ITCHY DAZE “10,000 Watts” (single) from the upcoming EP “Split”.
By David Pearce
When I first put this on I was immediately drawn to the Foo Fighter & Biffy Clyro sound in the way it has been produced. The song itself has a very catchy riff with hints of the Foo Fighters coming out right through the song it has a good clean guitar sound with good clean vocals by Tomas. I would say it has a very bouncy bass line but with the guitars and vocals makes it a perfect song to go quite a long way in the mainstream charts.
Tomas Andersson – vocals & guitar
Matthias Klein – guitar
Patrik Nyman – drums
Per Hartwig – bass
Jeff Scott Soto is a man who has it all, from the voice of an angel to the looks of an Adonis and to complete the package he is a genuinely lovely guy, having witnessed him a couple of times out in public with fans.
But he’s also a man steeped in melodic rock history, with an impressive list of albums and collaborations under his belt, and he’s certainly earned the badge for man most likely to fit in with any band in this genre.
So when I received his fifth solo studio album ‘Damage Control’ I was eager to hear it and I can honestly say its his best solo release for me to date.
‘Give A Little More’ is the first track and hints at what the rest of the album is going to deliver. It has the riffs, the breaks, the catchy chorus and is a lesson in how to write a pure melodic rock song.
Onto the next track ‘Damage Control’ and it stays true to this formula, which is exactly what I was hoping would happen and luckily so does the rest of the album.
If you’ve not heard any of Jeff Scott Soto’s solo material before, then this is an album that you must get on pre-order right now. So many tracks have that euphoric feel to them, and there are a couple of ballads ‘Bonafide’ and ‘Neverending War’ to bring it down to a slower pace.
‘Damage Control’ is released on 23rd March through Frontier Records.
Saying awesome was my first reaction after first listening, it sounds like a mixture of legendary Eloy, Camel and Savatage, plus classic Rock and some pieces of our beloved Heavy Metal at first listening. But I feel it will be even more interesting after more listening. We are still in the beginning of 2012, but AIRS-A ROCK OPERA is going to be one my favourites this year.
The album is as long as it can be,it includes 18 tracks and honestly it was hard for me to pick one as my number one, as there are several masterpieces that shine so bright or Rock so heavy. From classic rock to heavy metal and even a piece in the neo-classical style, a widespread view of good sounding music, it shows the great talent of the composer, Steve Brockmann in writing music. Another thing that I should mention here, is the great flair and creativity of George Andrade in writing the lyrics, I’m really impressed and believe me or not, I could see all the stories in my eyes.
It’s like reading a book or watching a drama which starts in a dock, so make sure that you are ready for a trip to a fantastic symbolic world, just let that kite go and fly, then you’ll find yourself floating in the ‘AIRS’, it feels light like a feather, you may even feel sad, not painful but a joyful sadness, I want to call this ETERNITY and that’s truth. Piano, Keyboard and Guitar joined forces to play such ideal songs like “Fateful Days”, “Kite” , and “Floating” which sounds like a mixture of Pink Floyd and Camel to me and also I want to mention some Heavy songs like “Heritage”, “Flight II” and “Grounded II” in this album which remind me of pure German Heavy Rock Metal. Several singers appeared in this album and I can tell you that they are all great and it seems everybody and everything in this album are in right place, and that’s one of the reasons that I called this album awesome.
Maybe one of my favourite moments in this album is when Harpsichord enters into the instrumental song “History” and play with an overdriven guitar. The joining of a keyboard in the background mission is completed to enjoy the song, but I really wish it was a little longer. “History” is a great intro for the next song, “Heritage” which brings with it the Rock and Rolling of distorted guitars, a bass guitar that play wonderful rhythms and riffs and also a piano which appears with a great riff, the sound of which invokes the feeling of dancing in a dream.
