What's Rocking My World Recently

Here's what I'm listening to recently:



  I thought this band were done after Portnoy left but am glad to have been proven wrong. This album plays to the band's strengths. That being Russell Allen on vocals and most definitely Mike Orlando on guitar who shreds all over this but always plays within the context of the song. He should be a far bigger name then he is. More varied then the debut but in a good way. Finally the mix on this is fantastic and you can hear everything being played with crystal clarity even on the heavy bruisers like Feel The Adrenaline.



  Picked this up recently on cd from those nice people at Rock Candy records. Released in the early 80's some of it sounds dated especially the drums but the strength of the songs shine through. More Euro than American hard rock. The title track is a classic. Happily Adrian has done a Jake E. Lee and returned to the music world and from what I've heard the new Vandenberg Moonkings cd sounds great.



   Been into this band since their debut album in the late 80's. Their Sahara release is a classic of the genre. Only vocalist James Christian remains releasing 5 albums in just under a decade. In my opinion they have all been solid especially the last one Big Money. He's also assembled a stable line-up, this is the fourth release with them. The songs are still in the same vein as the classic era but with a tweak here or there. If anything they rock a little more now.  Epic and opener Battle are great tracks. Robin Beck who is James wife is very prominent on backing vocals, hey if you have someone like that up your sleeve then use her.



   To be honest I'd never heard of this until recently. Originally a Jap only release in 1991 this features the ex-Lion duo of Kal Swann on vocals and Doug Aldrich on guitar. Got it for a nice price and the packaging is fantastic. It has a slipcase with two cd booklets with tons of photos and a poster to boot. The material highlights the strengths and weaknesses associated with the period. Hands on Heaven and Full Moon Fever are great rockers and then we have Without Your Love, a soppy ballad that's not crap but sounds really forced. Doug's playing as always is top notch.



  Now this sounds dated. Drum machines all over the place. I like most of it but don't love it. Friday On My Mind is terrible. Thunder Rising is the best track as it's a straight ahead rocker. Some of the rest of it sounds like Gary Moore trying to be Tears For Fears or the like. My version has the 12" extended remixes tacked on with extra synths and stuff. Skip those. Will say that this release is better then the following one After The War which is pure cack.

Richie.