Richie Blackmore needs no introduction and now after 10 Blackmore’s Night releases, nor does his better half, the very talented Candice Night.
Together the pair has formed a union more stable than Deep Purple or Rainbow ever was and Richie seems more than content rolling out an album every year of this specialized blend of medieval/folk/acoustic/renaissance music.
This is one of those occasions where you must remove any personal bias in order to deliver a fair review. Because that musical description rules me out as a listener. Naturally I’ve spun this a couple of times for review purposes, but you’d have to lock me in a dungeon, tied to a Rank if you wanted me to listen to it again. It’s just not on my musical radar. At all.
However – it’s very good! Of course it is. Richie is a savant of the genre. A prodigy of anything musical. So of course it’s immaculately produced and mixed and filled with an equal mix of instrumental passages and sweetly sung lullabies.
I must admit to being quite partial to the cover of Mike Oldfield’sMoonlight Shadow; but on the other hand, I Got You Babe is cringeworthy.
The rest are thoughtfully composed originals.
So it all comes down to taste really. You really, really have to be into this stuff to appreciate it. The acoustic dexterity of Blackmore is as exquisite as always and Candice has a soothing vocal.
Rockers avoid! Lovers of ye olde kingdom of fantasy and followers of past albums will find this another tasteful addition to the Blackmore catalogue.
You’ll have to indulge Geoff Tate just a little longer before he realizes fans don’t want what he’s selling. After forcing myself to listen to this a dozen times, you can see where the former prog-metal hero wants to go musically. Sadly it’s not where 90% of his fans want.
I get where he’s coming from. This 50 minute expressive, experimental, alt-metal album does attempt to make a statement, but in the end it’s just really hard to listen to.
There is no cohesiveness that binds the album together and while he comes close to former glories on the impressive Re-Inventing The Future and maybe Life Or Death; elsewhere he delivers utter dreck like The Stranger and Hearing Voices that I struggle to think who it might appeal to.
Tracks like Burn and Ready To Fly just drag and the mood building intro track Choices is largely pointless.
Its 2015 – the market place is selective. Fans want what they want. There isn’t much room for epic concept pieces unless they are very very good.
The production here is ok, but I find that it’s hard to get a grip on everything happening within the mix, it’s a bit of a blur really. There's a lot going on and it's complex enough, but it just doesn't flow for me.
Listening to music should be easy, whatever the mood may call for – escapism, aggression, adrenaline, relaxing or challenging. But it should be easy. This album is a real chore to get through. There’s just too many left turns on this album. Basically Tate keeps turning left and ends up going around in circles.
ZAK STEVENS + CIRCLE II CIRCLE RETURN WITH THEIR BRAND NEW ALBUM!
REIGN OF DARKNESS OUT OCTOBER 16 VIA earMUSIC
Following the impressive main stage performance of Zak Stevens with Savatage and Trans-Siberian Orchestra in front of 80.000 people at Wacken Festival 2015, Zak and his band CIRCLE II CIRCLE are
about to release their new album Reign of Darkness.
earMUSIC/Edel and Zak Stevens have enjoyed critical acclaim and commercial success together over
the years with Savatage albums like Edge of Thorns, The Wake of Magellan, and Dead Winter.
Reign of Darkness is the third release in a row for CIRCLE II CIRCLE on earMUSIC and it's out October 16.
CIRCLE II CIRCLE is a band that has been reinventing itself through the years, but maintaining that signature sound that fans around the world love – Reign of Darkness is no exception to that attitude, bringing out the very best CIRCLE II CIRCLE have to offer.
“You might say that Reign of Darkness represents a musical reinvention for us, but the minute you hear each song you know right away that it‘s CIIC. We wanted to pay homage to the past, but we also wanted to create a musical renaissance within our genre that is fresh and energetic. This is an album that will positively pave the way for our future," said Zak Stevens.
Circle II Circle are:
Zak Stevens (Savatage) – Vocals
Mitch Stewart – Bass/Vocals
Christian Wentz – Guitars/Vocals
Bill Hudson (Power Quest, Cellador) – Guitars/Vocals
The return of the KHYMERA Project - fully in the hands of Dennis Ward
New album 'The Grand Design' out in December on Frontiers
Frontiers Music Srl is excited to announce the release of the fourth album of the KHYMERA project entitled “The Grand Design”, on December 4 in Europe and North America.
