ARABIA is made up of members from bands like TANGIER, SKULL, CINDERELLA and newcomer John Blaze on vocals. His vocals are very raw and are already compared to singers like GRAHAM BONNETT, JAMES CHIRSTIAN. Well I also heard influences of DAVID COVERDALE and DAVID GLENN EISLEY. Anyway, the music of ARABIA is big 80s typed Arena Melodic Hard Rock.

The production is superb and just couldn't be better! Some of the songs are really great as well, so this is something to check out if you're into late 80s melodic hard rock (a la WHITESNAKE, HEAVENS EDGE, KEEL, and ATTRACTION). The best songs are "The heart is the lonely hunter" (uptempo MHR a la 80s WHITESNAKE), "Dark side of love" (another great uptempo melodic hard rock tune), "1001 nights" (good slowtempo melodic rocker), "Till the day I die" (great typical late 80s uptempo melodic rocker), "Runaway Renee" (best song, this is a superb late 80s mainstream melodic rockballad with big harmonies, catchy bridges and a damn fine chorus) and the good midtempo melodic rocker "Waiting".

This CD is sure a winner for Z RECORDS as it beats their releases of the past few months. The sound of the band is huge and a lot of songs are very catchy. A total must if you're into WHITESNAKE, HEAVENS EDGE, FIREHOUSE and the whole late 80s mainstream US Arena Melodic Hard Rock sound. Get this release a.s.a.p.!

Rating: 8,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

A-LIVE is a band from Genova, Italy and the 8 tracks on their demo CDR are pure AOR/Melodic Rock killers. This was quite a surprise for me, because I didn't expect it to be so good. The band can easily be added to the list of other Southern European AOR sensations, such as EVA, LAFASE, MARVEL, etc. etc. The band sings in their own language and in contrary to most other AOR bands, the band has two lead singers, a woman (Alessandra Borri) and a man (Marco Carbone). Both can sing very well and the results are strong duets between the two vocalists in all the songs.

The production is the only complain, because it sounds very demo orientated, but the music on the other hand is pure AOR from a very high quality. All the songs are brilliant, so I can easily say that A-LIVE is the new AOR sensation from Italy. "La notte" is the first track, a superb midtempo 80s AOR/Melodic Rocker with a very catchy chorus and a strong sound (a bit like TYKETTO). The fantastic uptempo AOR/Melodic Rocker "L'isola che non ce" follows. In this same classic 80s AOR style is the catchy "La donna dei sogni" (bridges, hooks and harmonies all over the place in this tune).

Also very good are the AOR ballads "La legge di Lara" and "Il sogno amante". Another favourite of mine is closing track "Dritto al cuore" a great semi AOR rocker. This band is a must to check out if you want to hear pure AOR. The only difference with big American AOR bands is the fact that this band sings in their own language and the production is from a lower quality. Apart from that, we are hearing a great new AOR band performing excellent music. E-mail them at: kamar@libero.it

Rating: 8,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

Out of Canada comes vocalist/keyboardplayer/guitarist JOHN BURNS. His CD is titled 'Out' and it sounds very professional. The voice of John is actually very powerful and sounds terrific! Musically it is a mixture of AOR, Symphonic Pop/Rock and some Pop elements. The production is very good and also the songs sound rather good at times. Opener "Alice" is a very nice semi progressive AOR song that sounds a bit like JOHN WETTON. Next track "The wave" is a soft pop song and is a bit disappointing, but then we get to hear a good AOR typed rocker (with boogie rhythm) titled "Where do we go from here". The CD continues with the semi AOR ballad "Fields".

The following two songs ("I don't want this to end" and "Let go") are calmer ballads and nothing that special. "Way back" is one of the highlights of the CD, because this is a very good midtempo pure AOR track. "Here I stand" follows and is another pop song with even a sax solo, so not really something of interest for us. I hear some JADIS/IQ influences in the progressive AOR song "Man overboard". The CD closes with the best track of the whole record, namely the AOR song "Interstellar drifter". Although not all songs are impressive, I can still give this CD a recommendation, because the high quality of John's musical capabilities can be heard in most of the songs. Hopefully next time some more AOR songs such as "Way back" and "Interstellar drifter". Check out John's music at: www.johnburns.allhere.com and e-mail him at: mysticpointprod@aol.com

Rating: 7,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

A little while back co-editor Willy van Buel reviewed the debut LP from this band on our CLASSIC AOR PAGE. I got an e-mail from one of the bandmembers a few months ago who told me they released a lot more records than the record discussed somewhere else on this site. The band released another LP a few years after their debut and also two compilations with re-recorded songs and unreleased songs were released throughout the years.

