John Pratt - Turn The page

Vocalist and musician John Pratt has been fronting bands most of his life. Starting in San Francisco, then on to Los Angeles, he was a staple of the 80's scene with the critically acclaimed headlining act, Roxbury Drive. Then in the late 90's early 2000's, John released 3 very good melodic rock / AOR albums under the moniker 'Firefly'.

Simultaneously, during the last 20 years he embraced the genre of Film and Television music composition. A prolific writer and producer, he has placed thousands of instrumental works in Feature Film and Television and over a hundred songs as well. His voice was the feature voice on well over 75% of those songs. During this time, John kept on writing, produced many artists, and perfected his craft. All the while he composed songs, masters in scope, as he set out to create a sound that would be his own.

So what we have is a culmination of John's best work. Many of these songs have sat in the vault for over 20 years (not always a good sign when I read this term, because if it was good enough it wouldn’t be sitting on a shelf since the early 90's). A record label friend of John's heard some of these songs and encouraged him to set the musical wheels in motion. All in all, he has culled 13 songs from his archives, and it was time to go out and re-record them.

Pratt has called on many of his friends and musicians who had been there at the first time of recording. Old friends indeed. Ron Wikso, drums (Firefly, The Storm, Foreigner, DL Roth, etc); John Thomas, guitars (Firefly, Vixen); Michael Alemania, keys(Jack Wagener, Vixen, Firefly); Lance Morrison, bass (Don Henley Band); Chris Trujillo, percussion (Tom Petty, Toto, Roxbury Dr.), and a new friend in Wally Minko (Gregg Rolie Band). Pratt's proudest addition? His son Justin playing violin with the string section on the final track, 'Still Here'

Forget what I said about leaving songs on the shelf for many a year. In this case Pratt has bucked the trend as he has a great ear for songwriting, and his voice isn't that bad either. None of it is life-changing, but the album soars with its composition - soaring melodies, great harmonies, and the key is John's orchestration and arrangement.

The album is strong right from the off, ' Take Me There', right trough to 'Forgive Me' being as solid as a rock. The album wanes slightly through the middle section, but thankfully regains its momentum with the above average 'One Silent Voice'.

All in all Pratt has assembled a great cast of players, and the music reflects his many years as a writer/producer/ and more importantly singer. It is an honest set of songs and his powerful, yet intimate voice carries them through

If he would have picked ten songs the album would have scored much higher. Still it’s a pretty decent effort all the same and is definitely worth a listen

70/100

Full Turnout - Adversity

Full Turnout is a rock band from the Milton/Guelph (? Never heard of it, or them) of Ontario, Canadia. They started out in 2006 and began as a group of Fire-fighters, jamming and trying to write some original music. In 2008 they released their debut CD called 'Perfect Neverending'. Fortunately for them, not so much for us, the feedback they received was a positive one. Which has led to where they are today, and the release of the dreaded second album/sophomore syndrome

Full Turnout consist of Pete Zettle on Drums, along with his lifelong band mate and best mate, buddy, pal, chum, Brian Parisotto on bass, these two being the main driving force for this brand of Soft Rock, and soft it is I can tell you now. A close friend of the bands producer, Dave Drexler joined Full turnout as their front man. The aforementioned producer (and studio owner) Brad Dugas expressed an interest in joining the band, and the final piece of the mellow jigsaw is Matt Krusky (rhythm guitar) who wrote their debut CD and is the main collaborator with Brad

For some unknown reason they are given a tenuous link that their influences are a mix of Pink Floyd, Radiohead and Linking Park. Kids stay off the drugs, and I'll leave it as that. To link yourself to these three bands couldn't be further from the truth. It's like Slayer saying their music brings in the 'melodic elements of Journey, with the razor sharp lyricism of Stryper, and par-tay music good-time music of NKOTB'. I feel for the likes of Nick at TSM who has to make a living out of peddling bands, hoping that the odd nugget prevails

All I can probably say about that is that someone else should have stepped up to the plate and have a go at writing some songs. Its not that Adversity is crap, it's just that it's not brilliant either. It’s a mix of a (much wetter and softer) version of 'Bowling For Soup' and 'Offspring' with more than a smidge of 'Boy Band' bollox thrown in for good measure.

