Rumours that IRON MAIDEN have booked the MK Bowl for June 6th…
PRESS RELEASE
THE DUBAI DESERT ROCK FESTIVAL: FRIDAY HEADLINER ANNOUNCED!
The Dubai Country Club’s new 30,000 capacity venue will host the Middle East’s biggest two day rock event, DUBAI DESERT ROCK FESTIVAL on the 9th and 10th March 2007.
Friday’s schedule is now complete with eight (8) bands, with the organiser’s proud to announce a headline slot from the phenomenal 70 million album selling, IRON MAIDEN; their new album, ‘A Matter of Life And Death’, is available now.
The complete line-up for the second day of the festival is due to be announced shortly.
The rock festival’s 2 day event and artists in order of appearance are as follows:
Friday March 9th 2007
IRON MAIDEN on stage at 22:00
The Prodigy
Stone Sour
In Flames
Mastodon
Children of Bodom
Lauren Harris
Junkyard Groove onstage at 14:00
Sponsored by Zee Arabiya and Creative Kingdom Records USA
Saturday March 10th 2007
YOU’LL FIND OUT V SOON! Time to be scheduled
INCUBUS
You’ll find out v soon!
You’ll find out v soon!
Prime Circle
Junkyard Groove on stage at 16:00
Sponsored by Zee Arabiya and Creative Kingdom Records USA
Frontiers Records is pleased to announce the release of WINGER "Demo Anthology" on March 23rd 2007.
Comprising of all the demos recorded by WINGER during the 80's and early 90's, in preparation of their multi million selling albums "Winger", "In The Heart of The Young" and "Pull", the "Demo Anthology" will be a very special 2CD release that includes the following tracklisting:
CD1
Madalaine; Hungry; Seventeen, State Of Emergency; Time To Surrender; Hangin' On; Headed For A Heartbreak; Only Love (*); Can't Get Enough; Loosen Up; Easy Come Easy Go; Rainbow In The Rose; In The Day We'll Never See; Under One Condition; Little Dirty Blonde; Star Tripper (*); You Are The Saint I Am The Sinner; In The Heart of The Young
CD2
All I Ever Wanted (*); Skin Tight (*); Never (*); Someday Someway (*); Blind Revolution Mad; Down Incognito; Spell I'm Under; Hour Of Need; Junkyard Dog; The Lucky One; In For The Kill; No Man's Land; Like A Ritual; Who's The One; Written In The Wind (*); Until There Was You (*); Without Warning (*); Give Me More (*)
(*) denotes a song which is unavailable on album
"I think this is a very interesting release from a fan's perspective" says Kip Winger, "it shows how much the songs progressed from the early stages and also gives the fans the possibility to discover some hidden gems never released on any album, but that I thought was time to somehow release officially".
WINGER have – in the meanwhile – announced the US tour dates in support of the recently released "IV" album.
Dec 31 2006 - Station Square Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Feb 1 2007 - Mulcahy's Long Island, New York
Feb 2 2007 - Harper's Ferry Boston, Massachusetts
Feb 3 2007 - Stone Pony Asbury Park, New Jersey
Feb 5 2007 - Webster Theatre Hartford, Connecticut
Feb 7 2007 - Amos' Southend Charlotte, North Carolina
Feb 10 2007 - The Culture Room Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Feb 11 2007 - State Theater St. Petersburg, Florida
Feb 12 2007 - Mojo Room Port St. Lucie, Florida
Feb 15 2007 - House of Blues Cleveland, Ohio
Feb 16 2007 - Alrosa Villa Columbus, Ohio
Feb 17 2007 - Harpo's Detroit, Michigan
Feb 18 2007 - House Of Blues Chicago, Illinois
Feb 22 2007 - The Yukon Loveland, Colorado
Feb 23 2007 - Jake's Tavern Gilette, Wyoming
Feb 24 2007 - Hubba's House of Rock & Roll Denver, Colorado
Feb 25 2007 - Mesa Theater Grand Junction, Colorado
Mar 2 2007 - Velvet Jones Santa Barbara, California
Mar 3 2007 - Galaxy Anaheim, California
Mar 5 2007 - Metal Skool @ Key Club Los Angeles, California
Mar 8 2007 - The Palladium Dallas, Texas
Mar 9 2007 - Scout Bar Houston, Texas
More dates will be added soon with possible spring concerts in Europe as well.
Frontiers Records is happy to introduce one of the most exciting new signings ever! PLACES OF POWER is a new monicker behind which two familiar faces are hiding the beginning of their newest collaboration.
Bruce Turgon (ex FOREIGNER, SHADOW KING, LOU GRAMM, ATOMIC PLAYBOYS) and Philip Bardowell (ex UNRULY CHILD, MAGDALEN) have started working together on a blistering set of new songs and have christened this new partnership as PLACES OF POWER: a name which, according to Turgon, "is very strong and meaningful to this project".
"Philip and I have a great working relationship and we have both a personal and shared inner vision" comments Turgon about this new venture, adding "we've spoken a lot about the kind of record we wanted to make and we found out we were exactly on the same page musically".
The fans can expect a magnificent melodic Hard Rock release, set to blend the best elements of Turgon's songwriting and musicianship together with the acclaimed powerful vocals from Bardowell, in order to create a real musical milestone akin to the best FOREIGNER and SHADOW KING albums. Something to get very excited about and that is planned to be released at the end of the summer 07.
