DARK SKY comes out of Rottweil, Germany and their debut CD 'Believe it' is pretty much a killer AOR/Melodic Rockalbum in the best 80s style. This is definitely your type of 80s Euro-AOR a la ZENO, EUROPE, ZERO, FAIR WARNING, DOMINOE, MARATHON (AOR Heaven release), CRAAFT… DARK SKY is another sensational band from Germany with a high quality release.

The CD contains 14 songs and most of them just sound incredibly good. It all starts with the EUROPE (1986 era) typed melodic rocker "Rock me", including the big pure 80s Arena rocksound with keys and huge harmonies. Next track "Stay young" is a fantastic pure 80s midtempo Euro-AOR song in the style of DOMINOE, ZENO, CRAAFT and FAIR WARNING. The very impressive semi AOR ballad "Masih adarindu" (sung in Malaysian!) is up next. This song also became a big hit in Malaysia.

Next track "In the name of God" is yet another lovely 80s orientated uptempo AOR rocker with lovely keys and catchy hooklines all over the place, a must to hear if you dig FAIR WARNING. Also the following track "Pray for the world" is a good uptempo AOR rocker, kinda like ROKO circa their debut. The following 5 songs are a little less sensational. "On and on" is a nice acoustic ballad and "Magna quaedam spectare" is the intro for "Gimme a try", a nice midtempo melodic rocker a la ROKO. In the same style we can hear "Believe it". Something totally different is the following track "Tell me why", a pure 90s Pop song that musically doesn't have anything to do with the rest of the CD. Anyway, it's only one Pop song, because the last 4 songs are all fantastic AOR/Melodic Rocksongs.

"Jane" is a great pure 80s polished Power AOR ballad a la REO SPEEDWAGON, completely with the sweet chorus filled with harmonies. The following two songs ("Living in paradise" and "Call me") are both catchy cheerful uptempo 80s AOR/Melodic Rockers a la ZINATRA, TERRA NOVA… The CD closes with "Eternity", a great AOR/Melodic Rockballad a la ZENO, FAIR WARNING… 'Believe it' is a perfect AOR/Melodic Rockalbum with a very good sound/production and some wonderful tunes. This album is a must for fans of 80s Euro-AOR in the style of mentioned bands. More info on DARK SKY at their website: http://www.dark-sky.de

Rating: 9/10

THE TRADE is actually the brainchild of one man, ED JAMES. In the past I reviewed a solo-CD of him. That CD contained cool early 80s AOR/Poprock in the early RICK SPRINGFIELD style. Now he has done a project on his own called THE TRADE. In many ways this is a brilliant piece of classy 80s AOR in the style of STAN BUSH, PHIL VINCENT, THE LADDER, BIG MOUTH… The wonderful thing about this record is that ED JAMES did everything on his own (all the instruments, vocals, the production and also all the songs were written and recorded by Ed), so I guess you can say that this is already impressive. Secondly, the songs are also very sensational, so in other words this CD is a must for the fans of pure AOR.

The best songs are the fantastic uptempo 80s AOR rockers "Perfect world", "Best laid plans", "Black and white" (PRISM style) and "Windows". These 4 songs are totally awesome pure AOR in the style of THE LADDER, PHIL VINCENT and ARC ANGEL. They all feature catchy choruses and lovely harmonyvocals, and are a total must for fans of 80s AOR. Some other good tracks include the uptempo melodic poprockers "She's come undone", "Just the facts", "Where is love?" and "Don't follow me" (again lovely harmonies) that all sound like MICHAEL MORALES' debut CD from the 80s mixed with some early RICK SPRINGFIELD.

The only songs that didn't grab my attention were the rockers "Rudy" and "The face on Mars" (90s orientated). The only track I haven't mentioned yet is the slower tempo AOR based tune "Smoke and mirrors" (a bit like FAKE ID) that is a nice little tune. This CD is a total must for those of you who like the PHIL VINCENT records and anyone into 80s AOR rock. More info on THE TRADE at: http://mp3.com/thetrade and e-mail at: meetedjames@yahoo.com

Rating: 9/10

This is really a high quality release and I can't understand why none of the AOR labels has picked it up to give it a major release. Pretty cool to call your project AOR, because that name has never been used until now. Still I have to inform you that the CD isn't pure AOR all the way, let's say it contains a lot of AOR elements.

