....courtesy of Andrew at www.melodicrock.com
First of all I have been listening to 7 rough mixes from the new solo Jimi Jamison album, which will be released via Frontiers Records in October. Accompanying Jimi this time around is none other than Erik Martensson of Eclipse, W.E.T. and Toby Hitchcock fame. As far as I'm concerned, Erik can do no wrong. I just love his style of writing and with Jimi Jamison, Erik has crafted a set of songs that give the vocalist a real chance to shine. The material has that Martensson stamp, but isn't as aggressive as the recent Hitchcock release. It's rocking for sure, but more along the lines of what Survivor 2012 might sound like. There's a lot of guitars of course, but also a heavy dose of piano and keyboards. And the production is every bit as good as Crossroads Moment. For the record - Jim Peterik is not involved with this album.
Highlights from these initial tracks include: the uptempo melodic rocker Everybody's Got A Broken Heart, which sounds like classic Survivor; Bullet In The Gun, a tougher rock anthem; a happy go lucky anthem in Never Too Late and a gritty rocker called Street Survivor. But the pick might just be the Bryan Adams/Mutt Lange styled anthem Not Tonight.
I have also had a chance to preview some new Pride Of Lions (due September, via Frontiers) and believe me when I say this album to me will equal the band's classic debut. I'm already pencilling in the Song Of The Year award for an utterly fabulous feel good anthem called Delusional. It's the best tune I've heard from Jim Peterik since JJ's Crossroad Moment track and POL's Sound Of Home. Closely followed by another new track - the upbeat and rocking Immortal. And there is a haunting piano/orchestral track called Are You The Same Girl which is totally epic and features an amazing vocal from Toby. The production sounds amazing on all tracks and the style is definitely more straight ahead melodic rock. Jim played me some demos some time back and there are plenty of highlights to be included here. Can't wait for this one!
Finally...a taste of W.E.T! Two tracks - Bad Boys and Learn To Live Again (this rocker is amazing and features both Erik and JSS on vocals) give me hope that the second album will stand up to the debut album, by Album Of The Year for 2009.
August is also shaping up to be one hot month with two highly anticipated new releases due. One of them has immediately shot to the top of my Best Of 2012 list - that's the new Eclipse album Bleed And Scream.
Eclipse have roared back to life with an absolutely massive album that is even heavier than I expected. This is really melodic hard rock at its absolute best. The guitars are so much more in your face, the tempo is furious throughout and Erik sings his absolute heart out. I swear there isn't a dull second on this album and the songs are truly epic (there's that word again...). This is heavier than any previous Eclipse album, and heavier again than the Toby Hitchcock and W.E.T. albums.
I can't wait to bring audio previews of the album to you. Especially the monster one, two, three opening punches of Wake Me Up, Bleed And Scream and Ain't Dead Yet! And the double kick drum is in overdrive for Battlegrounds and Take Back The Fear. And the track Bitter Taste starts from a balladesque base, but doesn't stay a ballad for long...but the power in it is mind-blowing. The anthem ballad About To Break is another album highlight. Stay tuned!
The new Harry Hess solo record is a different beast to that of the debut Hess album Just Another Day. It is a harder hitting record and driven more so by electric guitar than the largely acoustic driven debut. It retains that same Harry Hess/Harem sound we all love and while it is still very much a modern melodic rock album, it still should hold a lot of appeal for old school fans.
The album features a fairly consistent mid-tempo feel with several typically "Hess melancholy" ballads and mid-tempo moody rockers. Basically, any fan of Harem Scarem's Hope, Higher, Human Nature, the debut Hess and the First Signal album will love this. 10 tracks and just under 40 minutes of music - there's no filler in sight.
Highlights: Rockers - Living In Yesterday; Nothing Lasts Forever. Ballads: It's Over, Nowhere To Run. Full review of Hess & Eclipse soon...
First of all I have been listening to 7 rough mixes from the new solo Jimi Jamison album, which will be released via Frontiers Records in October. Accompanying Jimi this time around is none other than Erik Martensson of Eclipse, W.E.T. and Toby Hitchcock fame. As far as I'm concerned, Erik can do no wrong. I just love his style of writing and with Jimi Jamison, Erik has crafted a set of songs that give the vocalist a real chance to shine. The material has that Martensson stamp, but isn't as aggressive as the recent Hitchcock release. It's rocking for sure, but more along the lines of what Survivor 2012 might sound like. There's a lot of guitars of course, but also a heavy dose of piano and keyboards. And the production is every bit as good as Crossroads Moment. For the record - Jim Peterik is not involved with this album.
Highlights from these initial tracks include: the uptempo melodic rocker Everybody's Got A Broken Heart, which sounds like classic Survivor; Bullet In The Gun, a tougher rock anthem; a happy go lucky anthem in Never Too Late and a gritty rocker called Street Survivor. But the pick might just be the Bryan Adams/Mutt Lange styled anthem Not Tonight.
I have also had a chance to preview some new Pride Of Lions (due September, via Frontiers) and believe me when I say this album to me will equal the band's classic debut. I'm already pencilling in the Song Of The Year award for an utterly fabulous feel good anthem called Delusional. It's the best tune I've heard from Jim Peterik since JJ's Crossroad Moment track and POL's Sound Of Home. Closely followed by another new track - the upbeat and rocking Immortal. And there is a haunting piano/orchestral track called Are You The Same Girl which is totally epic and features an amazing vocal from Toby. The production sounds amazing on all tracks and the style is definitely more straight ahead melodic rock. Jim played me some demos some time back and there are plenty of highlights to be included here. Can't wait for this one!
Finally...a taste of W.E.T! Two tracks - Bad Boys and Learn To Live Again (this rocker is amazing and features both Erik and JSS on vocals) give me hope that the second album will stand up to the debut album, by Album Of The Year for 2009.
August is also shaping up to be one hot month with two highly anticipated new releases due. One of them has immediately shot to the top of my Best Of 2012 list - that's the new Eclipse album Bleed And Scream.
Eclipse have roared back to life with an absolutely massive album that is even heavier than I expected. This is really melodic hard rock at its absolute best. The guitars are so much more in your face, the tempo is furious throughout and Erik sings his absolute heart out. I swear there isn't a dull second on this album and the songs are truly epic (there's that word again...). This is heavier than any previous Eclipse album, and heavier again than the Toby Hitchcock and W.E.T. albums.
I can't wait to bring audio previews of the album to you. Especially the monster one, two, three opening punches of Wake Me Up, Bleed And Scream and Ain't Dead Yet! And the double kick drum is in overdrive for Battlegrounds and Take Back The Fear. And the track Bitter Taste starts from a balladesque base, but doesn't stay a ballad for long...but the power in it is mind-blowing. The anthem ballad About To Break is another album highlight. Stay tuned!
The new Harry Hess solo record is a different beast to that of the debut Hess album Just Another Day. It is a harder hitting record and driven more so by electric guitar than the largely acoustic driven debut. It retains that same Harry Hess/Harem sound we all love and while it is still very much a modern melodic rock album, it still should hold a lot of appeal for old school fans.
The album features a fairly consistent mid-tempo feel with several typically "Hess melancholy" ballads and mid-tempo moody rockers. Basically, any fan of Harem Scarem's Hope, Higher, Human Nature, the debut Hess and the First Signal album will love this. 10 tracks and just under 40 minutes of music - there's no filler in sight.
Highlights: Rockers - Living In Yesterday; Nothing Lasts Forever. Ballads: It's Over, Nowhere To Run. Full review of Hess & Eclipse soon...