Both Philip Bardowell and Bruce Turgon are Frontiers Records recording artists. Bardowell released his album "In The Cut" is September 2005 while Turgon debuted as a solo artist with "Outside Looking In" in the November of the same year. Both albums gathered rave reviews from the press, including:
"So many albums are released and reviewed, yet this one stands out as something a little different and something a little special. 2005 has been a year for the lesser known names and the surprise releases. Add Bruce Turgon to that list" - Melodicrock.com
"The music on Turgon's classy solo album reminds a lot of the albums he's been involved in the past so all fans of Foreigner will have a feast for sure. High quality AOR at your service!" - Melodic.net
"Bruce has crafted one of the best AOR/melodic hard rock albums of the year! Especially the fans of Foreigner will be pleased by this release!" - Rock Report
"Philip Bardowell released a mighty fine album filled with glorious AOR that will appeal to both fans of the old-school traditional sound of this genre and fans of more current releases" - Melodicrock.com
"I consider Philip Bardowell a true asset in these rather meagre times for our beloved AOR/melodic rock genre" - Rock Report
GIG NEWS
THUNDER
Thursday 1 March - SPAIN, Madrid, Heneken
Friday 2 March - SPAIN, Barcelona, Razzmatazz 2
Saturday 3 March - SPAIN, Bergara, Sala Jam
Monday 5 March - FRANCE, Paris, La Boule Noire
Tuesday 6 March - BELGIUM, Vosselar, Biebob
Wednesday 7 March - HOLLAND, Zoetemeer, Boerderij
Friday 9 March - DENMARK, Copenhagen, The Rock
Saturday 10 March - DENMARK, Frederikshavn, Det Musiske Hus
Sunday 11 March - NORWAY, Oslo, Rockefeller
Tuesday 13 March - FINLAND, Tampere, Pakkahoune
Friday 16 March - POLAND, Warsaw, TBA
Saturday 17 March – CZECH REP., Prague, Retro Music Hall
Sunday 18 march - AUSTRIA, Vienna, Szene Wien
Tuesday 20 March - AUSTRIA, Salzburg, Rockhouse
Wednesday 21 March - GERMANY, Munich, Metropolis
Thursday 22 March - GERMANY, Hannover, Capitol
Saturday 24 March - GERMANY, Bochum, Matrix
Sunday 25 March - GERMANY, Stuttgart, LKA
Tuesday 27 March - ITALY, Milan, Rainbow
Wednesday 28 March - SWITZERLAND, Pratteln, Z7
REVIEWS
ROBERT PLANT & THE STRANGE SENSATION (DVD 2006) Universal
Recorded on his ‘Mighty Rearranger’ tour in 2005 at the Soundstage in Chicago, Robert Palnt has a hand picked band from all over the musical spectrum including drummer Clive Deamer and keyboards player John Baggott from the electronica band Portishead. The set list is a mix of tracks from the new album including the wonderful ‘Tin Pan Valley’ and ‘Shine It All Around’ with some reworked Led Zep classics, ‘Black Dog’ (sounding slightly subdued), a sublime ‘Gallows Pole’ and ‘Whole Lotta Love’. Two bonus songs including a reverential cover of the Hendrix classic ‘Hey Joe’. The sound and picture quality are top draw, with no annoying camera angles sometimes found on live DVD’s.
Bonus wise you get the videos for ‘Morning Dew’ and ’29 Palms’, plus a Top of the Pops appearance for ‘Big Log’ (more like big hair looking at the band members!) and ’29 Palms’. All welcome additions to a very welcome and well presented live DVD.
****
Jason Ritchie
WAR OF THE WORLDS - The Musical
Live On Stage (DVD)
Universal
When Jeff Wayne scored the film back in 1978, he scored a masterpiece (in more ways than one), with elements recognisable to everyone.
Wayne more recently took the production on the road, to a lot of success as this DVD shows.
The story is well known, or at least should be. Martians invade earth, arriving by meteorites, and stalking the Earth in their walking tripods. Their heat ray kills all, survivors scratching a survival. The Martians, of course, being so perfect have eliminated all hazardous bacterium and viruses from their home world, and over the millennium their bio defences (immune system) has fallen a long way behind their technological advances. So when they emerge to drink and eat, bingo! Our invisible friends do their worst.
The show itself is a masterpiece. Not something you could watch daily but a wonderful event that you can’t help but catch on DVD.
On stage you have a full electric rock band and an orchestra too, conducted by Jeff Wayne inperson. And behind them on screen you have projected plenty of special effects, aliens, and narration from the original and late Richard Burton.
Certain parts are then acted out (and sung) by actors who come on in front of the orchestra/band, in a very operatic fashion.
Different, but wonderfully done, a real event. In places the music is superlative too. Exceptional throughout.
Any fan of Wayne or War Of The Worlds will love this, really.
Plenty of extras too, including the bringing back of Burton.
Perfect for Christmas.
4.5 / 5
Joe Geesin
GREEN ON RED
Valley Fever – Live At The Rialto, Tucson AZ 9/4/05
Brink Film (DVD)
A reunion of some sorts, I gather to remember the original drummer who had passed on.
I guess you have to be an ardent fan to really appreciate this, as for an outsider I found this very hard to retain any interest in.