Leader of AOR is guitarist/keyboardplayer Frederic Slama who comes out of France. He recorded this CD in L.A. with a lot of famous session musicians like Gregg Bissonette, Lenny Castro, Steve George, Richard Page, Carlos Vega and Michael Thompson. One of the main players though is a guy called Peter Hume who is playing keyboards, guitars, bass and drums on all songs (pretty impressive). John Fluker, Doug St. John and David D. Chamberlin do the lead vocals on the 12 included songs.

I have to admit that the production and quality of the songs is from a very high level and this could've easily been a big hit back in the mid 80s when a lot of artists/bands produced this type of westcoast-AOR. I hear comparisons to TOTO, DAKOTA, AIRPLAY, DAVID ROBERTS and some more recent influences (ALIAS, BRETT WALKER, MARK FREE). The general sound is not really heavy and is focused on relaxing light AOR influenced Westcoast songs with some beautiful vocals and keyboard parts.

Happily there are also some uptempo AOR rockers to be found on the record which makes it also interesting for the fan of pure AOR. The CD starts very soft with the early 80s westcoast AOR ballad "Never gonna let her go" that easily could've been on any album of TOTO, DAVID ROBERTS or AIRPLAY. Also pretty soft is the next track called "On dangerous ground", this song is just pure I-TEN ("Lonely in each other's arms"). Next up are two very good AOR songs ("Caught inside your heart" and "Worlds away"). The latter is a lovely AOR ballad in the style of ALIAS and MARK FREE ('Long way from love' area).

Things get calmer on the following two songs ("In my crystal ball" and "The way of the night"), though we're still in AOR territory (think RICHARD MARX). Then we're down to pure AOR with the only uptempo song which is the fantastic classy 80s AOR rocker "Leave her to heaven". This is really an awesome song and reminds me a lot of DAKOTA and SYNCH with the perfect harmonies and soaring vocals. Finally a rocker and I hope there are some more rockers like this on a future record of AOR. Next track "Only in my dreams" is another great AOR song, this song features some lovely AOR keys and ends up being a great AOR ballad in the ALIAS style. So we just had the two best songs of the CD, because the following tracks are again a bit poppier. "From L.A. to Tokyo is actually pure Pop, but I have to admit that this is high quality Pop because it's damn catchy and radio-ready. If radiostations would pick this up, then in a few weeks it could turn out to something huge, but I would rather see an AOR song making it to the airwaves.

Anyway, the CD continues with the relaxing AOR song "Lost in your eyes". "Don't let her go" is the second rocker, only lighter, still good quality AOR a la 70s DAKOTA/JERRY KELLY. The CD closes nicely with the AOR ballad "Love has found it's way". Although AOR isn't pure AOR, still this is a high quality release that needs to be heard by every AOR fan. It is a total must for people who like Westcoast AOR a la DAVID ROBERTS, AIRPLAY, LA COWBOYS, TOTO, PROMOTION, HIGHER GROUND, DAKOTA etc. etc. You can buy a copy of this CD at AOR HEAVEN: http://www.aorheaven.com or WISHING WELL: http://www.wishingwellonline.com E-mail bandleader Frederic Slama at: fredericslama@hotmail.com

Rating: 8,5/10

ESCAPE MUSIC has done a pretty good job with the release of the new CD of JESTER. The new CD is called 'Digitalia'. This is their 3rd CD, but their first one on Escape Music. Now Escape Music has also re-released the band's second CD 'Tales from the boogieman', and guess what, 'Digitalia' is a double CD, because the second CD of this package is JESTER's 2nd CD. Basically you'll get the 2nd and 3rd CD of JESTER for the price of one, can't get better than this I am afraid. I discussed their 2nd CD a long time ago, a great melodic hard rock album that was right up there with bands like HEAVENS EDGE, DOKKEN, LION, ATTRACTION…

Best songs on 'Tales from the boogieman' are the catchy uptempo pure 80s melodic rockers "Ain't what is used to be" and "Can't stop the world" and also the lovely late 80s Power Melodic Rockballad "All out of tears". The new CD 'Digitalia' starts a bit different than their previous effort. The first two songs ("Digitalia" and "Radio') are both very weak 90s inspired groovy rockers. The song "Anything and everything" is much better and is a nice semi melodic rocker. Suddenly there's the fantastic late 80s Power AOR ballad "More than I know". Wow, this is a gorgeous song in the style of SAVANNAH and BOSTON, definitely the best song on this disc.

