CONTENTS04 Giant06 Keel07 The Muder Of My Sweet08 Sora09 Angels Of Babylon10 Brian Howe11 The Fire12 Reviews14 Oliva’s Pain / Orden Ogan15 Heavenly17 Rick Springfield / Jeff Silverman19 Stage Dolls20 Wig Wam22 Bruce KulickMelodic Rock Fanzine

The official Frontiers Records magazineYear #6 - Nr. 1 / Issue #36

Editor-in-chief: Elio BordiDesign: Elio BordiWriters: Bruce E.J. Atkinson, Fulvio Bordi,Duncan Jamieson, Barry McMinn, VitaleNocerino, Rob “Ezy” Bone, Alessandro Ariatti.Headquarters and general contacts:Frontiers Records - Via Gonzaga 1880125, Napoli - ItalyTel: +39.081.2399340/7753Fax: +39.081.2399794E-mail: elio@frontiers.itWebsite: www.frontiers.itMyspace: www.myspace.com/frontiersrecordsEditor and publisher: Frontiers RecordsUS Headquarters: usa.frontiers.itCopyright©2010 Frontiers Records. All rightsreserved. Reproduction in whole or in part

without permission is prohibited.Printed in Italy.

Focus on: GIANT - Promise Land (Frontiers Records)The long awaited new Giant chapter “Promise Land” irrupts now sweeping off all the skepticismshowed by part of the long date fans worried towards the Dan Huff absence bringing to a somekind of quality and original personality lack. Now the release is out, once again, we find out allthe talks around done before listening are always just wasted time. Giant come today with a line-up featuring original members David Huff and Mike Brignardello on drums and bass, plus longtime acclaimed monster vocalist Terry Brock (Strangeways, Seventh Key) and John Roth(Winger) on guitars, giving life to a new awesome musical chapter. Former mastermind, singerand guitarist Dan Huff has not completely left the band, keeping his role as outside Giant mem-ber, figuring out as writer and co-writer of almost all the tracklist and featured as special guestwith guitar solos on “Save me” and “Believer (Redux)”. “Promise Land” carries on the musicalpath in the tradition already traced with the previous historical classic releases “Last Of TheRunaways”, “Time To burn” and “III” and the presence of two new musicians in the line-up givesthe band a new attitude in the sound and performances, but without compromising the classicoriginal approach and trademark all the fans have been loving since the mythic first release.Don’t be afraid, “Promise Land” is already a new Melodic Rock classic! Fulvio Bordi (94/100)

Band: Giant

Album: Promise Land

Interview with: Mike Brignardello

Interviewed by: Fulvio Bordi

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Question: Firstly thanks for tak-ing the time out to complete thisinterview, welcome to the Italianwebzine metal.it and welcomeback in the rock circus! Please,introduce to our readers the new“features” of the mighty Giant!Answer: It’s obviously a new line-up.Along with founding member DavidHuff on drums, we recruited TerryBrock (Strangeways) on vocals, andJohn Roth (Winger) on guitar. Wedecided to keep the core band fourpiece, so we don’t have a keyboardplayer. We wanted to focus on thesongs and try and highlight all theelements from the original band;strong melodies, good songs, andguitar-focused production. We alsorecruited engineer Ben Fowler whowas invaluable in helping keeping theproduction big, and brought a lot ofenergy and ideas to the final mixes. Q: Dann Huff has contributed tothe new album only as a “veryspecial guest” and the fourthfounding member Alan Pasqualeft the band after the release of“Time to Burn”… Somebody couldthink that maintain this namecould be a “dangerous” choice forthis band… Why did you chooseto go back to rock business withthis leading but also a little “oner-ous” monicker?A: I don’t think it’s an “onerous”moniker at all. Like many bands, wedecided to carry on after one of themembers left the band. Musicians arealways free to go where their heartslead them, but just because one per-son decides to leave, it doesn’t obli-gate the rest to simply pack up andgo home. Since David Huff and I weretwo of the founding members it didn’tfeel like a dangerous choice at all.Quite the opposite, with all theencouragement we got from our fansand our record label, Frontiers, it wasan easy decision. In addition, DannHuff co-wrote about half the record,played guitar solos on 2 songs, andhad nothing but encouragement forus to go forward with the project.With all that going for us it felt like anatural next step.Q: In which way did you choosethe new entries of renewed Giantline-up?A: David Huff and I wanted to doanother Giant record ever since therelease of Giant III, but we knewDann was too busy to devote enoughtime to the project. We becameaware of guitarist John Roth (Winger)and knew he would be a good fit inthe band, but we couldn’t find the‘right’ singer. It was SerafinoPerugino, from Frontiers Records whosuggested Terry Brock as a possiblenew singer. We met in Nashville earlyin 2009, kicked around ideas, talkedabout what the new band shouldsound like, and even began writingtunes. The chemistry was immediate;David and I knew we had found thenew line-up.Q: When you were writing"Promise Land" did you feel the

