TERRA NOVA - Come Alive (2010)

Dutch rockers Terra Nova were quite the phenom in the Nineties with 3 powerful releases that captured the attention of Europe and Japan.
After a brief demise, the band made a come-back in 2005 with "Escape", welcomed with great critical and public acclaim.

Now, the band returns with their brand new recording: "Come Alive".
The opener and title track storms onto the scene with an engaging riff and propelling rhythm.
The 'na-nas' and staccato guitar of "Holy Grail" will make a lot of melodic rockers tap their foot, and "Here Comes The Night" hits all the right buttons for a midtempo ballad, the guitar solo sounds beautifully full-bodied, you can nearly hear the type of timber used.

With its 'Livin' On A Prayer' baseline, "Who Can You Count On" has a groovy vibe and an even better chorus.
"My Own Way" has a bit of an unusual verse, but it leads into one of the catchiest choruses on the record.
Finally, if you are a sucker for gushy, over the top piano ballads, be sure to check out "Those Eyes" and "The Final Curtain" - they'd make even Jonathan Cain cry.

This album sounds great. There's great separation between the instruments. Keyboards and guitars are loud and distinct.
Fred Hendrix is an enormously talented vocalist custom built for AOR / MR.

Terra Nova are back for real with a fantastic album that sounds powerful and melodic all the way.
Don’t miss one of the highlights of the season.


01 - Come Alive
02 - Fighting Yourself
03 - Holy Grail
04 - Here Comes The Night
05 - Those Eyes
06 - Under Pressure
07 - Do Or Die
08 - Who Can You Count On
09 - My Own Way
10 - The Final Curtain

Fred Hendrix – Vocals
Gesuino Derosas – Guitars
Lars Beuving – Drums
Ron Hendrix – Keyboards
with
Eric Coenen – Bass

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WORLDS APART - Clean Slate (2010)

World's Apart has been around recording and performing since the early 90's and have delivered some strong material in the past.
The San Francisco Bay are rockers are no strangers to the limelight, they have had the privilege to support many national acts such as Dokken, Y&T, Night Ranger, and Firehouse to name a few.
Now the guys return with their 4th CD named "Clean Slate".

The strong opener "Heaven Sent" not to be confused with the Dokken classic, marks the band clean staple melodic hard rock sound right of the gitgo and opens the door to some some sweet high choruses and complemented seamlessly with some sweet guitar melodies.
The consequently rapid fire chorus of "The Light" continues the highlights of "Clean Slate" as does the arena rocker "We Can't Go On", with a display of vocal prowess from Davids and company on the backup offering, along with a swiftly tight guitar solo.

The original lineup reunited completely for this release and has never sounded any better, classic later 80's / early 90's melodic hard rock sound.


01 - Heaven Sent
02 - All Your Lovin
03 - The Light
04 - We Can't Go On
05 - Two 4 Nothin
06 - Fight Hard
07 - Hard Times
08 - Body Double
09 - Center Stage

Jay Davids (vocals)
Rich Cedillo (guitar)
JAS (bass)
Gary Silva (drums)

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HUNGRYHEART - One Ticket To Paradise (2010)

HUNGRYHEART are around and rocking the stages in their home country since the late '90.
In 2008 they released their self-titled debut, that was long awaited and highly appreciated by the media as well as by the fans. The album was listed Top 5 in several voting polls of the magazines and got great reviews all over the place.
Now, two years later, HUNGRYHEART release their second effort: "One Ticket To Paradise".
And this album does not only top their debut, it takes HUNGRYHEART to a whole new level.

"One Ticket To Paradise" features 12 Songs that have everything a Melodic Hardrock fan could wish for: impellent grooves, rocking guitars, catchy melodies and big hooklines.
In tradition of their role models, consisting of the great Melodic Hardrock Bands of the ’90s such as Bon Jovi, Whitesnake, Journey and Giant, just to name a few, along with some sleazy influences and the sense for catchy tunes, HUNGRYHEART definitely rock your hearts and ears.

The opener, “Stand Up”, which acts as a real statement of melodic rock, the memorable title track, and an excellent “A Million Miles Away”, seem to have an endless supply of hooks.
“Angela” delivers a driving punch whilst “Love Is The Right Way” radiates a rich atmosphere that showcases how constructively the band spent their time before finally getting into the studio. When it opens out it provides a real ‘hair standing up on arms’ moment.

“Let’s Keep On Tryin’ ” contains a scorching break from guitar-man Mario Percudani, “Just A Little Closer” is a killer radio friendly tune and the splendid cover of Michael Jackson's “Man In The Mirror” features some great guitar work as well.
HungryHeart can deliver classy ballads too and the memorable “Let Somebody Love You” and “You Won’t Be Alone” have both a heartfelt quality.
This is a band that oozes quality and a real desire and ability to deliver precisely that.

Among others, Nicolò Fragile (Gotthard) and Alessandro Del Vecchio (Glenn Hughes, Edge Of Forever) appear as musical guests on "One Ticket To Paradise".
The high class production and the mastering by Michael Voss (Mad Max) make this album a full circle.
HUNGRYHEART are reaching for the stars and "One Ticket To Paradise" will bring them certainly a few steps closer to their aims.