Check out the musicians and artists have appeared on this album below:
The Vocal Cast
Paul Adrian Villarreal (Sun Caged) as Owen
Gordon Tittsworth (Images of Eden, Dread The Forsaken) as Derrick, Owen & The Narrator
Tilman Eckelt (Grailknights) as Owen
Cornelius Kappabani as Owen, Derrick & The Islanders
Jan Hoving (Stonefly, A. Vandenberg) as Owen
Floor Kraaijvanger (Superfloor, Floored) as Annabelle & The Narrator
Antila Thomsen as Hannah
The Musicians
Steve Brockmann plays guitars, bass and all keyboards
Jochen Ohl plays drums on all tracks but “Grounded II”
Phil Robertson plays drums on “Grounded II”
Dave Meros (Spock’s Beard) plays bass on “Annabelle” and “Flight II”
Christoph Brockmann plays bass on “The Great Salt Pond”
Alan Morse (Spock’s Beard) provides guitar effects and solos to “Flight II”
With
George Andrade provides spoken words for Owen
Seann Jackson provides spoken words for Craig
Leigh Andrade provides spoken words for Rachel
Nicolette Collard-Andrade provides spoken words for Annabelle
Tony Kost provides spoken words for Coleman Burke
The artwork of this album is the best choice and I cannot imagine something better than this, it really fits those dream maker masterpieces and I seriously suggest you get a hard copy of this album, if you don’t want to miss the very impressive stories and that fantastic artwork. As my final word, if you are always looking for good music or if you are one of those people who like Camel, Eloy, Savatage or Pink Floyd, this album is for you, but if you are looking for growling stuff, luckily or unfortunately this is not yours. My rate for AIRS – A ROCK OPERA is 9/10.
PS: I had an interview with Steve Brockmann, you can read whole of the article on this loaction.
Van Halen have been in the press a lot over recent months, with tour dates announced then cancelled, dates not announced but cancelled, the whole Download Festival anticipation letting down all the UK fans, and then the widespread disappointment of the release of ‘Tattoo’.
People were saying it was a joke, and die hard fans instantly recognised the striking resemblance to the previously unreleased 1977 track ‘Down In Flames’. In fact, one fan has mashed the two songs together with the video, so you can see just how close it is for yourself.
Was reworking their early songs a big shock to everyone? Quite frankly it was, but the signs were there. Rewind to November 2011 and in an interview with Rolling Stone, on hearing rumours that Van Halen had signed a record deal, Sammy Hagar said: “From what I heard, they aren’t working with new material. Ed and Dave didn’t actually write new songs. They took old stuff from previous sessions, and then maybe Dave had to go in and add vocals because they just had scat vocals, or even no vocal part at all.”
I have to say he’s right, but to be honest with you, I would rather hear rehashed late 70s work, than some attempt at becoming a band of this era. Let’s face it, there aren’t that many bands that can take the leap from century to century after such a long absence, so I’m thankful that they have so much stuff to work with from their early days.
I almost skipped ‘Tattoo’, the first track on ‘A Different Kind Of Truth’, after not being overly impressed at launch, but listening to it on a stereo vs. YouTube gave it justice and I’m glad I didn’t press that button. Then when ‘She’s A Women’ kicked in I couldn’t help but smile. It’s the Van Halen I know and love and instantly made me want to be out dancing to it with the groove laden sound, and a chorus paying homage to the soundtrack of my favourite TV show from my youth.
‘Stay Frosty’ is to this album what ‘Ice Cream Man’ was to their debut album ‘Van Halen’, ‘China Town’ showcases Eddie Van Halen’s widely respected fret-work and ‘Blood And Fire’ is the kind of track that will see your fist pumping the air, regardless of whether you want it to or not. ‘Outta Space’ is by far the heaviest track on the album, and ‘Big River’ has a very similar feel to ‘Runnin’ With The Devil’.
Michael Anthony wasn’t invited to the party, well he was ejected back in 2006 to be replaced by Eddie’s son Wolfgang, which is a real shame as his backing vocals are definitely missed, but that’s my only criticism with this album.
‘Tattoo’ is the weakest track of them all, so I find it an odd choice that they released it as the debut single. Maybe they knew it, so wanted to spark discussion and get the buzz and anticipation going for what was to come?
Who knows, but more importantly who cares? This album is a pleasure to listen to, featuring all the things you would expect with a Van Halen album, and should be on your list of must haves if it’s not already in your stereo. It may take a couple of listens for you to fully appreciate it, if your expectation was initially soured by the first video, but stick with it.
Now come on Van Halen, let’s get that extensive tour over to Europe please, to see how this truth translates to the big stage.