So what of the songs? Without being too critical (I always try to be optimistic when it comes to reviewing bands), but the music on offer is pretty one dimensional. As an unsigned band its ok I suppose, but the key word in the sentence is 'unsigned'. It noting really improves, Full Turnout will remain that way. The guys look on the wrong side of 40 to be out forging a career in music, also what is it with the album cover? I was expecting the band on the front cover to be dressed like 'Weezer's Buddy Holly' Video, not some doom laden, Goth cover which gives a completely different impression to the music on offer

Adversity kicks off proceedings with very little bite, and the gum shield remains on for pretty much the whole of the album. If there's a 'Radio Smooth' over in Canada than Full Turnout will be all over it. It's coming over as background music and nothing more I'm afraid. 'Invisible' shows a little more promise, the chorus lifting the song higher than the others on offer, just drop the vocoder guys!

'On The Ground' flows nicely from 'Invisible' and these two are probably the highlights of 'Adversity' as Drexler opens up his range more than usual and there is more power and oomph being generated. 'Momentary Best Time' is where I hear the 'BFS' influence more than any, and again lifts the mood. Perhaps they should have kick-started the album with the middle section

All in all its average, with no real ground being broken, but that can be said of many bands, its just that it ranges from 'one dimensional to bland' with only a few songs sticking their heads above this 'soft rock' parapet

At the end of the day Full Turnout are unsigned and they will remain this way unless they change their tune (pun intended) and direction for their next CD. There is something to build on here, but the foundations are gravely rather than concrete. Full Turnout? I wish they hadn't.

 35/100

Seks - Harder Than You

My cat is harder than you! Harder, because our beloved Smudge died a few weeks ago.

Bollocks! Looking at the blarb that accompanies these cds, a picture paints a thousand words, and the few hundred words that also came with the cd didn’t make for promising reading (or listening either I might add)

One of the albums Ive listened to this year that didn’t fill me with happiness and that was Julian Angels Beautiful Beast. Not only does this remind me of JABB, the fucker is also involved on this album, playing guitar on almost every track. Not content with ruining his own career, Angel also likes to take others down with him. Mind you, Seks don’t exactly need a great deal of help in this department

Seks was formed on 2009 by Rock Hart ( he,he very funny! Not!), as a dream - I would say nightmare - to revive the Heavy Metal genre. In a world dominated by pop and hip-hop/RnB, Hart wanted to remind the public on what they were missing out of. After a brief 6 months living in LA he moved to Norway to look for candidates to make the idea of Seks a reality. He thought of no better place than Norway to form a band in is own eyes. I read it like this, Hart moves to Oslo after 6 months as the bloke hasn’t got a cat in Hell's chance of making the grade in LA. What with Scandinavia being overrun with 80's style metal (its part of the school curriculum that you form an 80s hair metal band), he found his calling, and band mates - Savage Thrilla (drums), Gash A Lean (Guitar), and Tad (bass). Unfortunately for us they kept going and went on the prowl for a worthy guitarist, and found one who has the balls to stand up to his mates in keeping his God given name, Charles McMillin.

Basically 'Harder Than You' borders on shite, with poor songwriting thrown in for good measure - e.g. ''Throw me all around, Fuck me on the ground'' and even poorer singing. Heck, Hart isn’t the best singer in the world, I even have my doubts if he is the best singer in the band! This severely hampers the bands future from progressing beyond a debut album

Musically its decent enough, but Harts lack of range pisses me off immensely. The songs which give the most promise are 'On The Inside' and 'Royal Nights', but would still struggle to make most bands albums I've heard in 2011

If glam is your thing then you’ve probably come to the right place. For most of us out there….run… and don’t look back!

 30/100

Mr Big - Manchester Academy 2 - Sat 17th Sept 2011

Well I never in a million years thought I would ever get to see Mr Big playing live, not only in the UK, but also in a relatively small and intimate MA2, twenty feet away from the band! Thanks to this resurgence in melodic rock over the last year that has made this feat happen for fans over in Blighty. In 2009 Mr Big, after some huge musical/personality differences, buried the hatchet/s and reformed to great surprise (of many), but still proved they all had the chops as they released the excellent and aptly titled ‘What If?’ earlier this year.

