Paris - 'Only One Life' Album Review

The Melodic Rock outfit PARIS has its origins in the French capital, but a short look at the album credits of the band's debut record illustrates that we are actually dealing with an international affair. The two main characters, Frédéric Dechavanne and Sébastien Montet, hail from France, the duo is responsible for the songwriting, the lead vocals, the guitars and the keyboards. The Italian delegation is represented by producer Alessandro Del Vecchio (Lionville, Hardline, Issa – this bloke is everywhere in modern AOR), the rhythm section Anna Portalupi (Mitch Malloy, Lionville, Hardline) on bass and Alessandro Mori (Mitch Malloy, Lionville, Axe) on drums. Guests are in-demand Swedish songwriter Robert Säll (Work Of Art, W.E.T.) on guitar and Steve Newman (Newman, Big Life) from the United Kingdom on backing vocals.

 Frédéric and Sébastien met in the suburbs of Paris when they were still little kids, later  in High School they discovered their common interest in AOR, Melodic Rock and Hard  Rock. In 1985 they founded their first band together and started to write their own songs inspired by the multi-platinum albums and concert visits of some of the most successful acts of the genre during their heyday in the late 80s, Def Leppard and Bon Jovi. The guys continue to work on their own material during the next couple of years, but life had other plans for the two friends, so from 1993 on their band and song writing activities were put on hold for almost two decades. 

In 2010 the two friends, who always kept in touch through the years, rediscovered the joy of making music together. New technologies paved the way for their revitalized musical collaboration with Frédéric now living in Germany, and they eventually recorded a demo album with 11 newly songs in 2011.

Ready then to take the next step, they contacted Alessandro Del Vecchio. The internationally renowned producer and musician took them under his wings and produced the songs in his studio, including some old favorites Frédéric and Sébastien had written 20 years ago. The PARIS debut "Only One Life" was recorded with the help of an international line-up of studio musicians, resulting in a collection of truly catchy Melodic Rock tunes.

The first couple of tracks, ‘Dancing On The Edge’, and ‘What We Should Be Saying’, have a definite AOR/Westcoast feel and fall into the modern type Slama AOR project, and Work Of Art. Considering these songs are the best part of 20 years old, they make an instant mark on your senses. Of course it wouldn’t be a melodic rock album without a ballad or two with the decent ‘Every Time You Walk Away’, and the more standard fare of ‘For The Time Still To Come’. Highlights include the aforementioned songs and the excellent ‘America’, ‘South Of Love’, ‘The Clock’, and ‘Handle With Care’

 Whilst its nowt new, any self respecting hardcore fan of AOR can enjoy a little trip over to Paris and enjoy ‘Only One Life’

80/100

Tracklisting -

Dancing On The Edge
What We Should Be Saying
South Of Love
Every Time You walk Away
America
Longer Than I Care To Remember
The Clock
On Fire
When The Lights Fade Away
Handle With Care
For The Time Still To Come

All songs written by Frédéric Dechavanne
except "America and "South of Love" written by Frédéric Dechavanne & Sébastien Montet

Produced by Alessandro Del Vecchio
Recorded, mixed & mastered by Alessandro Del Vecchio at Ivorytears Music Works, Italy

Arranged by Frédéric Dechavanne, Sébastien Montet & Alessandro Del Vecchio

 

PARIS are :
Frédéric Dechavanne: Lead & backing vocals, keyboards
Sébastien Montet: Lead & rhythm guitars

Additional musicians:
Anna Portalupi: Bass
Alessandro Mori: Drums
Alessandro Del Vecchio: Backing vocals
Steve Newman: Backing vocals
Robert Säll: Lead guitars on "America" 

Laneslide - Flying High Album Review

 

 

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Laneslide is a new Melodic Rock project developed by Italian songwriter / guitarist / producer Bruno Kraler (Brunorock). The international line-up of the band is made up of vocalist Frank Vestry, best known for the successful and critically acclaimed Marcello/Vestry album and the classic one off-record by US Melodic Rockers Last Temptation.  Alessandro Del Vecchio (Hardline, Lionville, Edge of Forever and everything else AOR related!!!) one of the rising stars of today’s Rock scene plays keyboards and the rhythm section are John Billings (Rick Springfield, Donna Summer, Lancia) on bass and Dominik Hülshorst (ex-Bonfire) on drums.

