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CONTENTS
Yes John Wetton Airrace Bai Bang Episode Outloud Sebastian Bach Upcoming Reviews Edguy Wolfpack Toby Hitchcock XorigiN Work Of Art Seven
Melodic Rock Fanzine
The official Frontiers Records magazine Year #7 - Nr. 4 / Issue #45 Editor-in-chief: Elio Bordi Graphic & Design: Elio Bordi Writers: Bruce E.J. Atkinson, Duncan Jamieson, Barry McMinn, Vitale Nocerino, Rob “Ezy” Bone, Fabio Mainardi, Tommy Hash, Primo Bonali Headquarters and general contacts: Frontiers Records - Via Gonzaga 18 80125, Napoli - Italy Tel: +39.081.2399340/7753 Fax: +39.081.2399794 E-mail: elio@frontiers.it Website: www.frontiers.it Myspace: www.myspace.com/frontiersrecords Editor and publisher: Frontiers Records s.r.l. Copyright©2011 Frontiers Records. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Printed in Italy.
BAND: YES ALBUM: FLY FROM HERE INTERVIEW WITH: C. SQUIRE / G. DOWNES INTERVIEWED BY: DUNCAN JAMIESON Focus on:
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YES - Fly From Here (Frontiers Records)
It’s now ten years since “Magnification” and this new album finds YES mixing something new with something old to good effect. The new comes in the shape of David Benoit who replaces Jon Anderson. His voice is strong and clear, replicating Anderson’s style in places well, not surprisingly as Benoit used to front a Yes tribute band. There’s also a touch of Trevor Horn about his voice but with enough character of his own to make it sound fresh. “Fly From Here”, a song originally intended for 1980’s “Drama” but didn’t make the final cut. Spruced up and expanded into a 6 piece suite it has all the elements people love about Yes; it’s epic, complex symphonic rock. Also coming from the past are Trevor Horne, who’s here on production duties, and Geoff Downes (replacing Oliver Wakeman). The pair co-wrote a swathe of the tracks and give a commercial sheen to the prog and Steve Howe’s playing on the instrumental “Solitaire” is still interesting, still clever. Die hards may say it’s not on a par with past glories but those who’re more openminded can see that Yes, in a time when prog is in vogue again, are still one of the best purveyors of the genre. Duncan Jamieson (95/100)
Question: I really like the new album. It’s good to have you back. It’s ten years since “Magnification”. Did you ever feel Yes might not make another record? Geoff Downes: I think that Yes never ceases to surprise, so you should never count them out of the picture. Yeah, it’s quite a few years between albums, but then I am very pleased to be involved with the band on the new CD. Q: The centre piece of the record, “Fly From Here” was originally for The Drama album but didn’t make it, although it appeared later on a live recording. Can you tell me how you came to expand into a suite? GD: I think when Trevor and Chris discussed this last year, it was generally accepted that the track was worthy of a revisit. It was never really completed at the time, so the idea for the suite really came about when we started the recording this year, and more ideas begun to develop as a result. Q: What is you general consideration about this new album? It reminds me some old Yes influences... GD: I think it kind of pulls from all Yes periods. It’s kind of a mix. It’s faithful to some of the more traditional Yes styles, but also the more epic piece is in there, there’s so much more, not accessible, but shorter of pieces. It’s a pretty good blend of styles I suppose. Q: Your current lineup is more or less similar to the Drama era. Did producer Trevor Horn ever consider to be the lead singer? Chris Squire: Trevor actually is singing backup, so his voice is on there. But all the lead vocals are by Benoit, and honestly, I don’t think Trevor was really ever interested in becoming the singer again. You have to have quite an agile voice in the higher range to do some of those older Jon Anderson Yes songs, and I don’t think Trevor would be up for that. But he still sings really well, actually, as a matter of interest. Q: You alredy have been in the band line up and you play with Steve Howe in Asia. How did you join Yes for this version of the band? GD: Well I think the talk started when Chris (Squire) was speaking to Trevor Horn about producing the next album, that was toward the end of last year. We had a song left over from the “Drama” period which we never actually completed it at the time, and Trevor and Chris thought that would be a good starting point for the album. So it really sort of came out of that, and what I think Trevor suggested to Chris if he maybe got me involved. So we did actually take it from there and got involved and I ended up doing the whole album so that’s when they asked me to rejoin the band. It was
quite a very good period of time. Q: You and Jon Anderson had such great vocal chemistry. How’s the chemistry when singing with Benoit David? CS: It's true that Jon and I, obviously after working together for so long, assume some of each other's inflections and style. But very fortunately, with Benoit David, that seems to have become a good blend as well, and it's demonstrated very well on new the album. Q: Benoit was in a Yes cover band. This must be a dream come true for him... CS: Yes, it’s worked out well. We weren’t sure how it was going to go, but we went on the road for a couple of years, and he got used to the idea of being the singer. A lot of the Yes fans seem to think he was pretty decent, so it’s all gone better than expected, really. Q: When was the album recorded and finished? CS: We started in October, November, and we had a break over the holiday period and reconvened in mid - January till the end of February. We finished the recording, most of it except for vocals, which we finished in London in April. Q: What do you think has kept the band together and the name alive for so long? CS: It’s ironic in a way, because Yes has had quite a few changes over the years. Every time someone new has come in they’ve obviously injected more energy or new energy into the band and changed the sound a bit, and the approach, etc., depending on how much input the new member has had. Of course, there’ve been some notable people; Trevor Rabin was a big influence in the ‘80s. And I think because of the changing in itself has just allowed the band to be free to grow in different directions and then come back and change again and then come back and learn from every phase that we’ve been through, really. I’ve benefitted a lot personally from having been able to evaluate what the band has done with various different musicians, and I’ve been very lucky to have gained all the information from the many members there have been. Q: How was working with Trevor for this new album? GD: It’s great. I mean I had a long period, a number of years where I didn’t really cross paths with him, but I don’t know for any other reason than we were just not sort of in the same place, and I think that in recent years we started doing quite a bit more work together, and it’s very inspiring. You know Trevor’s still got a great sense of production. He’s still very very astute with music, and I think that he’s really pushed the boat out to make this album a very special Yes album, the biggest Yes album in ten years, and it’s an absolute privilege working
with Trevor. Q: In the 1970s, there was so much incredible rock music coming out. Who did Yes view as their contemporaries at that time? CS: It’s hard to know who our contemporaries were, really. We weren’t exactly a run-of-the-mill band. The people who were coming up at the same time as Yes were coming up were of course Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. And the majority of bands at that time were more blues-based where Yes was a little bit more poppy maybe, a bit more folky and with not as much influence on the blues side of the band, although we did incorporate those elements. So it’s hard to know who our contemporaries really were. I mean, Genesis came along not that long after us and sort of stepped into a similar mode of making music. Of course they did very well. Queen were also around the same period of time as well, a bit after us. Q: Do you ever hear bands that sound like they’re influenced by your own music? CS: I’m sure there are, but the thing is — like I’ve even read articles from someone or other in a band who said Yes was one of their big influences but their music doesn’t sound anything like Yes. Like I remember one of the guys in Tool was saying how big an influence Yes had been on them. But to listen to what they were doing, you wouldn’t necessarily think so, unless they were talking about odd time signatures or polyrhythms. Maybe that’s the element they were referring to, other than the vocals. Q: After enjoying so much success what drives you to keep making music? CS: Well, it’s an enjoyable thing. Actually writing the new music and songs is actually quite hard. When I say that, I mean it’s something that you have to really get committed to doing. But once you get over the hump of, “Oh this is hard,” things start developing and it becomes a pleasure, and it’s always good to be happy that you’ve pushed yourselves into doing something. It’s another notch of the success of the band. It’s a satisfying feeling once you get over the hump of that. Q: After the tour with Styx, what are your future plans? GD: Well I think the general plan is to put in some more dates in September with Yes as headliners. So I think it’s something that we’re looking forward to because it will give us an opportunity to play more of the new album. I think by that time we’ll be gearing up for more world touring. We’ve got Europe in November and December. So it’s gonna be building up hopefully in promotion of the new album and making people aware that Yes is still around and Yes has still got a valuable place in the music scene.
