When reviewing a progressive record you must take two central pillars: the musicianship and the songs. Cairo have an unbalanced combination of both. The band spent a couple of years striving to surpass the level of musical caftmaship and certainly a lot is going on in "Conflict and Dreams"... maybe too much.
Their combination of inmense keyboards and AOR like melodies is more than nice but in the majority of tunes I think they try to go much too far and get lost in a spider's web of virtuosism that left you wondering where was the good song you were listening at the beginning. "Angels and Dreams", the first song in the record, is a good example of this. Of course, if you love to add to your daily diet a brutal amount of keyboard and guitar solos Cairo last opus will drive you crazy but sometimes I feel like this is much too self-indulgent and barroquian. "Conflict and Dreams" contains 6 tracks and for me the highlight is the second one "Corridors" which kicks off with a Prog/AOR melody and has all the necessary elements to be a good prog composition with Yes and Genesis elements here and there.
All in all, this is not a bad record, but for me Cairo should go on a musical diet. They are very good musicians but should also focus their work on the songwritting and not only in their musical abilities.

Fiore new album has seen the light of day just a year after his critically aclaimed debut. This time around little things have changed and Harry Hess from Harem Scarem is still involved in the production and he also writes and plays (along with Pete Lessperance) some songs. It's obvious then that this sophomore effort is still something for Harem Scarem fans but, appart from this, I think the intention has been to develope other directions as well. Just imagine how would sound the Harems mixed with a good dose of Matchbox 20, Semisonic and all this good, young melodic acts hitting the American scene. To me the intention was to make a product with a modern sound yet melodic and, in my opinion, Fiore has succeded in this commitment. The songs are live, direct and the fact that the record is just 38 minutes long is a clear proof of the band's intentions. The only complaint I do have is that the album sounds very uniderictional and though there is not a single second wasted I had the impression of having heard this same riff two cuts before. I strongly believe that given the right exposure this would do well in the American market. No joke! If I were MTM I would put my savings on a good video and a wise marketing campaing... As I have said before it's hard to choose some particular tracks as all of them are good enough to be mentioned though the opener "Fool Yourself" which has some Brett Walker hints or "The Only Way We'll Know" are particular favs.
I believe that the duo Fiore/Hess have creted a sound that comes closer to the chance for a commercial success AOR outside the AOR circles. Is anyone listening to me ??!!

He has done it again! Marc Mangold formerly in Touch, Drive She Said, American Tears and Michael Bolton, has build another great AOR record. And when I say AOR I mean AOR in the purest of its forms. Some will say "nothing new under the sun", yes, that's true but who cares when it's that good. The project is more a copilation of songs Mark has been writing with people like Bolton, Aldo Nova, Jack Ponte and his former bandmate in Drive She Said Al Fritsch who brings back the classical sound of the band in some of the best songs in here like the fabulous "Cross My Heart" or "Never Say Never". The old Michael Bolton sound (when he was AOR an black-haired) is also present with "Tonight" which also was on the Japanese edition of the Tour de Force 2nd album. "You Never Know the Magic" is impressive with its shiny keyboards, which is basically the instrument that drives the sound of the record something that also happened in other Mangold projects. The ballad "I am the One" is the only track written by the other half of the band, vocalist Tod Googing, who owns a voice in between Frisch and Bolton. By the way, the tune is wonderful. The only track letting the side down is the rocker "Can't wait on Love" but it's easily forgotten when you hear "Live Wire" who had me thinking of giving Mangold the "King of dut-dut keys" award.
Mystic Healer captures the essence of AOR, so if you liked Mark Mangold past works you will love this one. For me, it's one of the best releases of the last year and a must for all AOR fans.