Four additional renowned musicians also lend their musical talents to the Laneslide album: Lino Gonzalez from Argentina on lead and rhythm guitars, Bobby Altvater on guitars and backing vocals and Erik Mårtensson and Michael Bormann on backing vocals.

Laneslide are one of the most exciting collaborations in recent years, their hard hitting yet very catchy brand of Melodic Rock is powerful, passionate and it has all the trademarks to let it stand out from the bulk of releases coming out this spring. I think they should have gone for Landslide as I can get a lot more puns out of Landslide than I can with Laneslide!

So, to the tunes. Basically Laneslide tick all the correct melodic rock categories. Decent singer, laden with harmonies, catchy as hell after just one listen, great riffs, decent production…..check! check, check, check and check!!! 

Title track ‘Flying High’ does what it says on the old tin, it’s a soaring opening number, 80s tinged and energetic as you would expect from a singer like Vestry and backed by two of the finest singers in this genre, Mårtensson and Bormann!

‘Hanging On Here’, picks right up and takes the album up to an even higher altitude and is a fine example of radio friendly AOR. Laneslide fit in perfectly with the finest exponents of this fine craft. If bands like Giant, Prophet, House Of Lords, W.E.T. etc., rock your boat then ‘Flying High’ will fit very nicely into your collection. Just to brag of their influences, they even cover a much missed 80s female vocalist and pay the great Laura Brannigan a nice tribute with an excellent cover of ‘Self Control’.  ‘River Of Love’ again ticks the right boxes with a House of Lords/Oni Logan vibe

Once again Avenue of Allies continue to back good quality melodic rock. Laneslide is another great example of their excellent roster of bands.

Ladies and Gentlemen, fasten your seatbelts, turn up your stereo and get ready for the Rock’n’Roll LANESLIDE.

85/100

Tracklisting

1.Flying High

2. Hangin' Out Here

3. You Can Make It

4. River Of Love

5. Dancing Girls

6. Understand

7. Self Control

8. Look The Other Way

9. Your Fight

10. Washed Away

 

LANESLIDE are :
Frank Vestry- Lead Vocals
Bruno Kraler - Lead & Rhythm Guitars
John Billings - Bass
Alessandro Del Vecchio - Keyboards & Grand Piano
Dominik Hülshorst - Drums

Special Guests :
Lino Gonzales- Lead & Rhythm Guitars
Bobby Altvater - Rhythm Guitars, Backing Vocals
Erik Mårtensson - Backing Vocals
Michael Bormann - Backing Vocals

Produced & mixed  by Bruno Kraler
Mastered by Christoph Stickel
Artwork by Mattias Norén

www.laneslide.com
www.facebook.com/Laneslide

Alter Bridge UK Tour announced

ALTER BRIDGE RETURN TO THE UK FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2011

BAND ANNOUNCE ARENA TOUR IN OCTOBER WITH SPECIAL GUESTS SHINEDOWN AND HALESTORM

ALTER BRIDGE are thrilled to announce they will be returning to the UK for a six-date arena tour this October. The upcoming tour marks the band’s first time back in the UK since November 2011. In the interim, guitarist Mark Tremonti released his debut solo record All I Was, singer/guitarist Myles Kennedy returned fronting Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, and drummer Scott Phillips teamed up with friends in Sevendust to form Projected.  ALTER BRIDGE toured extensively in support of their last album ABIII, released in 2010.  That tour was immortalized in the band’s now legendary sold-out performance at London’s Wembley Arena in November 2011 and released as the Alter Bridge: Live At Wembley DVD. Currently, the band - completed by bassist Brian Marshall - are hard at work writing/recording their new album, set for release via Roadrunner Records this September.  

