DRIVE, SHE SAID
Road To Paradise
89%
- Mark
Mangold (K, D ,V)
Al Fritsch (V, G, K)
FRONTIERS RECORDS - 1998
FILE 3 |
DRIVE, SHE SAID
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| Fronted by one
of the best keyboard players that the world of AOR has
ever seen, Drive She Said was the project that Mark
Mangold (ex-American Tears, Touch, Flesh and Blood)
created along with vocalist Al Fritsch. For those who
didn't know the band, they released 3 records :
"Drive, She Said", "Drivin' Wheel"
and "Excellerator". This one is a "Best
Of..." and would surely appeal both the old fans and
the new ones, because it contains 18 songs from the three
records plus five new bonus tracks. The selection is
really good and proves how good was the pure 80's AOR
sound with a wimpy touch here and there that this band
delivered. Good keyboards, guitars and choruses to drive
every AOR fan crazy. Personal favourites are "If
This is Love", "Wherever Your Go",
"Inside Of You", "It's Gonna Take a
Miracle"... But quite possibly the best in
"Road To Paradise" is the addition of 5 new
songs. Two of them are superb: "Look At What You
Got" writen by Michael Bolton and Mangold will lead
you directly to the "Everybody's Crazy" opus by
Bolton. This is rocker with an incredible chorus written
in 1982 and I suppose it is the kind of song that brought
some of us to the world of AOR. Enough said. The second
killer is the sixteenth track "Water From a
Stone" and it is more of the same formula flourished
with some "dot-dot" keyboards by Mr. Mangold.
The other 3 new tracks are OK, well, maybe the soulful
ballad "Fallin' Again" is the best of them, and
the titletrack is the weakest, quite possibly being the
rawest and hardest tracks written by this duo. Not too
much catchy, not too much memorable. Finally,
"Suddenly Closer" is a good tune but takes some
listens. Ambiental keys and a 70's feel not really in the
typical Drive She Said vein but still good. To conclude this is a record both recomended to fans and newcomers. We don not get 80 minutes of superb eighties American AOR, so despite the opinions you could have against Greatest hits cds you shouldn't miss "Road To Paradise". By the way get ready for a double cd by Mangold's former band Touch that will include the first and the second (the never released cd with Tod Rundgren) albums plus some bonus tracks... Hurrah! |
CROWN OF THORNS
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| Here it is! The third album by one of the most beloved bands for the lovers of 90's Melodic Rock. Once again Jean Beauvior delivers a unique set of songs that prove us how talented he is. He does almost everything from producing, writting, arranging and of course singing. His look is still horrendous but who cares if the music is that good ( Is Jon Bon Jovi reading this?). Those of you who are still caught by the melodies of their selftitled debut album will get crazy with "Lost Cathedral" because it's stucked somewhere between this one and "Breakthrough"...althought much closer to the former, I'd say. The sound is polished and almost every track offers a melody worth the listen. The titletrack is quite possibly the top one in this release and contains an epic intro that bursts into some strong guitars and a chorus to kill for. "Live and Die" is an AORish mid-tempo track driven by the keyboards of Mr. Beauvior. A nice acoustic guitar solo by Tommy Lafferty opens "Lyin'", the fourth track and once again the keyboards appear in "Free Me" that delivers another good melody and a solid rythym section formed by Paige and Lopez. Then, a couple of rockers steal the spotlight being "Greed Of Love" a better product than "Cold-Blooded Bitch" which is straighforward rock and roll and along with "Motorcicle Loretta" the weakest tracks of this release. For the European edition there two bonus tracks ("Although We're Fools" and "If You Need Me") which is something that makes me glad because not just the Japanese have the right to listen to extra songs. "Hell Of a Night" is a nice funky tune added with some programming. It's pretty original and I know some of you won't like it but give it a chance because it is really catchy after some listens. Well, quite a long review this time, but I think these guys deserve it. They write good tunes and this third album (plus "Raw Thorns and "21 Thorns") is the confirmation that Crown Of Thorns have stablished as one of the hottest melodic rock band in the nineties... whether this decade is good enough for them is quite a different kettle of fish. |
BIG BAD WOLF
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| Big Bad Wolf is
the ultimate project of former Starship and now solo
acoustic guitarrist Craig Chaquico. I must say that I
really enjoy his acoustic New Age (he has alrady recorded
four albums being Gramy nominee for one of them) but I
believe this new electric project is not as memorable.
