide.
The re-launch includes an up-to-date layout with an optimised version for mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets. New search filters makes browsing through thousands of items a lot easier.
A special co-operation with magazines offers “inside stories” with interviews of known bands and musicians. The known MBM IMPORT SERVICE features hard to find independent AOR, hard rock and metal releases of bands without record deals and that are not usually available in established rock shops. These limited and hard to find titles are definitely worth investigating as there are some real gems among these bands!
Music Buy Mail e.K. is a German based distribution company led and owned by Sebastian Eder. Beside the mailorder, MBM offers retail distribution all over Europe, the sub-division CONNECTING MUSIC (www.connecting-music.eu) offers watermarked digital promotion and MBM LIVE (www.mbm-live.eu) concentrates on live booking for tours, club and festival shows. In co-operation, MBM offers more services like graphic design, additional radio promotion, publishing and recording studios.
Music Buy Mail have been bringing you quality music and service for over 13 years now and with the new “facelifting” MBM continues to bring all the latest rock releases, fans are waiting for.
John sits down with Mitch to discuss the band's latest album REVOLUCION, joining the band, his 'audition' gigs with the band in Cuba, continuing his solo career, working with Mick Mars, the KILLER DWARFS' Russ Dwarf, his time with RATT and Motley Crue and much more.
On Mötley Crüe wanting to change the name of the band when he joined: "That album would have been massive had it been any other name, but Mötley. The band wanted to change the name. There was NC for New Crüe. Nikki had always wanted to call a band, Christmas. We didn't want to call it Mötley Crüe."
This episode is co-hosted by FIREHOUSE guitarist, Bill Leverty.