Frontman Myles Kennedy exclaims, "Thrilled to be returning to the UK with SHINEDOWN and HALESTORM later this year! I’m looking forward to reconnecting with the part of the world that embraced ALTER BRIDGE from the start." 

Dates are as follows:

Wed 16th Oct - NOTTINGHAM Arena

Thu 17th Oct - BIRMINGHAM NIA

Fri 18th Oct - LONDON Wembley Arena

Sun 20th Oct - CARDIFF Motorpoint Arena

Mon 21st Oct - GLASGOW Hydro

Tue 22nd Oct - MANCHESTER Arena

Rounding out the bill are SHINEDOWN and recent Grammy Award winners, HALESTORM. 

Hailing from Jacksonville, FL, SHINEDOWN has been touring in support of their fourth studio album, ‘Amaryllis’. Charismatic frontman Brent Smith comments: “We are truly honoured to be playing with Alter Bridge in the UK this year.  We are such big fans of the band, and admire them greatly.  Rock n’ roll is a way of life for all of us in SHINEDOWN, and we are so excited to be apart of such an amazing tour!”   

Fresh off their own recent UK dates, HALESTORM already can’t wait to get back to these shores this Autumn. The are still celebrating their recent Grammy win for ‘Best Metal/Hard Rock Performance’ for single ‘Love Bites (And So Do I)’, taken from their current album ‘The Strange Case Of...’. Guitar-wielding banshee Lzzy Hale had this to say, “I'm so excited to be sharing the stage with our friends in Shinedown and Alter Bridge! I am so lucky to be the little sis of Rock on this tour. All of these men have been so influential to my life, and are tremendous performers. Anyone attending one of these shows better be prepared to leave the building barefoot, cuz the lot of us are gonna rock your socks off!"

General tickets go on sale 9am Friday 5th April, priced at £25 regionally / £26.50 London and are available fromwww.ticketmaster.co.uk or www.livenation.co.uk.

www.alterbridge.com

www.shinedown.com

www.halestormrocks.com

Charming Grace - ST Album Review

It’s a great thing indeed that some musicians/artistes still have it in their life blood to make Melodic Rock/AOR/Westcoast or whatever you want to call it. Pierpaolo “Zorro11” Monti is one such guy. Already a part of Shining Light and the first Lionville album, hes now devised a rather nice concept called Charming Grace

The pure AOR of the Charming Grace project is based on the idea of writing songs in the classic style of the 80s and recording them as duets. Although to be fair it seems a bit strange ho hear 2 blokes singing a duet! To give the record its own identity, all songs are sung by one main lead vocalist (Barbieri) while the featured duet partners are picked individually for each tune because of their special musical talents. The concept was developed by Pierpaolo "Zorro 11" Monti , (drums – Shining Line, Lionville) together with Davide "Dave Rox" Barbieri (lead vocals & keyboards – Wheels Of Fire) and Amos Monti (bass - Shining Line, Lionville).

Most of the songs for the album were written by Zorro together with Dave and they also picked two songs to record in the Charming Grace style, Bon Jovi’s “Everybody’s Broken” and Belinda Carlisle’s Top “Leave A Light On”.

Over the course of the months the Charming Grace guest list became a very special round up of musicians as it includes artists which haven't been in a recording studio for years or even decades. Prime example is David Forbes, whose unique vocal talent was one of the major keys to turn Boulevard, the Canadian band he fronted during the late 80s and early 90s, into the cult act they are among AOR connoisseurs.

