Uberkill - 'Sex On A Leash' EP Review

Its cool to be a band with an umlaut on your name isn’t it. Motörhead, Queensrÿche, Mötley Crüe, Blue Öyster Cult all do it for effect and Überkill are no different. At least if you’re going to use a diacritic, make sure it’s a German sounding name. Enough of the lesson lets get to the music

Überkill are a five piece from dat der London comprising of Michael Blackheart (v), Nick Childs (g), Carsten Hoyer (b), Graham Tull (d) and Iain Grant (sg), the ‘sg is not as in ‘Gibson’, but ‘session guitar.’

The EP is back to old skool proportions, 4 tracks, an in yer face as a rock band should be. Christ some bands EPs are longer than albums were in the 70s and 80s. Not the case here. Überkill go for the KISS method – keep it simple stupid!

And that’s what we have here -  straight-forward, good old fashioned rock and roll.  It’s all riff based, punchy and fast with immediate foot tappin’, lip smackin’, head bangin’ tunes on offer here folks!

Rock music that is accessible as this hopefully pays out for the band in question. If you like 80s rock like AC/DC, and some of the later DC models like Airbourne, Bonafide, etc., then Überkill will sit alongside these in your collection with ease.

‘Two Timin’ Woman’ kicks off like a hurricane. Überkill have four chances to grab you by the ears and make you beg and listen, this is achieved less than a minute in, with Blackheart sounding as if he has all the tools of a future thoroughbred rock star. ‘Sex On A Leash’ picks up seamlessly and its like The Hives, crossed with ‘The Ramones’ and has a swagger that only a ‘cock-rock’ tune can do. ‘Feel So Good’ is more groove-laden than the rest and it shows the lads in full flow, full of confidence. ‘Just One Thing,’ has me wanting to rip thru my record collection, as it’s a ringer for something I cant put my finger on. One thing is certain, it has a blistering guitar solo that will have you reaching for your real or imaginary air guitar and I sware you will be pulling off windmills, and deep knee bends in no time.

A lot of bands EPs have songs that would never make the cut of an album. Well there’s no such issue here, all are destined to be parts of Überkill’s bright future. One thing is for certain, Überkill will have you singing into your hairbrush in no time, I'll guarantee it.

Their press release states – ‘We are Überkill and we play rock ‘n’ roll’. As far as Ronseal statements go, this one also has it on the tin.

Score 7/10

Serpentine - 'Circle Of Knives' Album Review

Serpenten anyone?

Anyone into melodic rock in the UK and beyond will have come across Serpentine at some point over the last five years. They started out life with a legend at the helm in Tony Mills (he of Shy and Siam). It was a difficult position to fill for Matt Black, but few singers could hold a candle to the high-pitched Mills, but Black was one such person. Matt jumped ship and is now part of Fahran, and original bassist Gareth Vanstone departed due to illness. Adam Payne (ex-Tidal) and Owen Crawford (Ex-Triaxis) have stepped into the fore respectively

This latest edition of Serpentine headed Oop North to record the album at Gary Hughes’ Doghouse Studio in Blackpool. Serpentine had originally lined up legend Neil Kernon to mix the album, but the sound wasn’t to be what the lads had envisaged, so Sheena Sear who had mixed Serpentines 2 albums, stepped back in to finalise the mix.

If you’re wondering if Gary Hughes has had an influence on proceedings then it’s an indefatigable ‘yes’. Opening track 'Season Of The Witch' sees Serpentine sonically being miles away from Mills pitch, and for me that’s a good sign indeed. If anything you almost have to pinch yourself as Payne has more of a passing comparison to Gary Hughes. Whether that’s the songwriting influence or some layered locals I can’t work out. Certainly it makes a collaboration worthwhile…SerpenTen anyone? Gone is the more AOR sounding style of previous, and in comes a harder melodic edge. 'La Tragedienne' typifies how good they are at songwriting, with a typical hooky chorus and strong riff. 'Forever' kicks you in the head with its punchy guitar riff showing how good a guitarist Chris Gould is, before stepping back for Payne’s vocals, and has Gary Hughes’ influence running through it like a stick of rock (it had to come in somewhere!). ‘The Hardest Fall’ sees Serpentine keep a high line with their tempo before letting it fall back for the slower ballad-type ‘Bleed’. It’s a track that highlights one of Serpentine’s strong points on ‘Circle…’, and that is Gareth Noon’s keyboard/piano playing, but what you also get is some excellent guitar soloing from Gould.

