Rock Reviews - Classic. AOR. Prog. Metal.
Album Reviews - Interviews - Live Reviews
A blog dedicated to followers of Rock music.
email - chesyrockreviews@gmail.com
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Born in the late 60's, Chesy hails from a Welsh mining village with a long name and was pretty glad when he got the Hell out of there. He got into Rock/Metal in about 1980, thanks to a TISWAS related incident (Rainbow video for All Night Long) and thankfully has never looked back.
Chesy often sang solo in the school choir, but thanks to a puberty related incident his voice is now completely bolloxed, although in his own head Paul thinks he sounds like a blend of Coverdale and Dio (R.I.P).
He was brought up on the classics - Deep Purple, Rainbow, Thin Lizzy, Rush, Whitesnake and loved melodic rock and the Hair Bands of the 80's. (Nowadays, he has progressed a little and prefers a more technical and/or progressive metal - Dream Theater, Rush, Symphony X, Porcupine Tree, Pain Of Salvation, Spock's Beard. He hates Black and Death Metal (can't stand the grunting) but for some unknown reason loves the magnificent Opeth! He wont stop this blog until his beloved FM finally play the likes of the NEC as a headlining act!!!
Bexatron
are an up and coming band currently kicking up a storm around the capitol and
judging by what I’m currently listening to and hearing it’s hardly surprising
that they’re turning heads. Their debut album Hey You is filled with a mixture
of post punk, blues, heavy rock and sleaze and I defy you to listen to this
album and not get carried away by the music. What I really like about Hey You
is that you can tell that the band have put a lot of hard work into their work
and had a bloody good time doing it. Whether it’s an out and out foot stomping
rocker like Get Out Of My Tree, the sleazy Hex My Ex or the ballad like Mandy
Meldown this album has an infectious beat that will keep you hooked.
Hey
You is an album that deserves to be heard and I can guarantee you that as a
listener you will hear a different sound every time you play the album, one
moment you could be forgiven for thinking you’re listening to and 80’s era
Grace Jones the next time the cheeky 90’s noise of Shampoo. I listened to the
album for the last few hours now and it is definitely worth splashing out for a
copy.
I’m
new to the band Tillian but I do like bands of the same genre and I’m
always happy to discover new and exciting artists.
Tillian's
offering, 'Lotus Garden' is an extremely well produced album with a
highly polished sound and extremely well composed. Leah has an
excellent voice and she switches between an almost ethereal sound to
an operatic powerhouse and Leah has no problem utilising her entire
vocal range.
Tillian
are not afraid to musical styles several times during one song
however although it has been done really well there were times when
I felt that it affected the flow of the album.
I’ve
had 'Lotus Graveyard' on repeat for several hours now and it is growing
on me, I’m picking up different nuances every time I listen to it
and it does pull you in and I would really like to hear and see how
that transfers to a live setting
In
my opinion 'Lotus Graveyard' is a solid album and it fits nicely into the
same genre with bands such as Delain and Within Temptation but on a
mellower scale.
At
the moment I’m giving the album a strong 7.5/10 but that score may
go up with future listens. This is a good debut album, I’d like to
hear what they’re capable of doing with future releases.
I
definitely suggest putting Lotus Graveyard on your shopping list
This is the first time
that I have heard of Nötorious and I have to say that I am extremely impressed
with what I have heard:
The first track off the
E.P is 'Nötorious' and it is a solid opener and is a good taste of what is to
come, the track is well produced and you can certainly hear what bands have
inspired them. In my opinion Nötorious sounds a lot like Ratt crossed with the
band Cold Sweat and it is very easy on the ears.
'Friday Night (Get
Ready)' is in the same vein of opener Nötorious, Chris Houdini is an excellent
vocalist , there are times when he reminds me of Mark Slaughter especially when
he lets loose. The harmonies are superb and Nikki DiCato’s guitar work is
sublime and you can definitely hear Yngwie Malmsteen’s influence.
'Have A Good Time' keeps
up the high quality of the first two tracks, solid guitar backed by a brilliant
rhythm section, this is a song that when played live will have the audience
joining in with the woa woahs.
I only heard the
opening chords of 'Seducer' to know that this was going to be one of, if not my
favourite track off this E.P, it flows beautifully and had me playing air
drums, I was useless but had a lot of fun trying. There are times when I felt
like Nikki was channeling Sonic Temple era The Cult.
'Tonight (Gonna Get It)'
closes the E.P and I hate to be repetitive but you can certainly hear the
influences throughout the track, Chris utilises his voice to the fullest on
this track and truly let rip and if I didn’t know better I would have thought
that I was listening to Firehouses CJ Snare.
To conclude 'Seducer' is
a well produced E.P that will take anyone who liked bands such as Poison,
Pretty Boy Floyd, Bonfire and L.A Guns reminiscing the good old days of spandex
and heavy makeup and that was just the men.
