America’s favourite twins, Gunnar & MattNelson are threatening to close the door on the band Nelson after this release. If so, they will leave us with another dose of high-energy, high-spirits singalong melodic rock goodness.
Peace Out is well and truly Gunnar Nelson’s record – he delivers much of the guitar work, most of the lead vocals, was the sole writer on all but 3 of the tracks and is in charge of production and mix.
The only downside here is part of that production – in particular the drum sound, which sounds programmed (but not specified either way in the credits) and the muddiness of the sound overall, which is dragged down by the drum sound. The vocals and guitars sound pretty clear.
Production values aside, the songs on Peace Out have my full attention, being some of the strongest and most consistent of the band’s career!
The opening track Hello, Everybody is pure melodic rock and sounds more like Cheap Trick than Nelson; Back In The Day, Invincible and Let It Ride are more guitar driven than recent times and are smothered in harmonies and instantly memorable chorus hooks.
I Wanna Stay Home is melodic rock bliss; Rock Star and Bad For You is one of the album’s heavier, but equally melodic tracks; Autograph is almost punky in feel – a real garage rocker; What’s Not To Love is pure power pop.
There’s a couple of quality ballads in there and the only track that doesn’t really work for me is the grating You And Me.
Peace Out doesn’t match the sonics of past Nelson albums, but the songwriting makes up most of the ground. As an overall collection of songs, this rates as some of the catchiest and most consistent since the wonderful Life album.
Absolutely essential for Nelson fans, others will have to judge but there’s no denying the likability of these songs.
As soon as this was announced we all knew they’d be comparisons. The timing of this release alongside the David Lee Roth fronted Van Halen release was ideal for hungry keyboard warriors across the globe to reignite the Dave vs Sammy argument for the 433rd time. But it is what it is, and because I’ve just reviewed the live VH album (better than expected) it’s fresh on my mind as to what it was missing there.
Hagar fans are going to love this. Van Hagar fans are going to love this. Dave Lee Roth/classic VH fans won’t – because it’s better than the Van HalenLive In Japan record. Ok, ok, I know it’s all down to personal taste, but I say that mainly because Sammy Hagar has a far superior vocal range and quality compared to David (no disrespect there, it just is) and Hagar also has the ability to draw upon 40 years of music, whereas Van Halen are boxed in to tackle tunes from just 79-84 and a few new cuts from 2012.
The band is shit hot – Vic does a great Eddie (but no one is better than EVH) and also gets to groove on licks written by Ronnie Montrose (when Hagar digs back to his origins with Montrose’s Rock Candy) and Jimmy Page (thanks to the inclusion of the nuclear Jason Bonham on drums).
The Zeppelin covers are handled with respect and authenticity, much like the Van Hagar catalogue.
Then there’s Mr Nice Guy Michael Anthony and his essential backing vocals and bass thumping.
Of the two eras, Whole Lotta Love, When The Levee Breaks and the iconic Rock N Roll are the highlights from the Led Zeppelin catalogue; while from the Van Halen list, its Poundcake, Why Can’t This Be Love and Right Now that impress most.
Throw is some Hagar solo classics like One Way To Rock, Little White Lie, Heavy Metal and of course I Can’t Drive 55 and you get a fantastic collection of infamous rock n roll brilliance.
The recording quality is probably above that of the Van Halen, the power in the mix is deafening at high volume and Hagar just sounds amazing.
And the acoustic Dreams that closes the album is far superior to that of the recently released Hagar/Johnson acoustic album.
If only there could be some new, truly great Hagar/Eddie Van Halen music, you know, something to wash down the taste left from the unfortunate Best Of Both Worlds compilation.
Its double-live album heaven the past few months with career spanning sets from Van Halen, Sammy Hagar and Axel Rudi Pell all recently released.
And of course this fine little double live album from Euro-rockers Eden’s Curse.
Live With The Curse covers the band’s 4 studio albums during a 100 minute sonic blitz that simply oozes energy and is expertly mixed once again by Dennis Ward.
Naturally with new recruit Serbian born vocalist Nikola Mijic, the current set list and this live album delves heavily into the current studio album Symphony Of Sin.
Culled from that album are no less than 8 tracks, namely, Symphony Of Sin, Break The Silence, Fallen From Grace, Rock Bottom, Devil In Disguise, Wings To Fly, Unbreakable and Evil & Divine.