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ARTIST: JOHN WETTON ALBUM: RAISED IN CAPTIVITY INTERVIEW WITH: JOHN WETTON INTERVIEWED BY: BRUCE ATKINSON
Question: John, congartulations on “Raised In Captivity”, another excellent Recorded Work! With everything else
going on in your music life… where did you find the time for this epic? Answer: Many thanks, Bruce... the truth is that my manager has been kicking my backside for 3 years, saying I must follow-up ‘Rock of Faith’. I have been creatively at fulltilt with Asia and icon projects, but I have also done charity appearances for Cleopatra Records on their tribute CDs, and through that I met Billy Sherwood. I wanted to record in Los Angeles, the January 2011 window opened up, and I had no excuse. I had manager, record company, studio, producer and funds in place, all I had to do was deliver. Q: “Raised In Captivity” is almost like a family reunion… you have enlisted former band-mates and collaborators on this album, a most refreshing and rewarding experience I must think… A: Yes, the majority of the tracks were done with just myself and Billy, then we overdubbed the right man (or woman, in Anneke’s case) for the job when it came to a special solo, or cameo. I had people in mind for a lot of the solos when the tracks were written. Q: Listening to the album as I’m writing these questions… I find many styles being touched upon, is this due to all the musical mates you have guesting on this record? A: No, it’s not, the guests came last of all… it probably comes more from the styles I’ve explored myself in the past, plus the input of Billy Sherwood, and the location have a lot to do with it. Left to my own devices, I write folky/prog/classical melodies and stories... LA put some spin and edge on the proceedings. Q: Noted as one of the more prolific
British songwriters… how do you keep going? I mean with your collaborations and your duo with Mr. Downes, and the ongoing Asia activities… you must be able to write on the road… A: I can write anywhere, ideas for songs come when the muse feels like it, not when I do... and that can be at the most inconvenient time! I have to be ready, and I’m often found singing and muttering into my mobile in supermarkets, on the high street, at a football match, anywhere, if I don’t record the idea, it’s gone. Q: Speaking of ‘the road’, John are you planning to take this album out? If so, who will be with you? A: It’s probably too soon to name members of a band, but we need to get it right if we are to tour. Q: Let’s look down the road, may we expect another Recorded Work from you and Geoff? What about Asia… will the both of you be continuing with this as well? A: I think you can expect another icon record, and certainly another Asia record, as it’s our 30th anniversary next year, 2012, it’s 30 years since ‘Asia’. Q: Whew! Obviously a work-a-holic!! And I mean that in the highest regard… I want to thank-you for giving us all of this beautiful music!! As is my tradition, I like to leave our readers with last words from my guest… so please, John, go ahead… A: Many thanks, I look forward to seeing everyone on the road to happy destiny in the future, and I hope you get as much pleasure from listening to my music as I do creating it. God bless. Focus on:
JOHN WETTON - Raised In Captivity (Frontiers Records) One of Britain’s most prolific song writer and singers is releasing his sixth solo offering. “Raised In Captivity” finds John Wetton adventurous, ever so tasteful and a bit reminiscing of the past. This album has John reaching deep down, offering up a ground-breaking heroic set of musical journeys. Enlisting musical friends from Deep Purple’s Steve Morse to Uriah Heep’s Mick Box… “Raised In Captivity” is a family affair. A diverse exploration of musical plateaus with former band-mates and friends that impacted upon his musical journey. Each and every opus impresses — from the music, arrangements to the luxurious performances of each of John’s guests. A very deep excursion — “Raised In Captivity” spans all of the musical styles that John has expressed in his career. From the early days with ‘Family’ and ‘King Crimson’ to ‘U.K.’ and present day ‘Asia’ and beyond. This album will surely captivate music lovers worldwide! Each track is stupendous! Bruce Atkinson (90/100)
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BAND: AIRRACE ALBUM: BACK TO THE START INTERVIEW WITH: LAURENCE MANSWORTH INTERVIEWED BY: BARRY MCMINN Question: What significance does the album's title have for the band. Do you see this as starting over again or just another chapter in the Airrace story? Answer: Yes very much so, it is very strange that although it has been 25 years of Airrace history it very much like starting again when we got back together for the first time. It had the same level of excitement. Q: The band celebrated the 25th anniversary of 'Shaft of Light' in 2009 but prior to that had the band kept in contact? A: From time to time but we all had other commitments and Jason and Toby had moved abroad so it was difficult to keep in touch. Q: When you got back together did it feel strange or did the old spark just re-ignite itself? A: No it didnt feel strange, it felt very comfortable and we instantly felt good about playing in the band together again, as we now do not have the same kind of pressure we had in the early days. Focus on:
Q: Was it at that point you decided to think about the long awaited second album or did that come later? A: It came soon after us getting back together. We thought that it would be great to put together a new album and record it the way the band sounded originally. Q: How long did the album take to put together? A: We did it over the period of a year. We wasn't constantly working, but from writing the tunes to the final mix was about a year. Q: The band has expanded on the line-up front but do you think this Airrace line-up is a more stable package than the original band? A: Yes I do, Jason changes bands like people change their under pants so it was nice to get in Simon Dawson who has been a constant, stable member of the band. When you get to our age, with family commitments peoples circumstances change a great deal but on the whole
the new line-up is stable. Q: The band took to the stage at Firefest, was the reaction of the crowd that day a suprise? A: It was a fantastic suprise and we were very proud to feel a v25 year old album still meant a lot to rock fans all over the world. Q: As part of the 25 year anniversary the band also took to the road, what was it like to hit the road as Airrace once again? A: Very enjoyable, we all get on very well and touring has never been a problem for us. Q: The bands live performances have always had a little harder edge and the new album has that same edge to it. Is this how you wanted to be perceived from the beginning or did circumstances result in a different path? A: This album is a true representation of the Airrace sound, Beau Hill did Americanize us slightly but Back to the start is far more like the real Airrace.