Their same titled debut LP is still their best effort as this album contains some great late 70s typed AOR/Pomp/Melodic Rocksongs. My favourite tracks on that record are "Need your love", "Morning light", "She was made for the night", "Taking your time", "Can you feel it" and the 70s typed Pomp Rockballad "Lovin' you" (a la STYX). Songs like those are timeless, and especially the use of the keyboards in the heavy melodic rockstyle of the band made them sound pretty unique. Definitely an album to buy if you're interested in hearing how 70s AOR Rock sounded.

The following album of the band was called 'Baby get down' and unfortunately the band changed their style a little. They upgrade their rockstyle and made it sound like typical early 80s uptempo melodic poprock like a rougher version of TOMMY TUTONE. If you like one song, you'll love them all, because practically all 10 songs were in the same uptempo rockstyle. My favourites are "Won't you be my girl", "Stay here for the night" and "Pushing so hard".

20 years after the release of their debut in 1978, the band released a CD titled '20 years after', a compilation CD with the best songs of their first two LPs, completed with 6 unreleased new songs. Unfortunately these 6 new songs are just nice rockers, but really nothing sensational. On the other hand, it's nice to hear the old songs on CD.

The band also released a CD with rare material, such as unreleased demo songs, live recordings and other archive material. This CD is titled 'Archives: concerts and demos' and
is one you should go after if you liked the band's debut LP from 1978. This CD contains 17 songs of which a lot are pretty good. Not all the songs have a good sound quality, but the really good ones can be heard with or without a crystal clear sound. The first 2 songs are live recordings of old KARROLL BROTHERS songs.

Then we get to hear 3 really interesting songs. "Heaven" is a nice poprocker, but "Good girls" and "Night time" are 2 great uptempo melodic poprockers in the best Canadian tradition of bands like STREETHEART, BAD BOY, PRISM… This is the style that suits KARROLL BROTHERS band the best and is stylish moving back to their melodic rockstyle of their debut LP.

The following 5 songs are much weaker, not only due to the bad sound quality, because the rest of the album also has songs with a bad sound quality, but these songs are much better. I am talking about the uptempo melodic rockers "Take it or leave it", "Breakout" and "See your life" and also the semi rocker "City by city" (this song has a pure Pomp chorus). The final two tracks see the band moving into a Hard Rock style a la HELIX/QUIET RIOT, so another style the band was trying to create.

After hearing all those songs of the band, I can easily say that their best work was the debut LP released way back in 1978. For that time being, it was one-helluva record that is a total
must for people who enjoy the music of bands like MOXY, ZON, ANGEL, BAD BOY and APRIL WINE. I don't know if the band has any plans for the future, but if so, I would hope for a new record with songs in the style of their debut. Anyway, get in touch with the band through e-mail at: paulkarroll@home.com

Rating: 7,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

Germany strikes back with another interesting AOR/Melodic Rockoutfit. This band is called SIR PRIZE and they are coming out of Braunschweig. 'November night' is their 3rd CD and you can clearly hear that this is a professional sounding band, because the songs are not only pretty good, but also the production is very impressive. There are only 4 songs on the album. Opener "November night" is a great 80s typed uptempo AOR/Melodic Rocker with nice keys, a catchy chorus and overall an impressive sound quality. Next track "Angels" slows things down nicely and is a fine calmer ballad. The good uptempo melodic rocker "Despair" follows. Closing track is "Life", a great slowtempo melodic rocker. SIR PRIZE is a very good German AOR/Melodic Rockband that you really need to pay a visit on the net at: http://www.sirprize.de and e-mail them at: info@sirprize.de

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

Here's another CD from the band based around guitarist/vocalist RICK RAY. 'Live at suma' is their best CD I heard so far as there are some really great songs on it. The first 5 songs are really good, such as "The voices", a good 70s typed uptempo melodic rocker. Even better is "Time for another plan", a great early 80s typed uptempo heavy AOR/Melodic Rocker that sounds like a heavier version of 1982 NIGHT RANGER. I really liked the vocals of the second singer in this song as his voice is very AORish. Also pretty good is the semi melodic rocker "Time forgotten" and the 70s typed rocker "Here for you". The other 5 songs are not that melodic, but still good 70s groovy hard rock typed songs in the style of MONTROSE. You can purchase this CD or any of the other reviewed RIOT ACT and RICK RAY CDs at: http://www.osmind.com and e-mail the band at: hobbelshnimp@hotmail.com

Rating: 7,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

I reviewed this French band a while ago when they were called THE LIGHTS, but now they are called NATACHA AND THE LIGHTS. Natacha is the first of the name of the female singer of the band, who is called Natacha Rosier. The band has released a new CD and musically they changed a bit. The music is not really heavy, but thats because almost all songs are ballads, so not much of rockers on the album. That doesn't matter, because ballads may also sound pretty good.

