The wonderful pure AOR voice of Robbie LaBlanc is back in focus under his own moniker after a few recent project outings.

This album is described as a 70s and 80s pop/rock affair and I think that’s fairly accurate. There’s some pure commercial 80s AOR, some 80s pop, some more soulful 70s pop and a couple of songs with a heavier bluesier edge.

The album is controlled musically by Tommy Denander (all guitars, keyboards and co-production), so you know the sound/production style you are getting right there. The majority of the album has that programmed feel, drums are credited to a “Michael Lange” (his only other credit is on the last Robert Hart album with the same production team), they don’t sound live to me.

Steve Overland joins in for backing vocals throughout and his contributions are always welcomed. Second track Start The Motor Running has him all over the song. The super smooth My Lips Are Sealed stays in my mind after playback.

Other highlights include the opening anthem Only Human and Good Time plus the heavier track Temptation.

I love Robbie, but I prefer his recent appearances on East Temple Avenue, Find Me and the sublime Cannonballz album.

Fans of Radioactive and the Denander sound will appreciate this and the vocal quality of LaBlanc raises the overall quality of the songs.

Bite The Bullet were originally formed in 1986 by singer songwriter Mick Benton and drummer Graham Cowling. The music played was in the style of Foreigner, Toto and Mr. Mister, an album was released in 1989 to some quiet success. In 2020 Mick and Graham decided to get writing new material for a second “Bite the Bullet” album.

It is available now and I must say it is a joyous soft melodic rock affair. A real pleasure to listen to. I’m finding comparisons hard to draw from, which to me is a sign the guys got it right.

I’m so tired of everything sounding the same, with only vocals differentiating one project from the next.

Black & White is a pure British AOR album, drenched in keyboards, but still driven by guitars and strong, unique vocals.

It’s a totally 80s sounding affair, yet a decent production keeps the sound in today’s realms.

There’s some Midwestern influences, some pop/AOR and straight up melodic rock amongst the albums 12 tracks. If you like real Bryan Adams, Heartland, Van Stephenson, Mr. Mister…give this a spin.

I can’t recall the last time I heard a single album so packed with obviously over the top 80s melodic rock anthems. The songs, the production come from Crazy Lixx frontman and key songwriter Danny Rexon and the heavenly vocals come from Chez Kane, the British sensation who wasn’t even born before the glory days of hard rock were fading.

Through her group Kane’d and some attention-grabbing YouTube covers, she was a star on the rise until the inspired pairing with Rexon hit paydirt.

This is a powerhouse album is a throwback to the mid-late 80s where Def Leppard, Winger and Vixen all ruled their airwaves. And taking inspiration from the latter, this album sounds like a natural successor to the amazing Vixen album Rev It Up.

This is 47 minutes unadulterated, hands in the air fun. There’s no attempt here to reinvent the wheel, rather it is a vehicle to steer those wheels right back in time.

To say that Chez Kane can sing is to say yes, Eddie Van Halen can play guitar. I’m a big fan of bands pushing this genre forward and have championed many of the bands that do so. But sometimes you like and need to dive back into the favourites amongst your collection. With this album you can jump back without leaving 2021.

This album is everything that we loved about the stadium rock of the 80s, with all the energy of a big production and a healthy dose of keyboards and guitars, plus a thumping rhythm section.

Great fun songs with big choruses, harmony vocals and some inspired vocal melodies makes this a true 80s album without sounding like it was trying to be an 80s record. It just is, and credit should go to all.

If there was to be one essential female fronted album this year, then here it is folks. Utterly essential!

The two new solo albums from Toto’s Joseph Williams and Steve Lukather were signed in tandem, released in tandem, but recorded in completely opposing ways. Putting the two together showcases two very different sides of the Toto musical spectrum and being solo albums, it lets the listener sink into those individual realms a little longer than on an normal band record where you get a more filtered view. Luke has gone on record saying playing parts of the two records on shuffle would give fans a new Toto record and he’s not far off that truth.

Given that Joseph and Luke make multiple appearances on each other’s records as do fellow Toto alumni, it’s a neat crossover and a double dose of songs for Toto fans.

However, the two records could not be more diametrically opposed.

Toto vocalist Joseph Williams’ new album Denizen Tenant is everything Lukather’s album is not. It was carefully and meticulously produced over several months, with the production so sharp, there isn’t one note out of place.

It’s a well-crafted record that features some sublime arrangements and is every bit as polished as a full Toto release. With appearances across the record from Lukather, David Paich, Simon Phillips, Leland Sklar, Lenny Castro, Nathan East and Mike Landau alongside percussionist Lenny Castro.

Opening with a song that could easily have come from either of Toto’s two recent albums with Williams, the lush and sultry Never Saw You Coming is pure mature Westcoast/AOR which leads into the brighter Liberty Man, which is as Toto as you can get.

The title track is pure westcoast/jazz/pop and layered with vocals and rich instrumentation. It’s everything fans love about Joseph Williams throughout his career and if that song doesn’t get you, then the out of the box Wilma Fingadoux will.

Another highlight is the Steve Lukather driven Remember Her, layers deep in keyboards, guitars and percussion.

A couple of dreamy, somewhat eclectic tracks follow before another Lukather guest spot on the simple two-and-a-half-minute pop song If I Fell.

The more lengthy World Broken closes the album in a similar fashion to how it started. Rich, textured and lush melodic rock with a touch of Westcoast AOR and Williams providing another world class vocal.

And there you have it. One loose, raw and live record paired with a highly structured, methodical production piece. Both records have unique personalities and distinct characteristics but also intrinsic crossed-over musical alliances and both work equally well in their own right and shuffled together. It is a unique situation and I hope fans embrace both records for what they are.

I’m equally comfortable playing one individually and the other the following day, but also back to back for two glorious hours of perfectly executed musical genius.

Both albums may be best enjoyed at different times and for different moods, and depending on tastes, on different levels. But the talent behind both is clearly evident.