AIRRACE - Back To The Start (Frontiers Records)
The night I caught the band on tour with Winger I was impressed with Keith Murrells vocals and on this new opus, he still shows he really does have a great set of pipes on him. The album gets underway with the aptly titled ‘Keep On Going’ and from the off you cant tell it has been 25 years since the bands debut. This band have come back fighting and with a little more edge added into the mix, whether this is the twin guitars of Mansworth and Howard or not, this is definitely the Airrace the Melodic Rock crowd remember and much more. The album boasts some truly magnificent slices of Melodic Rock from the superb ‘When Baby’, the edgy ‘Two Of A Kind’ and the superb ‘So Long’, although standout track of the album for me has to be ‘Wrong Way’. This is the band with attitude and big licks, but that is just my opinion and I’m sure you’ll all have your own favourites because there are dozen great tracks to choose from. There is not doubt Airrace may have to go ‘Back To The Start’, but this hopefully sees the return of the band for good and with a more stable line-up, I think the future looks bright for them once more. Barry McMinn (90/100)
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BAND: BAI BANG ALBUM: LIVIN’ MY DREAM INTERVIEW WITH: DIDDI KASTENHOLT INTERVIEWED BY: BRUCE ATKINSON Question: Now, I’m just starting to get to know you guys, so let us start with the obvious question…a brief history of the group, and is the present line-up always been ‘Bai Bang’? Answer: Bai Bang started in late 89 for real! First album was Enemy Lines. I started the group. I’ve been in the band longest. Our ex-drummer Jonas was in the band for 16 years. He had to leave the band due to personal problems. Sadly his girlfriend got very ill in cancer. Jonas could not play the gigs and of course we stood behind him 100%. Tragically Jonas girlfriend died later.We tried to replace Jonas by Johnny Benson It worked out super. So good that Johnny now is a full member of the band!!! Johnny is a tight drummer and a good friend!!! We are very good friend with Jonas. No hard feelings. Joacim, bass started out as a gittech and roadie. We toured together with Pretty Maids in Germany and I found a very good friend in Joacim plus a very good bassplayer. After the tour Iasked Joacim to join the band!!! He said yes!!! 15 years ago! Still my brother and a funny guy!!! Pelle Eliaz joined the band 11 years ago! Focus on:
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My brother in "crime"!!! Best guitarplayer I’ve ever played with!!!! So, you can say that the band is almost original. Q: You have just completed your seventh album… ”Livin’ My Dream”… and I think your strongest expression, musically, thus far… comments? A: Livin`My Dream is the best album!!! When we started writing songs for Are You Ready (Last album 2009) we came up with a very strong song and used it as a "leading star". We decided that all songs must be equal as good or better otherwise we would not use it on the album. "Kill your darlings" and we did! We also came up with a very strong album. On "Livin`My Dream” we used the same words, "kill your darlings" but added " a little bit more"! All songs must be a little better than the best from last album! We succeded I think! We are so satisfied with the album and recordings! We love melodies, riffs and hooks! Thats all in "Livin My Dream"! Q: Let’s get into some of the songs… first, the title track… what is behind this one? A: We are united... says it all! We are UNITED! This is whats the album is
about, what’s about being in Bai Bang!! Having a good time, lots of fun and big PARTY! To be part of Bai Bang as a member, crew, driver, roadie merch everything that involves Bai Bang is a party! Just jump into the tour bus or on an aeroplane it’s PARTY! We love to play live gigs! We love to be on the road! We love to meet fans! Q: “Gonna Have It All” is another interesting song… what inspired this one? A: The title track "Livin My Dream". I had my father in mind when I wrote it. He was a generous man. He worked hard to live his dream. He played the piano. A lot of blues. There were hard times for him in his work but finally he was living his dream. Sadly he got very sick and died way too early! But he managed to have some good years! I was also referring to my self. A lot of struggling all the time. But many people does. So this song belongs to many! This is about me, you and many many more! Never forget-Live your dream, no matter what other say! Gonna have it all... Well it’s love... again! Girlfriend is a good inspiration... No matter what they say... love rules!
BAI BANG - Livin’ My Dream (Metal Heaven)
Music to my ears!! Bai Bang –they are back! “Livin’ My Dream” is this hard rocking Swedish quartet’s seventh release. The group’s last release, ‘Are You Ready’, was nominated the best sleaze / glam lp in the Swedish Metal Awards… Glam — maybe… sleaze —not so much! There is nothing sleazy about these guys! Powerful… straight forward rock with a capital ‘R’, that is what these lads are all about! “Livin’ My Dream” will get you up on your feet and keep you there! High-energy, melodic and a ‘get down… rock it out’ collection of ten anthemic rockers, this album will get your fists pumping the air. Each number will work well live, energizing the group’s stage show. Coming out of the box with a bang, “Livin’ My Dream” is ‘Bai Bang’s strongest statement to date… one that you will hear loud and clear! Bruce Atkinson (88/100)
Justine Bevan: What brought about Epysode? Were these just songs that evolved from a concept into a whole story? Samuel Arkan: Well, my way of doing here for EPYSODE was, first, writing the all story, than I composed the music and created the lyrics, I tried to follow the energy and emotion needed by the characters during the different parts of the story. I don’t have a special order to do the things, only feelings… JB: How did you go about pick-
ing who would be involved in the project, or did the project dictate which musicians should be picked? SA: When I was writing the story and creating the different characters, I had in mind the voice of each of them all. So I made a list of singers I would like to have on my album and I sent them some demo songs. About the musicians, it was more a choice of people able to give life to my music. And today, I’m glad and honoured that all the singers and musicians involved in EPYSODE reacted positively to be part of it. JB: Have you ever done anything like this before? SA: I never did something like this before. It’s my first concept album, but I can say I like that, it’s a lot of work to make it, but so enjoyable at the end, I’m just ready to live it one more time… JB: Is there anything remotely comparable from Epysode to your work with Virus IV? SA: It’s definitely not comparable, it’s a different work, the way to compose the songs, the writing process, the music is different, songs are longer, you have keyboards, more arrangements, 5 singers & a huge story behind… JB: Concept albums often lead to deeper stories and more concepts. Do you see there being an Obsessions 2? Do you already have material written? SA: Yes, the story of a second
EPYSODE album is done, also a third one… I have some songs composed yet. JB: Can you draw on any influences that might have lead you down this path for Obsessions? SA: Well, I like very much thriller and fantastic books and films, authors and directors like Stephen king or David Fincher. I’m a huge fan of stories full of secrets, strange & dark people and solid clues. My world is full of it, and I would never change it! ;-) JB: Do you have any plans for reproducing this sound on the road? (Perhaps in play format) SA: Fans of that kind of concept album know that it’s really difficult to get everyone on stage for a tour; you can only have 3 of the singers instead of 5 and same with musicians, because they are separately busy with their main band. But I can say that we will make it for sure, we are talking about, but it’s still too early to give dates now. I know for sure that everybody involved in EPYSODE want to play it live and there will be some special live events surrounding the release date in August. Everything will be posted in time on the official pages of EPYSODE… JB: Thank you for your time. I loved your story and thoroughly enjoyed the music. Best to you in all your endeavors. SA: Thank you very much Justine, you are welcome & long live to MRF.
BAND: OUTLOUD ALBUM: LOVE CATASTROPHE INTERVIEW WITH: C.MOGEL / T. KASH INTERVIEWED BY: JUSTINE BEVAN Question: The new album Love Catastrophe is out on July 22nd. What can Outloud fans expect from this album that they did not get from the debut? CM: Yes! They can expect a more established and gelled band, more mature songwriting and a few more surprises. But in short, those who liked the debut will LOVE the new record. It has something for everyone. Q: Was the album written collectively or are there specific songwriters in the band? TK: The music / lyrics of the album are written by myself, Bob and Chandler. Basically Bob and myself write all the music and Chandler is the one that's writing the lyrics and the melodic vocal lines. On the first album, I wrote most of the lyrics and Chandler constructed the melodies, but now we find Chandler writing Focus on:
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most of the lyrics and melodies entirely. Q: Was your studio/recording experience similar to what you experienced the first time around with Tommy Hansen? CM: Studio experience was great, and Tommy was even better the second time around! He knows our style and sound by now, and the mix came out very organically this time. We weren’t actually in the studio with him, he’s in Denmark; we recorded in Greece and sent him the tracks to be mixed and mastered. Q: The first single/video is “Waiting For Your Love”. This will surely be a favorite among fans. Do you have plans for any more videos? TK: Thanks. Right know we are preparing to shoot our second video for the album, which will be announced shortly. We are really excited about it!