Other very welcome guests on lead vocals celebrating a glorious return to the AOR and Melodic Rock world are the Scandinavians Bente Smaavik (Perfect Crime, Blonde On Blonde), Thomas Lassar (Crystal Blue), Henrik Launbjerg (Toys Of Joy) and Kimmo Bloom (Urban Tale) and from the States Moon Calhoun (Michael Thompson Band), who is accompanied by his mate Jeff Paris on backing vocals. The new generation of  Melodic Rock vocalists is represented by Nick Workman (Vega), Stefano Lionetti (Lionville), Michele Luppi (Los Angeles), Josh Zighetti (Hungryheart) and Gui Oliver (Auras). In addition to Bente the female part of CHARMING GRACE is taken over by the husky voiced Jesse Galante, an American born singer with Italian roots and the wonderful newcomer Aurë.

Among the ranks of the “Charming Grace Guitar Army” are the Swedes Sven Larsson (Street Talk, Lionville) and Peter Friestedt (Williams/Friestedt), local Italian string masters Roberto Priori (Danger Zone), Mario Percudani (Hungryheart, Shining Line, Mitch Malloy), Stefano Lionetti (Lionville), Mario Manzani (Florence 99), Steve De Biasi (Gunshy), Stefano Zeni (Wheels Of Fire), Andrea Lanza (Skill In Veins), Carmine Martone and Matteo Serra, while in the Red White and Blue corner, Tom Martin (Vega) is representing the UK.

Additional guests are Boris Matakovic (Human Zoo) on saxophone as well as James Martin (Vega) and Alessandro Del Vecchio (Edge Of Forever, Shining Line, Lionville, Hardline) on keyboards and backing vocalists Michael Carrata (Soul Seller), Franco Campanella (Myland) and Tomas Borgogna (Borgogna).

As you can see, Charming Grace is truly a who’s who of both the old and new guard of Melodic Rock!

The distinctive vocals of Nick Workman help kick off the project with ‘Everytime You Touch My Heart’, and his vocals complement Barbieri’s perfectly. The chorus is one of those AOR by numbers, instantly infectious and sing-able and has Vega’s style running right through it.

Moon Calhoun adds some spark (along with the one and only Jeff paris on BVs) to ‘The Way You Feel Inside’ a more uptempo track with more polish than a killers bathtub! Boulevards David Forbes steps up to the mic for ‘Shining Light’ no doubt a contender for the actual Shining Light album?! It’s a nice and safe song with some good guitar work from Mario Percudani  and is a decent track indeed.

All the track so fart are pretty damn good, but theres a step up in quality for the ADV sung “The Sound Of Your Heart” a small bloke with a huge set  of pipes. GC introduce the first of 2 covers, the first, one that few people other than Bon Jovi die hards will recognize (lets face it BJ have been off the boil for some time now – I say this as a Bon Jovi fan, well I was up until ‘Bounce’), in “Everybody’s Broken” more country than rock, but is handled well here by Josh Zighetti. The other is the female Bon Jovi, Belinda Calisle’s ‘Leave A light On’. Only available on the Euro version, perhaps they should have prayed for a power cut in the studio. Its ok I suppose, but I was never a fan of ‘The Carlisle” so I cant really appreciate the gesture. I could think of much better female artist songs to make a decent go of

‘Through The Stars’ Sees the Monti’s reunited with Lionville colleague Stefano Lionetti and has more of a present day AOR feel than the others on offer

Its firmly got its feet planted in the 80s, and that’s both a good and bad thing. Bad because its in the past and Id like bands to take a chance, but good because some really recent songs came out of the AOR movement of this period, and songs that I still turn to this day, and for that Zorro, Monti and Barbieri have a record that they can be very proud of as it certainly ticks the right melodic boxes in abundance

80/100

Official website:

www.charminggraceaor.com www.facebook.com/CharmingGOfficial

Label contact : Avenue Of Allies

FM, It Bites, Vega tour - Manchester Academy 2, March 21st 2013

FM, It Bites, Vega - Manchester Academy 2, March 21st 2013

A decent sized audience turns up again for the latest FM show/tour. If most of them are like me, they are there to witness one of Britain's finest EVER rock bands. I don’t say this lightly, but more of these perennial and on fire rockers in a mo!