The band is quite skillful and the album kicks off really
well with one of Chaquico's characteristic guitar licks that introduces "Midnight Angel". The next song is also a good catchy, rocker track named "Whereyouwannago". Basically this sounds like a blend of the finest 80's hard rock bands such as Dokken, Def Leppard or Warrant, but I am afraid that, in general, the tunes in this debut are not remarkable enough. They simply do not stay in your mind, the band is tight, good backing vocals but their classic melodic hard rock doesn't catch the attention of the listener. The ballad "Light For You" is one of the good moments and its backing vocals could have been in Def Leppard's "Hysteria"... All in all, this is not a bad record, but neither a must. I think this is in the alley of fans from the bands mentioned before, so if you are one of those fanatics this record is for you... for the others I think you will better take a listen to some of Chaquico's solo records! |
GUILD OF AGES
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| If you still don't know,
Guild of Ages is the present name of formerly CITA. The
name change was due to a legal trouble, but everything
else remains. This new record is harder and stronger than
the second effort "Heat Of Emotion" though it
follows the same way than its predecessor. The duo Trujillo-Martinez is still keeping the keyrole in the band, that has created his own distinctive sound, with good instrumentations, better backing vocals and abuse of hook-infested refrains. It is quite difficult for me to list my favourite tracks, but quite possibly the first one "Into the Night" featuring an epical intro, some really good drums,a killer chorus and an instrumental passage that will appeal even the prog rock fan, is the best one. Also the catchy riff the starts "Heaven Is Waiting" or the superb fourth track "River Of Desire", make this record an absolute peach. Moreover, for those who still doubt of the Melodic Rock that Guild Of Ages have developed, this album includes an extra cd with a live recording of CITA during his German Tour. Obviously this cd includes the best songs from the two former albums and "Heat Of Emotion", "No Heroes" and "Everytime" shine specially. There is also a cover of Thin Lizzy's classic "Cold Sweat" with great backing vocals in it. If you still don't have "One" you should pay a visit to the nearest cd store. This is a must. Believe me. Guild of Ages have stablished his own sound which is making them a classic act. If following records are that good who cares about name change. |
ZENO
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| German
guitarrist Zeno Roth releases his third album after
Zeno's selftitled debut, that gained him a reputation in
the Melodic Rock circles, and "Zenology" which
was a sort of copilation of non-released songs featuring
vocal abilities of Michael Flexig (the original singer)
and Helge Engelke and Tommy Heart both from Fair Warning.
And basically, we are getting more of the same (good)
formula with "Listen To the Light". A record
that contains the great arrangements and the instant
songs a la Fair Warning that made the previous albums
worth the listen. Furthermore, with the European edition
you get 3 bonus tracks recorded between 1987-88. Released some months ago in Japan, there is no doubt why Japanese are crazy about this kind material, Zeno Roth writes epic AOR tunes and he has a really good vocalist: Michael Flexig. "Goddess Of Sunrise" is the first track and contains an oriental keyboard melody that bursts into a rocking song very close, once again, to Fair Warning. Probably along with the opener the other highlights are "Eden Of Fire" with some nice bass lines that could remind you to Talisman though less funky and a very catchy chorus, and also the bombastic and hook-infested "Tomorrow Arise" which is the best song in this cd and quite a memorable Melodic Rock tune. On the downs side, we find the pseudo sleazy "Some Rocks Don't Roll" which let's the side down We also get some tunes neither very good nor very bad simply a little bit average so that takes some points out from the final mark. Nevertheless, this release won't dissapoint you and is, of course, a must for fans of German epic Melodic rock. |
VELOCITY
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| Velocity's
debut was originally released last year in the States by
the band's own company, but "Impact" was so
critically acclaimed that it finally gets properly
distributed in Europe and Japan by MTM and Avex
respectively. Featuring mainman David Victor plus virtuosos Chris Dodge and Pat Torpey (Mr. Big) this trio delivers the missing link between classic Melodic Hard Rock of the eighties and the nineties, so fans of Van Halen, Tesla, Y&T, Trixter, Night Ranger... will enjoy this release from the beggining. "You Don't Amaze Me Anymore" is a killer opener track with some great guitars by six-string wonderkid and Satriani's pupil Chris Dodge. The mid-paced "Supernatural Lover" is a superb yet catchy tune and the same goes for the straightforward rocker "Julia Ann". While listening to this record I really felt like going back to the golden decade, but do not get confused this is not a rusty copy of the same old cliches and tricks that were nice in the eighties but now seem out-of-date. Velocity's music is fresh, invigorating and grabs classic Hard Rock dressing it with innovative elements . Personal favourites are the power ballad "Janine" and the eighth track "Love Is Dangerous" wich contains one of those big arena-rock riffs that will set your cd palyer on fire. This piece of strong songwritting and well-crafted tunes ends with the up-tempo instrumental "Open Road" which is also quite nice. I am not going to say the classic "this band is gonna rule the world of Rock" because, though they may deserve it, the present panorama is not going to give them this chance. Anyway, they can rule OUR own melodic rock world. Wanna know more about VELOCITY? Click here! |
