Tag: AOR Heaven
FM/Hand Of Dimes – Cardiff, Tramsheds – 17 May 2024
David O’s second gig of the week – indeed, in as many nights – in Tramsheds was always a potential cracker. Hand of Dimes fronted by the incredible Neville MacDonald and FM on their 40th anniversary ‘Old Habits Die Hard’ tour fronted by another incredible voice, that of Steve Overland. It was always going to have huge potential, did it meet up with expectations? Read on to find out.
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Hit The Ground Runnin’ – ‘Sudden Impact’ (AOR Heaven)
David O just picked this from a list of albums to review on the Über Rock team page as a result of it being AOR. He has a penchant for AOR especially stuff like Toto and Journey among many others. Never having heard of HTGR, he wondered how much they had previously released he searched around to find this Philadelphia-based band only released the one album, waaay back in 1989 and only then on a limited run from a Canadian label – so that would be why. The publicity blurb reckons that original copies go for up to a thousand quid! This is again released on a limited run of 500 copies, so it may add to the desire for someone looking for a potential investment opportunity. However, is it worth the cost was my question. Well, as an eight track CD with two bonus tracks and another eight tracks on the second of the double CD mix makes it certainly value for money…
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Escape – ‘Fire In The Sky’ (AOR Heaven)
This is a remix of previously released music by the band and its members from various sources. They originate from the North of England and some of the tracks are almost 30 years old so that should give you an idea of the influences and style of AOR/rock music you are going to get. There are nuances of Asia/Foreigner and similar styled bands of the late 80s and early 90s. This is no more obvious than on the opening keyboard solo of the first track ‘Lost And Found’.
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FarCry – ‘Balance’ (AOR Heaven)
Originally formed in 2006 and with two album releases in 2009 and 2011, the main protagonists decided that they had taken the band as far as they could, and busy lifestyles resulted in the split in 2013. However, it seems that the guitarist Pete Fry had an unscratchable itch that started a new era and with new members on vocals drums, rhythm and bass new music resulted in this offering recorded at the end of 2019 and into 2020.
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Winding Road – ‘Winding Road’ (AOR Heaven)
Any album on a label called AOR Heaven should give you an idea of the style before listening to it. This is no exception. Swedish musicians Magnus Akerlund and Jan Hedlund collaborated in Akerlund’s studio to compile this 12-track album in 2018. Jonas Tyskhagen provides the vocal talent and Frederik Folkare provide some of the guitar solos.
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ALBUM NEWS: Blues Pills and Lamb Of God latest acts to delay releases
Blues Pills and Lamb Of God are the latest artists to announced that the releases of their forthcoming new albums have been delayed. Lamb Of God have put back the release date for their forthcoming self-titled album to 19 June, while Blues Pills have postponed the launch of their ‘Holy Moly!’ opus indefinitely.
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The Ragged Saints – ‘Sonic Playground Revisited’ (AOR Heaven)
The retro sound seems to be something de rigeur at the moment, and the latest act to turn the clock back the heady days of the Eighties, when you couldn’t escape rock music on the radio or TV ‘cos the stations in the know actually played the fucking stuff, are Finnish glamsters The Ragged Saints, who have come storming back after an extended hiatus with this compelling new collection, just released via our friends at the ever consistent AOR Heaven label.
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Easy Action – ‘That Makes One’ (AOR Heaven)
Oi, Eric. Yes, Eric… the one in the back row, with the mullet and the washed-out blue jeans, chewing on the toothpick and acting like you’re in some 1980s movie about teenage angst and rebellion. Yes, you: stand up and make sure you’re ready to catch this collection of toons better than an England outfielder can grab a little red ball, ‘cos you’re gonna wanna make sure you grab this and fire it straight into your CD deck (OK, we know they hadn’t been invented back then, but, hey, times have moved on, even if your haircut hasn’t).
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Robert Tepper – ‘Better Than The Rest’ (AOR Heaven)
DQ and Monk first came across Robert Tepper, in the flesh at least, back at the first iteration of the now sadly defunct Rockingham festival, when he produced one of the standout performances of the weekend. Of course, his pedigree needs no introduction, especially to AOR fans: one of his songs, ‘No Easy Way Out’, was the theme to ‘Rocky IV’, while he renewed his collaboration with Stallone for the later ‘Cobra’ soundtrack. One of his songs also became a minor hit for the r’n’b has been Usher. Now, the veteran New Jersey songsmith is back in solo action with this latest offering, a collaboration with the Spanish-born guitarist Pablo Padilla, with whom he has worked for several years.
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Blood Red Saints – ‘Pulse’ (AOR Heaven)
Now, at the very outset of this review, Monk would like to state that he is a massive fan of Blood Red Saints and get on well with the guys. He first came across them at one of the HRH AOR fests a whack of years back and, despite not being familiar with the band beforehand, was immediately smitten by their highly polished brand of melodic rock. With that caveat in place, he has to now confess that he initially found ‘Pulse’, their third album, to be a disappointing listening experience. On the first couple of spins, he felt that there was something missing…
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Blood Red Saints – ‘Love Hate Conspiracies’ (AOR Heaven)
Monk first came across Blood Red Saints at one of the HRH AOR fests a few years back and, despite not being familiar with the band beforehand, was immediately smitten by their highly polished brand of melodic rock. Their paths have crossed a few times since – most recently at last October’s Rockingham fest, when singer Pete Godfrey briefly joined Bailey on stage. At those few meetings, he has found the frontman to be one of the most affable, and funniest, fellas in this dirty ol’ rock ‘n’ roll game, always smiling and ready to talk to fans (even in the wee small hours of the morning). One thing that has been missing in this period has been new material from BRS… a situation now rectified with this release.
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