This is one of only a few albums I’ve played recently and immediately thought – winner!

It only took one listen to know this is an album that deserves a lot of attention, the subsequent listens only confirmed that high praise was in order.

Tao features Karen Fell (vocals), Chris Gould (ex-Serpentine)(guitars) and Dave Rosingana (bass) and additional musicians Darrel Treece-Birch (Ten)(keyboards) and Brian Webster (drums).

The album is written and produced by Ten mastermind Gary Hughes.

This album hits several different marks. First the female lead vocals are just perfect for the energy and delivery of these songs, they are highly engaging and pure ear candy. Second factor is the man himself, Gary Hughes. This album is a return to his best AOR songwriting, mirroring the debut Ten album and his own solo releases. Just brilliant songs carried by Karen Fell in a way classic AOR albums used to be. Plus its not just AOR, this thing rocks in places, just like Ten do at various times.

To class this album as Ten with female vocals would be simplistic, but every bit true.

A powerful production, a band feel and some highly engaging songs make this one an essential purchase for fans of Ten and female fronted melodic rock.

I only got the digital audio for this one, but I need to get the CD pronto.

Generation Radio is one of the few organic supergroups of recent years. Something that came together naturally, rather than cobbled together in an office somewhere.

Formed with the axis of Chicago’s Jason Scheff, Deen Castronovo (now departed to concentrate soley on his Journey duties) and Rascall Flatts frontman Jay DeMarcus, the band chisel out a commercial radio friendly sound that would have had them all over radio in the 80s and 90s.

It’s a laid-back album for the most part, reflective and mature, but not without some rowdier moments where the guitars get cranked up and the tempo shuffled into overdrive.

At the heart of it however, is songs and harmonies. Both are glorious – the instantly appealing midwestern style AOR/MOR takes the listener back to the best of Chicago, Richard Marx, Journey and a more cult name in this scene – the wonderful King Of Hearts.

Its sweet and sugary and everything AOR fans loved about big budget recordings of the heydays. But you know what else it is – authentic. The band gel together and it all sounds very natural. They wrote and recorded together and it so clearly shows the difference in quality when a band actually works as a band.

The album’s first 9 tracks are near perfect, its only with the Chris Rodriguez sung song that it comes to an end, closing then with a lacklustre ballad.

Track one to nine are almost impossibly good smooth, old school, commercial American AOR.

This is how you do a band project. The difference between a ‘supergroup’ on paper and in practical essence is all in the execution. Anyone can create a group on paper and throw some songs and money at the participants to do their thing. But you won’t capture any kind of magic or chemistry – as so often is the case with the ‘Frontiers Random Band Generator’ formula.

Black Swan however, is a case of getting it right and credit should be given. This is the right way of doing things - find musicians that for the most part live near each other and can meet and work together and then let them write the songs and create organic chemistry.

In joining the great Robin McAuley and Jeff Pilson, the desire would have naturally been to recreate the best of McAuley Schenker Group and Dokken. But you can’t force it. In this case it wasn’t necessary, it just happened and with the added production prowess of Pilson, a real gem has been created.

The debut was a revelation and the follow-up takes up exactly where the last left off – more high energy, uptempo, in your face melodic hard rock, heavy, but with a commercial edge – all delivered with a beautiful mix and crisp production. The drum sound is thankfully light years ahead of other projects of this nature thanks to Pilson capturing the awesome groove of Matt Starr.

And who could ask for more crunch in their guitars than what the legend that is Reb Beach delivers.

This is an inspired combo of musicians who really work well together to create natural chemistry.

The songs are surprisingly in your face and uptempo, the album only slows down for a couple of well-timed slower pieces.

Robin sounds amazing and as good as he did in 1990. Pilson ties it all together for a perfect blend of melodic Dokken, Winger & McAuley.

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.

As is more often the case these days with Frontiers, you are left wishing better decisions had been made.

Who do you call when you want to give a big ‘fuck you’ to one of your major artists who won’t play ball? Mr Everywhere, Ronnie Romero of course, who stands in for a second time for the departed Joe Lynn Turner who wanted no more Sunstorm projects – and who could blame him.

Sadly the label decided to continue the name rather than call it a day, so this has almost nothing to do with the Sunstorm brand that received huge acclaim for the first 3 records before diverting from the formula.

The first “new” Sunstorm album, 2021’s Afterlife featured one killer track I can recall and this has a few of its own, but there isn’t a strong identity here like those first 3 records.

Its all very safe, very formulaic and very predictable, even with the warmth of Ronnie’s always strong vocals.