Q: You have some tour dates scheduled with Twisted Sister over the summer. Do you have any other tour plans? TK: Actually we’re only doing one show with TS, in Athens. No more tour plans for the summer unfortunately, but we are working on some dates for late autumn / early winter. Q: You have a nice collection of songs now to play live. Do you see yourself headlining at all? CM: Thanks very much! It’s a funny thing; our upcoming show with Twisted Sister will be the first show that we HAVE NOT headlined. But going out more broadly in Europe as we intend to, it’s possible. We are in talks with a couple of other bands to do a tour, so not sure who will headline that yet, probably whoever has been around the longest, hahaha!
OUTLOUD - Love Catastrophe (Metal Heaven)
Melodic rock act Outloud are set to release their sophomore effort entitled Love Catastrophe.The band comprised of former Firewind guitarist and drummer, Bob Katsionis and Mark Cross, and Tony Kash; guitars, Chandler Mogel; vocals, and Sverd Soth on bass are again produced by Tommy Hansen, (Pretty Maids, Helloween), and Bob Katsionis. Love Catastrophe contains 10 tracks and among them are some nice highlights. One of them, “Waiting For Your Love” their debut single/video off of the album, is a nice listen which maintains that melodic quality that this band is so well known and loved for. Keeping in that rhythm are “Falling Rain” and “Someday”, which is one that surely will be played over and over again. These songs are truly the ‘softer side’ to this outfit. “Live Again” and “We Came To Rock” explore a heavier side, but still keep that same ‘melodic’, something that becomes the expected and welcomed. “Love Catastrophe” is one that has nice time changes, teaming guitars, and that beautiful vocal sound that has long been associated with some of the great eighties/nineties acts like Skid Row and TNT. Justine Bevan (90/100)
JORN - Live In Black (Frontiers Records) Jorn’s second live album sees one of heavy rock’s most prolific artists deliver a track list that differs, except for a couple of tracks, almost entirely from “Live In America”. The live setting gives Jorn a harder more metal edge, perhaps losing something of the subtly of his studio recorded material. His Ronnie James Dio meets David Coverdale on steroids voice booms out across this disc which was recorded in front of 25,000 people at the Sweden Rock Festival last year. His recent “Spirit Black” and “Lonely Are The Brave” albums are well represented with raw versions of a clutch of songs from both discs. It’s also good to hear older material such as “Tungur Knivur” from “Worldchanger”. Known for his great cover versions this album sticks, rather surprisingly, to his own material. It would also have been good to hear some Allen Lande or Masterplan songs, but this is a minor quibble. There’s a DVD of the show too so if you’re a fan there much to tempt you here. Duncan Jamieson (88/100) ROB MORATTI - Victory (Escape Music) Victory has it's monstrosity of big choruses, huge vocal harmonies, and catchy riffage galore, but Moratti mixes up the moods of each song on the record, prevailing with the harder rock edge on "Life On the Line," "On and On," and "Jennie," with the big keyboard/guitar oriented Journey-esque optimistic vibe on "Power of Love," "Hold that Light," and "Standing on Top of the World" with stripped back pop heard on "Life Time" & "I Promise You," and of course balladry with "Now More than Ever," where throughout the record, Moratti really proves his songwriting chops, and is high tenor vocals hold up to an exceptional performance as the record as a whole flows well without any urgency to go into some misguided direction where here, it's all about the songs and the production & musicianship really compliment that basis for the album Regardless of where Rob Moratti has stood musically, on his own he executes an outstanding offering pop sophistication with the arena ready rock and roll fervor as it's everything you would expect from the singer songwriter, highly in the vein of Ramos/Hugo, Harem Scarem, First Signal, Terra Nova, and Frontline. Tommy Hash - Ytsejam.com (90/100)
SAXON - Call To Arms (Militia Guard Music/EMI) Hands down! Although still six months remain to year end we can easily nominated Saxon’s “Call to Arms” for the best Heavy metal album for 2011, and for the worst cover too. No brainer the glorious British have reached a peak very hard to achieve for a 32 years old Heavy metal band with their 19th Studio album, a great, fresh and bloody NWOBHM set of new ferocious songs. The quintet headed by the Living legend Biff Byford are still playing old school but with the most modern sound and production, winking to classic rock, and it works really good. From the sledgehammer opener “Hammer of the Gods” to “Mists of Avalon” and the title track “Call to arms” of which the band give us also an amazing orchestral rendition Saxon delivers a solid, powerful, angry and even emotional album, and emotionally one song stands over all, “Back in 79" where choruses are sung by 79 fans… Personally I believe part of the great result is also in the huge production job in terms of sound and mixing done by a strange but effective couple, Saxon leader and singer Biff Byford and Toby Jepson (Little Angels and Gun). What else to say, until such Rock dinosaurs will be able to give us such an album I see still a long live for Rock. Fabio Mainardi (95/100)
FOREIGNER - Can't Slow Down... When It's Live (EarMusic/Edel) They might only produce one studio album per decade, but Mick Jones and his band of Foreigners keep the releases coming. This time it's a live album from the first leg of the Can't Slow Down tour, recorded in Nashville March 2010. 15 tracks over two discs, consisting of a bunch of hits and the usual album tracks like Starrider. Can't Slow Down When It's Live is a very well recorded live set with vocalist Kelly Hansen in full harmonious glory. And he band as usual are a powerhouse behind the hits like Double Vision, Juke Box Hero, Urgent, Dirty White Boy and the required ballads I Want To Know What Love Is and Waiting For A Girl Like You. Disappointing is the fact only When It Comes To Love and In Pieces are the only 2 tracks from the latest album represented. Other artists like Journey, Night Ranger and Whitesnake are playing up to 5 new tracks per set amongst the usual suspects. That said… the bonus track here is another new album track Can't Slow Down, taken from Rock Of Ages Festival in Germany July, 2010. Enjoyable without question, but for die-hards only. Andrew McNeice / Melodicrock.com (85/100) EPYSODE - Obsessions (AFM Records) Virus IV guitarist Samuel Arkan has a new baby, but it’s a brainchild, not an actual child called Epysode. “File 41807” contains beautiful piano work, but is not really necessarily a song, but a necessary opening to the project. This is what sets up the plot. The second track, “Silences of Dawn” again has beautiful piano music and wonderful female vocals, (Kelly Carpenter, Beyond Twilight and Darkology). Track number three, “First Blood” gets heavier , but is still very melodic in its nature. The fourth track, “Obsessions”, is heavy on drums with soaring vocals. The listener is getting deeper into a woven story. The songs continue to build on intensity as does the story that matches them. By track eight, “Season Of Redemption” the vocal tracks are layered and thick as is the drum track. One can hear the experience of the musicians who took part in this project. By track 14, the last track, “Last Sunset” the listener might be thinking that surely this can’t be the end; is it? Justine Bevan (89/100)
