Top 10 Melodic Rock / AOR albums of 2018

Onto my fave genre of music, Melodic Rock/AOR. Its been a pretty cracking year with some strong albums for the older statesmen, and some older statesmen (but new to the scene)!

10. FM - Atomic Generation
You know exactly what you are gonna get from Britains premire Ronseal Rock Band, FM - style, class, substance, and oh those vocals. 'Killed By Love' would have been a massive hit for for any of the current grown up boy bands. The best pop-rock song in 2018 by a mile

9. No Hot Ashes - ST
35 years in the making this debut was well worth the wait. Nancarrow has the voice of a teenage rocker, but the body and face of his dad! A mix of 80s and more recent numbers that you cant tell apart. Check out the vocals on 'I'm Back' and the excellent cover of Rick Springfields "Souls'

8. Johnny Gioeli - One Voice
And what a voice! Gioeli goes off on a tangent to record his debut solo album, and it is chock full of cracking songs. in face he actually out Jovi's Bon Jovi on a few of them. Positive, enjoyable, AND proceeds of the album help out a fan in need. A top bloke

7.  Groundbreaker - ST
Work Of Art's Robert Sall and FM's Steve Overland come together for a little gem of an album. Yes, its what you think it would sound like. "Something Worth Fighting For' is the ballad of the year, and is the best 2635 seconds you'll hear all year 

6. Blood Red Saints - Love Hate Conspiracies
Reviewed in Dec last year, I expect many a listener forgot this came out way back in Jan.  A shift in heaviness from the original and I loved it for that reason. 'Another Freak' errs on the side of Shinedown, and 'Something In Your Kiss' dot does Leppard for being Def Leppard.

5. Vega - Only Human
These guys should now have the following of thousands when they gig, rather than a few hundred. Melodic Rock Luke and Matt Goss write some of the best tunes this side of 1985. In Nick Workman they have a vocalist who can interpret these lyrics and take then up an extra level. Should be on the current Leppard tour.

4. W.E.T. - Earthrage
It has all the hallmarks of an Eclipse album, only with a smidge of WOA and the more menacing vocals of JSS. From the beautiful (Heart Is On The Line) to the powerful (Watch The Fire/Calling Out Your Name) it has this and everything inbetween.  

3. Perfect Plan - All Rise
No it isn't the boy band Blue, but an outfit from a place sooo metal it has two umlauts in its name. They aintexactly young, but with age comes class, and class is permanent. 'In And Out Of Love' is one of the best songs of the year, and in any other year that ends in 1985, would have been huge. 

2. Kissing Dynamite - Ecstasy
This album was an 'out of the blue' purchase, like what I used to back in the 80s and bought solely on what the album cover looked like. Bugger me, was I in for a treat. Every song is an anthem, chock full of riffs, huges choruses and sing-a-long-a-metal.  Where have they been all my life? Germany.

1. Airrace - Untold Stories
 

I waited 30-odd years to see Airrace this year, and even though it was as support to The Treatment, it was worth it, and so was Untold Stories – Adam Payne sings his backside off for the performance of his life (so far).  You’d think that Mercury had written ‘Running Out Of Time’, ‘Summer Sun’ is as close to anything that should have been a hit on Radio 2, and ‘Eyes Like Ice’ should be on the next Spiderman soundtrack! All credit to Laurie Mansworth for keeping this band alive, its his playing, songs and production that put this firmly at the top of the tree for me.Without doubt the best melodic rock album of 2018 by far.

Top 10 Albums of 2018

Top 10 end of year lists are pretty subjective. After all, in this case its only one persons opinion. Lets face it, the famous saying is, 'opinions are like arseholes....everybody has got one!' Whilst I haven't got the widest listening range of much bigger sites, anything that appears on my list has been up for review, or has been a personal purchase.

Here we go....

     10. Perfect Plan -  All Rise

      Hailing from a place in Sweden so metal it has two umlauts in its name, the guys from PP are no spring chickens, but proved that with age comes class. And class is permanent. 'In And Out Of Love' is one of the melodic rock songs of the year, and had it been 1985, PP would now be household names. 

      
      9.    Kissing Dynamite - Ecstasy

     This album was an 'out of the blue' purchase from my local independent record store. Purchased on a whim, like the good 'ol days when album covers mattered, 'Ecstasy' just blew me away. All the songs are instantly hummable and go for the jugular. There are times when I had to check if KD had brought in Myles Kennedy (Somebody's Gotta Do It). Where have they been all my life? Germany, thats where!