I wasn’t expecting the venue to be full, especially with tickets priced at £30 plus no support act. Thankfully this meant that Mr Big played a decent set at 2hours and twenty minutes, and to be honest, played the gig as if they were playing Madison Square Garden back in the 80s. Hell, they even looked extremely thankful and enthusiastic to be playing in front of a very appreciative audience.

Mr Big kick off with the high octane ‘Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy’ and they have audience in the palm of their hands right from the off, with Sheehan and Gilbert trading licks, Martin looking (and sounding) as youthful as ever, and Mr Pat Torpey taking it all in his stride, tying it all together – no fancy tricks, he is the glue holding the whole thing together. The screams just getting louder with every passing song – ‘Alive and Kicking’, ‘Green Tinted Sixties Mind’,  with ‘Undertow’ and ‘American Beauty’ getting an early airing from the new album. ‘Take Cover’ followed, before a rousing rendition of ‘Just Take My Heart’.

‘One Upon A Time’ followed, but for the previous song Mr Cool (Torpey) made a rare mistake and played the intro to this song,  which came complete with a side order of piss taking from the band.

Next came a stunning piece of vocal dexterity from Torpey/Sheehan/Gilbert (man these fuckers can all REALLY sing!) before letting rip into ‘ A Little Too Loose’. No doubt the three add to the whole vocal experience adding in where (on a few occasions) Martin struggles with the higher sections on what is a demanding and long set. The same can be said of ‘Road To Ruin’ where the harmonies from all four were just fantastic.

Gilbert stepped to the front , stopped listening to his mp3 player, took off the defenders, and blazed into his guitar solo. Up came ‘Still Aint Enough For Me’ and ‘The Price You Gotta Pay’ complete with a Gilbert Sheehan jam, and a sing-a-long with Martin, who if he ever decides to leave the profession, then the guy has the calling to be a preacher. We all were lucked up by singing his ‘mucca-lucca-heini-hi’ verse, before going back to the first Mr Big album with ‘Take A Walk’.

Even more Gilbert/Sheehan interplay followed before ‘Round The World. If I have one slight gripe with the whole evening (don’t shout at me) was with Sheehan’s bass solo. Yes I totally agree that he is one of THE best bass players in the business (I wish I’d have caught him playing in Roth’s band in the 80s) but for me the five minute solo was four and a half minutes too long. Sorry! At least it led into the utterly excellent ‘Addicted To That Rush’.

After two hours they left the stage for a few seconds before returning with their mega-hit ‘To Be With You’ This is one of the few instances where I thought Martin’s vocals struggled to hit some of the notes, who am I to judge after his wonderful singing for the last two hours? The fierce ‘Colorado Bulldog’ followed, before what was to come next….

If there was a event in the 2012 Olympics for ‘Best Band/Best Musicians’ then Mr Big would certainly be in contention. Not only do they reign supreme in their own instrument of choice, but the talented bastards also switch around for Deep Purple’s ‘Smoke On The Water’ playing each other’s instruments – Torpey bass/ then vocals, Martin - lead guitar / then bass, Sheehan – lead guitar / then vocals, with Gilbert just tying all together for the whole song impeccably sat at the drum stool.

Finally the last song was here, with The Who’s Baba O’Reilly, before taking the applause from a very appreciative Manchester audience. I even think the bloke next to me was crying.

A great night, played by a great band, with a great audience in tow. Just don’t leave it so long in coming back next time guys.

Live Review - Firewind with support from Wolf (Moho Live Sat Sep 10, 2011)

Very last minute gig this one, and was surprised to hear that the curfew was 10 O’clock. Ah well, least I’d be home relatively early for once!

I last witnessed Firewind a couple of years ago at what I thought then was a small venue, the Wolves Little Civic. I was taken aback when this current venue ‘Moho’ in Manchester was even smaller. Id at least thought that Gus G’s tenure with the great man Ozzy might have added some extra fans, even if out of curiosity, but he lucked out with that one. From what the venue lacked in size it certainly made up for it in atmosphere and intimacy. Plus the sound system was one of the best I’ve heard in such a small venue (take note – future revellers you may need earplugs to stave off the dreaded tinnitus!!)