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SEVEN - Freedom Call (Nuclear Blast) According to the Nuclear Blast press-release, Seven, coming from Czech Republic, is already an established name in their home country, having released several records, including – on top of it – a “best of“-album with such guests as Doro and Blaze Bayley. Unfortunately, I never heard the name of this band before, so I’ve first listened to this album without any infos. The first name that immediately came to my mind, playing track n.1, was the one of mighty Metallica (“Black Album”era): a mid tempo based on powerful guitar-riffs and abrasive vocals that might recall the popular “Sad But True”. The second track slightly changes the picture, being more a Power Metal song, while the following “Get It” and especially “The Road” add some melodic elements to the cocktail. For sure that’s not an easy album to describe. Enriched by an extremely clear production (courtesy of Rage’s guitarist Victor Smolski), the album is definitely recommended to the fans of a slightly heavier sound than the usual Melodic Rock; still fans of bands like Fair Warning, Bonfire and Freedom Call will find good food for their hungry mouths here. Primo Bonali (87/100)
MISS DAISY - Pizza Connection (Steekheart Records) That’s another “lost gem” discovered by Steelheart Records. And what an album!! As proudly explained by the label, for the first time on Cd here is the debut album (originally out in 1988), called “Pizza Connection”, for probably the best Street/Hard Rock band coming out of Italy during the ‘80s, Miss Daisy. Inspired mainly by the likes of Ac/Dc and Motorhead, the result was pretty close to the early Guns'n'Roses, LA Guns, Circus Of Power and Two-Bit Thief-style; to say better, the 3 piece delivers some dirty, raw, sleazy and powerful bunch of songs, professionally produced by "Fast" Eddie Clark (of Motorhead) and Will Reid Dick. Back then the band had its moments of glory, touring with Blue Oyster Cult and Motorhead, but, unfortunately, after this Work, they split up for personal reasons. For all the fans of ‘80s Street/Hard Rock, you can hear the real spirit of dirty bluesy cockrock (with big balls) here. And if you like a rawer sound, their first 6-songs demo has been included here as bonus, along with an huge full-colour 16 pages booklet containing all lyrics, pics and memorabilia. Take a ride on the wild side… Rob “Ezy” Bone (88/100)
BAD COMPANY - Live at Wembley Blu-Ray/CD (Eagle Vision) The original lineup of Paul Rodgers, Mick Ralphs, & Simon Kirke (bassist Boz Burrell passed away in 2006) is on stage, along with guitarist Howard Leese (ex-Heart) & bassist Lynn Sorenson, cranking out classic tunes, opening with "Can't get Enough," then running through "Rock and Roll Fantasy," "Burnin' Sky," "Shooting Star," "Ready for Love," and the tune that bears their name among many others. s for the blu-ray itself, the picture quality is excellent for Hi-Def, where its run back and forth between crystal clear digital to scenes where there is the warmth of actual film is present, it all blends well, where of course, multiple cameras were utilized. The sound too retains the power of the original performance, in surround, it puts the band front and center where the band is panned through all three front speakers and the audience and venue reverb is placed in the rear speakers, maintain the typical live concert type of mix - DTS-HD Master Audio (the best mix), Dolby Digital, & LPCM Stereo are the audio options. There is also a companion CD that includes the performance and it sounds great on its own. Tommy Hash - Ytsejam.com (92/100)
SAGA – Heads Or Tales Live (Eagle Ent.) For one, this kills two birds with one stone, first you have one of Saga's lost classic albums performed in it's entirety live, and second, you have a live set that includes Rob Moratti on vocals singing out the classic tracks. Well known to AOR/melodic rock fans as the voice behind Final Frontier, Moratti had a high tenor with a falsetto only matched by Geddy Lee, and through the performance of Heads or Tales you really hear how much of a versatile vocalist he is to the prog world, adding his personal touch to the classic tracks such as "Cat Walk," "The Writing," "The Vendetta," & "The Sound of Strangers," as well as belting out the chorus of "Scratching the Surface," mainly sung by keyboardist Jim Gilmour. Through the album, the band is tight, keyboards galore with Ian Crichton's axe attack putting a metal edge on things. A fine moment from the band that was the missing link between neo-prog and AOR infused arena rock, Heads or Tales Live celebrates the Moratti tenure with the band and it also brings a whole new twist on that record. Tommy Hash - Ytsejam.com - (80/100)
IAN GILLAN, TONY IOMMI & FRIENDS– Who Cares (EarMusic / Edel) Benefiting the music school of Gyumari, Armenia an area that is still reeling from a devastating earthquake that took place over twenty years ago, Ian Gillan, Tony Iommi, Jason Newsted, Nicko McBrain, Jon Lord, & Linde Lundstrom have come together to produce the two-song single Who Cares. Featuring two tracks the ultra dark and brooding "Out of My Mind," a tune reminiscent Deep Purple's "Perfect Strangers" crossed with Black Sabbath's "Heaven and Hell" and the seven minute "Holy Water," which mirrors the darkened edge of the former, but in a more straightforward ballad fashion. It's a brief collaboration with everybody involved, where just two tracks aren't really enough, one could only wonder if this will evolve into anything else, if so, these two tunes prove that this dream lineup works. The CD also features the video for the track Out of My Mind" and a documentary about how Ian Gillan played Armenia after the quake, then under soviet rule, as rock music wasn't exactly welcome then. Still, you won't be disappointed with these two tunes, as the worlds of Sabbath and Purple collide in perfect form. Tommy Hash - Ytsejam.com (82/100)
JOHN PARR – Letter To America (John Parr Music) No introduction is needed for this classy English vocalist! John Parr is synonymous for Elegant—Message Bearing modern music. Although he stepped away from ‘the biz’ for a while… he started flexing his musical muscles in 2006 and hasn’t really stopped! ‘Letter To America’ is a beautiful collection of Live and Acoustic numbers showcasing his extraordinary Voice and song writing talents. Immersive, this double set will envelope you in an endearing musical experience... one that will leave you wanting more! From 2006 onwards, John has been touring with various musical Artists, as well as writing, producing and recording. He is approaching each and every activity with zest, and one can hear this on this set. Rich and varied, ‘Letter To America’ is a living testament to the strength and elegance of one gentle English minstrel… John Parr!! Bruce Atkinson (80/100)
MOLLY HATCHET – Greatest Hits Vol 2 (SPV) Molly Hatchet released their first self-titled album way back in 1978. Today, over 30 years later, Molly Hatchet are still recording and performing worldwide; and as Southern Rock is to be considered an iconic part of the American music history, Molly Hatchet are by all rights a part of that history. With more then 20 albums under their belt and thousands of miles spent touring all over the globe. Greatest Hits Vol 2 marks the 35th anniversary of their career and Molly Hatchet presents this double disc as a sort of gift to their loyal fans base, but it must be also to be considered as a great addition to all rock lovers around. The first CD offers the best studio recordings from their last 15 years while the second CD is filled with the best live recordings of Molly Hatchet classics plus one previously unreleased track, titled “Sacred Ground”. Molly Hatchet is: Phil McCormack (vocals); Bobby Ingram, Dave Hlubek (guitar); John Galvin (keyboards) and Shawn Beamer (drums). Curiosity, the unusual band name refers to a prostitute named Molly Hatchet, who lived in the 17th century and had her lovers mutilated and decapitated after enjoying their favours. Fabio Mainardi (90/100) MRF | 13
