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.

Legacy Swedish AOR act Alien deliver their seventh studio album here, the first to see them turn their traditional style on its head in an attempt to reach a new crowd.

So Alien have ‘gone metal’ here, albeit metal with a strong melodic edge and the unmistakable voice of Jim Jidhed reminding us of their true AOR origins.

I’ve seen some very mixed fan responses to this and my initial reaction was very negative. However, despite an absolutely horrendous production (yes, that issue again and a pretty consistent theme of the last 3 Alien albums), there are some great songs on here to enjoy.

I do think the guys are having a bet both ways, with the album split between the new hard rock sound and several lighter AOR songs that could have come from any previous album.

It’s a hard call – do you fully embrace a new sound with all the risks that entails, or do you try and do something different and mix in the old sound to try and keep old fans happy.

Hard to make a cohesive album with two different styles and I think that’s what holds this album back. Not to mention that Jim really struggles vocally on some of the heavier numbers, especially the painful to listen to What Are We Fighting For and Into The Future.

Of the ‘metal’ songs I really like the opening salvo of You Still Burn and Night Of Fire, the band don’t sound any better than they do on these two tracks.

On the other hand, ‘classic’ Alien can be heard with the more keyboard friendly Time Is Right, Freedom Wind and Fallin Way Down.

It’s a mixed album with mixed results and yes, mixed feelings. I think I’ll probably pick a few tunes here and there for separate playlists, but as a start to finish album, there’s something not quite right about ‘metal’ Alien and the production/mix is very muddy to say the least.

Proof that everything happens eventually, here’s a brand-new AC/DC album, designed to drop some rock n roll healing on a shitty year. Could this be the last ever new AC/DC studio album? Never bet against accadacca but given it has been 6 years since the last album, it’s entirely possible.

Having cranked the contents of ‘PWR/UP’ several times in quick succession, I wouldn’t say the band have delivered a career defining record befitting a grand exit, but they have exceeded expectations to deliver a very credible late-career record that I think will please most fans.

It is true that the guys could possibly have written this album in their sleep and there is no deviation from the style or delivery of the last several records, but there is something very comforting about new AC/DC tunes.

Twelve tracks at 41 minutes in length should give an accurate summary of the contents here. I am comfortable stating that the first 4 tracks are amongst their best in many a year. Realize is a superb opener, with Rejection, the single Shot In The Dark and Through The Mists Of Time all delivering great riffs and hooks.

Elsewhere it’s a pretty consistent run. Only track 8, Wild Reputation, drags significantly for me.

I do wonder how good this would have been with someone like Bob Rock or Kevin Shirley at the helm. The lack of urgency and a harder hitting sound is what I think it missing from latter day records.

Brian Johnson sounds as good as ever, which I’m really pleased about. He’s one of the good guys.

Aussie melodic rock legends Noiseworks are back with a reunion tour and a ‘new’ album that was recorded several years back but shelved for various reasons. Most notably the cancer battle of guitarist Stuart Fraser, which would eventually claim his life.

So this album and tour is a tribute to him – with Southern Sons’ Jack Jones filling in for the live dates.

The official fourth and likely final Noiseworks album is a mix of classic and modern, with the band reliving its trademark sound from the first two albums in places, but then also delving into the heavier, groovier feel of the lesser liked third album.

The mix works pretty well here, but the standout songs are clearly the ones that lean towards the classic/melodic side. The opener Heart & Soul is among the band’s best tracks – a great feel good anthem.

Amerika is another highlight – a song which is quite literally half classic (the chorus) and half modern and heavier (the verses).

Elsewhere the ballad Long Way delivers a nice sentiment, the decade old Sunshine sounds better today than it did when originally released as a single and Low is a modern moody rocker with a killer vocal from the always amazing Jon Stevens. One In A Million picks up the pace with another good hook before delving back into the album’s familiar mid-tempo groove on Let It Go.

Unfortunately the album is over too soon, and closes on a low note, as the acoustic ballad Ocean Girl isn’t as strong as the rest of the material and the 50 second Touch (Epitaph) isn’t long enough to go anywhere.

All in all, take 34 minutes minus the last two tracks, you get 28 minutes of high quality modern melodic rock, excellently produced and performed by some of Australia’s best musicians.

A great long EP, or a little short for an album.

To add to the conversation, the physical CD packaging is a disgrace – a thin cardboard gatefold with no booklet, no lyrics, little info and bad album cover art. Not much effort has been put into this aspect.