While the KHYMERA project started out as an alliance between Italian producer/musician, Daniele Liverani and then KANSAS singer Steve Walsh, it actually developed into a regular musical project when Pink Cream 69/Unisonic bassist and producer Dennis Ward came into the picture.
While known as a bass player, Dennis always sings background vocals with his bands, so it was quite interesting for many fans to hear his voice taking the lead on the Khymera albums “A New Promise” and “The Greatest Wonder”. While the project went on hiatus for some time, it was a natural choice now for Dennis to grab the reins and take complete control (both on the songwriting – together with Paul Logue and Michael Klein - and on the production side) of the new album, “The Grand Design”, which comes 7 years after the release of “The Greatest Wonder”.
“Everything changed this time!” says Dennis Ward. “First of all there were no songs written by outside writers, just the people involved in the recordings and Paul. I wrote all the melodies and lyrics this time, something I had not done on the previous KHYMERA albums, but regardless it was a very comfortable working situation.”
The band is also totally “new”. Other than Ward, no other old members performed on the album. “I was on tour playing with Unisonic in Europe and Japan” tells Dennis, “we had a double headlining bill with Edguy and I was really impressed by Felix Bohnke’s drumming. He’s a fan of AOR and was more than happy to participate to the new KHYMERA album, which was great because his style fits so well. Whilst collaborating on one song with Paul Logue (EDEN’S CURSE), he came up with an idea to have a certain type of choir in the song which he worked out with Pete Newdeck. I was so impressed by the choirs Pete made and how they fit to my voice that I asked him to be Khymera’s “backing vocalist”. His choir ideas greatly impacted the entire outcome of the album.
“A couple songs ideas that Paul Logue presented had beautiful pianos in them,” continues Dennis. “I too had a piano song and asked Paul who played his piano parts in. He told me of Jim Rykbost, whom I’ve never worked with. Jim is a down to earth Piano player, not just a keyboarder. With all due respect to many pop/rock keyboarders the true art of playing the Piano seems to get lost these days. Jim had the feel and the mood I was looking for and took the songs to another level. Since I also needed keys I quickly got into contact with Eric Ragno, someone I’ve worked with in the past and has so much experience and class in AOR. I love his modern approach to building AOR keyboard parts.”
Musically, the new album very much follows along the logical progression of the musical path that was started a few years ago. “The Grand Design” is a strong, extremely melodic release, which showcases the fantastic vocal abilities of Dennis and highlights his great skills as a songwriter and producer.
“The Grand Design” truly offers one of the most shining examples of what great European Melodic Rock is all about: crystal clear production, soaring vocals, killer musicianship and songwriting that reminds fans of the heydays of the genre when bands like Giuffria, Icon, and Signal ruled the airwaves.
“The Grand Design” tracklisting includes: Never Give Up On You; Tell Me Something; Say What You Want; I Believe; A Night To Remember; She’s Got The Love; Land Of Golden Dreams; The Grand Design; Streetlights; Who’s Fooling Who; Finally; Where Is The Love.
Who is ready for the premiere of the first track from Magnus Karlsson's Free Fall's new album? Please check out the title track, "Kingdom Of Rock" featuring the one and only JORN LANDE on vocals!
Magnus Karlsson's Free Fall's KINGDOM OF ROCK will be released on November 6th and can be pre-ordered here: http://radi.al/MagnusKarlsson
All MP3 pre-orders include instant downloads of the title track, "Kingdom Of Rock".
Following a busy period of touring the classic works of Wishbone Ash, founding original member Martin Turner releases “Written in the Stars” an album of new material written and recorded with his touring musicians and other collaborators.
As lead vocalist, bassist and songwriter on classic album releases such as “Argus”, “Pilgrimage”, “Wishbone Four”, “There’s the Rub” and “New England”, Martin Turner was key to Wishbone Ash’s international success as one of rock music’s most loved touring and recording bands.
“Written in the Stars” remains true to the Wishbone Ash blueprint and can be considered an extension of the creativity that because the soundtrack to many people’s lives. The songs contain the band’s renowned melodic qualities, resplendent with trademark twin-lead guitars and vocal harmonies aplenty. The key creative force of Wishbone Ash’s best loved works delivers a high quality set of original material that sits comfortably amongst the best of the band’s classic catalogue.