      8.    Myles Kennedy – The Year Of The Tiger

      This solo album was a long time coming. In fact an album of sorts was in the pipeline 8 years ago. What came was an album chock full of emotion as it was a collective of songs inspired by the death of his father. Despite the nature of the songs, there a lot of positivety also. 'Year Of The Tiger' and 'Haunted By Design'  are worth the price alone.

      7.    The Temperance Movement – A Deeper Cut

      Third time is the charm as ‘they’ say, whoever ‘they’ are. I was floored by the debut, and have seen them on every tour since and they just get better and better. Vocalist Phil Campbell sings with raw emotion and their performance was deserving of a Top 10 finish in the UK Album Charts.

      6.    Greta Van Fleet – Anthem Of The Peaceful Army                  

      I had wrongly dismissed them as Led Zep clones. Lets just settle it by saying it was partly their fault. The unbelievable thing is that they are so damn young. God only knows what they will be like in the many years to come. Check out 'Age Of Man' and 'When The Curtain Falls'

     5.    Judas Priest – Firepower   

      Despite the difficulties surrounding the release of this album, with Tipton being diagnosed with Parkinsons, 'Firepower' had both the Fire and Power in its belly and is up there as one of their best releases. They piled into the DeLorean and produced an 80s sounding classic. Who says old geezers cant make defining career albums. The title track sits proudly alongside any of their classic songs. Long may they continue.

     4.    Halestorm – Vicious

     Lzzy Hale and the boys have been getting better with each and every album, and ‘Vicious’ is just chock full of monsters. Who’d have thought it would have taken them 20 years to get this far. Its well and truly deserved. Hale doesn’t scream as much as she has in the past and it shows what a great voice she has without the need to melt your eardrums. Check out the gorgeous ‘Nobody’ for proof. It could have come from Kelly Clarkson.

     3.    Airrace – Untold Stories

     I waited 30-odd years to see Airrace this year, and even though it was as support to The Treatment, it was worth it, and so was 'Untold Stories' – A vehicle in which Laurie Mansworth gives Adam Payne the room to sing his backside off for the performance of his life (so far).  You’d think that Mr Mercury had written ‘Running Out Of Time’, ‘Summer Sun’ is as close to anything that should have been a hit on Radio 2, and ‘Eyes Like Ice’ should be on the next Spiderman soundtrack! All credit to Laurie Mansworth for keeping this band alive, its his playing, songs and production that put this firmly at the sharp end for me.Without doubt the best melodic rock album of 2018 by far.

     2.    Ghost – Prequelle

     This was the album that could make Ghost a household name. Onto vocalist NO 27, Tobias Forge nailed it with 'Prequelle'. Hell, even having 2 instrumentals didn’t weaken the album. From the infectious ‘Rats’, the pop-tastic ‘Danse Macabre’, and the instrumental brilliance of ‘Helvetesfonster’, Ghost powered through at least 7 different genres-  pop, rock, disco, prog, metal, classical,  and space rock. An absolute blast from start to finish. The next generation of Festival headliners is here.

     1.    Ostura – The Room

     Apart from me and my good friend Terry (Pictures, Noise and Words) I doubt this will appear on many a hit list come the end of 2018. The sad thing is, I doubt many people got to hear this stunning piece of work. It rightly deserves a place on anyone’s CD shelf or hard drive. Why? It’s got everything – cinematic sound, orchestral awesomeness, melodic rock, prog, metal and everything in-between. Its three singers combine for the performance of the year in - ‘the girl’ Youmna Jreissati who out-Nightwishes Nightwish; Erosion (Elia Monsef) who provides the guttural, industrial and roughness  and some of the shade to Youmna’s light; and the out and out metal of Utopia (Michael Mills) who just sings his arse off. If you want three singers, then look no further than this, as it pisses over The Three Tremors. Its not about the vocals, its musical Nirvana, and full credit goes to its master Danny Bou-Maroun. I rarely give top marks, but this one is a current and future classic. I CANNOT RECOMMEND THIS ALBUM ENOUGH. Once I heard it in February, I knew they nothing would beat this, and only no 2 came anywhere near close…

Worth a listen and just missing the cut – Palace Of The King,  Blackberry Smoke, W.E.T., Orange Goblin, Massive Wagons, Steve Perry, Saxon.