One for Ronnie fans, not so much for those looking to extend the ‘classic’ Sunstorm legacy.

Wicked Smile is the brainchild of Steve Janevski (Black Majesty, The Radio Sun & Cyclone Tracy), their debut album ‘Wait For The Night’ was released late in 2021, but it’s never too late to join the party, especially when the offering is as good as this is.

The Aussie melodic metallers are fronted by Danny Cecati (ex-Pegazus & Eyefear) with Stevie Janevski and Dave Graham (ex-In Malice’s Wake) on guitars, Glen Cav (ex-Virtue) on bass and Jason Tyro on drums.

Mixing Ozzy, Iron Maiden and Black Majesty, with a touch of Metallica and perhaps even some Jorn fronted Masterplan, the strength of this album is in the songs. These are quite simply, 10 brilliant no-filler-all-killer songs.

Style wise it is obviously in your face and heavy and a big credit to Paul Laine (producer) and Bruno Ravel (mastering) for making it sound as big as it does. It’s a huge metal sound for a debut album, but then again, all the guys are veterans of the Oz rock scene, so they know what they are doing.

Back to the songs – they are simply immersive and filled with hooks and melody lines, bone crushingly heavy at times, but always melodic at the heart and each with a defined chorus hook, which is essential for any great album.

‘Wait For The Night’ has everything – pounding rhythm, sharp riffing guitars and solos, some outstanding lead vocals I mean world class metal vocals), plus chorus harmonies that drive home the hooks.

Cannot recommend this highly enough and a truly special album for fans of this style of in your face melodic metal.

Simply glorious. No other word for it. The Swedish sleaze kings go a little further mainstream to deliver a melodic hard rock record with the same kind of energy you’d expect from a debut album.

The band continues to deliver album after album of well-constructed, intelligent songwriting, with hooks and melodies always in the forefront of their minds.

The new album has a modern sound, but a classic rock heart, and is immaculately produced and mixed for maximum effect.

Song after song of hook filled goodness – layered harmonies and swirling guitars.

There is a certain kind of kinship this album shares with fellow Swede’s H.E.A.T and Crazy Lizxx, but delivered in their own unique harder edged, sleaze influenced style.

11 songs and a short intro and every one of them demands attention, all that little bit different from the track before it.

This is a really heavy, engaging, in your face, uptempo album of pure melodic bliss.

City Of Lights is one of the better new names being shuffled onto an increasingly weary buying public by Frontiers Records. It is an album that straddles the line between AOR and hard rock, that is - keyboards a plenty, but with guitars clearly dominating.

This is a collaboration between British newcomer songwriter/guitarist Neil Austin and Greek vocal ‘sensation’ Manos Fatsis. Manos has a quite heavy accent on the vocals at times, but his tone is pleasant – standing alongside the likes of Ronnie Romero or Tony Martin – tough but melodic.

Best appeal of this album is some very catchy songs – varied in flavour, but all delivering a decent chorus and I must say that production is higher than average in recent times.

Maybe because Degreed alumni Robin and Mats Eriksson form the powerful rhythm section.

There are a few of songs here that take a more melodic leaning that will no doubt stand out as instant favourites with the AOR crowd.

The melodic rock scene is crying out for memorable, well-written songs with heart and passion. And here’s 12 of them in one neat package. The always reliable Jaime Kyle returns with her first studio album in over twenty years.

Proving she’s lost none of the charm, eloquence and melodic prowess, ‘Wild One’ is a mature rock album that crosses several genres and styles but remains cohesive and consistent through that journey.

Kicking off with the most openly AOR track of the album, the title track is a simple melody, yet complex arrangement. Instantly memorable, the song proves Kyle’s cross-genre songwriting chops and a tweak to the mix in any direction could see the song a hit for any pop, country or rock artist.

The diversity of the album is on immediate display with the bluesy rocker Driving With The Brakes On which moves smoothly to the modern pop rock of Change – another really strong song.

The 6-minute ballad Blue Night is simply beautiful and takes us through three relatively laid back but classy songs before the album retains to Jaime’s melodic rock roots on Kiss Dirt.

Dirty Goodbye takes listeners on a midwestern rock n roll rampage before the album is concluded with another big ballad and perhaps the most commercial pop/country song of the while affair.

Some fans may yearn for a more traditional melodic rock sound across the whole record, but it’s been a long time since Jaime’s 1992 debut and this album shows off all her songwriting skills accumulated during a long writing career.

