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The re-issue of the first Phantom's Opera cd is the first release by the, newly created, sublabel from SongHaus: Rewind Records which plans to re-release classic records like I-Ten or Kick Axe. Although the last releases of this band have been a quite disappointing mix of Queen and symphonic rock, this debut (originally relased by Long Island) shows the band in its best form to date. We have some good AOR tunes here like the bombastic "Lie Laura", "It Ain't Love" and "Motorcycle Rock". For this reissue we get 4 bonus tracks, being "Can't stop me now" the most interesting of them. Also, delivering the guitars we find Symphony X's Michael Romeo which is another highlight of this record. Considering there are 18 tracks on the record, we get some low-standard tracks like "Two kind's of People" and "That's Fashion", and that takes some points out from the final note. All in all, this is an interesting addition to anyone who doesn't own the original release and also to lovers of Hard AOR bands like Shy or Stun Leer.

Midwest, rock, AOR all in a cohesive package of 11 (plus a hidden version of "Crazy One You Neeed") is what old time American rocker Henry Lee Summer delivers in this comeback album. Begining with two uptempo, midwestren-style tunes, the titletrack and "Crazy one You Need", the scene is set for a fine slice of Americana. In fact there are some country touches as well. The most AOR moment, though, is the fantastic "Earth to Suzi" that could have been written by Canadian Stan Meissner. "Follow me" is another feel-good track that sends us directly to another of the highlights in this album, the beautiful mid-tempo "Missippi One". On the whole this is a quite interesting cd if you like your AOR melodies with a rootsy aproachment. Don't think this is, like the last Billy Squier cd, an all acoustic cd. It has roots but the electric guitars will kick your ass more often that you would have expected. Recommended to all AOR-Rock lovers.

Formed by Myung and Sherinian from Dream Theater, Winger/Dixie Dregs drummer Rod Morgenstein and King's X Ty Tabor, we are sure heading into the virtuoso territory. Well, in a sense it is but it's not only that. With souds reminding me a lot to Deep Purple, Beatles... this is actually les Prog than I had expected. Out of the 10 tracks we find 5 instrumental which, for me, are the best in here, especially the superb "Chimes". The Purple influences are obvious while listening to "Standing in Line" and above all "I'm with You". I certainly enjoyed a lot more the other half of the Dream Theater team doing the Liquid Tension Experiment. Platypus has its moments but left me quite cold in some parts especially by Ty Tabor vocals. this man does a great job with King's X but I guess it's not the kind of vocalist that best suits with this combo. Dream Theater and King's X should give it a roll.

Von Groove have changed their style again. From the quite hard rocking cd that was its predescessor "Chamaleon", now they are heading for a totally AOR cd with more catchy melodies and softer guitars. I really like this change as "Chamaleon" never really caught me, appart from the impressive "Two Nights in Tokyo". The first track is proof of that and the melody of the refrain and a big guitar solo confirms that this Canadian three-piece is back to the big league. The following tunes are in the same winning team with "It Should Have Been Me", "Tell it To Me" and "Anything for My Baby"clearly above the rest. Do not expect a keyboard filled AOR fest, but a combination of good vocals and tasty guitar. In a way, it could be said this album has roots and sounds direct and tight. and the tunes have a lot more air to breathe. Possibly appart from "Only Love" you will not listen to a single filler track... and that is really good in my book. For me, this band has made the correct step with "Test of Faith" let's just await they don't change once again...

Allied Forces is another one of those many, many acts that failed to get released at the beginning of the nineties because Melodic rock was no longer hype...well, I guess you know the story so well. The most interesting thing about this release is ex-Tyketto frontman Dany Vaugh appearing in three tracks. The music that Allied Forces play is simple, heard-it-hundred-times-before melodic rock with hints of Tyketto, Tall Stories, Trixter and all these bands. I guess I am getting to a point where this kind of releases should offer something new or really good to raise my eyebrows but Allied Forces, despite bringing half a dozen of good tunes, passes inmediatly to my shelf with no glory. Maybe it's time for the big AOR labels to begin searching for new talents rather than revisiting over and over demos or shelved beggining-of-the-nineties records. At least this is my opinion. Still this is quite enjoyable and Vaugh does a good labour on "Thunder Nation". The mid-tempo "Allied Forces" is also pretty catchy and is also quite interesting but other efforts likethe Poison-esque "On the Run", "Party" (the title says it all) or "All out of Love" are simply nowhere. This is not a bad record (despite what you could believe after my furious criticism). If you enjoy end of the eighties melodic/party, LA style of rock you are going to enjoy Allied Forces but nothing interesting for me .

The formula already tested with the first volume of this "Best of.." collection of Axe comes again with 13 revisited tunes by this 80's AOR act. Basically this is like the first volume so if you enjoyed it then this one will please you as well... I would even say some of the tunes included here are better that the ones included on Volume 1. As you may know these cuts are from Axe old records but newly recorded so sound and production-wise this has been wisely updated. CITA fans should know that this cd includes the covers ("Steal Another Fantasy" and "Silent Soldiers" that the band made for their debut album "Relapse of Reason". I also like very much "Young Hearts". Axe have developed a fresh party-AOR opus and there are plenty of feel-good tunes. The band leader Bobby Barth has also included tracks from its solo album "2 Heart 1 Beat": the growing ballad "I Don't Wanna be Alone Tonight" and the brave melodic rock of "Dangerous Games". Also fans of the band should be pelased because there's a bonus track in the form of "Mignight Drives me Mad" which is a hard rocking track, sounding a little bit like CITA and with good backing vocals. I must say that Axe music has never been of my alley but the idea of re-recording many of their tracks for this Volume II makes this band a little bit more interesting for the ninetees.