BAND: EDGUY ALBUM: AGE OF THE JOKER INTERVIEW WITH: TOBIAS EXXEL INTERVIEWED BY: PRIMO BONALI Question: It’s a real pleasure to have the chance to interview you! First of all many congratulations for your new GREAT album, “The Age Of The Joker”. Would you like to introduce it to our readers? Answer: Thank you very much! I am looking forward to see how people react when they listen to songs like Robin Hood, Rock Of Cashel and Padora’s Box. I’m sure they will be blown away! Q: In my opinion the new album sounds – especially in some songs – much more Hard-Rock oriented if compared to some of your previous works, with influences I can recall coming from historical bands like Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Whitesnake. Do you agree? Is this new album reflecting what Edguy are musically now? A: Of course, this album reflects Edguy at this point of time. But these influences have already been there for long time, sometimes more, sometimes less. Just think about great songs like The Piper Never Dies, Navigator or Tears Of A Mandrake. All these have been my personal favourite Edguy songs ever since! Edguy always changed from one album to the next, BUT: the most important thing is that you always recognize the heart of Edguy in every album and in every song. We’re still the same people with the Focus on:
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same love to music and we’re still proud of our old albums as well as – of course – of our new one “Age Of The Joker”!!! Q: With so many successful albums on your shoulders and a big label like Nuclear Blast now with you, have you felt some pressure for this new work? How was your expectations about the album, and has the work in studio been as planned? A: I always say, the next album starts right there, where you finish the previous album. That means, we are always collecting ideas and thinking about what comes next. You would never plan such things. But surely, it is a lot of hard work to make a good album, you need a whole lot of ambition and self-confidence (I guess we own plenty of that, hahaha), and of course we always want to make it even better than the previous one, otherwise it would not make sense to us to release another album! And for this reason it’s quite natural that we insist that this is our best album ever!!! “Age Of The Joker” and “Hellfire Club” are my favourite ones!!! Q: Talking about the songwriting, what has been the process you’ve used? A: We spend a lot of time together locked inside the rehearsing room and play the new songs (or fragments of new ideas) million and bil-
EDGUY - Age Of The Joker (Nuclear Blast)
lion times and always find little details which make the songs better or fresher or whatever, so the songs are like little plants who need to be grown up with light and water until they are in full bloom! Q: Why a title like “Age Of The Joker”? Any particular meaning? What about the themes you’re developing on the album? A: Just have a look on the album cover. I love the joker and his smile! Is it a funny smile or a friendly smile or an evil smile? I don’t know. It’s like people discuss about the smile of Mona Lisa. But our joker is much better in my opinion, hihihi, and I guess people will still discuss about it in 200 years! It’s like they discuss and arguing if a heavy metal band like Edguy is a allowed to be funny and tell bad jokes on stage, hahaha!!! The Joker represents us perfectly, it’s the Age Of Edguy!!! Q: Any plans for tour in the next months? A: The European Tour starts in September and we are looking forward to play the new songs live on stage. Tickets are already on sale for a long time and it’s gonna be Edguy pure, with funny jokes and bad jokes, pure Happy Metal!!! After the European tour we will head off to all the other continents, South America, North America, Asia and Australia and bring them Happy Metal, too, hahaha!!!
Lately, Edguy has been nominated – by the two Scorpions main-men, Klaus Meine and Rudolf Schenker – as the band that will take their role, after the Scorps’ farewell tour. Plus, Tobias Sammet has been very often compared to “monster”-singers like Bruce Dickinson and Ronnie James Dio. That said, when an album marked with the name Edguy is released, we can expect no less than the best, and what we have here is… simply the best! Starting with the unmistakable sound of the Hammond-organ, in the title-track, and passing thru the Led Zeppelinflavour of “”Pandora’s Box”, the Queensryche-darker approach of “Behind The Gates To Midnight” and the direct and R.J.Dio-influenced “Nobody’s Hero”, this album adds some more elements to the already world-famous Edguy sound; and, of course, Sammet sings like a God on any track that the band offers to his fans. Produced by Sascha Paeth, “Age Of The Joker” is a masterpiece; call it Hard Rock, Melodic Metal, Power Metal or simply Rock, that’s an album to have and spend countless hours on it. Essential. Primo Bonali (93/100)
Question: Firstly how did the whole Wolfpakk project come together? Answer: Well, after my second solo album which I produced with Michael Voss in his Kidroom-Music Studios, some reviewers were disappointed about the roughness or let’s say the heaviness of this solo album. They expected “more” from the duo Sweeney/Voss. To tell the truth, it was my aim to be softer on my solo works, I wanted to show my vocal range means, also to sing ballads or softer stuff. I realized, that almost nobody is interested in this! It’s nice for a musician to be varied, but the fans wanna have AC/DC, Metallica or Iron Maiden when they buy the record, nothing else! So once when Michael was in my hometown in Switzerland, I asked him to do just this, what the fans wanna hear from us! I mean, they expected Hardrock/Metal... so we gonna give them Hardrock and Metal! Fuck the experiments! Actually we had no band, so we decided to ask as many high class musicians as possible to play on this record. It worked! Over 30 guest “wolves” joined Wolfpakk and sublimated this masterpeace! Q: With a cast of thousands (well nearly), how did the song-writing process come together? Did you write the songs for a specific artist or did you write them and decide afterwards who’d be best singing them? A: We wrote songs and after that we discussed who could sing this- or the other part of the song and so on. For example we have a song called “le me die” and this one is pretty 80tieslike, not to say “Black Sabbath suspected”. So Tony Martin was our favourite for this song but he didn’t like the lyrics! But with Jeff Scott Soto we had another option and he did an outstanding job. Q: The album is as diverse as it is splendid, did you have a game plan when you started out or did it just progress into the metal beast it is, a real Metalstein consisting of different body parts coming together to make one monster? A: We had no plan at all. We just wrote songs and this in less then 3 weeks! When I left my band Crystal Ball, I still had plenty of ideas for songs and Michael in any event has always song ideas. So in really a short time we got some hammer songs in the pot and it became bigger and bigger. We felt, that it could grow to one big monster. Q: What was it like working with Michael on the album as a song-writing partnership? A: I never had a better song-writing partnership like with Michael. His one of the best in Europe in every case. His a multi talent and a nice person in one. He exactly understood what I wanted and backwards. Vossi is a hero for me. Q: When most people do have guest artists on an album they can be named on one hand, so what made you decide to Focus on:
BAND: WOLFPACK ALBUM: WOLFPACK INTERVIEW WITH: MARK SWEENEY INTERVIEWED BY: BARRY MCMINN
have some 30+ guests on this album? A: Well the goal was, to have as much musicians as possible on this “project”. When you start with another band nowadays, it’s so boring and everything once was heard or seen already in the past (especially when you make 80ties hardrock). So Michael knows hundreds of musicians all over the world he already worked with and so he just asked me: who you wanna have still on the record!?!? Gosh... imagine, he has telephone numbers from all the stars in his pocket! Amazing! Ok, some stars had no time or were on tour but almost every musician we wanted to have on this record did his part finally!