I thought that the gig was a sell out and that FMs demographic had changed as there was a queue of a few hundred foppy haired teens (mostly young girls), there to see XFactor failure Frankie Co-codamol! Or so my lad tells me!

Also on the FM bill are younger statesmen of melodic rock, and all round Def Leppard sound-alikes, the hugely talented Vega, and the 80s prog faves, It Bites.

 Vega (up first) both look and sound the part of the future of British AOR and they are ready to take on the Americans (hopefully) at their own game. These guyse don’t have an axe to grind with the dreaded 2^nd album syndrome as new trace being aired tonight prove that they have developed and matured into a mighty fine ‘single’ machine. Highlights of the short set are predominately the ‘new’ ones, with ‘Not There For You’, a sure fire single in the not too distant future, the Def Lep influenced ‘What The Hell’ a song with a biographical tone and more than a ringer for Leppard’s “..Sugar’, and the anthemic closer, 'Hands In The Air’. The Martin boys certainly have a ear for a catchy number or 14, and in adding Night By Night guitarist Ben Christo, filled out the Vega sound perfectly, and when all the lads can sing, it doesn’t make for a better experience than this

 

It Bites are a bit different from the original line up with only John Beck and Bob Dalton hanging on in there from the 80s, with John Mitchell (Arena, Frost*) handling vocals and guitar. ‘Master King’ John Beck is the definite conductor of the band with all taking lead and direction from him. If ever a band were there to please the audience, and more importantly themselves, its It Bites. Not giving a rats arse to a smallish set, they still throw in a typical prog number in 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley’ a cool Spock's Beard type number. To be fair to they guys, they are not living on past glories as 4 songs from the last 5 yrs  on offer all are very impressive. Again all members contribute to the backing vocals, with Beck looking as if he is slightly manic with a wild stare and grin on a couple of occasions, and looking a typical prog rocker and like a member of ‘Strange Fruit’ (go look it up if you don’t know what I mean - I state this as a tribute, not an insult!)

Onto the darlings of the night, Britains finest rock band, the mighty FM. Don’t take my work for it, they call it themselves as a part of the intro, and who am I to argue with such talent. FM have a lead singer in Steve Overland who should be talked about in the same sentences for 80s rockers and MILFY housewives as Michael Bolton, only Steve has a much better looking barnet! He sounds a mix of Paul Rodgers/Sam Cook and the aforementioned Bolton, all rolled into one great live package (no auto-tune needed here folks). Couple this with long standing partners and FMs driving rhythm machine (Messers Jupp and Goldsworthy) and it’s a case of light the blue touch paper and stand well back

Jem Davis is not as ‘in front’ as 'Didge’ used to be, and that’s a good sign, just letting his playing and bvs taking centre stage. And with young gungslinger Jim Kirkpartick, his playing has injected a certain oomph into them, and lets face it, if you’ve seen FM these past 2 yrs, then you’ve caught them in the best form of their lives. ‘Tough Love’ kickstarts proceedings, before a clutch of oldies come to the fore, with ‘I Belong..’, ‘That Girl’, and ‘Hot Wired’ all hitting the mark. SO commented that he gets stick for his set list choices from the fans, but FM could remove 10 of the songs played tonight (and for the remaining two nights of the tour) and I think the everyone would still be very happy bunnies, such is the quality of their back catalogue. FM still can write a damn infectious song or two, Only Foolin, and the excellent Rockville track Crosstown Train bearing testament to their talent.