'Where Does Your Heart Beat Now', is a big slice of AOR, and is an example of a band playing at their very best. The fast and frenetic ‘Bound By The Strings Of Discord’ has Roy Millward playing out of his skins (pun intended!). The atmospheric 'Circle Of Knives' has a symphonic opus feel and could be a contender for any or the recent excellent Ten albums. If 6+ minutes passes like a pop single then you know you’re onto a good thing. I was going to say that Payne has a lot less of range than a lot of singers, and then up he pops for the final track 'Suicide Days'. It seems a slight segue to their usual stylings but one that still sounds good.

Serpentine have travelled a long and winding journey since their debut back in 2010. From the high-pitched eras of Mills and Black to the current and more controlled vocals of Payne, I’m sure there’s a lot more to come for these guys. Payne has acquitted himself particularly well into the fold, but for me the plaudits should go to Noon’s playing. All deserve a notable mention, but Noon just shades it.

Score 73/100

Serpentine are –

Chris Gould – Guitars

Gareth Noon – Keyboard

Roy Millward -  Drums

Adam Payne – Vocals

Owen Crawford – Bass

Tracklisting –

Season Of The Witch

La Tragedienne

Forever

The Hardest Fall

Bleed

Where Does Your Heart Beat Now

Bound By The Strings Of Discord

Circle Of Knives

Such A Long way Down

Suicide Days

Whitesnake - 'The Purple Album' review

A few years back I had a hankering to go see my first eve live experience again. That band is Whitesnake obviously; otherwise it would be in a different write-up. Supporting or should I say equal to Def Leppard on the bill at the Liverpool Arena, I had not seen such a poor gig since Schenker’s issue supporting the Scorps a couple of years earlier. Coverdale was poor at best. He redeemed himself more recently on the Journey bill in Manchester where a much improved (?) and hopefully not enhanced version was witnessed.

Over to Coverdale…“People have been asking me for many years to revisit Purple songs like ‘MISTREATED’ & ‘SOLDIER OF FORTUNE’ with WHITESNAKE, but I always felt like I should be writing new, fresh WHITESNAKE songs for the fans.”
 
“In 2012 I was told by a representative of the old PURPLE management that keyboard maestro Jon Lord, who had worked with me in WHITESNAKE, too, had been diagnosed in with cancer and that Jon’s wish on his recovery would be that we put together a PURPLE reunion of sorts. I agreed to be there for him. As we all know, sadly he didn’t recover. After Jon passed away, I felt it necessary to reach out to Ritchie Blackmore to express the grief at Jon’s loss and to hopefully bury any unpleasant hatchets we’d been throwing at other for decades. It was during our reconnect that we discussed the possibility of some kind of a PURPLE reunion or a ‘BLACKMORE/COVERDALE’ project. During the time we were talking, I started listening to our old albums and began working on ideas & new approaches to suggest, rearranging some of our original works.” Unfortunately, our ideas on the reunion aspect didn’t quite gel, so I respectfully withdrew from further discussions, though I am happy to say we did bury old animosities and we have thankfully stayed in touch.
 
It was Coverdale’s wife, Cindy who suggested that he take his ideas & make a new WHITESNAKE studio album celebrating his legacy from his time with DEEP PURPLE. “And that’s how it all happened. I discussed the idea with my musicians & our record company & everyone was very positive. So it was all systems go for ‘The PURPLE Album’.

In writing (in theory), a proposed reunion would have been awesome. Problem is, Ritchie Blackmore is too far into his mandolin-induced coma to snap out of it and do something worthwhile (some members of Rainbow have been trying for years).

I like the idea of revisiting old classics, but lets face it, THEY ARE CLASSICS! So why tamper with the evidence. I suppose if anyone has a right to cover these songs then it should be Coverdale. ‘Burn’ (the album) is my favourite of all the Purple albums, and my son has his orders to play ‘Burn’ (the song) at my cremation! Me and Mk3 (and a little bit of Mk4) Deep Purple go back a long way you see, so is it a loving recreation, a twist on classics, or an unmitigated disaster??