WOLFPAKK - S/T (AFM Records)
The pairing of Voss and Sweeney came together on Sweeney’s ‘All In’ album back in 2009 but it has only been now that the pair have got back together to write an album that encapsulates the very best of Metal from the straight up old school, the modern anthemic battle metal and all ports in between. Not only is this the ultimate Metalhead release, but it also highlights some of the best musical and vocal talent the Metal and Heavy Rock scenes have to offer. If I was to mention everyone who features on this album there wouldn’t be enough room to highlight some of my favourite slices of metal from said release. So here it goes for the Symphonic Metallers, check out ‘Sirens’ and ‘Wolfony’. For the old school metalheads get your listening gear around ‘Slam Down The Hammer’, the Braveheart inspired ‘Let Me Die’ and ‘Dark Horizons’. For all you Hard Rockers out there we have ‘Reptiles Kiss’, but if the Battle Metal is more your thing then it has to be ‘The Crow’. Although, if you like me, you like all good metal no matter what the packaging, then I recommend them all. So raise those horns and salute the METAL! Barry McMinn (85/100)
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BAND: TOBY HITCHCOCK ALBUM: MERCURY’S DOWN INTERVIEW WITH: TOBY HITCHCOCK INTERVIEWED BY: BARRY MCMINN Question: Firstly let me congratulate on one of the albums of the year so far! Answer: Thanks so much! Q: Back to the beginning, how did the whole Toby Hitchcock / Erik Martensson partnership come about? A: Well, Serafino contacted me and asked if I would like to release a solo project with Erik Martensson at the helm. Of course, I said YES! I was then forwraded some of Erik’s work and was very impressed not only with him musically and lyrically, but also his voice! He is truly an amazing talent! Q: What was it about the songs you heard that made you think … yes I want to do this? A: Well, before this project, I had only worked with the talented Jim Peterik, an even though I love the POL sound, I felt it was time for me to try my hand at something different. But then I heard some of the tracks and I was blown away by the huge melodic sound of the songs. I felt it would be a great fit as soon as I heard them! Q: Why at this point in your Focus on:
career did you think it was the right time to do a solo album away from Pride Of Lions? A: I think it’s always good for an artist to explore different things musically. As I said before, I love Jim Peterik and his music very much, and even though that relationship is still there and growing, I wanted to try something new as well! Why tie myself down to do only one thing when there is an opportunity to do more? Plus, I had Jim’s blessing as well… and that’s always good! Q: How did the whole song writing and recording process come together, did you write with Erik and if so, did you actually meet in person? A: This was definitely a unique experianece for me. I never have met Erik! This album was recorded at his studio, but the vocals were recorded at my studio here in the states. It was entirely produced via the internet. It was pretty spectacular how it came together in spite of that. I have never done anything like that before. Q: When you’re associated with one band like Pride Of Lions how
important do you think it is when doing solo work to be different? A: I don’t think it’s that important, really. I think that regardless of what I sing it will sound similar to other projects that I sing on. This is because I’m the one singing the sogs! If you like someone’s voice, you will buy the record that they are on I think. Lots of different artists have recorded different sounding projects many times. If you’re a fan, you’re a fan! Q: The album boasts some wonderful slices of Melodic/ Hard Rock but what tracks stand out for you, what songs have a particular special meaning for you? A: I think of two in particular that are my favorites. I love the song “What I Should’ve Said” and the song, “One Day I’ll Stop Loving You”. We have all had relationsips where we should’ve told that special someone exaclty how we felt, but it became too late. On the other hand, we have all had those relationships that we wanted to stay in, but the other person didn’t. That’s why I like these two in particular: because I have been there.
T O B Y H I T C H C O C K - Mercury’s Down (Frontiers Records)
Frontiers Records President Serafino Perugino Midas touch has again had one of those famed visionary moments that bares Melodic Hard Rock gold. One of THE albums of recent years was the W.E.T album, which saw Jeff Scott Soto return to the fold with his collaboration with famed producer and songwriter Erik Martensson. Now in 2011 we see Martensson team up with another Melodic Rock powerhouse, vocalist in Pride Of Lions frontman Toby Hitchcock, on what is one of the best debut albums I’ve heard in such a long time, the simply stunning ‘Mercury’s Down’. From the opener ‘This Is The Moment’ you know you’re in for a real stormer of an album as Hitchcock unleashes that powerhouse vocal along with Martensson’s streaming guitars. This magnificent album is one of the albums of the year so far. Let’s hope this is the first of many releases from these two. Barry McMinn (97/100)
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BAND: XORIGIN ALBUM: STATE OF THE ART INTERVIEW WITH: J. STOLE / D. PALMQVIST INTERVIEWED BY: DUNCAN JAMIESON
Question: Can you tell us how the pair of you teamed up and how you got to where you are now? Johannes Stole: We both studied music at the Musiscians Institute in Hollywood in -98, and we become good friends and started playing together. The band was then called Orange Crush. After we moved back to our home countries, Norway for me and Sweden for Daniel we continued working together, both with Orange Crush and other projects. As we both got really busy with other bands we had to put Orange Crush on hold for a while. We've both played in many different bands and are fans of many different styles of music, but we both grew up listening to bands like Toto and Yes (90125/Big Generator era) so we always felt we wanted to do an album in this style together. Q: How long have you been working on the record? Focus on:
Daniel Palmqvist: 12 years. Haha, no, just kidding! Recording and writing took about 6-7 months, but we already had some songs written from the Orange Crush days. Also we worked on and off between other commitments wich meant it took a little longer than expected. Q: You worked with Daniel Flores, who produced the record. What was it like working with him? JS: Daniel and I has worked together for a long time and on many albums prior to this one. He produced some songs with Orange Crush in 2004, and later my solo record A Landscape Made from Dreams (2006). After that we continued working together on other projects and albums. We already had a long history and I know his talent as a producer and musician so he was the first choice for producing this album. Also he's a great arranger in this style of music.
X o r i g i N - State Of The Art (Frontiers Records)
Q: How do the pair of you write the songs? DP: When Johannes and I write we usually get together in Oslo or Stockholm, both of us bringing some basic ideas for songs. Then we both contribute with out individual ideas and writing styles and and what comes out sounds like XorigiN. Q: There have been some great new AOR bands from Scandinavia recently. Why do you think that is? DP: I think there've been a lot of good and successful Scandinavian "melodic rock/AOR" bands in the past and that of course have influenced younger generations. It's a little bit like the Bjorn Borg effect in Sweden. When he got really big in tennis in the 70's the younger guys got inspired and 10 yeas later there where a bunch of good players coming from Sweden. Well, that's my theory at least, haha.