This is a release that
flows smoothly and is a great CD to play before a gig or a night out at a rock
bar, some people believe that this genre is outdated and had it’s heyday 30
years ago however Nötorious have proven that this style of music is as good now
as it was so many years ago.
This could have been a
10/10 E.P however I was unable to give it that score because I have heard it
all done before, Nötorious missed a great chance to stamp their own sound on
the scene, they’ve relied heavily on their influences and it shows. I do look
forward to hearing further releases from this band and I hope that they have a
long and successful career.
Tillian is a
female fronted prog-rock band from Tel-Aviv, Israel. Influenced by artists such
as Kate Bush, Pain of Salvation and Ayreon, singer-songwriter Leah Marcu likes
to set her stall very high when it comes to influences!! Their journey began in
2014 when Leah Marcu started writing and composing a solo album around the
concept of alchemical transformations of the self (!?). She drew from her
personal well as well as her background in psychology and mysticism. She
explored a cycle of inner progressions; Love to pain; pain to beauty; beauty to
spirit and spirit to love. I personally am not a great interpreter of lyrics, I
just like to know if it makes me get excited and pay air guitar etc.
Working with
Orphaned Land and Amaseffer’s producer, Forrester Savell, the music began to
crystalize into Tillian's debut album. It soon progressed into a band of 7. From
a first listen, it may be a band, but it is all very much in the name of Leah
Marcu.
Opener, ‘Reborn’
is almost out of the Opeth Damnation playbook! Itteases you with its opening salvo, the
listener not certain of which way its going to go. Ill break it to you, its
mellow, but not to the point of boring the arse off you. Almost immediately,
you can tell is Leah’s show. She is surround by some consummate professionals,
but its Leah who is up front and centre. It builds to a good guitar solo, where
I wanted it to build into a much heavier and darker song. ‘Touched’ is a song
of two halves, and it’s the latter half that pushes the (heavier) envelope a
bit more. ‘Frozen Sun’ is more like it. Tillian go for it a lot more, with some
powerful drumming pushing it along and a bit more ‘oomph’ from Marcu is
definitely the way to go. The best song so far by a mile. (Or kilometer if you’re
European). ‘I’m Too Close’ is cello driven in the first part, before expanding
and busting out of her chrysalis.
‘Monster’s’ riff
is straight out of the 80s, and once again, I am drawn to the powerful side of
the personality. And with lyrics like ‘you really fucked me over’, you know
you’re not expecting a ballad. but segues into flamenco in the middle /latter
section. ‘Moonlight Dancer’ is the first song that draws musically from their
middle eastern roots. It sounds like a soundtrack song that would accompany a
market scene or Kasbah. ‘Black Holes’ enter Myrath mode and really push the
Middle Eastern sound. Again, you are unsure of where you are about to be led,
but its nice not knowing. Its very theatrical, as if it were in a musical, and
is part storytelling, anthemic, with a good chorus, and is very good. It’s a
song that tells of a dance with an inner demon and the need to find hope
through personal struggle; I don’t think it knows what it quite wants to be,
but that’s part of the fun. It’s a song that deserves multiple listens. ‘Caught
In Your Slough’ is a strange title and lets leave it at that. An intro
effectively to ‘The Beggar’, a song that has a lot of emotion to it. Marcu
certainly knows how to put herself across.
‘Love or Heaven’
sees Tillian go for the jugular, with some dark vocals underlying Marcu’s.
It’s the big song on ‘Lotus Graveyard’ time-wise and musically., bordering of
death metal almost. Its this direction in particular I would like to see (and
hear) Marcu explore in future. Not the grunting, just the sheer heaviness of
it. ‘Finally we are onto ‘Earth Walker’, cello and piano driven, and is here
they go all Kate Bush on you. Its eerie, haunting, and equally lovely. It’s a
good way to end the album.
Leah certainly works
it all to her strengths. She is a good songwriter and decent singer. I wanted
her to push herself a bit more and take it up a notch, if it is possible for
her to do? That said, I was very satisfied come the end of the album.
Some of ‘Lotus
Graveyard’ can be a bit all over the place. It’s not a criticism, I just think
its Marcu trying to find her feet and find a direction. The clue was in the
influences at the beginning of the review. Expect the unexpected if you draw
from Bush, Gildenlow and Lucassen!!!
It’s a very decent
debut from a very accomplished woman. Personally I preferred the heavier side
on songs like Frozen Sun, Monster, Black Holes, and Love Or Heaven. Although
the downright passion of Earth Walker, was spellbinding. There’s certainly a
lot ofstyle and substance and a lot to
take in here.
I’ve been a fan
of Hardline since hearing the track 'Can’t Find My Way' during the
Brandon Lee movie Rapid Fire, I went out and bought 'Double Eclipse'
the following day. 27 years have passed since that album and now
Johnny and the gang are back with their new album, 'Life'.