Kicking off with two members being filmed chatting walking down the street, we get a concert of twin guitar + keyboards country rock, with an occasional hard edged indie sound. But pretty samey throughout. Only a handful of songs make your ears pick up (when they do it is actually quite good, verging on uptempo southern rock), but at the other end of the spectrum you get all that is dull and samey about country rock. Lacking in onstage energy too.
Also lacking – extras.
2.5/5
Joe Geesin
Robert PLANT & The Strange Sensation
Universal (DVD)
The voice of Led Zeppelin and one of THE voices of rock, taking a different angle here. On stage with this new backing band there is still the electric rock edge mixed with African beats and new world rhythm mixed in with the Page-isms.
The sound works well on the (only) 9 onstage tracks, kicking off with ‘No Quarter’.
Zeppelin’s ‘Black Dog’ sounds good, with Plant bringing his voice a step or two down from the original (still high enough for us mortals) making sure that he can do it well. Rearrange and do well rather than try to copy the original of over 35 years ago and ruin. A success then. Riff-tastic, with touches of reggae and others.
The stage show runs at over an hour and covers his full spectrum of solo work and Zep material too. A good show! And as extras some promo videos, new stuff and a Top Of The Pops appearance.
For Zep fans and more.
4/5
Joe Geesin
VARIOUS
Happening, Alive and Nasty
EMI / Zonophone
EMI are relaunching their Zonophone imprint with this archive look at the punk scene, something which (as the press release points out) labels at the time had no idea to deal with.
And the set is full of gems, classics and rarities, with many single A and B sides appearing and the Strangler’s take on “Mony Mony” under the pseudonym of Celia And The Mutations.
Generation X kick off with “Your Generation”, while “Don’t Dictate” by Penetration has a Paranoid like riff.
Tracks by Buzzcocks, 999, The Maniacs, The Stranglers, Wire, Vibrators, Skids and Leyton Buzzards follow.
There’s some decent punk tracks; a lot of decent tracks and rarities by name bands will attract the casual listener but the lack of any real hits may lose out there. But punk wasn’t about hits, it was just picking up a guitar and a mic and having a thrash and not giving a shit.
In fact the Buzzcocks said “Oh Shit”. Precisely!
3.5/5
Joe Geesin
FEAR OF MUSIC
We Are Not The Enemy EP
Faster Music
A three track EP of the decent end of guitar pop – with a more of a punk and glam blast. Green Day watch out!
Ballsy, art rock, and passionate too.
Second track ‘A Blueprint’ adds a piano and a power ballad edge to the punk rock.
Antithesis of the X Factor shite, should do well.
3/5
Joe Geesin
Van MORRISON
At The Movies – Soundtrack Hits
EMI 384 2242
Morrison has been recording some decent (and some not so decent) music for 40 years, and this compilation features tracks (solo and with Them) either featured in or inspired by films.
There’s some well known, classic and not so well known tracks and films featured, but this is as good an intro to Van Morrison’s music, regardless of your interest in films; that’s just an added bonus.
‘Baby Please Don’t Go’ is a classic track by any standards (trivia note: It was covered by AC/DC who actually did it better).
We also get live renditions of ‘Domino’ and ‘Moondance’ (American Werewolf In London), the latter previously unreleased. ‘Irish Heartbeat’ with the Chieftains is more of a celtic ballad. And the album finishes with a live rendition of Pink Floyd’s ‘Comfortably Numb’, a good song well done (let’s face it, it’s a song almost impossible to ruin).
From rock’n’roll to moody, pop, soul and ballads, he has a wide range. Worth checking out, film buff or otherwise.
3.5/5
The ALMIGHTY
Anth’f***ing’ology (The Gospel According To The Almighty) (CD+DVD)
Sanctuary
A first time complete retrospective for the band, where Almighty is also an accurate description of their rough metal sound: this set features all 13 singles and 4 more tracks chosen by the band, while the DVD features promo videos for the singles and additional extras. Good value and complete package, especially when the packaging has a discography and comments from Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris (with whom the band once toured).
Touches of power metal, with a rough glam/punk edge. ‘Free’n’Easy’ was a minor hit and at the catchy end of The Almighty, a good rockin’ metal anthem.
There’s stuff here for the collector and it’s a good intro / all purpose compilation too. Almighty indeed.
4/5
Joe Geesin
The STYLE COUNCIL
Our Favourite Shop
Polydor / Universal
Paul Weller’s post Jam project, and this album has its moments for sure, but is a bit of a mixed bag.
Perhaps it was a reaction to The Jam, but the angle on the songwriting here is overtly mature, in places too serious. Some great tunes but openers ‘Homebreakers’ and ‘All Gone Away’ would, on first listen, have Jam fans running to the hills. Just too whimsical.
A few tracks in and we get ‘Internationalists’ which stands out, it features some fire.
‘Boy Who Cried Wolf’ is more new wave pop. ‘A Man Of Great Promise’ is better Weller, while ‘Down The Siene’ nods at uptempo acoustic ELP.
Tagged on the is the end are a US Remix and instrumental versions of Style Council’s big hit ‘Shout To The Top’, a welcome listen.
There is a second disc featuring bonus cuts, including live and demo versions. A decent package and some good tracks, but not Weller’s finest album.
3.5/5
Joe Geesin
Patrik CARLSSON
Melodic Travel
Lion Music LMC192
An interesting album that opens with a heavy chunky riff and a decent guitar tune with some minimalistic percussion before full band come in. Elegant in its simplicity; the guitar talks without going at 100MPH.