What of the gig itself. First off, Swedish opening band Wolf was pretty awesome. I’ve only picked up on their last two albums, but after tonight I’ll make sure the rest are mine! Coming on to the ‘Twilight Zone’ they blazed their path with ‘Evil Star’ hardy stopping for breath along the way. Vocalist/guitarist Niklas Stålvind’s razor sharp vocals, backed with the ferocity of Johannes Axeman (surely not a genuine Swedish surname) whose twin guitar assault knock you for six. It is pretty much speed metal anthem after anthem and they give the crowd exactly what they a baying for (Aroooo! Hoowwl! Etc). ‘Hail Caesar’, Voodoo’, Full Moon Possession’,  and Skull Crusher’ which could easily double as Priest’s ‘Painkiller’ with  Stålvind proving a good match for a certain Mr Halford, and looks like a kid considering the band has been in existence since 95. ‘K-141 Kursk, a song about a Russian sub disaster in 2000, and the mighty ‘Speed On’ brought matters to a close way too quickly. I implore you to catch Wolf as their brand of metal deserves to be huge. If Priest can do it, why can’t Wolf as they deserve to pick up the mantle that Priest are leaving behind. I'd have liked them even more if they werent from Orebro (home of my fierecest rivals in my day job!!)

Onto the Greek God’s that are Firewind. Unfortunately Apollo Papathanasio wasn’t available for this leg of the tour due to personal reasons (15 dates) but will return for their ‘Frets Of Fury ‘ tour over in the US in October. Stepping into his shoes is Swedish singer (and I must say highly respected) Mats Leven, who has Therion and Yngwie Malmsteen on his CV and considering the short notice given, did not miss a sing beat, apart from being told to get off stage for the instrumental ‘SKG’. Also since I last witnessed Firewind in 2008 they have replace drummer Mark Cross and introduce new drummer Johan Nunez (Nightrage's drummer), and was a tight as a nut

As per my Little Civic experience, Firewind have now given me two great experiences. On both occasions, I have never ever been so close and almost very intimate to a band, and I must say they were perfect once again. Despite playing a small venue to a couple of hundred people (it should be much more I add) they play the gig as if it were MSG (no not Michael Schenker, the ‘other MSG, Madison….’). Off the agenda were any high jinks, raising guitars in the air, clapping as the band would have chinned themselves

Opening up the gig with the storming ‘The Ark Of Lies’ Gus G explodes into action, with Leven settling into this style immediately and didn’t have to win over a single fan . ‘The excellent ‘Head Up High’ follows, with a jaunt back to the beginning of their career with ‘Destination Forever’.  A brief Katsionis keyboard solo ensues before they rip into ‘Angels Forgive Me’ which gets one of the biggest cheers of the night, before upping the pace with the powerful ‘World On Fire’.

A really cool band jam ensues with Katsionis showing he can match Gus G given the chance to show off his expertise, and is a values member being so talented and adds great depth to Firewind’s live experience.Nunez and Christo add to the enjoyment holding it all together

Other live staples followed, ‘Ready To Strike’, the mega catchy ‘Mercenary Man’, ‘My Loneliness’ which gets Leven a huge cheer, leading into the fast paced and utterly superb instrumental SKG.

For the encore, there were two highlights for me, ‘Into The Fire’ and their now ‘must play at all costs, ‘’Falling To Pieces’’’, before leaving all too soon

This sort of thing should be on the school curriculum, seeing bands play live and excelling at what they do, and not today’s penchant for what passes as music being pushed onto the public with shite like X factor. Compelling stuff indeed. Catch them while you can, you will not regret a single minute of it

1. The Ark of Lies
2. Destination Forever
3. Kill to Live
4. Head Up High
5. World on Fire
6. The Fire and the Fury
7. Angels Forgive Me
8. Heading For the Dawn
9. Mercenary Man
10. SKG
11. My Loneliness
12. Ready to Strike
13. Till the End of Time
14. Tyranny
15. Encore:
15. Into the Fire
16. I am The Anger
17. Falling To Pieces

Jorn - Live In Black

Prepare for Lande-ing

Now, as obscure references go, this one takes the biscuit. You’ve no change getting it if you’re outside the UK or under the age of 40 I suspect.  Jorn Lande is the Joe Longthorne of metal. Told ya! 