  

There was no surprise as per Mondays Bingley gig where Didge joined them on stage, we just had to do with the straight-talkin, let the songs and performance do the business from UKs finest

Lets just hope 2014 brings the 25^th anniversary tour of the classic ‘Tough It Out’ and I would be one ecstatic FM fan indeed. Long may they (all) continue

Stryper - Second Coming Album Review

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Yay! Or should that be Hallelujah! My favourite God botherer's are back with a new album. Now if there's one Christian rock band you have to have in your collection, its Stryper. Yes they are seen as a gimmick, but if they are, then it’s a bloody good one! They have written some tripe, I don’t particularly care for the sugar coated ballads, but when they let rip, Michael Sweet has one of the finest rock voices I've ever heard, EVER!

Without a doubt, Stryper is one of the top Christian rock bands of all-time, and certainly the most celebrated Christian metal band of all time. Comprised of Michael Sweet (vocals/guitar), Oz Fox (guitar), Tim Gaines (bass), and Robert Sweet (drums), Stryper has been rocking since 1983, and is responsible for such '80s metal classic albums as 'Soldiers Under Command,' 'To Hell with the Devil,' In God We Trust,' and such MTV hit singles/videos as "Calling on You," "Free," and "Honestly." After a sabbatical for much of the 1990's, Stryper returned strong in the early 21st century (Lazarus effect). But it was not until their 2011 covers set, 'The Covering,' that the aforementioned definitive Stryper was reinstated, as the band welcomed Gaines back into the fold.

The sixteen track new album includes brand new recordings of fourteen Stryper classics plus two brand new songs recorded for this celebrative (and it’s a truly) ‘Best Of’ release.

Covering songs from the first EP of the band “The Yellow and Black Attack”, the follow up “Soldiers Under Command” and the following “To Hell With the Devil” along with two brand new tracks, “Second Coming” allows the youngest generation of fans of the band to become acquainted with the early band’s repertoire offering some over the top classic performances only this time with 21^st C production techniques and a bit of welly and thunder thrown in. As the originals sounded as if they had been recorded in 4AD. 

The re-recordings are fabulous, they’ve been recorded today as they were intended to, and probably for a fraction of the cost. In Michael Sweet, Stryper have a vocalist with the voice of a God, a Rock God! 

The heavier numbers are the ones that really stand out – ‘Loud And Clear, Soldiers Under Command; Makes Me Wanna Sing; The Rock That Makes Me Roll and To Hell With The Devil’ all have a much added depth and quality than before. Stryper haven’t messed around with the songs to suit an older Michael Sweet, as he still hits all the notes without any fuss whatsoever and that in itself is quite remarkable. The two new songs have more of a classic rock feel to them, as the opening riff to ‘Bleeding From The Inside Out’ reminds me of Rainbow’s 16^th Century Greensleeves, and ‘Blackened’ is an up-tempo little affair.

Michael Sweet has high hopes for what lays in store for Stryper. "We're really excited this record. The re-recorded songs are sounding awesome! Better than the originals in many ways!! One word to describe the record? Heavier. We're hooked up with some great people - we've got new management, a great album, a great label. We just feel like everything is coming together, and hopefully some big things are to follow."

So…don’t take my word for it, check out what these guys thought of the Second Coming....

‘I could never part with it’, Moses

‘My wives loved it!’, Solomon

‘Great music for the Ark’s ipod’, Noah

‘It slayed me!’, Goliath

‘I couldn’t stop dancing’, Salome

I must add that I feel that the project has been at the behest of the head of Frontiers. Don't get me wrong, the reworked songs are decent, but I think Stryper would have been best coming to market with either a brand new set of songs (especially as the last album was a covers cd) or got the originals remastered with a handful of rare and unreleased tracks....Winter Wonderland anyone???

80/100

Tracklisting:

Loud N’ Clear;

Loving You;

Soldiers Under Command;

Makes Me Wanna Sing;

First Love;

The Rock That Makes Me Roll;

Reach Out;

Surrender;

To Hell With The Devil;

Calling On You; 

Free; 

The Way;

Sing Along Song;

More Than A Man;

Bleeding From Inside Out (New);

Blackened (New).