Track 2 (you can tell I’m working on minimal info here) is a little more electronic, but still rhythmic and not overtly complicated.
The guitar on track 3 is a more jovially widdly, the backing track light hearted.
So there you have a template, instrumental melodic and oft rhythmic metal, with some neat guitar touches.
An interesting listen if ‘coffee table metal’.
3/5
Joe Geesin
MAMA’S BOYS
Power And Passion
Gott Discs
This classic 1985 album on CD at last, hard powerful anthemic AOR from this Irish trio, the McManus brothers. Opener ‘Hard’n’Loud’ is classic if a touch cliché, while ‘Straight Forward’ adds some slide guitar and nods towards the Triumph power trio sound.
Power And Passion probably saw the band’s musical and commercial highlight, with the band fragmenting in the late 80s with the addition of a vocalist and the drummer taking time out with leukaemia.
Sadly no extras but some informative sleevenotes make for a good release
4/5
Joe Geesin
Uli Jon ROTH
The Best Of (2CD)
SPV 95732-2CD
The former Scorpions guitarist really pioneered innovation and neo classical metal guitar. To the point of making Malmsteen look a staid amateur. I jest not, and if you’re not familiar with Roth’s solo work, this is as good a point to start as any.
Much of the work here is orchestrated, and there are takes and arrangements on well known classical pieces as well as his own material.
Three Tenors fans will recognise ‘Bridge To Heaven’, while the fast guitar work on ‘Pegasus’ is just so fluid.
Disc 2 opens with ‘Still So Many Lives Away’ which shows he rock out with the best.
Many guests are present here, including Don Airey, Jack Bruce, Nicky Moore, Barry Sparks, Clive Bunker and more. Sadly the notes (good history) make reference to a non existent track.
But Damn good work from a genuine guitar god.
4/5
Joe Geesin
KREATOR
Enemy Of God Revisited (CD+DVD)
SPV
Top level European thrash, the German Slayer, pioneers of ‘Hate’ metal, Kreator are all and this album shows exactly why.
2005’s Enemy Of God was a class album at the extreme end of metal and this re-release adds a DVD. Between the 2 discs you get a 5.1DTS mix of the album (this really is crystal clear, fans will really appreciate this), bonus live cuts, a full live concert and more.
The album surprised me, it’s the first time I’d really sat down and listened to Kreator, and if you’re into the most extreme metal this is, as they say, the Dog’s Bollocks.
4/5
Joe Geesin
KAMELOT
One Cold Winter’s Night (2DVD)
SPV
Already reviewed here as a 2CD, this DVD of the same show augments the superb American extreme power metal with full concert visuals and sound quality to match.
The music you’ve already ready about, this DVD shows the band’s energy, stage show, theatrics, pyrotechnics, crowd enthusiasm.
High energy power metal with touches of melodic symphonic speed metal, some classics, some long almost progressive songs, and a few guests along the way; the music is well worth checking out.
While the 2-CD is probably of wider appeal (if you don’t own any Kamelot, you should, this one!), the DVD is more for the fan but well worth it.
4/5
Joe Geesin
WHITESNAKE
Live In The Heart Of The City
Come An’ Get It
Saints And Sinners
All EMI
The latest batch of Whitesnake remasters kicks off in fine form with the classic live set Live In The Heart Of The City (4/5). The original LP was a double set, the first LP a full live set from Hammersmith 1980 which kicks off with ‘Come On’. Plenty of “’ere’s a song for ya” from old Coverdale, we also get ‘Sweet Talker’, ‘Walking In Shadow Of The Blues’, ‘Love Hunter’, ‘Fool For Your Loving’ and more, including the title track. Classic Whitesnake at their best. Hard blues rock, solid vocals, Jon Lord’s brilliant keyboards backing up the twin guitar of Bernie Marsden and Micky Moody. Essential listening.
Now expanded, disc 2 is that second LP, so we now get both sets in full (the original single CD didn’t manage that), with 6 tracks from Hammersmith 1978 originally released as a mini live album in Japan that year. That duplicates a couple of tracks but adds ‘Trouble’ and ‘Lie Down’ and also Deep Purple’s ‘Mistreated’, a long time Coverdale favourite.
Come An’ Get It (5/5) shows Whitesnake at their best in the studio. The classic line up too of Coverdale, Moody, Marsden, Murray, Lord and Paice. The title track opens and is a little smooth, but considering we get “Don’t Break My Heart Again” (classic rock riff and blues organ), “Wine Women An’ Song” (boogie piano breaks into hard rock boogie like you wouldn’t believe) and “Would I Lie To You” (as subtle as Coverdale gets), it’s an unmissable set.
Saints And Sinners (4/5) from 1982 was not quite as strong, but ‘Rough An’ Ready’ and ‘Bloody Luxury’ stand out. And don’t forget ‘Crying In The Rain’ and ‘Here I Go Again’; pivotal. And a proper Whitesnake lesson for those who only know the more commercial big haired rerecordings of the late 80s. Sadly the line-up didn’t last long, with Colin Hodgekinson, Cozy Powell and Mel Galley coming for Murray, Paice and Marsden repectively, to tour the album.
The two studio albums come with bonus tracks too, rough / demo versions.