"Voodoo" follows and is a nice semi melodic rocker. The uptempo MHR song "Rock and a hard place" is up next. Then comes another fantastic song. This is the catchy 80s uptempo melodic rocker "Enter you". "Main attraction" is a nice midtempo melodic rocker. "Give it back" is the next track and this is one of the highlights of the record, because this is a lovely acoustic ballad with some superb vocals and harmonies throughout the song.

The final two songs are average, the partyrocker "Who's your daddy?" and the slow rocker "Viva-a-gogo (nothing for free)". Although the new CD of JESTER has some ups and downs, it's a nice melodic hardrockalbum. For many European melodic rockfans, also the band's 2nd CD (included in the CD package of this new CD of the band) is a nice welcome as this is a great piece of melodic hardrock a la HEAVENS EDGE, DOKKEN, LION… and now available for the first time in Europe as a Free Bonus CD!

Rating: 7,5/10

GINA'S ALCHEMY from Wisconsin, USA released their debut 'The magick volume 1' in 1998. Musically this female fronted band is playing AOR/Melodic Rock with influences from HEART and JEFFERSON STARSHIP. Although the songs remind me indeed of those acts, the best comparison I can come up with is the band STORM. That female fronted rockband released two LPs (in 1979 and 1983) and actually GINA'S ALCHEMY sounds dangerously close to that band. On the other hand I don't think they know that band, so let's just keep it on the typical HEART (their 70s rocksound, not the 80s Arena AOR sound) and JEFFERSON STARSHIP (due to the Grace Slick typed vocals of lead singer Gina Citoli) similarity.

There are 9 songs on the CD. Opener "The magick" is a great semi AOR ballad a la HEART and PRIVATE LIFE. The good semi melodic rocker "The alchemist" follows. The next two songs are nothing sensational, the 70s ballad "Eyes of a child" and the semi rocker
"Magick in the mirror". "Moon tune" is pretty good, this is a slower tempo melodic rocker with a pure 70s approach. The song reminds me a lot of HEART's "Crazy on you", but it's not a copy of course, just along the same lines. Then comes an experimental tune titled "Earth song", a very long epic song with many different musicstyles. There is an acoustic part, a poppy ballad part and also about one and a half minute the song is a nice uptempo melodic rocker with a very catchy chorus (shame it couldn't last longer). The acoustic ballad "A thousand years of peace" is a bit weak. The closing two songs are my favourites on the record. First there is the lovely uptempo AOR rocker "Dancer".

The CD finishes off with the uptempo melodic poprocker "Celebration". Although not the whole CD is pure AOR/Melodic rock, there are still plenty songs to check out if you're into
HEART, JEFFERSON STARSHIP and STORM. The band recently changed their name into ALCHEMY 7 and below is a review of their new mini-CD.

Rating: 7,5/10

This is the follow-up to the above reviewed GINA'S ALCHEMY. The new CD contains 4 songs. The music style hasn't changed a bit (happily). Opener "In your name" is a 70s typed rocker a la early JEFFERSON STARSHIP. Next track "Shape shifter" captures that perfect 80s AOR sound (HEART style) and is definitely one of the better tunes of the band so far. "Need more" reminds me of other newcomers RADAR, a nice semi melodic rockballad. The CD closes with the weak popballad "Forever". This band really has some potential to release a sensational record. I think the future looks very promising for this band and I really look forward to a new full-length release. In the meantime, you can check out their music at: http://AlchemyVII.Listen.to and e-mail them at: alchemy@pressenter.com

Rating: 7,5/10

OTHERWORLD from Australia is playing melodic hardrock/heavy rock with some Bluesrock influences. The band sent me their most recent demo tape which includes 4 songs recorded live in Adelaide, May 2000. Although it is recorded live, I think the songs show that this is a band worth checking out. The best songs are "Self preservation" (nice semi melodic rockballad) and "Two worlds collide" (pretty good 70s/80s melodic hardrock like WHITESNAKE, RAINBOW, BAD COMPANY and FOREIGNER).