It is a very fine mature singer/songwriter album, with 12 memorable songs and some outstanding lead vocals and some really tasty guitar work thanks to a number of special guests such as Bernie Marsden and Howard Leese.

Ousey/Mann is none other than the great vocalist Chris Ousey (Heartland, Virginia Wolf, The Distance) paired with English multi-instrumentalist/guitarist Steve Mann (Liar, Eloy, MSG, The Sweet).

Together the pair have recorded a very fine album together. Suggested as a potential pairing together by the Right Reverend Khalil Turk, chemistry quickly evolved into a set of songs that is now released as the album ‘Is Anybody Listening’.

Fans of Chris Ousey will immediately be drawn the voice and the style of melodic hard rock on offer here – recent Heartland and solo offering compare favourably and fans of classic British hard rock get their fill with some in your face crunch from Steve Mann.

It’s not an unfamiliar sound – especially for Ousey fans – but what is impressive is the energy, the memorable songs on offer and the excellent production and mix.

Plenty of keyboards on offer for those that like some contrast to the riffs, but this is very much a guitar/vocal driven record.

There is an hour of music here, which might be one or two tracks too long, but I’m hesitant to call out any tracks that could have been omitted.

More great stuff for fans of the newly formed duo – and a record whose strength immediately demands a sequel.

Def Leppard are back for their first studio album since the 2015 self-titled release.

Things to note about this album: Songwriting direction comes from Joe and Phil almost entirely. The album is a real mish-mash of styles, with influences from Adrenalize to X to Slang. There is no one dominant theme to the album and it’s all relatively mid-tempo’d. Joe’s voice is also a long way from its best and he sings within himself quite comfortably here, just don’t expect any old-school screams or vocal theatrics.

Despite the 7-year gap between records, many of the songs on Diamond Star Halos sound like they have been leftovers from past records.

For me there is a good 10 song record in amongst these tracks, but at 15 there are too many fillers and for that reason the album’s overall rating suffers. Too look at this album objectively, you have to get past the 'oh my, its anew Def Leppard album' hysteria first.

The album gets off to an energetic start, with 3 solid typical mid-tempo, mid-heaviness rockers – the type of song Def Leppard could write in their sleep.

The country tinged duet This Guitar (featuring Alison Krauss) totally kills momentum and is the first instant-skip for repeat album playthroughs. At 15 tracks, this was a bonus track if there was ever was one.

SOS Emergency gets things back on track with a cool pop/rock anthem, lead by a heavy riff that sadly doesn’t dominate through the song. A nice ‘Promises’ or Animal’ style commercial song.

Liquid Dust sounds like a Slang off-cut. I dig the vibe as I love that album, but the chorus here is a bit of a non-event.

The title U Rok MI is everything I hate about classic rock bands trying to sound cool. As much as I loved the band at the time, ‘Let’s Get Rocked’ was lame in 1992 and U Rok MI in 2022 is just juvenile. It’s another modern rocker with a Slang meets Adrenalize vibe.

Goodbye For Good This Time is a big sounding ballad, with some orchestral parts and an atmospheric feel, but the chorus does nothing for me and the melody just drags. Unusual for Def Leppard to fail to deliver when it comes to the ballads.

I like All We Need, which is a pleasant melodic feel good number, almost directly contrasted by the dark and moody, modern rocker Open Your Eyes, which I feel again suffers from lack of a good hook.

Gimmie A Kiss That Rocks is another silly title, but its nice to hear an uptempo song after several mid-tempo tracks. Old school Def Leppard here that might have sounded at home on Adrenalize.

Angels is another moody ballad. Its ok but lacks that knockout hook again.

The relatively slow Lifeless immediately sounds tinged with that American country influence and once again features Alison Krauss on duet vocals. Sorry, but no thanks.

Unbreakable and From Here To Eternity are both mid-tempo modern rockers with more Slang overtones. Still, both tracks are missing a knockout chorus and the dominance of slow to mid-tempo tracks on the album weight heavily on my enjoyment of the album.

All in all, just an average album for me. Half ok, half skippable or missing that certain spark the band used to deliver. It’s quite a moody/modern record after the first 3 tracks and I normally like that direction by the band. Here though, there is a serious lack of memorable choruses.

I went out and purchased a copy of the CD. I didn't want the deluxe edition because the bonus tracks are only alt-versions and the packaging is a shitty digipack. So I went for the preferred jewel case, just a shame I couldn't get the cover in colour that way. It won't be an album that I return to rotation. If I'm going to listen to some Leppard, I'll go with Pyromania, Hysteria, Slang and X.