The first play
through of this album had me looking for ripped jeans, a bandana and
a trusty bud bottle to use as my mic, it was a sheer blast from the
past and I loved it. I have all of Hardline’s albums and in my
opinion they never reached the quality of 'Double Eclipse' again.....until
now that is!
'Place To Call
Home' is a fantastic opener, well structured with excellent harmonies
and hooks this is a song that you need to play loud, whether you’re
in a car or in the house open the windows and let everybody hear.
'Take A Chance' is
a decent track, it’s not the fastest paced track but it’s
extremely well layered with the thundering bass line and guitars
melding perfectly, this is a song that all Hardline fans will enjoy
listening and singing along to.
'Helio’s Sun' had
me going from the first chord, fast paced with a driving beat that
had my feet pounding along in time which made typing quite hard. I’m
sure I annoyed the neighbours with this song as I played it so many
times, definitely one of the highlights of the album for me.
'Page Of Your Life'
is the first ballad on the album with a soulful piano opening
leading into a guitar laden power ballad that Hardline are so adept
at producing , it’s definitely a song that will have people with
their phones lit up swaying backwards and forwards trying to reach the
stars.
'Out Of Time' sets
off at a blistering pace that is relentless and is an almost perfect
song except for a slight tempo change at 2.36 that just felt out of
place, up until that point the song flowed beautifully and would have
been my pick of the bunch if it wasn’t that change.
'Hold On To Right'
with a solid hard rock opening this track had the potential to be a
true gem sadly whilst I usually love hearing guitar work as good as
this I felt it became a little bit self indulgent which took a bit of
shine off the track.
I
loved the opening of 'Handful Of Sand', Speaking of the quality that was
about to become and it did not disappoint, beautifully composed this
is a song that should be playing on radio stations around the world.
'This Love' is the
second true ballad of the album the band utilized a piano opening
again,the problem with some rock ballads is that it doesn’t matter
how good a band is more often than not they sound similar to many
bands of the same genre.
'Story Of My Life'
comes blasting out of the start gates and tears along at a nice
uptempo pace and I must admit that at times it reminded me of 'Hot
Cherie' from 'Double Eclipse' and it also my favourite song on this
album.
Of all the Queen songs to cover I thought that this, 'Who Wants To Live Forever', would be
a mistake but it was me who was mistaken, while Johnny never quite
reached the pitch Freddie Mercury did, he did himself proud and can
hold his head up high for successfully taking on one of in my opinion
Queens best songs.
'Chameleon' started
of slowly and built up to a steady mid tempo rocker, it has the kind
of rhythm that will get people out of their seats and have them
punching the air while trying to drunkenly remember the words.
'My Friend', the
closer is another ballad. However this is an entirely
acoustic/semi-acoustic number which sets it apart from the majority
of ballads, there are no soaring vocals or power chords and is the
perfect kind of song to finish an album of this high quality.
Hardline's latest
offering 'Life' does have it’s flaws but they are few and far
between and they don’t affect the overall quality of the album and
in my opinion is the best that they’ve released since Double
Eclipse way back in 1992, and proves that there is plenty of 'Life' left in Hardline yet.
I highly
recommend spending your hard earned money on this album you won’t
be disappointed.
I was a fan back
in the early days of this band, seeing them supporting (and demolish) their
headline act at the time who was Thin Lizzy. For some strange reason I parted
ways with them not long after their second album, only to come around full
circle again after seeing them in Rebellion last year with Dhani Mansworth’s dads
band, Airrace in support (emphasis on ‘ace!’). The catalyst for this change was
down to (recent) new vocalist Tom Rampton. He had more style and swagger, was a
pretty good front man, and most importantly, the bloke could sing. Here we are,
at album number four, ‘Power Crazy’ and I wanted to see if the live show energy
is represented and transferred onto an album…
The guys have
taken the basic ingredients of bands such as AC/DC, Rose Tattoo, Accept and
Krokus, (if you’re in the 30 and under age group you may need to ask your dad
about Krokus, Rose Tattoo and Accept), and mix simple but splintering riffs,
with more than a splash of melody – and opening track ‘Let’s Get Dirty’ is a
prime example of this recipe. Its instantly headbang-able, and worm planted in
your lug’oles for instant repeat and gratification. ‘Rising Power’ is similarly
based, but with a bit more speed and tempo. ’On The Money’ is bluesier, and
could be a ZZ Top song in any other life. With a song like ‘Bite Back’ you
don’t need to delve into your thesaurus to get to know that the song is going
to have punch, and er…..bite! The immediate impact that Rampton has given The Treatment
is hard to deny, as rasp and pitch to his vocals that make a match made in
heaven. He is even elevating what could be an average song for anyone else, but
in their hands, as song like ‘Luck Of The Draw’ rises like cream.