The other two songs are a bit weaker (and heavier as well). The band also sent me their demo tape from 1999, but the 3 songs on this one are not as good as their recent demo, so they definitely made progress. I hope to hear some more catchy uptempo melodic rockers a la "Two worlds collide" on their upcoming debut album. More info on OTHERWORLD at: http://www.mp3.com/otherworld1 and e-mail them at: otherworldrocks@hotmail.com

Rating: 7/10

Rik Galliano from St. Louis, USA is yet another multi-instrumentalist. His debut CD 'Dancing in light' shows the talent of this man, because there are some killer tracks on the album. The album contains both instrumental and vocal tracks. Opener "Anthem to Gaia" is just a short instrumental intro for the upcoming titletrack "Dancing in light". This is a fantastic instrumental 80s typed fun melodic rocker. I wonder how the song would have sounded with vocals on it. Anyway, following track "Point of view" does feature vocals and rightaway I hear that Rik is a very talented singer, because his vocals are very skilled and sound just perfect. The song itself is a great KANSAS meets STREETS influenced melodic pomprocker (mid 80s style).

The next two songs are less interesting, because these are an instrumental acoustic tune ("Seasons") and "Whip cream" (a very weak funk rocker a la MOTHERS FINEST). The following 3 songs are again very impressive. First there is the great uptempo melodic pomprocker "Long way home" that sounds like a mix between the debut of MESSAGE and SOJOURN. The instrumental melodic rocker "Fingo shuffle" follows and is very nice to hear.

Then comes the best track of the whole CD, namely the classy 80s hookladen uptempo AOR rocker "Someplace to hide". This song has a superb bridge, killer harmonies and is actually quite superb. A killer AOR tune that sounds like a cross between TOUR DE FORCE, CRYSTAL, WHITE SISTER and TAKARA. If Rik would throw more songs like these on a future record, it would definitely be very sensational.

The closing two songs are nothing special. "Reflections" is an instrumental song, while final track "1-900-ima-loser" is a very weak humorous Zappa typed song that sounds more like a joke then a serious song. Nevertheless, this CD has a couple of fantastic highlights for the fan of pure 80s AOR. The production is pretty good and both the instrumental and vocal parts sound very professional. In other words, check out Rik's music a.s.a.p. at: http://www.violetskyrecords.com and e-mail him at: rickg@mcmurraymusic.com

Rating: 8/10

Out of Toronto, Canada comes vocalist/guitarist Bill Rogers. His debut CD is called 'Pirate in a cage' and contains 10 well-performed poprockers that sound pretty close to the last couple of BRYAN ADAMS albums. There are also soem other similarities to be heard throughout the CD, but in general Bill reminds me of his fellow countrymen. Not only musically, but also vocally Bill can be compared to Bryan.

Opener "Labrador" is a nice semi melodic rocker with a chorus a la PHIL VINCENT and ALDO NOVA, the song itself has 90s rock moments, but it still is very melodic. In this song Bill also reminds me of RICK SPRINGFIELD. In fact, I think Rick would love to do a song like this, especially the lyrics are also just perfect for him. Anyway, the CD continues with "Make it better", one of the highlights as this is a typical Canadian AOR ballad like we heard
from artists like BRYAN ADAMS, VAN STEPHENSON and DAN LUCAS in the past. I really like this song and hopefully I can hear some more of such ballads on a future recording.

"You make me feel like a man" is BRYAN ADAMS poprock all the way, just read out the title of the song! Much weaker is the 90s rocker "Morning pain", although the song features a cool 80s guitarsolo. "Free range angel" is different, this is quirky melodic poprocker that sounds like a cross between MICHAEL ZEE and MARTIN BRILEY. Cheerful early 80s melodic poprock can be heard in the song "City skies" (good tune a la RICK SPRINGFIELD's long-forgotten "Jessie's girl").