Joe Geesin
PRESS RELEASE
THE DUBAI DESERT ROCK FESTIVAL: FRIDAY HEADLINER ANNOUNCED!
The Dubai Country Club’s new 30,000 capacity venue will host the Middle East’s biggest two day rock event, DUBAI DESERT ROCK FESTIVAL on the 9th and 10th March 2007.
Friday’s schedule is now complete with eight (8) bands, with the organiser’s proud to announce a headline slot from the phenomenal 70 million album selling, IRON MAIDEN; their new album, ‘A Matter of Life And Death’, is available now.
The complete line-up for the second day of the festival is due to be announced shortly.
The rock festival’s 2 day event and artists in order of appearance are as follows:
Friday March 9th 2007
IRON MAIDEN on stage at 22:00
The Prodigy
Stone Sour
In Flames
Mastodon
Children of Bodom
Lauren Harris
Junkyard Groove onstage at 14:00
Sponsored by Zee Arabiya and Creative Kingdom Records USA
Saturday March 10th 2007
YOU’LL FIND OUT V SOON! Time to be scheduled
INCUBUS
You’ll find out v soon!
You’ll find out v soon!
Prime Circle
Junkyard Groove on stage at 16:00
Sponsored by Zee Arabiya and Creative Kingdom Records USA
Frontiers Records is pleased to announce the release of WINGER "Demo Anthology" on March 23rd 2007.
Comprising of all the demos recorded by WINGER during the 80's and early 90's, in preparation of their multi million selling albums "Winger", "In The Heart of The Young" and "Pull", the "Demo Anthology" will be a very special 2CD release that includes the following tracklisting:
CD1
Madalaine; Hungry; Seventeen, State Of Emergency; Time To Surrender; Hangin' On; Headed For A Heartbreak; Only Love (*); Can't Get Enough; Loosen Up; Easy Come Easy Go; Rainbow In The Rose; In The Day We'll Never See; Under One Condition; Little Dirty Blonde; Star Tripper (*); You Are The Saint I Am The Sinner; In The Heart of The Young
CD2
All I Ever Wanted (*); Skin Tight (*); Never (*); Someday Someway (*); Blind Revolution Mad; Down Incognito; Spell I'm Under; Hour Of Need; Junkyard Dog; The Lucky One; In For The Kill; No Man's Land; Like A Ritual; Who's The One; Written In The Wind (*); Until There Was You (*); Without Warning (*); Give Me More (*)
(*) denotes a song which is unavailable on album
"I think this is a very interesting release from a fan's perspective" says Kip Winger, "it shows how much the songs progressed from the early stages and also gives the fans the possibility to discover some hidden gems never released on any album, but that I thought was time to somehow release officially".
WINGER have – in the meanwhile – announced the US tour dates in support of the recently released "IV" album.
Dec 31 2006 - Station Square Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Feb 1 2007 - Mulcahy's Long Island, New York
Feb 2 2007 - Harper's Ferry Boston, Massachusetts
Feb 3 2007 - Stone Pony Asbury Park, New Jersey
Feb 5 2007 - Webster Theatre Hartford, Connecticut
Feb 7 2007 - Amos' Southend Charlotte, North Carolina
Feb 10 2007 - The Culture Room Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Feb 11 2007 - State Theater St. Petersburg, Florida
Feb 12 2007 - Mojo Room Port St. Lucie, Florida
Feb 15 2007 - House of Blues Cleveland, Ohio
Feb 16 2007 - Alrosa Villa Columbus, Ohio
Feb 17 2007 - Harpo's Detroit, Michigan
Feb 18 2007 - House Of Blues Chicago, Illinois
Feb 22 2007 - The Yukon Loveland, Colorado
Feb 23 2007 - Jake's Tavern Gilette, Wyoming
Feb 24 2007 - Hubba's House of Rock & Roll Denver, Colorado
Feb 25 2007 - Mesa Theater Grand Junction, Colorado
Mar 2 2007 - Velvet Jones Santa Barbara, California
Mar 3 2007 - Galaxy Anaheim, California
Mar 5 2007 - Metal Skool @ Key Club Los Angeles, California
Mar 8 2007 - The Palladium Dallas, Texas
Mar 9 2007 - Scout Bar Houston, Texas
More dates will be added soon with possible spring concerts in Europe as well.
Frontiers Records is happy to introduce one of the most exciting new signings ever! PLACES OF POWER is a new monicker behind which two familiar faces are hiding the beginning of their newest collaboration.
Bruce Turgon (ex FOREIGNER, SHADOW KING, LOU GRAMM, ATOMIC PLAYBOYS) and Philip Bardowell (ex UNRULY CHILD, MAGDALEN) have started working together on a blistering set of new songs and have christened this new partnership as PLACES OF POWER: a name which, according to Turgon, "is very strong and meaningful to this project".
"Philip and I have a great working relationship and we have both a personal and shared inner vision" comments Turgon about this new venture, adding "we've spoken a lot about the kind of record we wanted to make and we found out we were exactly on the same page musically".
The fans can expect a magnificent melodic Hard Rock release, set to blend the best elements of Turgon's songwriting and musicianship together with the acclaimed powerful vocals from Bardowell, in order to create a real musical milestone akin to the best FOREIGNER and SHADOW KING albums. Something to get very excited about and that is planned to be released at the end of the summer 07.