Thankfully it’s not a disaster, but its not exactly fantastic either. I suspect a lot of these songs will be wheeled out later in the year on the UK tour, and that for me alone will be a last chance to bask in Coverdale’s glory and legacy. The album though is a different proposition. When WS metalled up ‘Cryin In The Rain’ and ‘Here I Go Again’ I wasn’t over the moon initially. Yes they grew on me, but the originals outstripped the new pretty much as they do here today.

Burn is almost true to the original, thank God. Beach and Hoekstra combine to fill in the gaps that a twin guitar attack can do. Coverdale’s voice is slightly whiney, but lets be clear here, the bloke is well into his 60s. The Glenn Hughes vocals are obviously missing, but you don’t realize that much to be fair.  The opening few bars of ‘You Fool No One’ (slightly apt) sound as if it’s being covered by Blackfoot. ‘Love Child’ is almost wrong to cover. The vocals are somewhat strained, in part feels like Barry Gibb is covering the song. As I suspected from recent gigs that Coverdale’s vocals are best served on the lower register songs – ‘Sail Away’ & ‘Soldier Of Fortune’ show that the great man can still kick it. ‘Sail Away’ in particular has a nice slant on the original, a stripped back acoustical version which very much suits the 21^st Century version of Coverdale and Whitesnake. He doesn’t go for the screaming of the original, keeping it held back and restrained and is a pleasant surprise. ‘The Gypsy’ is one of the best on the album, and the sound is superb, doesn’t star too far from the ‘Stormbringer’ original. This song alone justifies the re-working, its that good. 

Where The Gypsy represents one of the strongest songs, Lady Double Dealer does the opposite. Then there’s the biggie…’Mistreated’. The song musically is very good. I love the original, the Rainbow version with Dio was stunning, and the Live In The Heart Of The City version is great, but the vocals on the 2015 version are a long way from the original. Coverdale even tackles the Hughes sung ‘Holy Man’. Glenn Hughes could most likely sing this better than the original, so Coverdale’s a brave man for taking on the one of the other big voices of rock. Similarly to ‘The Gypsy’, DC goes for a more acoustic version, before it builds very nicely and to be fair, is another cracking version – one I didn’t expect. ‘ Might Just Take Your Like’ takes on a southern blues style with slide geetar, and when Coverdale doesn’t try to do ‘Still of the Night’ with his voice, is where these songs work best. ‘You Keep On Moving’ is a song that without Hughes, he will always struggle, but the Hughes part is actually filled in nicely – good job done by all methinks. ‘Lay Down, Stay Down’ is another favourite from Burn and sees Coverdale handle all the Hughes parts as well (mostly) and it’s a decent effort. Finally we get to the other biggie, ‘Stormbringer’. This has Coverdale sounding probably as better as he has in years and is a truly fitting way to conclude The Purple Album

Now if Glenn Hughes had been asked to contribute, this would have been a different outcome I suspect…? I think I’m being too critical based purely on where the originals sit with me. Then again, if you’re going to cover classic songs then be prepared for some criticism. Its not all bad, its not all great either.

I’ll leave the final word for Coverdale….“There was absolutely no intention to compete, or compare with the original recordings. We just wanted to play these songs the best we could and this is how we wanted to play them,“ says Coverdale.

Do you know what, he’s 100% spot on. I just hope I can afford the money for the tour in Dec as its not cheap!

Score – 75/100

Whitesnake are -

David Coverdale

Reb Beach – Guitars

Joel Hoekstra – Guitars

Michael Devin – Bass

Tommy Aldridge – Drums

Tracklisting - 

Burn

You Fool No One

Love Child

Sail Away

The Gypsy

Lady Double Dealer

Mistreated

Holy Man

Might Just Take Your Life

You Keep On Moving

Soldier Of Fortune

Lay Down, Stay Down

Stormbringer

Romeo's Daughter - 'Spin' Album Review

 

For every ten bands that have reformed from the 80s era, nine of them have probably been an unmitigated waste of space and time. Few from this ‘83-‘93 period have continued to make a valuable contribution or taken their music forward, rather than backwards or stagnant. One such band that is constantly striving for the best music that they can produce is Romeos Daughter. After their first two albums became staples and highly sought after albums of the melodic rock scene, their reformation was both a surprise and more importantly an undoubted feature with their return to form ‘Rapture’ back in 2012.