Janine Stange is a newcomer, young (she's only 21) vocalist from the NY area. Her music is definetly Christian rock as you could say by the lyrics all over "One Way" which is her debut album though she has been singing since she was ten years old. Janine's music could be labeled as melodic hard rock with a modern twist especially because of the guitar work.
Basically, what I found most annoying when listening to this album is Mike Tamer's job. He is the man behind each one of the instruments which results in a low quality sound and no band sense at all. He has definetly given some alternative touches to the overall sound and that, in my opinion, works against Janine good vocal work (sorry Mike!). "One Way" is the song that opens the cd and by far the best in it with a fine chorus. Basically, the highs come when Janine vocals have air to breathe (like in "How Many Times") and that happens not many times. The obscure "I Know You" lacks of melody and "With Me" has a distorsed verse developing in a rocking refrain that just doesn't work. The rest of the record follows this same rocking vein with a couple of exceptions: the keyboard-driven soul/westcoast ballad "I Want You to Know".
It's hard for me to give a bad review to a young artist. She obviously has the voice and her upcoming album, which will be a softer rock opus, should prove that she's capable of better things than this debut album. If you want more info on Janine Stange's career just visit her site: www.janinestange.com.

The Escape label has always been most known for their classic AOR-sounding releases. Their newest signing, the young Aussie band Empire, is not exactly fitting in this regularity and offers the most hard rocking album in the label's roster.
I can hear very different influences in this album. "Head" could have been included in Skid Row's first cd while "Squeeze" has some modern/punk touches. The "Feel", which is the best track of the album, is a pure AOR tune with a very beautiful chorus and bridge. "There's a Time" is an acoustic ballad in a Rick Price vein. So as you can see if variety is your cup of tea Empire has what it takes to please your tastes. The fifth track "Stand" is a powerful blend of Hard Rock, modern edge and melody and Human Race comes to mind, also the same happens in "All I want". The final tracks are more eighties-laden hard, not so thunderous, not really impresive either. The farewell is a faithful cover of the Kiss classic "Detroit Rock City".
I think that on one hand, classic AOR fans would find little enjoyment in this one but on the other hand, it's obvious that this record is a good piece of powerful yet polished guitar-driven hard rock. If you have been enjoying releases like Human Race or even Emerald Rain, Empire is one to watch.

When I read Magna Carta's promotional sheet I began to realize this record was going to be great. But it was not just until "War for Sale" was turning on the cd deck that I started to raise my eyebrows. Yes, if you have enjoyed Queensryche "Operation: Mindcrime" or Dream Theater's "Images and Words" this third record from the American progers Shadow Gallery must should be a must buy for you.
"Tyranny" is a conceptual album. A moniker that could sound selfindulgent at times but when it's done with talent it becomes an amazing adventure, and Shadow Gallery have this talent. The story goes around a top US militar who becomes the main character in a play where conspiracy and secret societies rule the system. Computer hacking, familiar death, greed and human affection will develope the whole story created by the main songwritter Carl Madden-James. The musical part is not less impressive. Echoes from Queen, Savatage, Queensryche, Dream Theater are all over the 14 tracks. From the opener and superb "Love For Sale", to the impressive ballad "Hope for Us?" which sent a shiver down my spine or the fantastic "Roads of Thunder", which is filled with great keybords in a Kansas vein, every song is a highlight in itself. The balance between uptempos and slower tracks is fantastic and, although there's great virtuosism going all over, the songs have air to breathe. To make this disc even more appealing there are some very special guests: James LaBrie (Dream Theater) plays the role of the dying father of the main character in "I Believe" and DC Cooper from Royal Hunt is the mysterious emailer in "New World Order".
I have certainly spent long hours with this record but everytime I listen to it I would raise the mark some more points. If you are missing older Dream Theater this will be your prog cd of the year... it's for sure much better than their last "Falling into Infinity" opus. "Tyranny" has the right songs, smart lyrics, a musical dexterity behind that makes it a serious contender for the cd of the year and one of the best prog rock record of the nineties. A record I will bring to a desert island. A must buy even if your are not very much into prog. Is it too soon to call this a classic opus??