Naturally this is where Nikola shines, able to blow fans away with a flawless display of power and melody on Break The Silence, Wings To Fly, Fallen From Grace and, especially on the moodier, tough to sing Rock Bottom and full blast opener Symphony Of Sin.
His higher range is a great asset for the band.
The guys (and Nikolo) aren’t afraid to cover what would have to be called the band’s “classics”, tracks like Masquerade Ball, Trinity, Judgement Day, Fly Away and Jerusalem Sleeps all come across great here – these are some of the best melodic hard rock songs of the last decade, no doubt.
There’s some pumped in effects and backing vocals, but overall the performance on the night was exceptional the recording is excellent and the mix is even and balanced. So this has to be a must purchase for all fans of Eden’s Curse, new and old.
Axel celebrated his 25th Anniversary last year with an all-star concert event featuring guests from throughout his esteemed career.
From his early days in Steeler, to his early solo career with Jeff Scott Soto, through to today, continuing on with Johnny Gioeli.
The concert takes a cool snapshot of that entire span in chronological order.
Unfortunately it starts with the worst segment of the night, the Steeler reunion, all mainly due to the rough and largely unlikable vocalist Peter Burtz.
Thankfully we go from the basement to the penthouse after just 4 tracks, when Rob Rock jumps onboard for Nasty Reputation, the title track of the album he fronted.
Then it’s on to Jeff Scott Soto, who slays the crowd as usual with Warrior and Fool Fool.
The current ARP band is then ushered to the stage to deliver some Axel goodness. 3 of the next 5 tunes are over 9 minutes in length and one is 7. It’s Axel at his epic best, with Johnny singing his heart out. Strong As A Rock and Long Way To Go are both high energy delights and a 9 minute Hey Hey Now Now is the very definition of epic.
30 minutes of crossover tracks and live favourites follow until a few more covers appear – Montrose’s Rock The Nation is short, sharp and to the point; Ronnie Atkins joins in for Black Night; Tush features John Lawton and a 14 minute Mistreated features Doogie White, Tony Carey and Johnny Gioeli.
Graham Bonnet, Michael Voss, Doogie White tear down Since You’ve Been Gone, with Long Live Rock n Roll and completely over the top Smoke On The Water close out this truly epic event.
3CDs or DVDs might not be enough for flag waving ARP fan club members, but for the general populace, it’s more than enough and a fitting high quality way to pay tribute to one of Germany’s finest ever guitarists and metal legends.
In episode 112 of One On One With Mitch Lafon, Mitch is joined by The Voice of the BULLETBOYS, Marq Torien.
In this episode Marq discusses their new album, Elefante. As well as his time in Ozzy Osbourne's band, former band members, Stephen Pearcy and his time with RATT, working with Van Halen producer Ted Templeman and much much more.
Quotes from the interview:
On his time in RATT: "It was one of the greatest experiences of my musical career because I got to work with the great Stephen Pearcy.'
On working with OZZY after the passing on Randy Rhoads: "We rehearsed for a little over a month (almost two months). I was supposed to start the tour in Europe - Diary Of A Madman. Rudy takes me under his wing, but I knew that he was still devastated by Randy's death and so was Ozzy. I'm supposed to fly out with them and I waited two days, but nobody came to pick me up. I get a call from Sharon. She spoke to my mom, "Ozzy feels he's too young. Tell him that we love him with our hearts, but we just can't do this right now." So they ended up getting Bernie Torme.
This episode is co-hosted by FIREHOUSE guitarist, Bill Leverty.
WORLD TOUR + REISSUE OF WHOLE GAMMA RAY PRODUCTION TO FOLLOW IN 2015 AND 2016
(New York, N.Y.): It was with great surprise that, back in 1988, Kai Hansen decided to leave Helloween, the band he co-founded and that in few years had reached a high level of success, ending up influencing and challenging the bands that were once their original inspiration.
Hansen left Helloween just when the band had finally reached international stardom and after having won the appreciation of metal giants such as Iron Maiden who often publicly championed the German band.
While nowadays, Hansen, Gamma Ray and Helloween are now very good friends, often sharing the stage, such was not the case in 1987. The divorce was a proper rock 'n' roll (read: acrimonious) split and a true shock for the metal scene.