The nucleus of the band is still here 27 years down the line with the strings being pulled by the vastly underrated Craig Joiner, sultry Leigh Matty, and rhythm pounders of the highest order in Andy Wells and Ed Poole.

Opening track ‘Touch’ got an airing at the recent HRH AOR 3 festival, and starts off with Leigh Matty’s sultry and sensual vocals. Joiners guitar chugs along underneath before a bridge and chorus that hits all the right places and becomes an instant Romeos Daughter classic and is up there with their very best work.  ‘Already Gone’ is one of those songs that doesn’t make that much of an impression on the first listen, but after a few spins (sorry) its one damn-intoxicating tune. ‘Love Will Come’ has a delicate beginning that builds up to be a powerful ballad. ‘Enemy’ is a track that has one of its feet firmly planted in the 1980’s and sounds the kind of song that would have been used to make a mark in a John Hughes film. ‘Didn’t See You Coming’ sees Romeos Daughter reach for a lighter side of their repertoire, and must be a target for radio play in the near future. Talking of ‘Radio’, this is another that received a debut outing at the recent HRH AOR gig, and immediately hits the spot. A huge chorus that has to be heard live as this version is excellent, but the live version is stunning. Joiners ear for what makes a song is exemplary. He is one of the finest composers out there, and I feel he puts everything he has into each individual song. ‘Perfect Plan’ must be one of the songs written for Spin as it seems to have been around for a couple of years now. When songs are written so early before an alum is released its easy for then to be dropped. ‘Perfect Plan’ has the right mix of power and a chorus that a couple of years later still has the chops to be included. ‘Tall Buildings’ finishes off Spin rather nicely. Joiners playing isn’t pushed to the front, it sits amongst the vocals like an additional harmony, until the solo that is, as he give it some, and then some more! Save (one of) the best until last rings true here.

This isn’t an album that should just be targeted at the AOR/melodic rock brigade, as Spin has a style and substance that anyone with a love for radio friendly pop rock would enjoy. Romeos daughter have a knack of writing songs that are infectious, and every one on Spin is a delight. There some up-tempo rockers, to the more demure and lighter numbers that make up a wonderful contrast. What are you doing wasting your time reading this for, just go out and buy the bloody thing, it’s marvelous. Not only that, its up there with their best work

Catch Romeo’s Daughter on tour with FM in May - www.romeosdaughter.co.uk/tour.php

Score -  93/100

Tracklisting - 

Touch

Already Gone

Love Will Come

Enemy

Didn't See You Coming 

Radio

Tonight

All because Of You

Perfect Plan

Tall Buildings

Michael Schenker's Temple Of Rock - 'Spirit On A Mission' Album Review

I think it was about 2006 when I saw Michael Schenker’s car crash of a gig supporting his brother’s Scorpions at the Manchester Apollo. It was the first time I had seen him since Gary Barden’s triumphant return after the debacle with Graham Bonnet back in ‘83. I turned to my mate at the Apollo and said ‘I’m done’, as it was the only time in over 30 years of attending gigs that I had seen an audience boo and almost turn on an artiste. I vowed my path wouldn’t cross Schenker's ever again. Over the passing years I heard that he was well again and more importantly playing like the old days. That was back in 2012 and since then I haven’t missed a UK tour.

Bad luck fell on the guys as halfway through recording, the guitars and recordings were stolen. Schenker recalls, “Fortunately it was just performances and not compositions, we caught up and performed the music better than before. It forced us to work extra hard and longer but it made it stronger”.