Both Philip Bardowell and Bruce Turgon are Frontiers Records recording artists. Bardowell released his album "In The Cut" is September 2005 while Turgon debuted as a solo artist with "Outside Looking In" in the November of the same year. Both albums gathered rave reviews from the press, including:
"So many albums are released and reviewed, yet this one stands out as something a little different and something a little special. 2005 has been a year for the lesser known names and the surprise releases. Add Bruce Turgon to that list" - Melodicrock.com
"The music on Turgon's classy solo album reminds a lot of the albums he's been involved in the past so all fans of Foreigner will have a feast for sure. High quality AOR at your service!" - Melodic.net
"Bruce has crafted one of the best AOR/melodic hard rock albums of the year! Especially the fans of Foreigner will be pleased by this release!" - Rock Report
"Philip Bardowell released a mighty fine album filled with glorious AOR that will appeal to both fans of the old-school traditional sound of this genre and fans of more current releases" - Melodicrock.com
"I consider Philip Bardowell a true asset in these rather meagre times for our beloved AOR/melodic rock genre" - Rock Report
GIG NEWS
THUNDER
Thursday 1 March - SPAIN, Madrid, Heneken
Friday 2 March - SPAIN, Barcelona, Razzmatazz 2
Saturday 3 March - SPAIN, Bergara, Sala Jam
Monday 5 March - FRANCE, Paris, La Boule Noire
Tuesday 6 March - BELGIUM, Vosselar, Biebob
Wednesday 7 March - HOLLAND, Zoetemeer, Boerderij
Friday 9 March - DENMARK, Copenhagen, The Rock
Saturday 10 March - DENMARK, Frederikshavn, Det Musiske Hus
Sunday 11 March - NORWAY, Oslo, Rockefeller
Tuesday 13 March - FINLAND, Tampere, Pakkahoune
Friday 16 March - POLAND, Warsaw, TBA
Saturday 17 March – CZECH REP., Prague, Retro Music Hall
Sunday 18 march - AUSTRIA, Vienna, Szene Wien
Tuesday 20 March - AUSTRIA, Salzburg, Rockhouse
Wednesday 21 March - GERMANY, Munich, Metropolis
Thursday 22 March - GERMANY, Hannover, Capitol
Saturday 24 March - GERMANY, Bochum, Matrix
Sunday 25 March - GERMANY, Stuttgart, LKA
Tuesday 27 March - ITALY, Milan, Rainbow
Wednesday 28 March - SWITZERLAND, Pratteln, Z7
REVIEWS
ROBERT PLANT & THE STRANGE SENSATION (DVD 2006) Universal
Recorded on his ‘Mighty Rearranger’ tour in 2005 at the Soundstage in Chicago, Robert Palnt has a hand picked band from all over the musical spectrum including drummer Clive Deamer and keyboards player John Baggott from the electronica band Portishead. The set list is a mix of tracks from the new album including the wonderful ‘Tin Pan Valley’ and ‘Shine It All Around’ with some reworked Led Zep classics, ‘Black Dog’ (sounding slightly subdued), a sublime ‘Gallows Pole’ and ‘Whole Lotta Love’. Two bonus songs including a reverential cover of the Hendrix classic ‘Hey Joe’. The sound and picture quality are top draw, with no annoying camera angles sometimes found on live DVD’s.
Bonus wise you get the videos for ‘Morning Dew’ and ’29 Palms’, plus a Top of the Pops appearance for ‘Big Log’ (more like big hair looking at the band members!) and ’29 Palms’. All welcome additions to a very welcome and well presented live DVD.
****
Jason Ritchie
WAR OF THE WORLDS - The Musical
Live On Stage (DVD)
Universal
When Jeff Wayne scored the film back in 1978, he scored a masterpiece (in more ways than one), with elements recognisable to everyone.
Wayne more recently took the production on the road, to a lot of success as this DVD shows.
The story is well known, or at least should be. Martians invade earth, arriving by meteorites, and stalking the Earth in their walking tripods. Their heat ray kills all, survivors scratching a survival. The Martians, of course, being so perfect have eliminated all hazardous bacterium and viruses from their home world, and over the millennium their bio defences (immune system) has fallen a long way behind their technological advances. So when they emerge to drink and eat, bingo! Our invisible friends do their worst.
The show itself is a masterpiece. Not something you could watch daily but a wonderful event that you can’t help but catch on DVD.
On stage you have a full electric rock band and an orchestra too, conducted by Jeff Wayne inperson. And behind them on screen you have projected plenty of special effects, aliens, and narration from the original and late Richard Burton.
Certain parts are then acted out (and sung) by actors who come on in front of the orchestra/band, in a very operatic fashion.
Different, but wonderfully done, a real event. In places the music is superlative too. Exceptional throughout.
Any fan of Wayne or War Of The Worlds will love this, really.
Plenty of extras too, including the bringing back of Burton.
Perfect for Christmas.
4.5 / 5
Joe Geesin
GREEN ON RED
Valley Fever – Live At The Rialto, Tucson AZ 9/4/05
Brink Film (DVD)
A reunion of some sorts, I gather to remember the original drummer who had passed on.
I guess you have to be an ardent fan to really appreciate this, as for an outsider I found this very hard to retain any interest in.