‘Hang Them High’
(watch the video above, its proper old skool), shows the lads taking on the
best and winning. Fast, frenetic, dirty - it ticks a lot of boxes – and AC/DC
could only dream of a song like this at their age! ‘Scar With Her Name’ riff
reminds me a bit of Andy Taylors ‘I Might Lie’, but I’m probably writing shite
as usual. ‘King Of the City’ should be on the next GTA -its just me kind of music to run someone over
in! ‘Waiting For The Call’ takes a step back, and goes for the slower, but non-less
effective approach. ‘Laying It Down’ is full on in yer face, and expect it to
be a live addition. ’The Fighting Song’ encapsulates all that is good about The
Treatment; bluesy, hard and gritty. Closer ‘Falling Down’ is in more of a
classic rock style if Quo and Rainbow got together for a session. The album
also has a bonus of an acoustic version of‘Bite Back’. The vocals are pretty much the same as the fully powered
240V version, when I was expecting a little more subtlety.
The Treatment have
laid their collective hearts on the line to bring you ‘Power Crazy’. It’s the
best I’ve heard them sound. They have always been very good, but its now their
time to shine.
It’s not difficult
to emulate bands like AC/DC, but very few bands can do it as well as them. The
Treatment have the craft, age, and experience on their side. If you think this
is good, well, they are only just hitting their stride….
Should AC/DC do a
final flurry of a tour, I can think of no better band to support them (and to
push and cajole a performance out of them)
Between 1986 and 1990 I would like to think that I was Dokken’s biggest
fan in Rhostyllen. Big words, eh? Fuck that, I was Dokken’s biggest fan in
Wrexham, and I still am. That said, I don’t like Dons voice anymore, because
its fucked. However, I still love that golden period from 83-89 where they were
metal Gods!
In about 1987 I ditched my weekly fix of ‘Roy Of The Rovers’ and ‘Scoop’
and got my dad to subscribe (at a Wrexham newsagents) to ‘Hit Parader’, in the
main hope of getting more of my Dokken fix that ‘Kerrang!’ and ‘Sounds’ could
no longer feed. It was an expensive mag, and it was shite in comparison, but it
felt cool to say I got a copy. Basically HP was like reading the transcript to
Kramer vs Kramer. Don and George hated each other so much, I felt like the kid
in the middle. Its continued on and off to this very day.
I’ve followed all the guys exploits since, from Lynch Mob, to T&N,
the corporate version of Foreigner, KXM, Sweet & Lynch and Ultraphonix to
name but a few of the Dokken Family Tree Branches. When news appeared about The
End Machine, I have to admit that I let out a little wee. Lynch, Pilson and
Brown were coming out with a new album that would feature the excellent pipes
of (Ex-Lynch Mob, and current Warrant vocalist, Robert Mason) What is not to
like? Well, thankfully nothing. But its not close to an album like ‘Under Lock
And Key’ (not much is though to be honest with ya!)
Thanks to Frontiers Don, Serafino Perugino, bands like this would not
exist in 2019 if it were not down to love and enthusiasm for 80s AOR and Hair
Metal. He has revived more 80s careers than Stormy Daniels has revived flaccid cocks!
‘Leap Of Faith is more Lynch-ken than Dok-Mob. Its ‘Dysfuctional’ era
Dokken only with Lynch Mob playing all the song. Mason sounds pretty great to
be honest and gives the song an added lift. ‘Hold Me Down’ has all the hallmark
of any of these guys previous, crunching riffs, Pilson and Brown harmonies and
Lynch letting rip like only Lynch can. ‘No Game’ is classic 80-s metal, and I
can see the video, recorded in the middle of a desert with helicopters and lost
of posturing! ‘Bulletproof’ has anthem written all over it and Lynch’s guitar
work takes me back 30-plus years! ‘Ride It’ and ‘Hard Road’ are standard fare
really, but the stripped back cowboy sound of ‘Burn The Truth’ is more on the
mark. ‘Alive Today’ is back on point and had a cool riff, and above average
chorus, and a thunderous Pilson bass groove, making it one the best so far.
‘Line Of Division’ could easily draw comparisons to the first Lynch Mob album.
‘Sleeping Voices’ chorus is powerful and with everything thrown into it. Its
both the longest and best song on the album by far as it builds to a crescendo.
‘Life Is Love Is Music’ keeps the album on a strong finish.
If it’s a replacement Dokken album you’re looking for, it’s clearly not
that, although many comparisons will be drawn across the world. Mason has a
great voice still, and Lynch has lost none of his ability (he is my second fave
guitarist only to Ritchie Blackmore). The harmonies are what I expect from this
talented bunch. Put it this way, its way better than any Dokken album you have
heard in the past few years, and what’s to come. It stands clearly on its own,
which I suspect its exactly what they wanted.