The line up in the UK is settled – Dougie White (vocals), Francis Bucholz (Bass), Herman Rarebell (drums), and the invaluable Wayne Findlay (guitar, keys, BVs and amply filling in the Paul Raymond role). The debut ToR album ‘Bridge The Gap’ was widely well received. Is ‘Spirit On A Mission’ likely to be held in the same esteem. Well with a more stable line up than there ever has been, there’s every chance…

One thing that jumps right out of the speakers is how good Dougie White sounds. As a massive Rainbow fan, I have always been on the side of Mr White.Lets also be clear that it isn’t going to be anywhere as good as the first 3 MSG albums! ‘Live And Let Live’ focuses on the guitar driven riffage that only Schenker is capable of. Pair this with the best Scorpions rhythm section in history and it’s a very promising opening. ‘Communion’ made me do a double take. I honestly thought that Glenn Hughes had guested vocals, so certain was I that I had to check the PR notes. ‘Vigilante Man’ has a great upbeat tempo and is very melodic in structure. ‘Rock City’ jumps out like a starting pistol, fast and frenetic riffs courtesy of Mickey. ‘Saviour City’ harks back to the epic days of something like ‘Desert Song’, or ‘Lost Horizons’. It may not be as good as either, but you can tell the intent and desire is there. ‘Something Of The Night’ is quite Blackmore-esque in its composition, with Schenker powering thru the scales, and White singing about Black Nights! ‘Bulletproof’ has a 70s feel to it, with Schenker channeling ‘Lovedrive’ era Scorps. The album sounds best on the faster melodic numbers, no more so than ‘Restless Heart’. Add another 4 or 5 like this to the mix then it would be a belter. Overall Id have preferred it a couple of songs shorter as there's a couple of songs I doubt I’ll ever listen to again (Good Times, Let The Devil Scream, All Our Yesterdays)

Overall 'SOAM' is OK, but that’s all it is. All it really made me do was dig out my re-masters of MSG from the debut to ‘Built To Destroy’. Michael Schenker’s Temple of Rock is essentially a Ronseal cover band, you know what you are going to get – UFO, Scorpions, and MSG with a couple of Temple songs thrown in for good measure. Whether or not it becomes a bonafide band in its own right remains to be seen. I prefer to see the Temple perform live rather than go down the album route, although it is admirable that they are giving it a decent shot, when he could so easily cash in and do a couple of European tours a year giving the fans what they want – next time, play more MSG stuff!

Score – 65/100

Michael Schenker's Temple Of Rock are

Michael Schenker ( Guitar)

Dougie White (Vocals)

Herman Rarebell  (Drums)

Francis Bucholz (Bass)

Wayne Findlay (7 String Guitar/Keyboard/B.Vocals)

Tracklisting –

Live And Let Live

Communion

Vigilante man

Rock City

Saviour Machine

Something Of The Night

All Our Yesterdays

Bulletproof

Let The Devil Scream

Good Times

Restless Heart

Wicked

Reach - 'Reach Out To Rock' Album Review

It’s mightily impressive that Reach (who consist of 3 very young lads and 1 x young lad) take their influences and references for some of the melodic rock greats of the 80s - Whitesnake, Journey, HEAT, Giant etc., etc. They've been together since 2012 and their first release was a cover video of Avicii's "Wake Me Up". The video has of today been seen by an amazing amount of people - almost 1.3million (1,269,830). Yes, 1.3 MILLION !!! Which is bloody fantastic and amazing in equal measure in this day and age. Either that, or the lads mum's have watched it 317,457.5 times each!

Reach are Alex Waghorn (vocals), Ludvig Turner (Guitar), David Jones (Bass) and Marcus Johansson (Drums). Marcus and Ludvig may have appeared on your radar last year with Adrenaline Rush. Reach is the band that is likely to pay the bills. Rock bands in Sweden are ten a penny. In fact, I think its a government ruling, that when you finish college, you have to either start or join a band. The very recent HRH AOR was almost a mini Sweden Rock, with a third of the bands on display over the main stage over the two days coming from the land of the moose, semlas and meatballs!