Kicking off with two members being filmed chatting walking down the street, we get a concert of twin guitar + keyboards country rock, with an occasional hard edged indie sound. But pretty samey throughout. Only a handful of songs make your ears pick up (when they do it is actually quite good, verging on uptempo southern rock), but at the other end of the spectrum you get all that is dull and samey about country rock. Lacking in onstage energy too.
Also lacking – extras.
2.5/5
Joe Geesin
Robert PLANT & The Strange Sensation
Universal (DVD)
The voice of Led Zeppelin and one of THE voices of rock, taking a different angle here. On stage with this new backing band there is still the electric rock edge mixed with African beats and new world rhythm mixed in with the Page-isms.
The sound works well on the (only) 9 onstage tracks, kicking off with ‘No Quarter’.
Zeppelin’s ‘Black Dog’ sounds good, with Plant bringing his voice a step or two down from the original (still high enough for us mortals) making sure that he can do it well. Rearrange and do well rather than try to copy the original of over 35 years ago and ruin. A success then. Riff-tastic, with touches of reggae and others.
The stage show runs at over an hour and covers his full spectrum of solo work and Zep material too. A good show! And as extras some promo videos, new stuff and a Top Of The Pops appearance.
For Zep fans and more.
4/5
Joe Geesin
VARIOUS
Happening, Alive and Nasty
EMI / Zonophone
EMI are relaunching their Zonophone imprint with this archive look at the punk scene, something which (as the press release points out) labels at the time had no idea to deal with.
And the set is full of gems, classics and rarities, with many single A and B sides appearing and the Strangler’s take on “Mony Mony” under the pseudonym of Celia And The Mutations.
Generation X kick off with “Your Generation”, while “Don’t Dictate” by Penetration has a Paranoid like riff.
Tracks by Buzzcocks, 999, The Maniacs, The Stranglers, Wire, Vibrators, Skids and Leyton Buzzards follow.
There’s some decent punk tracks; a lot of decent tracks and rarities by name bands will attract the casual listener but the lack of any real hits may lose out there. But punk wasn’t about hits, it was just picking up a guitar and a mic and having a thrash and not giving a shit.
In fact the Buzzcocks said “Oh Shit”. Precisely!
3.5/5
Joe Geesin
FEAR OF MUSIC
We Are Not The Enemy EP
Faster Music
A three track EP of the decent end of guitar pop – with a more of a punk and glam blast. Green Day watch out!
Ballsy, art rock, and passionate too.
Second track ‘A Blueprint’ adds a piano and a power ballad edge to the punk rock.
Antithesis of the X Factor shite, should do well.
3/5
Joe Geesin
Van MORRISON
At The Movies – Soundtrack Hits
EMI 384 2242
Morrison has been recording some decent (and some not so decent) music for 40 years, and this compilation features tracks (solo and with Them) either featured in or inspired by films.
There’s some well known, classic and not so well known tracks and films featured, but this is as good an intro to Van Morrison’s music, regardless of your interest in films; that’s just an added bonus.
‘Baby Please Don’t Go’ is a classic track by any standards (trivia note: It was covered by AC/DC who actually did it better).
We also get live renditions of ‘Domino’ and ‘Moondance’ (American Werewolf In London), the latter previously unreleased. ‘Irish Heartbeat’ with the Chieftains is more of a celtic ballad. And the album finishes with a live rendition of Pink Floyd’s ‘Comfortably Numb’, a good song well done (let’s face it, it’s a song almost impossible to ruin).
From rock’n’roll to moody, pop, soul and ballads, he has a wide range. Worth checking out, film buff or otherwise.
3.5/5
The ALMIGHTY
Anth’f***ing’ology (The Gospel According To The Almighty) (CD+DVD)
Sanctuary
A first time complete retrospective for the band, where Almighty is also an accurate description of their rough metal sound: this set features all 13 singles and 4 more tracks chosen by the band, while the DVD features promo videos for the singles and additional extras. Good value and complete package, especially when the packaging has a discography and comments from Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris (with whom the band once toured).
Touches of power metal, with a rough glam/punk edge. ‘Free’n’Easy’ was a minor hit and at the catchy end of The Almighty, a good rockin’ metal anthem.
There’s stuff here for the collector and it’s a good intro / all purpose compilation too. Almighty indeed.
4/5
Joe Geesin
The STYLE COUNCIL
Our Favourite Shop
Polydor / Universal
Paul Weller’s post Jam project, and this album has its moments for sure, but is a bit of a mixed bag.
Perhaps it was a reaction to The Jam, but the angle on the songwriting here is overtly mature, in places too serious. Some great tunes but openers ‘Homebreakers’ and ‘All Gone Away’ would, on first listen, have Jam fans running to the hills. Just too whimsical.
A few tracks in and we get ‘Internationalists’ which stands out, it features some fire.
‘Boy Who Cried Wolf’ is more new wave pop. ‘A Man Of Great Promise’ is better Weller, while ‘Down The Siene’ nods at uptempo acoustic ELP.
Tagged on the is the end are a US Remix and instrumental versions of Style Council’s big hit ‘Shout To The Top’, a welcome listen.
There is a second disc featuring bonus cuts, including live and demo versions. A decent package and some good tracks, but not Weller’s finest album.
3.5/5
Joe Geesin
Patrik CARLSSON
Melodic Travel
Lion Music LMC192
An interesting album that opens with a heavy chunky riff and a decent guitar tune with some minimalistic percussion before full band come in. Elegant in its simplicity; the guitar talks without going at 100MPH.