Hotwire is a German four-piece that released its first album in 1995. Their debut will be mostly remembered by the nice femenine bottom appearing in the cover rather than by the quality of the songs in it. Luckily enough, this second effort has the songs missing in the previous cd so who cares if there is no bottom this time.
There has been some replacements in between both releases. Hotwire has a new guitarrist: Alex Espinosa and there is not Lessman-Ziller (Bonfire) production though they have managed to make this album sound quite well and very tight. The opener track, which is preceded by the instrumental intro "No Words", is the Fair Warning/Zeno-influenced "Once in my Life". A pure slice of the classic German arena AOR. "Closer to the Heart" is also a very elegant slow tempo. And it's obvious that the band have concentrated themselves in the slow-tempos as we can hear by the next track "Holdin' Back the Time" or "Waiting for a Sign" that reminds me to Street Talk. In fact just the average cock rocker "Under Your Skin" and and the excellent epic track "Stay in Motion" are true rocking numbers. I also find very appealing the mid-tempo "Save Me".
Well-crafted tunes build Hotwire comeback should establish them next to bands like Jaded Heart. More mature, elegant and AOR oriented than the debut, though maybe 2 or 3 more rockers would have balanced the disc a little bit more. All in all, this is one strongly recommended to every lover of German AOR.

I suppose the majority of you, beloved readers, already know this Danish band. Their wise combination of progressive hard rock and AOR has make Royal Hunt one of the favourite bands of the Japanase audience. That leads us to the amazing amount of a million records sold worldwide... something that the most willing and optimistic AOR band would agree before the first record deal.
"Paradox" is the ultimate effort by keyboard wizard Andre Andersen and his lot which includes american singer DC Cooper (with his solo album now out in Japan) plus session man Jacob Kjoer and bassist Steen Morgensen. The beginning is more than impressive with "River of Pain" which features an awesome refrain, an amazing guitar work and a key solo with the best of Jon Lord, Jens Johansson and Mic Michaeli. Royal Hunt feature his combination of melodies of classically trained skills all over "Paradox". It's a sort of unmistakeable and personal mark I'd say. "Message to God" begins quietly with Andre's piano but developes into a monster track with a great melody that will amuse fans of Scandinavian melodic Hard Rock. "Long way Home" follows the same path as its predecessor, slow beginning and magnifiecient end. "Time will Tell" is the most prog track clocking over the nine minutes mark. The American edition (released by Magna Carta) of "Paradox" contains 2 additional bonus tracks. The first one is the instrumental passage "Martial Arts" and the second "The Final Lullaby" which is a great and quite moody tune .
I suppose Royal Hunt music produce different feelings among the audience. But certainly is a top-class band which does not concentrate in showing off their great sum of musical abilities but creates good songs, creating a crossover of many melodic styles. Yet progresive, hard, AOR it's a winning formula that you should discover. Great record.

Based around Paul Hodson songwritting skills, this Christian five-piece coming from the States delivers a sober combination of soaring vocals, acoustic guitars and tunes in an America, Jeff Larson vein.
For some POMPsters out there this must come as a surprise because the producer in this release is none other than Jeff Cannata. Anyway, this is far away from the layers of keyboards and inmense solos of Jeff past work.
Z Plan "Circus" is to appeal the lovers of midwest and American rootsy pop-rock and The Eagles or Brett Walker and the Railbirds easily come to my mind. Above all, we get ballads and slow-tempos in the first 75% of the record, with the excepcion of the opener midtempo "So long to Yesterday", being the wonderful "Calling Out" the best cut in it and the titletrack the lowest point with a kind of marry-go-round, fair-like melody.
After a couple of rockers (Don't Wanna Wait" and "Let Love Lead the Way") the record ends with the mellow "Lessons" which is also one of the the highlights in the record. It has the spirit of seventies acoustic pop all over it and ends with a shiny melody with a great vocal harmony. "Circus" must be in the list of America-like ballads fans. It could have become a more juicy record with some more uptempos because it turns our a little bit unidirectional at times. On the other hand, clearly the ballads are the best in here so the choice seems quite wise.