Back into BRYAN ADAMS poprock with "Big enough to cry". These last two mentioned songs are my favourites, besides the already mentioned "Make it better". The last 3 songs are nothing special, especially "Nothing to give" spoils this rather nicely done poprock album. This song is a terrible country tune that has nothing to do with the rest of the songs. Apart from that one song, this is a good melodic poprockalbum and recommended if you like BRYAN ADAMS and RICK SPRINGFIELD. More info at: http://www.interlog.com/~wdr and e-mail Bill at: wdr@interlog.com

Rating: 7,5/10

South-Africa is a country where melodic rock always has been underground and if I am counting right I know 4 or 5 real melodic rockbands from the past. However, the past few years I discovered there are many more melodic rockbands. Bands like OFF THE EDGE, LITTLE SISTER, THE LOUD are great melodic rockbands that all released a few albums. The latest melodic rockband I discovered is the band SHYMOON who are fronted by lead singers Audrey Spiller and Craig Parsons. The CD looks very professional and also sounds pretty good actually.

The music is very close to their fellow countrymen of LITTLE SISTER. It's not pure 80s AOR/Melodic Rock, because instrumental there are some 90s influences (sometimes it sounds pretty experimental). Happily the choruses of all the songs are very melodic and a must to hear for the fans of catchy AOR. "What" is the intro for the first song "Backsliding (don't walk away)", this is a nice semi melodic rocker with a very nice chorus, although the song itself is a bit experimental (kinda like ZIA LINDBERG).

Next track "Catch me if you can" has a great AOR/Melodic Rock chorus (a la TWO PIECE PUZZLE, LITTLE SISTER). "Create" is another short intro. "Baby it's wrong" has a fantastic uptempo AOR chorus (a la PRISM), but the song itself has few experimental moves but the chorus makes it all up. The good uptempo melodic poprocker "Love is a cruel" is sounding like early PAT BENATAR. Next track "The bridge" is a pretty good semi melodic rockballad a la HARLOW. Another good uptempo melodic poprocker can be heard in the shape of "Mother".

Then comes one of the best songs, namely the song "It's in your eyes" with it's lovely pure AOR chorus, I love it! The first weaker rocker is "Scream". The CD closes nicely with the midtempo melodic rocker "Cheap wine" and the acoustic ballad "Where angels guard the sky" (a la LENITA ERICKSON, CHALLENGE). There are some great songs on this disc. The band has a female and male vocalist who both can sing pretty well, so the melodic rock of SHYMOON will attract a lot of people. Mostly recommendable to fans of LITTLE SISTER and TWO PIECE PUZZLE. More info on this South-African band at: http://www.mp3.com/SHYMOON and e-mail them at: gmusic@onebox.com

Rating: 8/10

TETRAD from Virginia, USA is working on their second CD, but over here I got their debut CD 'Teacher of pain' from 1997. There are 10 songs on the CD and musically they play 80s typed melodic hardrock/metal. A lot of times they remind me of LOST ANGEL, some other indie band I reviewed last year. Other similar bands include ROUGH CUTT, KIX, KROKUS, DIRTY LOOKS, DIRTY BLONDE…

The best songs are the melodic rockers "Greed" (KEEL/ROUGH CUTT style), "Sad song" (great melodic rockballad a la DIRTY LOOKS), "Down on life" (slow melodic rock song) and the catchy 80s uptempo melodic rocker "Love is blind" (a la BLACK'N'BLUE). The rest is just nice to listen to, except for "Hell fire burn" and "Just like me", these are two weak metal songs that sound like the 90s (PANTERA style). In general, this is just a nice melodic hardrockalbum, recommended if you like bands such as KIX, DIRTY BLONDE, LOST ANGEL, ROUGH CUTT, RECKLESS… More info at: http://www.tetrad.com and e-mail them at: TETRAD00@AOL.COM