On first inspection Reach look the part, young, good looking and have great hair (well 3 of them have great hair!), and most of all they SOUND the part. There’s a really excellent 5 or 6 songs here that belies the lads young years. ‘You Called My Name’ comes out of the blocks like Usain Bolt after a dodgy curry. Turners guitar playing is Lynch-like, and ‘…Name’ has a big, big chorus. Similar can be said of ‘Fortune And fame’, only this ones a slow burner and grows with every passing listen. After ‘Tell Me’ the high octane tempo from the first three song lags a little, then explodes back to life with the contagious ‘Make Me Believe’ and is a cut above due to the 4 part harmonies. I had my reservations initially about the quality of Waghorn’s vocals on the very first listen, I’ve only had this CD for 4 days and after repeated listens (and seeing them twice live in a week) the lad as great potential. ‘Reach Out’ I guess is the bands anthem and springs to life and catches Reach at their best, and the guitar solo is superb. I think Reach have unearthed a future guitar god in Ludwig Turner, as his playing hand confidence has come a long way since last years appearance with Adrenaline Rush. ‘Looking For Love’ not only is an 80s sounding title from the Coverdale song title handbook, it has 80s running through it like a stick of rock. ‘Coming Home’ finishes 'ROTR' with a bang, the riff reminds me a bit of The Cult in their heyday, and is one of the best songs on the album, and is a huge live song. It is truly a great way to finish off the album.

I only have one question fellas….what’s with the album cover and logo? It’s supposed to be a fighter jet, but it looks like a big bell. Get it changed. Make it more plane-y.

That said, ‘Reach Out To Rock’ is a massive slice of 80s influenced Hair Metal / Melodic Rock or whatever you want to call it. All I know is that it’s a bloody good debut, and I cant wait to see what’s to come over the next 3-5 years. Poodles, Eclipse, Heat etc, there some new kids in town, and they are reaching out to take the crown.

85/100

Reach Are…

Alex Waghorn – Vocals

Dave Jones – Bass

Ludwig Turner – Guitar

Marcus Johansson – Drums

Tracklisting -

You Called My Name

Fortune And Fame

Tell Me

We Are

Someone Like You

The Beast

Make Me Believe

Reach Out

Looking For Love

Coming Home

Label – www.sunhill production.com

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/reachofficialsweden

iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/se/album/reach-out-to-rock/id975761758?l=en

HRH AOR 3 - Hafan Y Mor, Pwllheli 14th March 2015

So after dawn broke and the revellers rose from their stupors, many didn’t even sober up I suspect, the big news of the day was the backing tape saga. Everyone had an opinion, and I’m a big HEAT fan (‘twas my melodic rock album of 2014), but I’m vehemently against any form of added bonus content for want of a better word. It will play out over the course of the coming days I guess…

So, brekkie was had, coffee and tea was drunk at the excellent facilities that HRH/Haven had to offer. Album browsing at the metal market(vinyl was bought) and a bit more Doom was taken in – I’ve come to the decision that I don’t particularly like Doom!

I missed the first couple of songs by opening act Euphoria Audio. I was looking forward to this UK outfit. They come across as the type of music that makes your toes curl – similar to Daughtry, David Cook, Jonas Bros etc etc – but I personally like this stuff. There’s shitloads of bands like this across the US that make a good living, but not so many UK bands. It’s the type of music that middle age women of a certain age lap up in droves. And some middle age men! But a friend nailed it when she said that she wants to hear music that makes her stop a conversation, turn around and watch the band. This was no such case. Euphoria Audio have some decent enough songs, and a very good singer in Matt Shirty (but there was very little stage presence – which showed when guitarist Ben Lloyd had an issue and Shirty didn’t really know what to do with the dead time). That said EA were enjoyable enough, went down reasonably well considering the attendance was piss poor vs the same time the previous day. But, if I could describe the experience in one word it would be ‘beige’.

Reach on the other hand literally exploded into life. They looked the part in the true spirit of AOR/Hair Metal – a mass of hair, shapes being thrown, it was like they have been watching hair bands of the 80s for their homework and getting A grades (they all looked about 14!). They certainly are young guns in the making and have much great chance of making it that in their ‘other’ job with Adrenaline Rush. Their playing and confidence belied their very young years, and what with an opening song like ‘You Called My Name’ they are on a high trajectory to fame and hopefully some fortune as well. I have to admit that live they are a different proposition to the recently released album, much better in the flesh and growing with every passing gig. ‘Make Me Believe’, ‘Fortune and Fame’, and ‘Coming Home’ are the better songs. For some reason the closing song, ‘Black Lady’ is one of their finest, yet never made the album. Watch out for these lads they are going far.