STRYPER

Michael Sweet – Lead Vocals / Lead Guitar
Robert Sweet – Drums and Visual Timekeeping
Timothy Gaines – Bass / Vocals
Oz Fox – Lead Guitar / Vocals

FM - Rockville & Rockville II Album Review

 

FM – Rockville & Rockville II

Well rock fans, Britain’s finest have been up to it yet again, and, like a fine wine, the FM guys are getting better with age. When most are content with living on past glories, FM are out to write a new chapter for themselves with every single release.

They gained a fair bit of moolah from their Pledge campaign, showing just how popular they are

They tried and tried for many a year to crack the big time, and what with Metropolis and now Rockville they have an album that just screams for it to be heard on the radio! It’s probably not as heavy as Metropolis, but bugger me they haven’t half come up with an instantly likeable, hummable and Goddamn infectious set of songs. The lads are probably in their most prolific period since they formed back in the 80’s . Load the album into the dreaded iTunes, and they genre displays ‘pop’! If anything it’s a FM-rock radio friendly (with more than a hint of country rock thrown in for good measure) set of songs that deserve to be played on this and the other side of the Atlantic. Listen up America!

FM have tried over the years to take on the Americans at their own game. That plan didn’t work out too well, but US’ loss is the UKs gain. FM have a talent for polished, and attractive songs.

Opener “Tough Love” (mid-paced and catchy!)and “Wake Up World” (soulful, and a shoe in for the upcoming live gigs) both typify the 21^st Century FM..less heavier, still hankering for the 80s a little, but with a bit more soul (in both senses of the word). No more so than ”Only Foolin’’ the first single that typifies the FM/Kirkpatrick groove. “Crave” has ‘The Voice’ showing off his chops, and its got Radio 2 written all over the thing! Yes R2 sounds shite to some young whippersnappers, but for me this is the big time!!

Mr O goes all kinky on us by singing about “My Love Beads!” Tinnitus is a horrible thing to contend with, I’m assured its “My Love Bleeds”. Highlight of Rockville is the new classic, “Crosstown Train”, a brooding number where JK truly lets rip. A heavier beast than the rest, its up there with their finest and if I can recommend buying an album based on one song alone, then “Crosstown Train” is it! Ill give you two reasons...the other being "Only Foolin'" another catchy Overland classic of the present and future.

All the others roll along in a similar FM-vein WYSIWYG, powerful, catchy as Hell, and delivered with a muster that few bands can match nowadays.

So, moving onto Rockville II.....

FM have been in prolific writing form of late. In an age where fans like to have a number of formats, special editions etc, the FM fan-base will be in their element with Rockville II. ‘High’ is another FM slant on the SO back catalogue, with “High’ getting the treatment this time round. (I know The Ladder, not FM covered “Baby Blue” before any smart arse kicks off!). “Bad Addiction” is a mix of ‘Aint Gonna Run’ and ‘Primitive Love’ and should have been a contender for the main event. 

Folk music often concerns being far away from where the singer resides. Steve Overland must have very itchy feet and a desire for travel in its various forms with songs like ‘Crosstown Train; Desolation Station; Runaway Train and Paradise Highway’, and continuing on the travel theme with ‘Brother Take Me Home’!! If you could put two genres together it could be country rock, but the amalgamation isnt too good...."Crock!" or even "Cock"

So there you have it – a mighty fine main event and a solid set of songs on Rockville II that any discerning FM fan will lap up. Whilst it doesn’t break any musical barriers, FM are in very fine form indeed.

90/100

www.fmofficial.com

Rockville

Tough Love

Wake Up The World

Only Foolin'

Crave

Show Me The Way

My Love Bleeds

Story Of My Life

Better Late Than Never

Crosstown Train

Goodbye Yesterday 

High Cost Of Loving

Rockville II

High 

Bad Addiction

Guilty

Desolation Station

Runaway Train

Living For The Weekend

Forever And A Day

Paradise Highway

Brother Take Me Home

Last Chance Saloon