The reasons that brought Kai Hansen to leave the band are still the subject of interviews and fan debates, despite the fact that listening to the forthcoming reissue of Heading for Tomorrow, 25 years after its original release, makes it very obvious that Kai Hansen destiny was to lead his own band.
Heading for Tomorrow (Anniversary Edition) will be released on August 21 on earMUSIC.
25 years after the official debut, Gamma Ray and earMUSIC have started a monumental work to re-release the entire production by Gamma Ray in deluxe double CDs.
The original albums will be re-presented in new shining, remastered version on the first disc (with the inclusions of all B-sides) while the second CD will be dedicated to old live recordings, demos digitalized for the first time from the original tapes saved by all members of the band, alternative versions and recent studio and live recordings.
Heading for Tomorrow was initially released as a Kai Hansen solo album. By extracting the LP out of its sleeve,Heading For Tomorrow revealed its "secret intention" (it was still the days of LP, or is it again?) revealing a second cover, introducing Kai’s new baby: GAMMA RAY.
After the global critical success of Empire of the Undead, Kai Hansen has decided to continue the collaboration with Eike Freese and Alex Dietz (Heaven Shall Burn), the production team. Hansen has spent hundred hours, digitalizing and remastering hundreds of tapes, alternative versions and ideas that were so far jealously hidden in Gamma Ray's private archive.
Adds Hansen, "I am incredibly thankful that after 25 fantastic years of Gamma Ray, I am still standing here, making music and performing on stage. It's awesome to see that fans from the first days keep on supporting us and that we still make new friends. It's something you can't take for granted. After my departure from Helloween, it all could have gone the other way as well. Instead, we continue to make albums and tour the world. That's close to unbelievable. Working on the first reissue for Heading for Tomorrow brought back so many great memories and Ralf and I dug out some funny stories.
"Two years ago, our studio, our harbor in Hamburg, burnt down and a lot of memorabilia and original tapes were lost, but we all searched our private archives and managed to find some great rarities and hopefully some highlights for the fans. We are proud to release our little babies in a new style with a brand new cover artwork done by Hervé Monjeaud and a new sound, a fantastic remastering done by Eike Freese and Alex Dietz."
Kai Hansen is today the voice of Gamma Ray but it is important to remember that in the beginning of Gamma Ray's history Kai had planned to focus on his role of songwriter and guitar player. If the original album still shines also thanks to the vocals of Ralf Scheepers, the second CD offers real treasures for all Gamma Ray fans, like the original demos of songs like "Money," "Sail on," "Heaven Can Wait," or "The Silence," featuring Hansen on vocals.
To celebrate their 25th anniversary in style, Gamma Ray are touring in Europe this autumn.
TRACK LISTING:
CD1
1. Welcome
2. Lust for Life
3. Heaven Can Wait
4. Space Eater
5. Money
6. The Silence
7. Hold Your Ground
8. Free Time
9. Heading for Tomorrow
10. Look at Yourself
11. Mr. Outlaw (Japanese Bonus Track)
12. Sail On (B-Side from Heaven Can Wait EP)
13. Lonesome Stranger (B-Side from Heaven Can Wait EP)
CD2
1. Who Do You Think You Are
2. Heaven Can Wait (Demo)
3. Money (Demo - Kai on vocals)
4. Sail on (Demo - Kai on vocals)
5. Heading For Tomorrow (Live)
6. Space Eater (Live)
7. The Silence (Demo - Kai on vocals)
8. Mr. Outlaw (Instrumental Version)
9. Heaven Can Wait (Demo - Kai on vocals)
10. Heading For Tomorrow (Karaoke Version)
11. Space Eater (Karaoke Version)
12. Lonesome Stranger (Demo)
MelodicRock Records will release the brand new studio album from Swedish melodic hard rockers CONSTANCIA on July 10.
Their new album is ‘Final Curtain’, which is the long awaited sequel to the first album ‘Lost And Gone’ (Frontiers/King Records, 2009).
PRE-ORDER for VINDICTIV and CONSTANCIA starting this week. BOTH releases available as limited Special Edition versions.