I’ve seen White Widdow a couple of times now and have been disappointed with Jules Millis’ vocals. This time was it was different, he seemed stronger than the past, (there were a few minor issues) but he was much, much better than previous. I suppose they are the band of the day (come to think of it, the festival) to have a proper ‘widdly’ guitarist. I had to laugh when Jules took the piss out of The Poodles when they said they had come a long way to be in North Wales, “well try fucking Australia mate!’’ or words to that effect. That makes it all the more special

that a band, not exactly rolling in it, is prepared to travel half way around the World to perform. A few of the new songs were chosen, and rightly so as ‘Caught In The Crossfire’, ‘Below The Belt’, and ‘Just Another Night’ are some of the gems from ‘Crossfire’. I’m guessing that Jules is a big Aviator fan as they finished their set with the classic ‘Frontline’ and bloody good it was too. It was probably the best he sounded all gig. Cracking stuff.

Eclipse is one of the leading lights of melodic metal. In Eric Martensson they have a great singer, guitarist, writer and producer, although his guitar tends to only be rolled out for the odd song when performing for Eclipse. If you haven’t got the new album ‘Armageddonize’ then where have you bloody well been. Most of the performance was taken from what is likely to be many peoples album of 2015, and the excellent ‘Bleed and Scream’. Eric is a great vocalist, and sometimes Eclipse have little passages where they out-Whitesnake Whitesnake!! Similar to Vega,

Eclipse are a very anthemic band, on this occasion the songs picked – ‘Wake Me Up’, ‘Bleed & Scream’, ‘Aint Dead Yet’, ‘Battlegrounds’, ‘Blood Enemies’, ‘Stand On Your Feet’, etc etc, - it was like being twatted with a hammer for 50 minutes as Eclipse were RELENTLESS. It was a bombastic approach which ensured maximum attack. My highlight was the guitar-off between Martensson and Hermansson before the Jelly Roll-esque ‘Breakdown’, which is one of my fave live tracks from ‘Armageddonize’. If you were lucky to catch them on their UK tour either side of this event, all I can say is was that they were even better than this performance, and that’s saying something. Erik Martensson is the baby-faced assassin of melodic metal.

I caught Crazy Lixx at last year’s inaugural Frontiers Festival in Milan where they appeared first on the bill of day 3. Then they were OK to reasonable, now just over 10 months later they have improved immensely which was proven by the attendance in the arena for them. Again, Crazy Lixx were here to play mostly from their recent album. They are more Sleaze than AOR, but that didn’t stop them in releasing both barrels. Singer Danny Rexon announced that it was his first time out with a guitar. I think the change from last years line up to now has made things better and seemed tighter. More Motley Crue than Magnum, the lads held the audience in the palm of their hands for the likes of the excellent ‘Hell Raising Woman’, ‘Heroes Are Forever’ and ‘Outlaw’. Based on this, I expect great things over the course of the next couple of years.

I wasn’t too sure what to expect from Houston. Certainly the audience didn’t either as a good 30% had vacated for them. Well all I have to say is, more fool them, as they missed a very stellar and polished performance. They weren’t without their issues as Calle Hammar’s guitar broke a string, and didn’t come equipped with a second guitar. The rambling’s from singer Hank Erix were completely devoid of any interaction, but he more than made up for it in the quality of his voice and for me was one of the best voices of the weekend. Houston are one of the bands whose songs are in the true spirit of AOR, what with the keyboard laden opener ‘Glory’, to the newer songs such as ‘Don’t Look Back’, and ‘Standing On The Moon’. If not too careful, they could be seen as a overblown cover band, and I like their own stuff better than the covers. That said, the covers are true to the originals and are bloody great versions of already excellent songs, specially ‘Runaway’ by Dakota. For closing song, ‘Return My Heart’, both Hammar and Ma’Aoui jumped in the pit to interact with the crowd and nearly gave the sedate North Walian security a slight arse twitch moment. It was an excellent performance from yet another high flying Swedish band.