Anywho, I first saw him fronting The Snakes a few years ago and nearly cried. I was witnessing David Coverdale at his finest. Roll on a couple of years, and he is a ringer for others when he wants to be. Another obscure reference…’’Tonight Matthew, I’m going to be…..Ronnie James Coverdale’’ It seems he can turn his hand to some of the best singers in the business. Surely he needs to concentrate on becoming the one and only Jorn Lande

Jorn Lande is considered as one of the leading voices in nowadays classic Hard Rock and Heavy Metal world. Often described as the “Norse God of Metal”, Jorn is certainly one of the leaders of the renaissance of classic Hard Rock on its highest level and one of the most prolific and sought-after singers of today, whose immense vocal talent has reserved him a status of a living legend to be counted amongst the greatest giants in the history of rock. Giant? He is a big bloke! This is quite true, as a true giant the man has actually shifted over 2 million albums and he is one of the best metal vocalists plying his trade today

Jorn Lande became widely known in the Hard Rock / Metal community singing for such bands as Millenium, Ark and finally Masterplan, the band featuring former Helloween guitar player Roland Grapow. He also guested on several projects such as the Allen Lande albums (with Symphony X singer Russell Allen), Avantasia, Beyond Twilight and Brazen Abbot. However he also has his own band project JORN, who debuted with in the year 2000 and with whom he has released 8 successful studio albums so far and is the undisputed heavyweight king of the cover version

I cant say that live albums are my favourites, as the best have always been rumoured to be more studio than live versions, and, given the opportunity I would always opt for a live gig over a live album. 

On first inspection it seems that john and his merry Nordic minstrels are as tight as a nut.Recorded two weeks prior to Lande’s appearance with Heaven & Hell, Live in Black was captured on video and audio at the Sweden Rock Festival in Solvesborg. In front of 20,000 crazed metal fans, Jorn Lande and his current band lineup, comprising guitarists Tore Moren and Tor Erik Myhre, bassist Nic Angileri and drummer Willy Bendiksen, delivered 14 songs that were taken from his rather extensive back catalogue. Just to date his set even further he has gone with the classic rock school of solo’s - by Tore Moren and Tor Erik Myhre and a drum solo from Willy Bendiksen. Surely a name even Steel Panther are jealous they didn’t think up

With the vast number of songs he can pick from, Jorn could never please everyone, but rest assured his ‘bread and butter’ tracks are included – ‘Tungur Knivur’ and ‘We Brought The Angels Down’. The man’s love for Dio is there for all to see, and thankfully he doesn’t fall on the side of parody. The man can let rip with the best of them and his extensive vocal dexterity is matched by the searing guitar play of Moren and Myhre. These two tear the place up, and really add colour and depth and add a certain amount of welly to some already decent songs

There’s little interplay with the audience between the songs but that makes for more top quality singing; growling and fierce one moment, almost operatic the next (give that man the ‘Go Compare’ ad.) . ‘Spirit Black’ sails so close to being a Dio’s ‘Straight Thru The Heart’ track its untrue.  I can’t say that all the soloing is relevant in this modern era, but with Lande’s feet firmly planted in 1986, its 100% relevant. Both Myrhe and Moren’s solo’s are slightly different as it’s a decent band jam with a bit more substance than your usual guitar wankery.

Very surprisingly, there is only one cover that’s included, and I’d never have guessed he’s have gone for Lizzy’s ‘Are You Ready’ which is another great tribute to the great Phil Lynott.  

‘War Of The World’ segue’s nicely into a passage from ‘Man On The Silver Mountain’, in tribute to the great man himself and carries it off impeccably. A man in which Lande is keen to emulate now there is a huge gap in the Metal God market place. The whoa-oh-oh-ing from the crowd reminds me also of Maidens ‘Fear Of The Dark’.

Production values are excellent, nothing is lost in the mix, and without the audience participation, (he’s that good), it almost seems like a studio album.

I’ve heard some people class Jorn Lande as being a bit of a Spinal Tap version of Spinal Tap. But, given a decent song, and a voice like that, the man proves he has a special talent indeed

All in all it sounded a great night. Me?  I’d buy it for the DVD and the extras alone!