MelodicRock Records is excited to launch another full track preview of the coming album, with the great melodic hard rocker 'Hold On My Heart'
Don’t Tread:
Once again, following the fantastic reception to the ROOM EXPERIENCE Special Edition, the CONSTANCIA’s‘Final Curtain’ release will also be available direct from MRR as a Special Edition limited release – again featuring three exclusive bonus tracks!
Another July 10 release from MRR is set to be announced and then details of pre-orders will be made available.
CONSTANCIA is:
David Fremberg: vocals (Andromeda)
Janne Stark: guitar (Grand Design, Overdrive, Locomotive Breath)
Press comments for the first album 'Lost And Gone' (Frontiers/King Records 2009):
Classic Rock - 8/10 - “Class like this doesn’t come along too often”
Powerplay - “Climb up a mountain, rip out a guitar solo and remember that bands like Constancia are here to make rock music fun again”.
Fireworks - “…”Lost and Gone” is up there with the best of them”
Festivalfoto - 5/5 - “This is Top 3 of 2009”
Rock realms - 85/100
Rock Hard - 8/10
Rock It - 8/10
Spark - 4,5/5
Aardshock - 80/100
Scream - 4/5
Heavy Magazine - 9/10
History:
It all started in 2007, as the brainchild of former Scudiero/Token keyboard player Mikael Rosengren. He had written a bunch of songs that he wanted to record. He got in touch with guitarist Janne Stark (Overdrive, Grand Design, Locomotive Breath etc) and asked him to lay down some guitars. Janne loved the songs and got more and more involved in the process, and the seeds of Constancia were sown.
They now felt it was time to get a full band together. Janne contacted drummer Peter “TrumPeter” Svensson (ex-Mercy, Faith), with whom he had worked in Overheat, Locomotive Breath and Mountain of Power. Mikael drafted Jaded Heart bassist Michael Mueller, and they tried out various vocalists before finding David Fremberg. David is also fronting progressive rockers Andromeda and had also worked with Janne on his first Mountain Of Power album. They overcame the vast geographical distances, with Mueller living in Germany, and the debut album “Lost And Gone” saw the light of day in July 2009. The producer, Fredrik Folkare (Unleashed, Token, Eclipse), was carefully selected after the band had received outstanding test mixes from great people like Beau Hill, Pontus Norgren and Pelle Saether. Fredrik was just right for the band’s “melogressive” metal (melodic, yet a bit aggressive and a touch progressive). The album received rave reviews in magazines like Classic Rock, Rock Hard, PowerPlay, Fireworks and Rock It.
The geographical distances however made it difficult for the band to get a good live situation going.
In 2013 the work process for the band’s second album started. Since Michael Mueller was busy with other musical projects the band had to find a new bass player. Janne, David and drummer Peter are from the same region, and they figured getting a bass player from that region would be a good idea. Why not someone they already knew? Enter Linus Brahamson, also a member of Andromeda. Instead of rushing out a new album, the band let the process take some time and the band spent 2013 and most part of 2014 working on the songs, recording and mixing. The way the song-writing process goes is: Mikael writes the basic structure of the song with some vocal and lyrical ideas, then sends it to Janne, who pitches in with some additional ideas, arrangements, melodies and lyrics. David then adds some of his vocal melodies. This time the production was also kept under the Constancia umbrella. Since David is working as a producer, why not let him do it? This was a very smart plan, since David already had a lot of great production ideas.
Final Curtain? Is this the end? No way! The title track is about the end of a life but also that there may be something new and exciting behind that final curtain. A lot of the lyrical themes on the album reflect things and thoughts of everyday life such as not being true to yourself, political hypocrisy, the birth of a child, long bus rides with people not of your choice, love and the fascination of fear.
CONSTANCIA‘Final Curtain’ is released via MelodicRock Records on July 10.
MelodicRock Records is offering a double dose of Swedish class in July. Already announced is the new CONSTANCIA album and now MRR will crank up the metal once again by releasing the new studio album from Swedish melodic/neoclassical metal outfit VINDICTIV on July 10.
The new album World Of Fear is a huge leap forward for the band and features the vocals of superstar MARK BOALS throughout.
MelodicRock Records is excited to launch another full track preview of the coming album, with the track 'Day' below.
PRE-ORDER for VINDICTIV and CONSTANCIA starting this week. BOTH releases available as limited Special Edition versions.