Track 2 (you can tell I’m working on minimal info here) is a little more electronic, but still rhythmic and not overtly complicated.
The guitar on track 3 is a more jovially widdly, the backing track light hearted.
So there you have a template, instrumental melodic and oft rhythmic metal, with some neat guitar touches.
An interesting listen if ‘coffee table metal’.
3/5
Joe Geesin
MAMA’S BOYS
Power And Passion
Gott Discs
This classic 1985 album on CD at last, hard powerful anthemic AOR from this Irish trio, the McManus brothers. Opener ‘Hard’n’Loud’ is classic if a touch cliché, while ‘Straight Forward’ adds some slide guitar and nods towards the Triumph power trio sound.
Power And Passion probably saw the band’s musical and commercial highlight, with the band fragmenting in the late 80s with the addition of a vocalist and the drummer taking time out with leukaemia.
Sadly no extras but some informative sleevenotes make for a good release
4/5
Joe Geesin
Uli Jon ROTH
The Best Of (2CD)
SPV 95732-2CD
The former Scorpions guitarist really pioneered innovation and neo classical metal guitar. To the point of making Malmsteen look a staid amateur. I jest not, and if you’re not familiar with Roth’s solo work, this is as good a point to start as any.
Much of the work here is orchestrated, and there are takes and arrangements on well known classical pieces as well as his own material.
Three Tenors fans will recognise ‘Bridge To Heaven’, while the fast guitar work on ‘Pegasus’ is just so fluid.
Disc 2 opens with ‘Still So Many Lives Away’ which shows he rock out with the best.
Many guests are present here, including Don Airey, Jack Bruce, Nicky Moore, Barry Sparks, Clive Bunker and more. Sadly the notes (good history) make reference to a non existent track.
But Damn good work from a genuine guitar god.
4/5
Joe Geesin
KREATOR
Enemy Of God Revisited (CD+DVD)
SPV
Top level European thrash, the German Slayer, pioneers of ‘Hate’ metal, Kreator are all and this album shows exactly why.
2005’s Enemy Of God was a class album at the extreme end of metal and this re-release adds a DVD. Between the 2 discs you get a 5.1DTS mix of the album (this really is crystal clear, fans will really appreciate this), bonus live cuts, a full live concert and more.
The album surprised me, it’s the first time I’d really sat down and listened to Kreator, and if you’re into the most extreme metal this is, as they say, the Dog’s Bollocks.
4/5
Joe Geesin
KAMELOT
One Cold Winter’s Night (2DVD)
SPV
Already reviewed here as a 2CD, this DVD of the same show augments the superb American extreme power metal with full concert visuals and sound quality to match.
The music you’ve already ready about, this DVD shows the band’s energy, stage show, theatrics, pyrotechnics, crowd enthusiasm.
High energy power metal with touches of melodic symphonic speed metal, some classics, some long almost progressive songs, and a few guests along the way; the music is well worth checking out.
While the 2-CD is probably of wider appeal (if you don’t own any Kamelot, you should, this one!), the DVD is more for the fan but well worth it.
4/5
Joe Geesin
WHITESNAKE
Live In The Heart Of The City
Come An’ Get It
Saints And Sinners
All EMI
The latest batch of Whitesnake remasters kicks off in fine form with the classic live set Live In The Heart Of The City (4/5). The original LP was a double set, the first LP a full live set from Hammersmith 1980 which kicks off with ‘Come On’. Plenty of “’ere’s a song for ya” from old Coverdale, we also get ‘Sweet Talker’, ‘Walking In Shadow Of The Blues’, ‘Love Hunter’, ‘Fool For Your Loving’ and more, including the title track. Classic Whitesnake at their best. Hard blues rock, solid vocals, Jon Lord’s brilliant keyboards backing up the twin guitar of Bernie Marsden and Micky Moody. Essential listening.
Now expanded, disc 2 is that second LP, so we now get both sets in full (the original single CD didn’t manage that), with 6 tracks from Hammersmith 1978 originally released as a mini live album in Japan that year. That duplicates a couple of tracks but adds ‘Trouble’ and ‘Lie Down’ and also Deep Purple’s ‘Mistreated’, a long time Coverdale favourite.
Come An’ Get It (5/5) shows Whitesnake at their best in the studio. The classic line up too of Coverdale, Moody, Marsden, Murray, Lord and Paice. The title track opens and is a little smooth, but considering we get “Don’t Break My Heart Again” (classic rock riff and blues organ), “Wine Women An’ Song” (boogie piano breaks into hard rock boogie like you wouldn’t believe) and “Would I Lie To You” (as subtle as Coverdale gets), it’s an unmissable set.
Saints And Sinners (4/5) from 1982 was not quite as strong, but ‘Rough An’ Ready’ and ‘Bloody Luxury’ stand out. And don’t forget ‘Crying In The Rain’ and ‘Here I Go Again’; pivotal. And a proper Whitesnake lesson for those who only know the more commercial big haired rerecordings of the late 80s. Sadly the line-up didn’t last long, with Colin Hodgekinson, Cozy Powell and Mel Galley coming for Murray, Paice and Marsden repectively, to tour the album.
The two studio albums come with bonus tracks too, rough / demo versions.
Joe Geesin
posted by JasonR @ 1:24 AM
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