Maybe you remember Scarlet Rose for their debut "Prime"(1995) wich was critically acclaimed by the European press. The band's female vocalist Steffi Brill cause great stir and was prized with the Best German rock vocalist award.
F.A.C.E.S. (noun formed with the first letter of each member's name) reflects an unusual maturity in the compositions of this young five-piece. The ryhtym sections shines particurarly in the best tunes and some programming is added to create a sort of European hi-tech Melodic Rock. F.A.C.E.S. is not an instant album but I do recommend to listen to it very carefully because it has a lot to offer. From the opener "Ship from Outer Space" which is simply delightful and features a great keyboard solo by the other girl in the band: Coco Augustin. "Aim is Immortality" starts with some acoustic guitars to develope into a mid-tempo track with a fantastic instrumental part that keeps on growing from the bass and drums to burst into a classy guitar solo. The single, which was released some time ago with an unreleased track and a different version of "I see You" included in the first album, is "The Sun in your Eyes" which I also like a lot. "Say Goodbye" is once again in the Hi-Tech field and it is definetly groovy, captivating and swirling. The second half brings a couple of tracks (the rocker "Caught in Between" and the ballad "Curious to Know") that do not reach the levels of excellence shown in the five previous tracks but after the selftitled intro "Take my Hand" is also great stuff with, once again, the keyboards and programming of Coco wich build this uplifting tune.
F.A.C.E.S. is a record with a lot of work behind. Elegant and well-crafted compositions for a band that, I don't fear to say, are one of the brightest hopes for the AOR to survive. Please spread the word and support Scarlet Rose superb music.

Another workacoholic act? In less than a year we have seen the release of "Heavenly Creatures" and now this 8-track cd named "Fallen Angel". Well this is not exactly a completely new cd, some of its tracks have been recorded before or have rested in the shelf from some time now.
I do agree the quality of this matrial must not remain unreleased. The whole thing starts with Talisman-esque "Private Hell" wich was recorded in their "Schizophrenia" album and is their best song here. Really great powerful stuff with a great melodic chorus, fantastic for opening live performances. For those who don't know the band, they do practice a great combination of Hard Rock with a melodic twist. Though maybe this cd has less references to the sleazy hard than the "Heavenly Creatures" album. "Slave" has a darker mood with very distorsed guitars and deep vocals. Once again great chorus. "Best of Me" should be familiar to those who have a copy of the first Z Records Sampler. It's a more rootsier and (along with "I'll find a Way") the softest track of the cd. Also good. "You're the One" has hints of Dander Danger "Captain Bring me Down", finally "Justify" is the track that better reflects the 80's style of Hard rock with some Glenn Hughes textures in the vocals. Certainly, I am begining to believe that Jacob Samuel is one of the most capable singers in the Hard Rock spectre. He can deal with different tones and he's raw yet melodic. His voice really fits in this material.
To be honest I don't have nothing to object about this. It's well played, it has good songs and certainly I prefer eight good tracks rather than 13 average ones... though it may incur with problems around the price. All I all, strongly recommended to lovers of Hard Rock witha groovy twist and played with guts.

Certainly this has cd has two different faces. The first one is that this band has attitude. The do have their own personality and a look, something that could be considered an important achievement in a rather faceless-stars era. Even the cd is enhanced containing a track that could be viewed in your computer. Even their presentation card is original... (a condom). Up to here everything seems great, but what happens when it comes the turn of the music... At the end this is the most important, isn't it? Well, I am afraid that when I start to listen to the cd I was deceived. It has a weak, very weak sound. The mixing and production are really rough. You might have heard (possibly from someone in Def Leppard) that the studio could create a good song from a bad one, but this also happens in reverse. Zion vocals and Jim Knowler guitars do create a sound wall that spoils every hint of a good tune. Just a pity. Penthouse Suite do play a sorth of 80's kind of hard rock with sleazy-cock rock elements a la Ratt, Cinderella or Motley Crue. Maybe they add a 90's twist playing it a little bit rawer but I guess this is more product of the mix than that the band own plans. "Guilty" is just pure sleazy and "Suite 16" has a dark feel with some older Judas Priest hints. Possibly "This is the Way" is the best track adding some Vitto Brata (White Lion) guitar tricks on it.
Penthouse Suite have put great effort in making this debut something memorable and that is to congratulate them but I think the final results, at least in the music department, are quite poor. Possibly, given a good budget, we will be able to check out their true potential. Just for die-hards of eighties Hard-rock.