It’s hard to believe but three decades on from its release, Fierce Heart’s debut self-titled release is often hailed as classic of the hard rock genre that unfortunately never found its deserved wider audience.
Full to the brim with its jaw crushing guitar sound – a sound made famous by successful acts of the day Dokken and Ratt, Fierce Heart basically consisted of singer Larry Elkins with guitarist Rex Carroll – their ace in the pack who could shred on par with all his peers of the mid to late 80s.
Hailing from Chicago, Fierce Heart was a melodic rock project put together by Mirage Records’ Jim Delehart and band manager John Doumanian. The latter had discovered Elkins in Nashville and, having heard of Carroll’s guitar prowess, elected to introduce the musicians which in turn lead to an album being recorded. The album, simply called “Fierce Heart”, utilised engineer Chris Lord-Alge in a percussive capacity. To promote the album the band performed a series of shows though sadly they were to miss out on the chance to support Deep Purple due to management / label politics, denying them the opportunity to truly showcase their potential.
After the inevitable breakup Rex would go on to find success with Christian rockers Whitecross whilst Larry pursued a succession of diverse musical projects.
The self-titled album itself has over the years been a victim of various bootleggers and has appeared on CD is various formats – none of which have been official or authorised. Until now that is with AOR BLVD Records’ A&R man supreme finally securing a legitimate release after a chance meeting with Rex. The guitarist himself felt that the original artwork used was out of sync with the music and style of Fierce Heart and in no way did them justice. As a result, and with Rex’s approval, the label has commissioned new artwork it feels is more fitting. Furthermore, AOR BLVD Records have ensured this cd has been remastered to the highest quality including as a bonus the original interview conducted for “Metal Forces” magazine providing details on the bands history and how it was formed as well as three exclusive demos featuring ex Grave Danger singer Bob Reynolds as well as detailed liner notes from Rex himself.
Graham Bonnet salutes Jimmy Bain in Part 3 of Documentary
All Day and All Night Long is a documentary tour diary on Graham Bonnet (former lead Singer of Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group and Alcatrazz) and his newly assembled Graham Bonnet Band, it follows the band in the studio, at rehearsals and on their first proper tour of the U.K. A multi-part diary covering the band's experiences as the tour progresses and unfolds. The documentary tour diary is produced by Jimmy Kay from Canada's The Metal Voice (https://www.facebook.com/themetalvoice) and Giles Lavery from The Graham Bonnet band
In part 3, Graham Bonnet returns back to his place of Birth in Skegness, England for a home coming show at ‘The Skycastle’ where he last played the venue 49 years ago. While in Skegness, Bonnet visits his parent’s resting place, his former band mates and his relatives.While on tour in Glasgow, ScotlandBonnet salutes former Rainbow bassistJimmy Bain who recently passed away,” I’d like to say something, you lost one of your fellow countrymen, Jimmy Bain and I would like to salute him, a former member of Rainbow.”
In Newcastle, during a radio interview Bonnet states,” I started in 1968 that is my age now 68. It’s been a long trip, to see musical styles change, I’ve been through every kind of era and picked up a little bit of every era and added to my music now.”
Bonnet also tells the tale of when he got fired from The Michael Schenker Group after one showfor exposing his penis on stage, in Sheffield U.K. in 1982, “my penis came out of my pants, I encouraged it, it was bit like getting a turtle out of a shell and I swung it.”
The lineup and camera crew includes Graham Bonnet, guitarist extraordinaire Conrado Pesinato, bassist Beth-Ami Heavenstone and former FATES WARNING, WARLORD drummer Mark Zonder, and Manager Giles Lavery
GRAHAM BONNET BAND's new album, which will be made available later in the year via Frontiers Music Srl, will also include a bonus disc of brand new recordings of classic songs from the Graham Bonnet repertoire.
February 2016
16 - The Haunt - Brighton, UK
17 - Sin City - Swansea, UK
18 - Talking Heads - Southhampton, UK
19 - Bierkeller - Bristol, UK
20 - 02 Academy 2 - Islington London, UK
Perris Records is proud to announce the signing of CAPTAIN BLACK BEARD from Stockholm Sweden. The CD release date worldwide is March 25th.