Opener "Epopee" is a bit weak, a 90s typed semi rocker. But the rest of the CD sounds very relaxing with some good semi AOR/Popballads such as "Les annees ont passees", "Ami" and "Lullaby". Towards the end of the CD, we can hear the best tunes and also the most AOR/Rock orientated tracks. "I don't care" is a nice uptempo poprocker a la AMY GRANT. But the two best songs are "Battle for earth" (uptempo AOR/Melodic Poprocker) and "Once in a lifetime" (best song, great semi AOR ballad in 80s HEART tradition). Some more songs in the style of the last mentioned tracks would lift this band up to higher places, but for now, they are still interesting to check out.

Especially recommended if you like ballad orientated material and don't mind some soft pop/rock influences. More info at: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/arts.music.production and e-mail at: artsmusicproduction@wanadoo.fr

Rating: 7,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

'Merrie melodies' is the title of the new CD of Swedish Hard Rockers M.O.B. The band hasn't changed their straight-ahead Hard Rock sound and so we can hear again a nice collection of pure 80s inspired KISS typed Hard Rocksongs. The best songs include the uptempo melodic hard rock songs "Miss everything", "Who's out there?", "Emotional overload", "Dark haired angel", "Wasted again" and "There's nothing at the end of the rainbow". This CD is recommended to people who like good-old fashioned hard rock a la KISS, HELIX, early GOTTHARD… More info at: http://welcome.to/M.O.B and e-mail at:
MOB_ROCKZ@HOTMAIL.COM

Rating: 7,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

VIRACOCHA is an Italian band based around keyboardplayer Mistheria who is nicknamed 'The only God of keyboards'. Well, the keyboards are surely sounding great and the cool thing about VIRACOCHA's music is that they mix progressive rock/metal, AOR and Melodic Hard Rock. The lead vocals of singer Ced are not so good, but most of the songs sound pretty good. After the instrumental intro "Hands of fire" with a lot of synthesisers and keyboards, the CD takes off with the progressive metal tune "Power". Up next is the good uptempo progressive melodic rocker "Loosing me".

Following track "Dancing alone in the moonlight" is a very nice midtempo progressive AOR song. Another instrumental piece follows, namely the very long "Devil's steps" with some great keyboardsolo's by Mistheria. The style changes again, because "Madly mad" is a good pure 80s typed uptempo melodic hardrocker. There is a beautiful guitarsolo by guitarist Maxe Freeman and some lovely keys to be heard in the semi AOR ballad "I must've been crazy". JOURNEY influences are present in the great AOR ballad "The sin". More great keys can be heard in the midtempo melodic rocker "Make your choice".

The third instrumental song is called "My dear Chopin" and features again the synthesisers of Mistheria who really is proving to be a master in this instrument. Then comes a pure progressive song entitled "Feeling nothing". The good semi progressive AOR/Melodic Rocker "What love should be" has some excellent harmonies towards the end of the song. The CD closes with the instrumental piano song "Distances".

Sometimes the CD reminds me of a heavier and progressive version of PHIL VINCENT, but overall this is hard to compare to any other band, because VIRACOCHA has created an own sort of melodic progressive AOR/Rock style that instrumental sound awesome. Only the vocals are not superb, but reasonable enough to give this a listen. More info at: http://clik.to/mistheria and e-mail them at: mistheria@libero.it Keyboard hero Mistheria will participate to the Jason Becker tribute album "Warmth in the Wilderness", released soon by Lion Music. More info on that album at: www.lionmusic.com/jasonbecker

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

I never discussed this re-issued CD by NEAT METAL RECORDS and that's a pity as it really is a great AOR CD. So here's the review after all. Well, what do I need to say about the debut of SHY, except that it is a wonderful pure classic 80s AOR/Melodic Rockalbum in the style of the band's classic records 'Brave the storm' and 'Excess all areas'. The only difference with those albums is the production. The production of their debut is not really good, but it was originally released on EBONY RECORDS back in the 1983, so you can't blame the guys for it. All EBONY RECORDS releases I have in my collection have got a terrible production, so nothing new on the horizon. Apart from the production, this album is filled with great 80s hookladen AOR/Melodic Rock.