01 - Stand Up
02 - One Ticket To Paradise
03 - Let Somebody Love You
04 - Boulevard Of Love
05 - A Million Miles Away
06 - Angela
07 - Love Is The Right Away
08 - Let's Keep On Tryin'
09 - Just A Little Closer
10 - Get Lost
11 - Man In The Mirror
12 - You Won't Be Alone


Band Members:
Josh Zighetti - Lead Vocals
Mario Percudani - Guitar and Background Vocals
Steve Lozzi - Bass and Background Vocals
Paolo Botteschi - Drums and Background Vocals

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WICKED SENSATION - Crystallized (2010)

WICKED SENSATION are back after six years! And this time with their original singer Robert Soeterboek back on board.
Also in this album we find the mighty producer/bassist Dennis Ward (Pink Cream 69, Place Vendome) and Dirk Bruinenberg on drums.
So with such a strong line-up like this the expectations from "Crystallized" are higher than ever.

I really like their debut album, it was a nice piece of melodic hard rock album in the vain of a harder edition of Whitesnake or somewhere between Gotthard, Frontline and Shylock.
Their second one with Fernando Garcia on vocals was a good one too.
So, in this one the boys are back to the sound of their first album with some really strong melodies, very good guitar work, melodies that stick in your mind from the first spin.
Robert Soeterboek's voice is the strong point of this band, reminds me of the great David Coverdale!

The album also includes a guest appearance by no other than HELLOWEEN’s singer Andi Deris.
With the high potential hit record "MY TURN TO FLY", Deris together with Robert gives this song a "certain something" to let this one for sure become a catchy hit track.
Even Dutch guitarist Arjen Lucassen (AYREON, STAR ONE) involved himself to give the album a real rock classic with "GIMME THE NIGHT", as well as keyboarder Eric Ragno (GRAHAM BONNET) contributed keys on "GIVE IT UP".

"CRYSTALLIZED" impresses with a variety of first class songs, which definitely have a convincing impact.
Due to the distinctive guitar playing and songwriting of Michael Klein together as a team with Robert Soeterboek and Dennis Ward, this new WICKED SENSATION album will most certainly be the surprise of 2010!


01 - Better World
02 - My Turn To Fly (feat. Andi Deris)
03 - Fistful Of Dreams
04 - Give It Up (feat. Eric Ragno)
05 - Lost In A World
06 - Love To Play
07 - Gimme The Night
08 - Am I Right
09 - Lonely Is The Night
10 - Ordinary Man
11 - The Love I Used To Know
12 - Running Through Your Veins
13 - Bleeding Hearts


Robert Soeterboek - vocals
Michael Klein - guitars
Bernd Spitzner - keyboards
Dennis Ward - bass
Dirk Bruinenberg - drums
Eric Ragno - keyboards on "Give It Up"
Andi Deris - vocals on "My Turn To Fly"

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JOE ELLIOTT'S DOWN 'N' OUTZ - My ReGeneration (2010)

Sometimes, the most interesting of projects arise from the most unusual of circumstances.
So it is that the Down 'N Outz is a project fronted by Def Leppard's Joe Elliott, backed by The Quireboys and playing rare tracks connected only by the classic rock band Mott The Hoople....

Joe Elliott takes up the story; "When Mott The Hoople announced they were reforming for a week's worth of shows at the Hammersmith Odeon I was asked that I participate in some capacity.
They've always been my favourite band and it's nice to see the rest of the rock world finally catch up and give them their due."

"But, what was I to do? It was suggested to me that the Quireboys would be up for offering their services. This was perfect!
A fan since their first album, I loved the idea of working with a band as enthusiastic to do this as I was.
I decided that the thing to do was play some songs that like-minded people thought they would never hear live again, if ever, songs by spin offs of Mott the Hoople - songs by Mott, Ian Hunter and British Lions.
Songs that are close to my heart, songs that I've played every week for the best part of 35 years on record, cassette, CD, iPod and now live."

The Down 'N Outz supported Mott The Hoople at one of their legendary 2009 reformation shows at Hammersmith Odeon.
In addition to Joe Elliott (Vocals/Guitar/Keyboards), the band featured The Quireboys' Paul Guerin (Guitar), Guy Griffin (Guitar), Keith Weir (keyboards) and Phil Martini (drums) and finally bassist Ronnie Garrity (Raw Glory).
Following a rapturous reception, the one night project took on a life and energy of its own and an album project was born.

Down 'N Outz then set about recording an album's worth of material.
The album was produced by Joe Elliott with co-production by Ronan McHugh, and recorded at Joe Elliott's own studio, Joe's Garage, and Moor Hall studio in Bedfordshire.
Prior to it's general release fans will be able to get hold of the 10-track album mounted on the issue of Classic Rock magazine on sale on the 23rd June 2010.


Full tracklisting (with original recording artist):

1. GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY (Ian Hunter)
2. STORM (Mott)
3. OVERNIGHT ANGELS (Ian Hunter)
4. CAREER (NO SUCH THING AS ROCK 'N' ROLL) (Mott)
5. ENGLAND ROCKS (Ian Hunter)
6. SHOUTING AND POINTING (Mott)
7. BY TONIGHT (Mott)
8. WHO DO YOU LOVE (Ian Hunter)
9. ONE MORE CHANCE TO RUN (British Lions)
10. GOOD TIMES (Mott, originally recorded by The Easybeats)


Joe Elliott (Def Leppard) - Vocals/Guitar/Keyboards
Paul Guerin (The Quireboys) - Guitar
Guy Griffin (The Quireboys) - Guitar
Keith Weir (The Quireboys) - Keyboards
Phil Martini (The Quireboys) - Drums
Ronnie Garrity (Raw Glory) - Bass


vbr

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