Johnny Gioeli - 'One Voice' Album Review

Johnny Gioeli – One Voice

Johnny Gioeli has been around the rock scene for yonks. How long is a ‘yonk’ I hear you ask, reader? I think its about 10 years. In bands from the age of 15/16, Gioeli was a member of Brunette, but it was Hardline where he shot to prominence. Unless you’re a fan of either Hardline, Axel Rudi Pell or Crush 40 then you probably haven’t heard of him. If you’re already a fan, welcome to ‘One Voice’. If he is new to you, then where the hell have you been?

I get the feeling that Gioeli is a thoroughly nice bloke. The kind of fella you could have a pint with. What makes him even greater is the fact that a big portion of the money raised for this album through a crowd funding campaign is going directly to help a young man named Joe Barber who needs help in his recovery from an accident last year that has left him paralyzed. There needs to be more people in the World like Gioeli, and I hope the rock community gets behind him in this excellent cause

In moving away from the band scenario, does a solo album give him enough freedom to express himself? I would say its a big, fat YES! ‘Drive’ comes out of the blocks with a big, positive vibe. Driven forward by an FM friendly guitar sound, it’s a 'crank it up with the top down' number. ‘It’‘s verses reminds me a bit of Incubus without the widdly-wicky-waa bits. Again it’s the uplifting chorus that grabs you. Title track ‘One Voice’ shows that Johnny is not afraid to mix it up a bit. Yes, its still another punch to the gut with the instant likability of it, but its as if John Mayer and Jon Bon Jovi got together and ‘One Voice’ was the result. ‘Mind Melt’ is just another now trademarked slice of GJ radio friendly rock. ‘Running’ is yet another song where its all about the chorus, and a song so Bon Jovi like, I had to check the credits to make sure it wasnt him! So far in, theres nothing new with any of the songs, but the way its has been done has been done ever so well.

‘Deeper’ is the first lighter/balladic song on the album, and I particularly like the guitar playing from Gadrix. As you would expect, a song that’s called ‘Hit Me Once, Hit Ya Twice’ isn’t gonna be a ballad! It’s the heaviest intro so far, and the Ronseal go to rocker on ‘One Voice’.  ‘Price We Pay’ is the big ballad here, and it has its complimentary big guitar solo tagged on for added measure. ‘Out Of Here’ is a song that is closest to his Hardline persona. Its over all too soon with ‘Oh Fathers’, another big ballad that just draws you in.

Gioeli should be very proud of this effort. If you are a fan already, there is nothing here that’s not to like. He is the kind of person that needs (nay, deserves) to be heard by a lot more people. Its musically away from any of his other music, and he has hit the ground running with this, his personal journey. In all honesty, it’s a Gioeli ear orgasm, with positive, and hugely likeable songs from a very likeable bloke (I guess).

Score –

Album 8.8/10

The cause behind it – 10/10

Tracklisting

Drive

It

One Voice

Mind Melt

Running

Deeper

Let Me Know

Hit Me Once, Hit Ya Twice

Price We Pay

Out Of Here

Oh Fathers

Johnny Gioeli – Vocals

Eric Gadrix – Guitars

Nik Mazzucconi – Bass

Marco Di Salvia – Drums

Alessandro Del Vecchio – Keyboards

Produced By Alessandro Del Vecchio

Released 7.12.18

Devils Hand - 'S/T' (feat. Mike Slamer and Andrew Freeman)

Devils Hand – S/T

Devil’s Hand is a new project featuring the talents of two outstanding musicians: famed producer/guitarist/songwriter Mike Slamer and  Andrew Freeman of Last In Line.

Mike Slamer has been the guy behind some of the most amazing melodic hard rock releases of the past 20 years (make that 40-odd taking City Boy into it). The list includes, but is not limited to, Steelhouse Lane, Seventh Key, Slamer, and Terry Brock, and we can’t forget his work in the 80’s with Streets (featuring Kansas singer Steve Walsh) and the 70’s with City Boy. The quality of his songwriting and production work is unsurpassed in the business and the records he produced and was involved in stand the test of time!  Slamer is probably one of the best musicians you’ve never heard of, unless you’re a fan of the aforementioned bands. He should be a household name!

Andrew Freeman jumped onto the scene with his joining the Last In Line debut album. At the time I was not a fan as I was / am so Dio biased, but specifically because he put his own stamp on a band that was incorrectly thought to be “just another Dio tribute act”. I was one of these people who thought this.

