Bruce Mee is one of the better-known personalities behind the scenes of the melodic rock world. Starting with Now & Then Records he moved into his role as owner and editor of the now iconic Fireworks Magazine, which has dedicated fans worldwide.

Circle Of Friends is the moniker given to this project, put together by Bruce as a tribute to his late mother, who died of cancer in 2020. The majority of the singers and musicians appearing on the album are personal friends of Bruce’s and were all willing to help bring this wonderful concept to life – hence the title.

Of the 13 tracks featured on this wonderful slice of melodic beauty, four are covers and the remaining 9 are originals, most written by Sweden’s Mikael Rosenberg. Mikael has delivered some terrific songs here and his presence throughout gives the album a certain connectivity and consistency that some various artists projects don’t manage to pull off.

The lineup is really a who’s who of the melodic rock world. The rhythm section is supplied by drummer Josh Devine (Levara) and bassist Wayne Banks (Saxon etc) while Fredrik Folkare and Steve Morris provide guitars with Joel Hoekstra (Whitesnake) and Steve Mann guesting. Backing vocals come from Mick Devine (Seven), Gary Hughes (Ten) and Kevin Chalfant (Storm). Eric Ragno is here on keyboards and there’s many more. Read the full bio for all the credits!

All this has been meticulously put together by producer Khalil Turk of Escape Music with a phenomenal mix by Fredrik Folkare.

To the vocalists. There is the Queen of Metal, Doro Pesch, delivering the high energy opener ‘Little Piece of Heaven’, Jaime Kyle brings her own song ‘Take My Love To Heart’ to the CD, with backing vocals supplied by Kevin Chalfant (The Storm, Two Fires). James Christian gives one of my favourite pomp-friendly vocals on ‘Never Gonna Make Me Cry’; Jeff Scott Soto goes full melodic on ‘Bad Blood’ and Robin Beck (with James Christian on backing) does a ripping version of the Abba classic ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You’.

New star to the scene, Tao’s Karen Fell delivers the moody AOR of ‘Truth Or Dare’ and Robin McAuley knocks the big ballad ‘Alone’ right out of the park.

Canadian great Darby Mills delivers what she calls one of her favourite vocals on the big 80s anthem ‘Trick Of The Light’.

There are no fillers here, so discover the rest for yourself. Credit to everyone involved for making a really consistent, ‘contemporary’ classic 80s melodic rock record with plenty of keyboards, layers of harmonies and some outstanding lead vocal performances.

Production and mix are spot on and the songs are enjoyable from start to finish. The dominance of female lead vocals will give fans of that genre something extra to smile about.

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As I’ve followed these guys from demos to their debut and each album thereafter, I have seen the progress Sweden’s modern melodic rock masters Degreed have made. It started high and has been sustained over the last decade, making them one of the most consistent and reliable bands on the planet.

They are at the absolute top of their game and deserve to be mentioned amongst the superstars of the Swedish scene.

Every album has melodic bliss to these ears and their output as always been near the top of my annual Best Of lists. I expect this will be the same come Jan 2023.

The last record featured 3 or 4 ballads, which I thought were major class, but on this record, it is one rocker after another from start to finish. One anthem after another, all in that unique modern rock friendly style the guys have. Big choruses, big melodies and a near-perfect mix and production.

Another absolute blinder from Degreed.

The fifth Lionville album in 9 years sees a drop in quality in both songwriting and production values from their quite marvellous 4th album and indeed, the 3 that preceded that.

The usually divine vocals of Lars Safsund (Work Of Art) seem a little lost in the keyboard heavy mix here and are certainly not as sharp and decisive as we’re used to.

Songwriting seems to be stuck in auto-pilot here – there’s nothing that differs in any way from the material already delivered – and as pointed out, in better quality.

The opening track features the vocal talents of Robbie LaBlanc in a duet performance that overshadows Lars’ own vocal.

It’s still one of the better pure-Euro AOR albums and bands around, with Stefano Lionetti, and Lars doing their best to deliver on what was probably a reduced recording budget.

AOR legend Jim Peterik’s latest World Stage project is one that highlights some great female talent in our genre, featuring the usual World Stage/Peterik house band alongside guitarist Jennifer Batten and some prominent female vocalists such as Cathy Richardson (now fronting Jefferson Starship), Janet Gardner (ex-Vixen), Mindi Abair, Kate French, Kimi Hayes, Chez Kane, Rosa Laricchiuta (Black Rose Maze, Trans-Siberian Orchestra) and some fresh new talent.

Highlights include the country-infused Prom Night In Pontiac (Feat. Chloe Lowery), the wonderful Chez Kane on A Cappella; the big ballad Lazarus Heart (Janet Gardner) and Tigress (Kate French vocals and Abigail Stanshmidt Violin) and Dear Life (Lindsay Kent vocals and Sina Drums).

The always amazing Cathy Richardson continues to belt it out on Living For The Moment and Full Moon Crazy plus two other tracks.

Given the usual near-perfection of anything JP is involved in, this one falls short on expectations.

Half the album is great and the other lacks the star power needed for a knockout album. The songs are there, but perhaps the energy isn’t quite. And the production sounds a little rawer than the usual very crisp and precise delivery we are used to from Jim Peterik and team.