Rating: 7,5/10

Some time ago I reviewed the 3-track demo CD of this band from Virginia, USA. They now sent me the complete demo CD with 6 songs of which I already discussed 3 tracks. Musically WINGS OF MERCY has created an own style that contains elements of AOR/Melodic Rock (80s) and Heavy Rock (90s). The 3 new songs are the slower melodic rockers "Substitute" and "When you fall" and closing track "Dry" (a nice uptempo melodic rocker). Their live set also includes covers of JOURNEY and NIGHT RANGER and on the other hand bands like ALICE IN CHAINS, so there you have the reason why this band sounds so unique with their melodic updated heavy rocksound. Check out this band at: http://www.wingsofmercy.com and e-mail them at: theband@wingsofmercy.com

Rating: 7,5/10

Another melodic pop/rock band out of Germany. This band is called TIMSHAL and they come out of the city of Tubingen. Their self titled debut CD contains 15 songs and especially the beginning is pretty good. Opener "Winner" is a good semi melodic rockballad. Next track "The Promised Land" is the best song of the whole CD. This song is a wonderful catchy cheerful 80s typed AOR/Melodic Rocker a la TERRA NOVA. Unfortunately this is the only uptempo rocker on the whole CD, so hopefully the band throws in some more of such songs on a future CD. The following track "Love song" is a nice melodic rockballad.

Then things become quite poppy. Actually after the first 3 melodic rocksongs, suddenly the band switches to a 'pop' format. Songs like "Sky", "Miracle", "Getting over you", "That's the price you pay", "try", "Chips and amaretto" and "Crossroads" are just pure Popsongs and have nothing to do with melodic rock. The only songs worth mentioning are "Island" (a nice melodic rockballad, sadly disturbed by a saxsolo), "Wise voices" (another nice melodic rockballad) and the melodic poprocker "Steppin' out".

The CD started pretty good with 3 nice melodic rocksongs, but what follows is a very 'pop' orientated style. Hopefully a next CD will see the band performing more rocksongs. In the meantime check out their site at: http://www.timshal.de and e-mail them at: mail@timshal.de

Rating: 6,5/10

Out of San Antonio, Texas comes ANNIE O MOSS. This is not the name of the singer, but the name of the band. The band features a female vocalist called Debbie Fiedler who has a very raw voice. The melodic poprock of the band sounds a bit like PAT BENATAR, SHAWNA and LAURIE AND THE SIGHS, only rawer. There are 6 songs on the CD. Opener "Longest journey" is a bit experimental 90s typed tune, yet melodic enough to listen to.

Next track "See thru eyes" is a raw bluesy poprocker, very much like SHAWNA (Long Island Records). The raw rocker "2 Liner" is a bit too much sounding like TINA TURNER for me, so nothing for us melodic rockers. The final 3 songs are the best songs, especially the melodic rockballad "Pain". Recommended to fans of raw melodic poprock (think: SASS JORDAN, ZIA LINDBERG…). More info at: http://www.mp3.com/anniomoss and e-mail them at: anniomoss@satx.rr.com

Rating: 6,5/10

Out of Illinois, USA comes ROTTER, a band former around PUSH guitarist Steve Rotter. Steve sent me a promotional CD with 4 songs. Opener "Freak show" is a good progressive melodic rocker like TNT meets QUEENSRYCHE with some MALMSTEEN thrown in for good measure. Next track "I Remember" is a nice acoustic ballad. "Quite a hassle" is a short instrumental guitarsolo. The CDR closes with "Freaks", a great instrumental melodic rocker. Hopefully Steve's next CD will feature some more vocal tracks as the only vocal song on this CDR came out best. More info at: http://www.concentric.net/~mozart and e-mail ROTTER at: mozart@concentric.net

Rating: 7/10

Out of South East Wisconsin, USA comes BLIND AMBITION. They released their debut CD 'Caught dreamin' last year. Musically they play heavy rock with influences from melodic hardrock and a lot of songs have a 90s groove. The best songs are "Distorted mind" (semi melodic rocker), "Edge of time" (uptempo melodic rocker), "Political lies" (good melodic chorus, song itself is a slow tempo rocker) and closing track "Sittin' in a feelin'" (nice melodic rocker).