The partnership promises a lot, but does it Devil-er ? (OK. I know its shit! At least its nearly clever!)

From the opening few bars of ‘We Come Alive’, the combined guitar and keyboard riff settle you as a listener into Slamer’s familiar slippers – its crisp, clean, and polished to good effect. The union is cemented just in hearing this first song. Freeman adds as much with his vocals as does Slamers guitar work.  ‘Falling In’ is a nice and melodic positive rocker, whereas the acoustic opening of ‘One More Time’ that builds to a mid paced rocker has a stand out chorus. If I’m totally honest, 4 songs in and the bar is set to ‘decent’ without a stand out track so far, but its and album that’s very consistent, and not mediocre.  I must admit I have warmed to Freeman’s vocals after a couple of listens, as I didn’t really buy into the Last In Line album, but he is making want to revisit it.

‘Justified’ is the real first change of pace, and shows off another facet to his vocals. Nice. ‘Rise Above It All’ is back on the money, chugging riffs, driven by a thumping bass and a more ‘in your face’ vocal. Title track ‘Devils Hand’ is very 80s and is probable one of the stand out tracks. ‘Unified’ is a dirty, bluesy song that builds to the melodic chorus. ‘Heartbeat Away’ is probably the lightest song on the album and is a pleasant addition and nice and fluffy slice of AOR. Devils Hand finishes up with a rousing rocker in ‘Push Comes To Shove’

Whilst I wouldn’t put it up there with Steelhouse Lane, or Streets, any album that involves Mike Slamer is worth a listen. Its great to see (hear) him back again. This is where Frontiers do a great job, moulding partnerships and putting the money up to get guys back in front of a wanting audience. Long may it continue.

Scores

Album Cover –                  5

Album –                              7

Duff songs –                       0

Chance of gigging-           5

Songs

Alive

Falling In

One More Try

Another Way To Fly

Drive Away

Justified

Rise Above It All

Devils hand

Unified

Heartbeat Away

Push Comes To Shove

Alcatrazz - 'Parole Denied' (Tokyo 2017) Album Review

Alcatrazz – Parole Denied (Tokyo 2017)

As part of the Graham Bonnet Band's 2017 "The Book" tour in Japan, a three night special engagement and reunion of Alcatrazz was presented much to the delight of the Japanese hard rock faithful.

Founding Alcatrazz members, Graham Bonnet (vocals), Jimmy Waldo (keyboards) and Gary Shea (bass), reunited after 33 years for a unique series of shows in Osaka, Nagoya, and Tokyo, Japan in March 2017. For the special occasion, the band was rounded out by Mark Benquechea (drums) and Conrado Pesinato (guitars), both from the Graham Bonnet Band.

In addition to this unique farewell performance captured on audio and video, Alcatrazz raided the archives and added some unreleased bonus tracks taken from the original sessions recorded in 1985, including one song, “Emotion” with a young Steve Vai on guitar.

Alcatrazz was formed in 1983 by former Rainbow and Michael Schenker Group vocalist Graham Bonnet along with Jimmy Waldo and Gary Shea and made three studio albums in the 1980's. The band’s debut album included a young Swedish guitarist, Yngwie Malmsteen and their second album, guitar virtuoso Steve Vai. Alcatrazz split up in 1987 after the release of their third album, “Dangerous Games.”

Bonnet is one of the true rock luminaries, despite the fact that he never thought himself a rock singer, as he fell into it with Rainbow, but common sense told him there was something here to be reckoned with, and after a fruitful but short lived stint fronting MSG, he put a band together in his own style and it was Alcatrazz, plucking two young and future guitar Gods into the spotlight in Malmsteen & Vai. You could even throw in a third in Impelliteri!

Graham Bonnet is not one who ‘goes with the flow’ so to speak. He has always been to me, someone who is single minded and knows exactly what he wants. Take his spell in Rainbow for example, when told to grow his hair by Ritchie Blackmore, he came back with it shorter than before. He did it recently on tour, and he does it again here on this album, with many classics omitted for some lesser (but not by some, OK…me) favourites.