From here on in we were getting to the sharp end of day 2. All of what’s left are 3 of my all time faves and none of them disappointed. First up, Romeos Daughter. There were 4 pricks behind me who whined and moaned about everything, RD being one of them before they had even stepped on the stage. Of course I know better! And so did they come the end of the set. With Romeos Daughter theres no fuss, no attitudes, gimmicks etc. They don’t need any of these things as they let the songs do the talking as they just ooze quality. When you have 2 albums like they do in the debut and 'Delectable', it takes some balls to ditch most of them and concentrate on music from ‘Alive’ and the

soon to be released ‘Spin’. It wasn’t a total abandonment as ‘Inside Out’, ‘Cry Myself To Sleep’, ‘Wild Child’, and ‘Attracted To The Animal’ were represented. One thing that RD have in their armoury is the very underrated Craig Joiner. All eyes are directed at Leigh Matty for good reason, but Craig is the superglue of the band. Not only that, the brand new songs, were pretty damn good. ‘Radio’ in particular, is a massive slice of radio friendly rock that is screaming to be played on Radio 2 when its released in April. The ladies were poorly represented at HRH AOR, but Leigh Matty more than made up with a classy performance. The upcoming tour with FM in May will be one tour that’s hard to resist.

So, onto FM. They had been forced to cancel an earlier acoustic performance at HRH AOR, but you would not have a Scooby Doo as to why when watching this full on electric set. When FM is given 60-70mins to perform, this is where the magic really happens as it’s a bombardment of classics with a capital ‘C’. Some of the fillers of a normal set are replaced with heavy hitters from the last 30 years. With Jim Kirkpatrick on board, FM has become a heavier and rockier composition – that shows with this setlist. Only the power ballad ‘Closer To Heaven’ represents FMs softer and lighter side tonight. The ‘guns blazing’ approach works for the 21^st Century version of FM. Since their reformation in 2007, FM are on a sweet a roll as anyone else that’s out there; their output is consistently high; and when you have a singer in the mould of Steve Overland, its hard not to bask in their supreme quality. The new song ‘Diggin’ Up The Dirt’ is a belter, and, couple this with the heavier tunes such as ‘Tough Love’, ‘Wildside’, and ‘Crosstown Train’, and its one pearler after the other. The biggest shout of the night is for their biggest song ‘That Girl’, and 30 years later its still one of the best songs of FMs or any bugger else’s career. Catch them in all their glory in April and May.

                                       

Night Ranger haven’t exactly been perennial visitors to these shores. It’s only the last couple of years that an effort has been made. Jack Blades commented that they have a five-year plan for the UK. Next year it will be 2 x gigs, year 3, 3 gigs, and so on - that is if Brad Gillis is still alive in five years time!  Night Ranger show why they are headlining a festival – 35 years after they started. They are consummate professionals, and have probably played every weekend for the last 10 years. Night Ranger are as polished as Mr Sheens/Windex (for US readers) testing laboratory. New to the line up is Alice Coppers gunslinger Keri Kelli, and you know what, it feels like he’s been with them for 20 years. Jack Blades is the main focal point, but when Kelly Keagy comes to the fore it gives them even more presence – especially as Keagy’s voice hasn’t diminished. Highlights for him in particular are ‘Sentimental Street’, ‘Sister Christian’, and the bloody fantastic ‘Don’t Live Here Anymore’. Blades moves around the stage with the energy on man half his age, and what with his stage patter is an absolute joy to watch. I’m a fan of Night Ranger and Damn Yankees, but I wouldn’t give a toss if Alice Cooper’s ‘Schools Out’, Ozzys ‘Crazy Train’ or DYs ‘Comin Of Age’ or ‘High Enough’ were represented. I’m sure Keagy would love to plug a solo song or two! That small grip aside, NR are a fantastic proposition live – ‘Lay It On Me’, ‘Secret Of My Success’, ‘Eddies…’ and the ultimate closer, ‘(You Can Still) Rock In America’. Let’s just hope they stick to Blades 5 year plan, and play somewhere other than London for a change in the future.

I bow to HRH United team as AOR is a genre that’s never been the most popular. They have a great home in Haven at Pwllheli, with fantastic facilities, and hopefully another 10 years in the festival at least. Its up to the new wave to drive it forward otherwise 90% of the bands will have retired by then. Here’s to next year.