Most of the other songs are weaker, and more 90s based, especially "Caught dreamin'", "Mystic love", "Where did the time go?" and "Inside me" are examples of that groovy heavy raw rocksound. Check out this band at: http://blindambitionrocks.com and e-mail them at: Dom@swineman.com

Rating: 7/10

Formed in the mid 90's California's SIRENS WAIL have just issued their killer debut album called 'Blind Hinger' which has got dj's at San Diego radio stations very excited

The band play awesome melodic metal which kicks ass from start to end. Listen to songs like 'Wasted Time',which rocks out just as much as bands like Tesla and Great White through to Megadeth and Slayer. One of the cd's best tracks is a song called 'My Name' which is very melodic and very very catchy. Lead vocalist Rich Mayo seems to be able to deliver all sorts of different vocal ranges which will leave listeners very impressed indeed. I like 'My Name' because of the musics simplicity. Rich almost sounds a cross between Jon Bon Jovi, Geoff Tate and the singer from Tesla, the song just latches it's claws into you, proving that Sirens Wail are an interesting band to keep your eye on and for further information you can reach them at sirenswail@aol.com or http://www.sirenswail.com

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)

Inspired by Boston, Styx, Kansas, Ted Nugent, Van Halen, Bad Company, Stryper and White Heart are an interesting Christian AOR band called STEELWIND from Texas. The bands debut album 'Heaven's Calling' has been excellently produced by singer/guitarist Kevin Humphrey and features ten songs that may appeal to fans of the afforementioned bands.

The best songs on 'Heaven's Calling' are 'On The Rock', 'Pretender', 'Friend In A High Place' and the ballad 'Lean Not To Your Understanding' all of which show that the band are heading in the right direction and feature superb harmony vocals from Kevin Humphrey coupled with some classy guitar work from Michael Clary and pompish keys from Billy Oliver. All in despite a few average songs Steelwind deliver what is expected and you can reach the band at http://www.steelwind.net or Email: kcharvel@aol.com

Rating: 7/10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)

TOM WILSON is a 24 year old musician from Indiana. By the age of fourteen he had learned to master the guitar and went on to develop his vocals abilities whilst picking up on various other instruments.

Wilson's first band was 'Johnny Monster' a local band that won a competition to shoot a promo video for one of their songs which resulted with the band touring with Honeymoon Suite, Head East and the Blue Oyster Cult.. Wilson then went onto to form another band called 'HOSTILE AMISH', who became known locally for their stage show of farmyard animals which they bought on stage with them.

Now in 2000 Wilson has his first release into solo land. It's called 'Darkness And Light', an album which will remind listeners of Extreme, Ozzy Osbourne, Blue Oyster Cult, Blackfoot, Michael Schenker and at times Pearl Jam, with the only problem being in the production department. This however doesn't stop songs like 'Zen Disturbed' and the brilliant 'A New Heart' from being catchy and moody , especially the latter which is a very spiritual song where we can hear Wilson's voice singing almost identically to Ozzy Osbounre and Gary Cherone from Extreme. The Ozzy influences can be heard again on 'Threshold' whilst 'Beside You' and 'Journey' are softer and calmer songs showcasing diversity in Wilson's songwriting. The sound of this album is very seventies, and as I already mentioned the production doesn't always hold up, but as always it's the music that counts and providing that Wilson can concentrate his art like on the afforementioned songs then I feel that his next release may be pretty good as this feels where his heart is musically.

You can contact Tom Wilson for more information via Email: twilson@itiaccess.com

Rating: 5,5/10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)

Taking the US night club cricuit by storm is a Canadian artist called RICK ROCK whose self titled debut album, actually came out in 1994 and has been unforgivingly ignored by the music press,this is such a shame as Rock has perfecty arranged and produced a great little album that would satisfy any number of rock fans who buy records from such labels as MTM and AOR Heaven.

Rock's music is a brillaint cross section of hard rock and pop rock which plays like a blend of Bob Seger, Aerosmith, Boston, Billy Joel, Kansas, Jimmy Martin, Stan Bush,Richard Marx and Journey.

Songs to check out are 'Know How To Win ', 'The Traveller' and 'Radio City' which is one of my favourites from his album. Hopefully Rock has recorded more material since this release and as soon as I found out we will inform you on how he has developed his style since the release of this excellentl album. Defnitley an artist to check out. Email: rrock3@home.com or http://www.skybuisness.com/rockman2

Rating: 7,5/10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)