And check out 'Paralyzed' available below:
Once again, following the fantastic reception to the ROOM EXPERIENCE Special Edition, VINDICTIVWorld On Fire will also be available direct from MRR as a Special Edition limited release – featuring one exclusive bonus track!
Further album details and news of pre-orders will be made available next week.
Also featured on the new album is a perfect cover of the Yngwie Malmsteen classic Far Beyond The Sun. A video for that track has just been released:
VINDICTIV is:
Stefan Lindholm – guitar
Pontus Larsson – keyboards
Nalle Påhlsson – bass
Mark Boals – vocals
Marco Minnemann – drums
History:
One of the best kept secrets of neoclassical metal – so far. Stockholm's Vindictiv introduced themselves to the metal audience in an impressive fashion with their 2008 eponymous debut. The band's sophomore effort ”Ground Zero” followed swiftly the following year, and remains a fan favorite.
From this point on Vindictiv's career path got rockier. ”Cage Of Infinity” arrived in 2013, following an acrimonious split between guitarist Stefan Lindholm and his other band Raven Lord.
Vindictiv's fourth and current effort ”World Of Fear” was created under more harmonious circumstances, and to their guitarist marks both a progression and a return to form.
”The sound is harder, but also more melody-oriented”, muses Stefan (whose resumé also includes Phenomena and Black Sabbath legend Tony Martin). ”Some fans may have found the last album too metallic, but this is more in the veins of ”Ground Zero”.
”Wall Of Pain” is a catchy heavy metal anthem with plenty of double bassdrums. ”Until The Dawn” is slower, a semi-ballad – a little something for the ladies. ”Day” is somewhat poppy – more of a major chord-vibe, unlike the minor chord-oriented remaining songs. At the same time, this is a more technical album than the previous one. I deliver my usual masturbation-style solos!”
Lest we forget – ”World Of Fear” introduces the most star-studded Vindictiv lineup yet. Present as always are Stefan's faithful cohorts Pontus Larsson on keyboards and renowned bass player Nalle Påhlsson (Therion, Treat, Last Autumn's Dream).
By their side we find virtuoso drummer Marco Minnemann (Kreator, Joe Satriani, Steven Wilson) and singer Mark Boals (Yngwie Malmsteen, Royal Hunt, Dokken). The latter is arguably the most famous on a long list of Vindictiv frontmen that includes Tommy Karevik (Kamelot, Seventh Wonder), Nils Molin (Dynazty), Oliver Hartmann (At Vance, Avantasia) and Göran Edman (Yngwie Malmsteen, John Norum).
”Mark is someone I've known for some time and it was great to finally make a whole album with him”, says Stefan. ”Marco is a very easy-going guy. I hooked up with him on Facebook and he agreed to do the album as soon as he heard the songs. He's such a quick worker, he nailed his parts almost before he received the songs from me.”
As additional icing on the cake, ”World Of Fear” features guest solos from two keyboard exceptionals. Mark Basile is best known as the singer in Italy's own DGM. The recently deceased Mats Olausson has made stellar contributions to the likes of Yngwie Malmsteen, Lion's Share, Ark and Evil Masquerade.
”These sessions may be the last that Mats ever did before his passing”, says Stefan. ”He appears on three songs, including a cover version of Yngwie Malmsteen's ”Far Beyond The Sun”. Such a sweet guy. We dedicate ”World Of Fear” to him.”
Have Vindictiv finally found a stable lineup? If it's up to their guitarist, the answer is yes.
”I'd really like to bring an element of permanency to the band. And the odds of us five performing live together look real favorable. Sure, some members are busy people and Mark and Marco live in the US. But my goal is to get Vindictiv back on stage and Mark is already on board. After all, playing live is the most fun part of all about being in a band.”
With any luck, these plans will quickly come to fruition. ”World of fear” marks the rebirth of Vindictiv, and it's due time that the band goes from ”best kept secret of neoclassical metal” to ”best revealed secret of neoclassical metal”.
Mike Fraser discusses his career, from how he got his start with Bob Rock and Bruce Fairburn, to his first big break with Aerosmith, working with Jimmy Page on the Coverdale - Page CD, AC/DC on The Razors Edge (and iconic guitar parts on Thunderstruck), Blue Murder, The Power Station, Joe Satriani, Chickenfoot, and the new AC/DC CD Rock or Bust.