The spate of great new AOR bands from Sweden remains unabated as XorigiN, a Norwegian/Swedish duo deliver a cracking debut Daniel Palmqvist played guitar with Murder Of My Sweet but this record is less self consciously trying to be modern, and instead revels in 80s sounding AOR. All the hallmarks of great AOR is here. All the songs have great soaring vocals from Johannes Stole, big hooks and harmonies, shimmering keyboards and searing guitar solos. The album standout “In The Blink Of An Eye” could be Chicago with more muscle while “Gina” and “Matters To The Heart” have a Yes Big Generator period sound, and have a lot in common with the criminally underrated band Surrender with their lush harmonies and (8os) hi-tech production. “Can’t Keep Running” is a corking up-tempo start and the quality doesn’t dip thereafter. “Too Late” and “This Is It” have a touch of HEAT about them and they throw in elements of Alias on “What love Is All About” and melodies akin to On the Rise and Toto throughout making XorigiN a must for anyone who has been recently seduced by Scandinavian bands such as Houston, HEAT or Missbehavior. Barry McMinn (92/100)
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BAND: WORK OF ART ALBUM: IN PROGRESS INTERVIEW WITH: ROBERT SALL INTERVIEWED BY: JUSTINE BEVAN Focus on:
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WORK OF ART - In Progress (Frontiers Records)
Frontiers artists, Work Of Art are about to release their second full length album called In Progress. This effort is the follow up to their 2008 release through Frontiers Records; Art Work. The Swedish trio Herman Furin; drums, Robert Sall; guitars and keyboards, and Lars Sorfsund on vocals are dynamic in their approach to melodic rock. The first track, “The Rain” is a powerful song that is heavy on synthesizer feel as is “Nature Of The Game”, but the drums are far more prevalent on this one. “Once Again” and “Emilie” along with “Until You Believe” all have great ballad qualities that make this album a must listen. “Never Love Again” has a great pop sound that is reminiscent of early Night Ranger. “Call On Me” offers great harmonies as do many of the tracks, and they all seem to fit so perfectly into the inner workings of each individual song. “The Great Fall” along with “Castaway” offers up nice guitar work that tells tale of some great rock influences. “Castaway” is the cream of the crop on the entire effort, but really, it’s all quite good. Work of Art’s In Progress is undoubted the precursor to a masterpiece! Keep an ear out for more from this band. Justine Bevan (98/100)
Question: Congratulations on the upcoming release of In Progress! Herman Furin: Thanks! Q: Where did the name Work of Art come from? HF: Robert and I couldn’t decide a name for a long time. I think we had a suggestion with “Miss Trouble”, which came from a Tower of Power song. Eventually we came up with Work of Art, a name that we thought fit the genre, and stated quality and pride. I think I came up with it, but I’m not sure… Q: What makes this album differ from Art Work? HF: First of all, we had something to live up to! When Artwork was released no-one knew who we were. Also, the songs were written during a long period of time, a time we did not have this time around. Q: How do you feel you have progressed as a band since the demo days? HF: Very much! All of us are better musicians, and have found our place in the music, so to speak. We know more how to get the feelings we want to express out in the recordings, in my opinion. Q: Did the songwriting process change somehow between the two albums? How did you work on the new songs? RS: I think it was a bit different this time as I started writing from scratch whereas on the first record, most of the writing were already done when we started working on the album. But otherwise, the process was more or less the same but of course there was a little more pressure involved this time as we had the first record to live up to. But that was a good thing I think, a challenge that brought out better writing from me. Q: How did you handle production for the new album? what kind of sound did you want to achieve? are you 100% satisfied of the results? HF: We are very happy with the result! We had help this time rfom the amazing Bo Reimer, who mixed half the album, and Lars mixed the other half. Bo has worked with virtually anybody in the music business, Backstreet Boys, Westlife, Bobby Kimball, Joe Lynn Turner and so on. He really helped us achieve the sound we were looking for.Production-wise it was a little different, we worked more separately, but more focused. As always, time is the hardest things, with other jobs hanging over us. Luckily, we all have recording possibilities at our studios, so that saved a lot of time. Q: Melody is definitely the key
for you. How important is having a great melody/hookline? How difficult is finding the right one? Robert Sall: I think the music we listen to is really melodic so that kind of comes natural to us. Having said that, finding that perfect hooklis usually what makes a song work or not. Sometimes you find that special hook right away which is usually a good sign because it makes writing the rest of the song a lot easier but sometimes, you have to let go of a song because the hook is missing. I think we have are much better at "killing our darlings" than we were on the last record. Q: What influences do you draw on to come up with such melodic sounds? Do you have any Swedish band influences? There’s an easy quality to your music that the listener seems to almost know what’s coming next in the song, yet it is still a nice surprise to the ears. Is there a formula to songwriting that leads to such beauty in sound? RS: We are all into music in a lot of different styles but the common factor is that it’s usually pretty melodic stuff. And of course it all rubs off on us when it comes to our own writing. Personally I’m really into artists that make pop music with a nice twist to it. Artists like Kevin Gilbert, Big Money (Swedish 90’s pop duo) and It bites comes to mind… Q: Do you think there is one song that stands out for you on the album that is the favorite either to have recorded or play live? RS: If had to chose one song, it would be the single “The Great Fall” but really, I think every song has its own special place on this record so when you listen to from beginning to end, you won’t get bored! HF: Well, I can only speak for myself… I love all of the songs, but for me, “The Nature of the Game” stands out, even though it was probably the last or next to last song we recorded. It’s so much fun to play, with a really powerful guitarsolopart. Q: Do you all write the music and lyrics? RS: I do most of the writing but occasionally, I have someone to help me out with the lyrics. On this record had a guy named Hanif Zabsevari to help me write the lyrics. Excellent lyricist and a fabulous guy! Q: “Artwork” had already received excellent reviews everywhere. Any specific reaction / comment which struck you in some way? Did any comment received at the time play an influence on the work on the new album?
RS: It's true that "Artwork" was very well received and that was really overwhelming. But we also got our fair share of being written off as "just another Toto rip off band". So in the end, what really made us wanting to do this second album what the love we felt from the fans who bought "Artwork" and kept asking us for a second one. I really hope they will like this the new record as well because that was a really important thing while making this record and really helped motivate us. Q: Generally speaking, your songs deliver a very positive feeling and attitude. Is it deliberate? What would you like to transfer with your music? RS: We love this type of music, and we hope that shows. We don't try to change the world with our music but I really hope our songs send out some good vibes to help people feel a little better! Q: The AOR/melodic rock scene is very crowded. How can you manage to stand out from the rest? What can be considered your key differentiators? RS: I believe the landscape as really changed this last couple of years. Compared to when we released "Artwork" in 2008, there's a lot more new really good bands which is great!! I love what I see happening in the the AOR/Melodic rock scene right now. I feels as it finally is ok to make this kind of music again and tha ist certainly wasn't the case 1015 years ago! For better or worse, I think what makes us stand out a little bit is probably that we have a west coast element to our sound that has to do we the way we arrange and use keyboards as an key element on our sound. We realize that our sound isn't heavy enough for some melodic rockers but on the other hand, we have a lot of fans that usually listing to a lot smoother music so all evens out I guess. Q: What are your touring plans? RS: We’re hoping to do some live playing once the record is out. We would love to go out and play live this time and the wheels are in motion so, hopefully, we’ll be doing some gigs in a near future. Q: What do you anticipate will be next for Work of Art, (Unfinished Project)? RS: As always, we focus one on record at the time and try to make most out of each release. This time, I think we really should come out and play live as I feel we missed out on that part on the last record. After that, we’ll see what happens! MRF | 21
Primo Bonali: Can you please introduce your band and your new album "Freedom Call" to our readers? Honza Behunek: The band has been playing for 15 years, for 13 years only instrumentally, so far we have recorded 5CDs. The last two years we have been working with a singer and recorded 2 records, which the very last is the Freedom Call. We had the opportunity to work with Doro Pesch, Blaze Bayley, as well as play with great bands like Uriah Heep, Primal Fear, Sinner, Helloween, Rage etc.... Freedom Call is one of the best recordings of Seven thanks to the players, who play with me, and the opportunities we had while recording. PB: How could you label your music style? Which are your most important influences, musically talking? HB: It is predominantly the music and the feelings, which combines together. I think that it reflects the variety and diversity that we all hear in jazz all the way to metal. It is actually the 'heaviest' that we have recorded so far. People say that we produce so called progressive metal, but we leave it to our audience to categorize us. PB: How did you get in touch with the mighty Nuclear Blast Records? HB: Because I have a contract with Mesa Boogie and Ibanez as a testing palyer I attend many European guitar workshops, my goal was to play all over the world and to work with a major label. Thanks to our friend Victor Smolski we managed to sign a contract with Nuclear Blast records. PB: Any plans for live gigs during the next months? HB: We are planning to record live DVD for the 15 year anniversary of our band, where we will have many guests like Blaze Bayley. , Victor and so on. I am also working on guitar video school and we are palnnign many concerts. PB: You come from Czech Republic, right? How is the scene for the Heavy Metal over there? HB: Yes, I do. I think that the scene is similar to European scene. PB: Thanx a lot for your time. Any last words? HB: Thank you for your questions, give my regards to fans of Melodic Rock Zine and I am looking forward meeting you soon. Have a great day.