Most of the songs are uptempo and they all sound wonderful. The best ones are "Deep water", "Tonight", "Chained by desire" and "Once bitten twice shy". The two best tracks however are the fantastic AOR ballad "Reflections" and closing track "All on you". This final track is the bonus track of the re-issued CD by Neat Metal, so very interesting to check out if you're a SHY fan. The song itself is a beautiful relaxing late-summernight semi AOR ballad. The re-issue also has a nice booklet with a SHY biography written by guitarist Steve Harris and a tree with the line-ups of SHY through the year. If you don't mind the average production, then do check out this CD, as all the 9 songs are really superb 80s AOR!

Rating: 8,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

FLYING CIRCUS is a German band with a strong 70s influenced Progressive Hard Rock sound. 'Out of the wasteland' is their second CD. The first track "The edge of the world" somehow reminds me of PHANTOM'S OPERA, although the song itself is a 70s inspired progressive melodic rocker. It's a fine start and you can definitely hear that this band has a professional sound approach. The songs are sometimes a bit too complex, which may interest progressive rockfans, because songs like "Living a lie", "Talk and thought" (13 minutes) and "The light" are songs that will appeal to fans of 70s RUSH.

The progressive semi ballad "Holding on" is very long, but has some great instrumental passages. The best songs are the semi melodic rocker "See me trying" and the midtempo melodic rocker "No reason to worry" (with it's appealing chorus). Apart from these few melodic rockers, this band is really a 70s typed progressive (hard) rock band with harder rocking tunes and softer acoustic tingled ballads. Nothing wrong about that and therefore interesting to check out if you're into this type of rock. Check out their site at: http://www.flying-circus.com and e-mail them at: flying.circus@planet-interkom.de

Rating: 7,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

The CD of THE TIRED TREE is a very well produced progressive AOR album in the style of IQ and JADIS. The instruments are played very well and most of the songs sound pretty good. This is a must for fans of mentioned progressive AOR bands. And to make it even more exciting, this is not a band, because one man has done everything. His name is Mattias Holmgren and he comes out of Sweden and is only 23 years old. I guess you can say that we have to deal here with a very talented young person who is already looking at a bright future ahead of him. It wouldn't surprise me if some progressive label would sign him pretty soon. The Demo CDR he sent me features 7 songs.

The CDR starts with the calmer progressive semi ballad "Returned to leave" that has a real IQ/JADIS feeling. Some great keyboardwork can be heard in the next song "The tired tree", this is a good semi progressive AOR rocker. "Leaving without a reason" and "Vipe away" are two keyboard based progressive ballads. "Final chime" is the best song included on the album. This is a mid 80s typed progressive AOR song with good hooks and harmonies. "More than a story" is another JADIS typed song. The closing track is the instrumental "The arrival of Sophie".

JADIS/IQ fans should check out Mattias' music at: http://starfall.soulreaper.net/tiredtree and e-mail him at: starfall@hem.passagen.se Mattias informed me that he just got musicians for the band so he will begin playing live soon.

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

The 4th CD of Swedish rockers MILLION is not a new studio-record. 'Get millionized' is a collection of the best songs from their first 3 records, completed with some unreleased demo songs and live songs. One of the live tunes include the KISS cover "Deuce" which id one very well. I regret that there's only one song from their debut CD included, because that was their best album. The song included of that record is the wonderful typical 80s uptempo melodic rocker "Sign of victory" (DOKKEN meets PINK CREAM 69). From the bonus tracks I need to mention the new demo tune "Shadow of the cross".

This is one of the best songs MILLION has recorded so far and it's a new song, so the future looks good for them! The song is a great midtempo melodic hard rock song in the best 80s Swedish tradition (DALTON/TREAT). If you haven't heard anything of this Swedish band, then do check out this best of release. Also MILLION fans need to buy this album, because there are some interesting unreleased songs on it such as the already mentioned killer song "Shadow of the cross". Check out the label's website at: http://www.a2records.com there you can find more info on the MILLION release and other releases by this English label.

Rating: 7,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

Here it is rocksters, the BIG rock album I have been screaming about for the last few months, may I welcome to the fold America's TNA. This great debut is the start of something very special. Yes my friends TNA deliver pounding American hard rock just like the way it used to be played in the 80's, big nasty greesy guitar riffs, big fist thumping anthems, big hair, etc...

What I really love about this album is the way the singer throws his voice at the songs which sound as if he's got a guitar stuck up his arse, such as on the tracks ''Draw The Line', 'Bang On The Ladder', 'Show Me Something', 'Falling Down' and 'Where's The Love', whilst the castor oil eases the guitar rash from his bowels on the Ozzy inspired ballad 'Coming Back' and the melodic 'Let Me Down Nasty' ..

TNA's material continues from where Skid Row left off with "Slave To The Grind", this album is destined to be played LOUD and annoy your neighbours. Great stuff, get it bought!
www.kivelrecords.com

Rating: 9/10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)