“Working with my band on a creative level has been a very rewarding experience” says Martin Turner. “Everyone contributed well, stimulating and inspiring each other and we’re all very pleased with the level of creativity and the end result.”
“Written in the Stars” is available from 4th September 2015 via Cherry Red and will be supported with worldwide touring. Martin Turner’s current touring band features Danny Willson and Misha Nikolic (guitars) and Tim Brown (drums).
Tracks: 1.THE BIG BANG (OVERTURE) 2.THE BEAUTY OF CHAOS 3.WRITTEN IN THE STARS 4.LOVERS 5.VAPOUR TRAIL 6.THE LONELY STAR 7.FOR MY LADY 8.PRETTY LITTLE GIRLS 9.FALLING SANDS 10.MYSTIFY ME 11.INTERSTELLAR ROCKSTAR
FIND ME 'Dark Angel' - the sophomore album from the Trans-Atlantic duo featuring Robbie LaBlanc and Daniel Flores
Out in December on Frontiers
Frontiers Music Srl is pleased to announce the release of FIND ME's new album, entitled “Dark Angel”, on December 4th in Europe and North America.
FIND ME is a collaboration between Swedish musician, songwriter and producer Daniel Flores (Issa, The Murder of My Sweet, Seventh Wonder) and singer Robbie LaBlanc from Blanc Faces. The partnership was put together by Frontiers President, Serafino Perugino with a vision to unleash another AOR behemoth. FIND ME’s debut album, “Wings of Love” received excellent reviews and left fans begging for more music from the duo! No demands could have been easier to fulfill as the two guys just love working together and finding the right songs for the group from contributors the likes of Alessandro Del Vecchio, Mark Mangold, brothers Tom and James Martin (Vega, Issa), Soren Kronqvist (Sunstorm), Niclas Olsson (Alyson Avenue) or Philip Lindstrand (Strong) is never a problem.
“Serafino of Frontiers and I searched for new songs and fresh ideas from writers from all over the world” tells drummer and producer Daniel Flores. “I personally was searching for a musical challenge and Serafino with his golden ears is always looking for the next big song. It’s the combination of the two mentalities, with Robbie’s ability to sing and work on melodies that made this album what it is.” According to Robbie LaBlanc: “Daniel really understands how to create an awesome AOR record. He allows me some flexibility in the melodies and is a pleasure to work with and a true pro.”
The result is once again a delightful and massive melodic rock record, chock full of mighty anthemic AOR songs with Robbie’s soaring lead vocals and amazing performances from Daniel Flores and guitarist Philip Lindstrand! Sonically, this powerhouse album sits in between the classic sound of Journey and Giant and newcomers like W.E.T and Eclipse. “To be honest, in the first album, all involved tried to find the right combination of all the elements we love in AOR music” adds Daniel. “Now we feel more confident on what people will like. Productionwise everything just came naturally in place in this recording. Also Robbie sings even better than on last record and that's no small accomplishment really.”
“I feel I connected with these songs really nicely” adds Robbie. “It's funny of all the demos I received from Daniel I think we only changed one key. It's like they were written right for me!”
“I hope we get to give the AOR fans the same feelings they got when they discovered this music for the first time,” concludes Daniel, “We try to remind people of how the old records where done in this style, with the same mentality and complete devotion but with the cutting edge sound and quality engineering that technology has brought to date. Also, we hope to have chances to play for the fans live next year.”
“Dark Angel” is just another unmissable album for the AOR crowd from Frontiers. Enjoy the album trailer here:
“Dark Angel” tracklisting includes: Nowhere To Hide; Let Love Rule; Forever; Another Day; Dark Angel; Bleed In The Rain; Face To Face; Where Do I Go; Midnight Memories; Don't Slip Away From Me; Did You Feel Any Love; I'm Free.
FIND ME is:
Robbie Lablanc - Lead and background vocals
Philip Lindstrand - Rhythm and lead Guitars, Bass
Sören Kronqvist - Keyboards
Daniel Flores - Drums and Keyboards
Additional musicians:
Angelica Rylin - Vocals on "Another day"
Christopher Vetter - Lead guitars and Clean Guitars
Backing vocals: Robert Lablanc, Philip Lidstrand, Thomas Vikström, Angelica Rylin, Redas Jefisovas and Daniel Flores