King Biscuit Flower hour has done it again and releases and AOR classic band in live format with terrific sound....it's said that they are going to release John Waite live very soon (!). This time around it's the claasic Pomp/AOR band Kansas... I suppose you won't need extra info on their lives, right? The gigg was recorded during the "In the Spirit of things" tour and features a pletoric Steve Morse (Dixie Dregs, Deep Purple) showing his tasty soloing all over the twelve tracks. Furthermore, the final track listing is nothing but impressive including the band's greatest hits such as "Dust in the Wind", "Carry on my Wayward Son" or "Point of Known Return". Steve Walsh is also in fine form and sings much better than in the bands last studio recording "Freaks of Nature". My personal favourite is the power ballad "All I Wanted" which is once again lifted by Morse's fantastic work.THis should be wqually recommended both for fans and casual passers-by.

You have probably heard several things like "experimental, modern, pseudo-alternative..." about ex-Fate Mattias Eklundh brainchild Freak Kitchen. Well, all of them are quite true but I think this third album from the Scandinavian band is not exactly where "Appetizer" and "Spanking Hour" were. You won't find the brutality of "Jerk" here but a good dose of power pop/AOR with highly addictive melodies and infectious chorus. The lyrics are by far the best I have read in the last moths as they are hilarious, intelligent and quite gvery critic with some aspects of the music biz that the 99% of AOR LAND readers will hate. This is certainly not AOR but everyone with a melodic taste will find here a lot to enjoy. Just listen to "My new Haircut", "We've heard it all before" or the monster ballad "Broken Food". Mattias guitar abilities are also flashy enough to compare him with an ego-less Steve Vai....yes, he's that good! This hould stablish Freak Kitchen as a new force among melodic fans. Great record watch out for an interview with Mattias himself very soon.

Malmsteen, Nation, Stratovarius etc. fans won't probably need any introduction to this band as last year's "Awakening" was high on their lists. For the rest Narnia is a Swedish five-piece playing the sort of epic, classically tinged melodic metal the aforementioned bands have delivered before... I suppose you get the picture on how Narnia sound: good guitars, high pitched vocals, ambient keyboards and singalong choruses. "Long live the King" has some impressive tunes like "Living Water" or "The Lost Son" but I feel some of the other tracks are just not that memorable and a little bit unidirectional. Anyway, if you liked their debut album or you are a fan of the heavier end of Melodic rock this is an interesting addition in your collection.

Canadians Emerald Rain are basically influenced by possibly the best Cannuck melodic rock band ever: Harem Scarem. This is not "Mood Swings" of course, but is is firmly rooted on it and offers a good dose of melodic riffing, good choruses and power. The titletrack, the mid-tempo"Heaven's Light" or the rocker "Heart on the Line" are good tracks to please the avid fand but I find that after several listens to the whole cd that all the songs are very much in the same place...good but still much repetitive. Emerald Rain is a very young band and I supose that as they get more experienced they will release a more complete album. Still "Broken Saviours" is a more than decent presentation card.

Here it is, the fourth studio album by British epic Melodic rockers Ten. And the million dollar question right now seems to be: Is this Ten's best effort to date?. Their label Now & Then has put high expectations on this. It's getting good reviews in mags like Metal Hammer and selling by the truckload in Japan. The cover is spectacular and Rafe McKenna job (Fair Warning, Giant..) clearly overtakes the weak production efforts that suffered the band's last studio work "The Robe".
The scene is set perfectly by the epic instrumental intro and then the powerful "Fear the Force" which contains an amazing amount of guitar work and keyboard flourishes. Gary Hughes voice sounds crystaline and better than ever. The titletrack has an extraordinaire flavour and it has Whitesnake/Zeppelin hints all over and "We Rule the Night" is a superb ballad, quite possibly the best I have heard from this guys. I would even say this first half of the record is faultless. The second is not really that impressive but good anyway. "Spellbound" is harder than Ten's previous work and many British hard rock influences appear, for example in the Rainbow-esque "The Phantom". but also there is Thin Lizzy and Magnum (just hear the other instrumental "Ramembrance For the Brave").
So we come to an end and the answer (at least mine) is that the first record is still for me the best that Ten have released though without any kind of doubt "Spellbound" is a close second.

Charizma is a Swedish Christian act build around the Nikolausson brothers. This is nothing new (in fact it was released in 1996) but it sounds so great that deserves the space. The sound of the band has suffered deep changes since their last work "The Ultimate Call" which was a more than good piece of Scandinavian AOR tunes that they had been writing over the years.
Now, "To be Continued..." sees the band stepping in the Westcoast/Midwest territory but still many AOR pops here and there. This album sounds very mature and the preminence of acoustic gitars makes it sound very sober and soft. The initial track is the poppy "Mrs Ashley" where they set the whole thing with their personal, uplifting and very melodic style. Just check out at the credits above and you will see that three out of the five band memebers do sing... and I don't mean backing vocals but lead as well, so another element that shapes Cahrizma music are the amazing vocal work. We have some average tunes in the first part like "Alice Lost in Wonderland" and "Heavy Rain", but after that impass period the superb and mellow ballad "Don't Feel any Fear" clarly washes away the bad memories with its chorus and it's tasty guitar work. Then songs like "My God" and the AORish "Million Roads" had me wondering why I haven't heard about his band before.
Charizma are right now working on their upcoming album which will see the light of day this year. for sure you will hear about it in AOR LAND. This has come as a very pleasant surprise to me. Easy listening Pop/AOR filled with good tunes. A pretty good production work too... Check the band's website and discover their music... it's really worthwhile: www.charizma.net