Label – Frontiers

 CD 1: Road of the Cross, Shadow People, Below, We Brought The Angels Down, Stormcrow, Spirit Black, The Inner Road, Man of the Dark.

CD2: Blacksong, Guitar Solo (Tore Moren), Tungur Knivur, Guitar Solo (Tor Erik Myhre), Rock and Roll Angel, Drum Solo, Soul of the Wind, Are You Ready, War of the World.
 
DVD Contents:
Concert tracklisting: Road of the Cross, Shadow People, Below, We Brought The Angels Down, Stormcrow, Spirit Black, The Inner Road, Man of the Dark, Blacksong, Guitar Solo (Tore Moren), Tungur Knivur, Guitar Solo (Tor Erik Myhre), Rock and Roll Angel, Drum Solo, Soul of the Wind, Are You Ready, War of the World.

Bonus Material: Song for Ronnie James (videoclip), Man of the Dark (videoclip).

JORN

Jorn Lande: Vocals
Tore Moren: Guitar
Tor Erik Myhre: Guitar
Nic Angileri: Bass
Willy Bendiksen: Drums

85/100 Lande ahoy!

Xorigin - State Of The Art

For some unknown reason the Scandic nations rule when it comes to rock bands. Now I don’t know if it’s the lack to daylight hours which makes ‘em all a bit loopy, or if its the equivalent of National Service whereby at the age of 18 it is compulsory to start a band. For some reason the genre of melodic/aor is right up their gata/gaten (too much watching Wallander). So, being trapped in the musical equivalent of ‘The Power Hour’ where this once great TV program is still current and topical in Scandinavia, Xorigin have tapped into this stream of spandex, multi-layered keyboards and harmonies. God bless them for that. I say that with all sincerity as I love AOR!!

Melodic hard rock with a modern edge would be a fitting description of Xorigin's music. Musically they draw on influences such as Giant, Toto, Foreigner and Yes to name a few, but still keeping their own personal sound and musical identity intact. They have strong melodies, well crafted songs and catchy vocal arrangements as a trademark.

The band was originally named Orange Crush (so no bleedin’ wonder they changed it!!) and was formed in Los Angeles in 1999, while the members where studying music at the Musicians Institute. Like a Miners Institute, only for decrepit musicians. The founding members Johannes Stole (vocals) and Daniel Palmqvist (guitar) later returned to their home countries of Norway and Sweden and continued collaborating on various projects in between their other engagements. Johannes is a sought after session singer/artist in Oslo, Norway and has released a critically acclaimed album with progressive rock band P:O:B. Daniel has released a well received instrumental solo album and is also the guitarist for the band The Murder Of My Sweet. Again not the best name in the world. Sweet? Humbug, parma violet, love heart, what??

Now they have once again teamed up with their long time friend, producer/drummer Daniel Flores to record their debut album which promises to keep the current trend of very strong AOR releases in 2011

Frontiers have an unbelievably strong roster of AOR bands currently, and by only criticism is that albums by Work Of Art and Toby Hitchcock (also reviewed) are being released at the same time and you're average punter may not want to spend £30-40 on 3 albums all released the same week! Don’t let that put you off, as Xorigin, whilst not in the same bracket as their label mates, have still put out a strong album that would he hot in any other year, but this year’s AOR market is ‘on fire!’

Xorigin give us all the hallmarks of good formulaic melodic rock, great riffs, catchy choruses, sumptuously layered vocals and music which takes us back to some of the decent stuff which was put out in the 80s. Tracks like the opener ‘Cant Keep Running’, ‘Gina’, ‘Too Late’ and ‘The One Fore Me’ are all strong enough track that validate your decision to splash the cash in such an overcrowded (but high quality) market

Its great that new bands still want to continue to get their music out in the open, as AOR needs a future. Xorigin are staking their claim to be one of the bands that will be a mainstay in years to come

Label - Frontiers

Tracklisting: Can´t Keep Running; Crying For You; In The Blink Of An Eye; Too Late; Gina; This Is It; The One For Me; Said And Done; Matters To The Heart; What Love Is All About; Mend My Heart.

 XORIGIN
Johannes Stole – vocals, keyboards
Daniel Palmqvist- guitars

82/100 Recommended