Tracklist:
01. Sovereign
02. Lady On The Shore
03. Dynamics
04. Good Weekend
05. Waiting Forever
06. Boreout
07. The Trial
08. Stop Boring Us
09. Relationshipwrecks
10. Soothe My Soul
11. Dancing Queen
12. Thirtysomething
Urgency, passion and maturity, will be the edges of this sharp triangle figure geometric directing the individual lambda of to stop and lay an ear has this new album of the German legends TODAY FOREVER, hardcore to the fingertips, metal and melodical in its authenticity.
This spontaneous music is a journey, an adventure, a discharge of adrenaline in short formats, expediate such as uppercuts, a slap in the mouth for waking up our dull lives too often ossified.
Pachydermic riffs, abrasive vocals, Christian Besteck plays his life through epileptic song lines. The rest of the group is involved and issued real bombs which are all fly (“The Trial”, “Boreat”). It is of modern Hardcore, keeping his passion and claims in his traditional approach but with a good punch, not so far than an inspired “emo-core” (quite rare thing, note that…). Careful production, a few alarming guests (Billy Hamilton of Silverstein, Andrew Neufeld and Scott Wade in Comeback Kid) and inspired artwork will make this new wake a kick well beautiful case to obtain as quickly as possible.
10 years of existence and now 4 albums to his credit.
This group has not failed to amaze, Over and over again.
Tracklist :
1. Intro
2. How Long
3. Fallen Angel
4. Hangin’ On
5. The End Of An Era
6. Miss Claustrophobia
7. With You
8. Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead
9. Stormin’ In
10. 0scene Of Crime
11. Saturday Night
12. Lover’s Sinfony
13. Speed
14. How Long (guitar Battle Version)
15. Remember
« Quis ut deus »
BI-polar or not, offering the worst as the best (albums, concerts, or interviews), rest that he remains forever the Electric Blond Archangel, the initiator of a sound, a style, almost of a musical genre. Michael is back.
Deflated soufflé Strangers in the Night (bye bye Slash and minimum service for the brother Rudolph providing on two small pieces of sharp rhythmic) and new variation with this “Temple of Rock”(with the abominable package) stamped Schenker, it erases everything and again…
Line-up of killers with Herman Rarebell, Pete Way (UFO) and Michael Voss (Mad Max) on vocals, flashy for a traditional hard rock production, it reassures once past the intro narrated by Captain Kirk in doud “How Long”, ôde to the Flying V, which as the other 13 pieces will honour to the legend.
It is good, all good.
Indeed, the versatile guitarist who since “Tales of Rock n Roll” (2006) seemed to find a renewed force and say any net inspiration proves with this last that an artist having in his sacred fire, even if flawed, even if burned, soul can always give the gift, as a resurgent phoenix from the ashes.
Michael is a fantasy. Michael is also erratic. I always loved, and this since 1981. The trip will certainly was hard, but when you love, it is against all. Despite everything.
Hence this pleasure in listening of “The end of an era”, with the moving Hammond of Don Airey (Deep Purple) and the striking distinctive of Carmine Appice (Vanilla Fudge, Cactus), the exciting “Before the devil knows you re dead” (sublimated by a still excellent Doogie White), the “Lover’s Sinfony” powerful and transcended by the warm of the McAuley colleague organ or replaying the song “How Long” end of the album with entries noticed Leslie West (Mountain) and Michael Amott (Arch Enemy), everything is perfect, everything is jubilation everything is shivering.
The pleasure is intact, memories shine of thousand fires. The elusive rebel to new its legendary name in the pyramid temple of the hard rock altar flowers of our environmentally friendly legislation.
Michael Schenker is a phoenix.
Fire in him will never die.
Rock will never die-
7/10
Reviewed by MEL DELACROIX
(Proofreading by Rick Palin)
Line-up :
Michael Schenker (guitar)
– Michael Voss (vocal, guitar)
– Pete Way (bass)
– Herman Rarebell (drums)
– Robin Mcauley (vocal)
– Doogie White (vocal)
– Rudolf Schenker (guitar)
– Leslie West (guitar)
– Michael Amott (guitar)
– Don Airey (keys)
– Paul Reymond (keys)
– Chris Glen (bass)
– Neil Murray (bass)
– Carmine Appice (drums)
– Chris Slade (drums)
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