The band had this to say: "We are very proud to sign with Perris Records! The label is already the home of many great acts such as Helix and Laney's Legion. Perris knows our genre well so we will be a perfect match. The new album "It's A Mouthful" is a step forward in every way. From Chips Kiesbye producing to the songwriting reaching a higher level. We think we've made a great album and can't wait for people to enjoy it.
We hope that everyone watches the video to "Divided Feelings". Once again we worked with 11 Frames and made a tribute to the 80's slasher flix and the zombie genre in general. It was a lot of fun to make and even more fun to watch."
The video and tour dates will be released soon! One gig that's already confirmed is the band's appearance at Hard Rock Hell AOR in Wales on March 10th.
March 23 is the date for yet another classy debut album from MelodicRock Records. This time it’s time to get your metal on with JULY REIGN.
JULY REIGN is an international recording project featuring Sheldon Scrivner of Missoula, Montana, USA, Carsten 'Lizard' Schulz (Domain, Evidence One, Dead End Heroes) of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, and Mark Duran of Denver, Colorado.
For those that have MRCD13, you will have heard the band featured on Disc 3 with the song Inferno. Hear that below if you are new to the band.
Making its worldwide debut today is the track Rage Of Pain. Check it out!
After hearing Evidence One on Pandora, Sheldon contacted Carsten and asked him if he would be interested in collaborating on some recordings and sent him a few music samples. Carsten quickly responded and said he indeed would be interested, and the seeds of July Reign were planted.
A few songs evolved into a whole album. Sheldon and Mark's friendship and musical relationship go way back in time to the big-hair metal days of the late 80s in Phoenix, Arizona.
Sheldon is influenced by the melodic emotion of David Gilmore, the energy of Joe Satriani, the fretboard acrobatics of guitar greats like Tony MacAlpine, Paul Gilbert, Vinnie Moore, and many others. He has forged his own style of coaxing fire and passion out of six strings. Inspired early on by the hard rock guitarists of the 70s, weaned on the guitar frenzy heydays of the 80s, and energized by today's modern generation of shredders, Sheldon's playing has never been better.
Having played over the years in various bands and recording projects from the Bay Area in California to Phoenix, Arizona, Sheldon moved to Montana in '99.
JULY REIGN is:
Sheldon Scrivner: Guitars & Keys
Carsten 'Lizard' Schulz: Vocals
Mark Duran: Drums
JULY REIGN’s debut album Here Comes The Flood will be released worldwide by MelodicRock Records on March 23.
In the episode's only interview, vocalist DANNY BOWES discusses THUNDER latest release All You Can Eat, last year's Wonder Days, the business of Thunder, why North America has been so hard to 'conquer', his relationship with Luke Morley, getting a record label after years of being independent, the Farewell not actually Farewell tour, and much more.
Quotes from the DANNY BOWES interview:
On the initial reaction to record company's request to record All You Can Eat: "The band wasn't overly impressed with the idea of having finished an album and going straight back in to the studio to re-record it live, but we, in the end, thoroughly enjoyed it."
The future of the band: "Providing we stay happy and healthy, we'd love to release another record in 2017. We have momentum and an international presence which is growing. The ripples of love for the Wonder Days album are still coming home to us now."
Luke Morley: "He's a constant. He's always been there. We are inextricably linked, always have been and always will be. There is no way around that."
North America: "The video for Dirty Love that went number one Dial MTV for six weeks. We sold a quarter of a million albums in America and hadn't even set foot there. We were thinking, 'wow, this is it.' The problem was a man named Kurt Cobain had other ideas. Overnight, the record company changed from being interested in bands like us to being interested in bands like Nirvana."
"We had a tour booked with David Lee Roth and Cinderella in the summer of '91. It was three months in huge sheds. We'd shipped all our equipment, our bicycles, and absolutely everything out there to start this tour. We were so excited and with about five days to go, our American manager rang up and told us to unpack. He said, 'the tour is not selling. It's not about this kind of music anymore. You guys are going to get the reputation for being the house band on the Titanic."
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Official video for the song "Trees" by Swedish classic rock band Danger Avenue.
The first single from the band's second album, which will be out in 2016.