Anywho, lets face it, Vai nor Malmsteen were going to show for Alcatrazz, which is a shame considering its where they were both catapulted into the mainstream. Who needs a prodigy when you have axe-slinger Pesinato who carries off all the right notes in all the right places, which is no mean feat in itself. Alcatrazz wouldn’t be Alcatrazz without Graham Bonnet. I had my reservations in seeing him recently, down to my stupid perception of his age! He may no longer have the foghorn blasting vocals of the 80s, but bugger me, he can still belt out a note, when he should be retired, sitting near a beach reading the papers. ‘Too Young To Die, Too Young To Live’ highlights his vocal histrionics – at 70! Yes, bloody seventy! Other highlights are the song he wrote for his mum, ‘Suffer Me’; the song that introduces a whole generation to Alcatrazz via GTA, ‘God Blessed Video’, and main tune from their debut, ‘Island In The Sun’.

Theres not a lot extra to say other than it’s a decent live album, but the real bonuses are contained within the package. Disc 2 is a side of demoes mainly from 1985. ‘Emotion’ is a typical Vai and shows what was to come on ‘Passion and Warfare’. Demo songs are always worth a listen, especially as you can mostly sense why they weren’t selected at the time, particularly  ‘Imagination’ and ‘Please Call me’, but also show the beginnings as to what they morphed into ‘Ohayo…’ and ‘Blue Boar’. Finishing up disc 2 is ‘Set Me Free’ from ‘Line Up’, and last on the list is a demo of ‘Rider’ from ‘The Book’.

Disc 3 is a DVD of the live show, and I expect is far more enjoyable watching Bonnet tear into the Japanese paying public. It you were not at the gig, I always find the DVD of it more enjoyable, unless its ‘Live and Dangerous’, ‘On Stage’ or ‘Strangers In The Night’

On its own, Parole Denied, is passable, but the added bonus of demo and DVD makes it a worthwhile pack for any fan of Alcatrazz or Bonnet

While people were commenting about Steve Perry recently, stating 'dont expect the voice he had in 1981', well...Graham Bonnet isnt making any excused and can strill strip the paint off a barn door from 20 paces. Long may he reign!!

Score -

Disc 1 – 6/10

Discs 1,2,3 – 8/10

Review by Paul Chesworth

Tracklisting:

CD1

1.    Night Of The Shooting Star

2.    Ohayo Tokyo

3.    Too Young To Die...Too Drunk To Live

4.    Suffer Me

5.    God Blessed Video

6.    Will You Be Home Tonight

7.    Jet To Jet

8.    Witchwood

9.    Skyfire

10.Hiroshima Mon Amour

11.Island In The Sun

CD2

1.    Emotion (Studio Demo)    

2.    No Imagination (Studio Demo)  

3.    Losing You Is Winning (Studio Demo)  

4.    Please Call Me (Studio Demo)  

5.    Blue Boar (Studio Demo)  

6.    Ohayo Tokyo (Studio Demo)  

7.    Set Me Free (Rehearsal / Studio Demo)

8.    Rider (Rehearsal / Studio Demo)

DVD

1.    Night Of The Shooting Star

2.    Ohayo Tokyo

3.    Too Young To Die...Too Drunk To Live

4.    Suffer Me

5.    God Blessed Video

6.    Will You Be Home Tonight

7.    Jet To Jet

8.    Witchwood

9.    Skyfire

10.Hiroshima Mon Amour

11.Island In The Sun

12.Hiroshima Mon Amour (Soundcheck)

PRODUCED BY: Jimmy Waldo & Giles Lavery

Live Tracks recorded in Tokyo March 2017

BAND MEMBERS: 

Graham Bonnet - Vocals

Jimmy Waldo - Keys

Gary Shea - Bass

With:

Conrado Pesinato - Guitars

Mark Benquechea – Drums

01 Night Of The Shooting Star	1:01
02 Ohayo Tokyo	3:23
03 Too Young To Die Too Drunk To Live	4:46
04 Suffer Me	5:12
05 God Blessed Video	3:29
06 Will You Be Home Tonight	5:17
07 Jet To Jet	4:41
08 Witchwood	3:13
09 Skyfire	4:25
10 Hiroshima Mon Amour	4:05
11 Island In The Sun	4:24
12 Emotion (Studio Demo 1985)	4:19
13 Imagination (Studio Demo 1985)	3:29
14 Losing You Is Winning (Studio Demo 1985)	3:07
15 Please Call Me (Studio Demo 1985)	3:43
16 Blue Boar (Studio Demo 1985)	3:20
17 Ohayo Tokyo (Studio Demo 1985)	2:23
18 Set Me Free (Rehearsal _ Studio Demo)	4:04
19 Rider (Rehearsal _ Studio Demo)	4:18