pressure that people wereexpecting a lot from it?A: The pressure came from within theband. We knew how long and hard wehad worked on the first records, andwe just wanted to always live up tothat standard. It’s probably one of thereasons it took us nearly a full year toget the right combination of songs,produced the ‘right’ (Giant) way.Q: I think that the new amazingalbum can easily compete withthe fabulous Giant's legacy andthat the performance of TerryBrock (great vocalist!) and JohnRoth is really effective, even if Ihave to confess that it’s a little“strange” to listen to a Giantalbum without the voice ofDann… What are the differenceswith your previous albums? Dothe compositions come from thesame writing session or period ordo they belong to differentmoments along these nine years?A: It’s always “strange”, as you say,when a band changes lead singers.But David Huff and I had a clearvision on what the band should soundlike, so it was easy to make produc-tion choices, and writing decisionswith a clear vision guiding us. TerryBrock is truly a world-class singer,and once he locked into the ‘Giantsound’ (and that only took a second)we were off and running. In addition,Terry co-wrote a lot of the songs, put-ting his stamp on the new band. Thesongs came from every direction.Some were songs that had been inthe Giant vault; those were re-arranged, usually had a new lyricwritten for them (often by TerryBrock) and recorded with our newproduction matrix in mind. Some ofthe songs were written by the bandexpressly for this record. Some camefrom outside writers like Mark Spiroand Erik Martensson, some were writ-ten with Dann Huff, others were not.Our main goal was to record the bestsongs, no matter where they camefrom. As I said, we had a specificvision of how this record shouldsound, and I think we achieved whatwe set out to do. Q: I find your new sound probablya slight more AOR than in thepast. Do you agree? If so, is it anatural evolution or a kind of pre-cise “strategy”?A: It wasn’t a strategy, per se, it wasjust the way the record evolved. Wecut an albums worth of songs andwhen we looked at the final song line-up, we felt we didn’t have the perfectcombination. With the help andencouragement from FrontiersRecords, we gathered in the studioand cut another batch of songs. Fromthe total, we chose what is now thefinal line-up for the CD. I like the waythe songs hang together as a wholepiece, and I think the songs compli-ment and contrast with each otherwell. We were trying to hit the right‘Giant’ touchstones on this record,and I think we did that.Q: Why a title as "Promise Land"?

What about the meaning of thistitle and, more in general, aboutthe album lyrics?A: ‘Promise Land’ is about re-startinga relationship, and getting back to thebeginning reasons for the relation-ship. It turns out it’s not a badmetaphor for our band! We alsothought the production of ‘PromiseLand’ embodied all the classic Giantelements and would make a great CDtitle as well. I’d rather not interpretthe lyrics too much, because I’d pre-fer the listener to make his ownmovie, but if I had to sum it up,they’re mostly about women. Whatelse is there?!Q: What are your hopes profes-sionally for your band, the newalbum and for yourself?A: Right now we’ve just put the fin-ishing touches on the video for‘Promise Land’, and we’re finishing allthe details for the CD package. Afterthat, we’ll began sorting through sev-eral offers we’ve had for tours, andtry and see if we can do some liveshows later this year. All four mem-bers have busy music careers, but weall want to tour in support of thisrecord, so we’re working hard tomake it happen. It’s been too longsince Giant toured Europe, so we’reall excited about the possibilities.Q: If you had your choice, whatwould you do to change or alterthe music industry, now that (Iguess!) you’ve had a chance toexperience its goods and evils?A: I think the worst thing that hap-pened to the music industry is havinghuge ‘entertainment’ corporationsbuying up record labels. Labels havechanged from being run by peoplewho had a passion for music, to beingrun by accountants who are only con-cerned with the bottom line. The so-called A&R departments are a joke,standing as gate-keepers to keepbands out, rather than acting as tal-ent scouts trying to develop acts. Ithink it’s evolving so smaller labels,like Frontiers, are becoming thesource of more and more music, withthe big corporate labels marketingthe latest American Idol contestant. Ithink labels like Frontiers are thefuture of the music business, andGiant is very happy to be teamed upwith them. Q: Which are your next moves? Ihope it’s true (as stated byFrontiers promo-sheet!) thatyou’re back to stay!A: We hope we’re back to stay!! Thenext move is to sort out some tourdates and see if we can’t take the newrecord on tour. The record was such agreat experience for all of us, wewould like to continue the momen-tum. It’s also a big bonus to find arecord label that is truly on the samepage as the band. Serafino, Mario andeveryone at Frontiers played a bigcreative part in making this record,and we know how fortunate we are tohave found such a great team. We’regonna keep it rolling and see what thefuture brings.

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Band: Keel

Album: Streets Of Rock N Roll

Interview with: Ronn Keel

Interviewed by: Barry McMinn

Focus on: KEEL - Streets Of Rock N Rol l (Front iers Records)Well it’s been a long wait but finally Keel are back and back with a vengeance with their long await-ed new album ‘Streets Of Rock & Roll’, a real Hard Rocker’s dream of an album. Right from theopening assault of the title track ‘Streets Of Rock & Roll’ it’s clear the band are back and betterthan ever, as Marc Ferrari and Brian Jay get things going with some great guitar work, then RonKeel takes over and shows the world that he still has the vocal power that we all remember backin those early days. The album is all power and grace as each track shows the band still have whatit takes to make the Hard Rock world shake.With some superb rockers like ‘Hit The GroundRunning’, ‘The Devil May Care (But I Don’t)’ and ‘Gimme That’ just few of my favourites. But theband still can deliver a decent ballad as ‘Does Anybody Believe’ shows, a track to pull at the heartstings. But this album is more Hard Rock than you can shake a stick at, as Ferrari and Jay unleashsome sublime six string moments, all wrapped around some of the best Keel vocals I’ve heard. Allin all a great come back album, let’s hope some European dates follow or even some festival datesin 2010 so that the street can be paved with rock and roll once more. Barry McMinn (89/100)

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Question: This is the bands firstalbum in over twenty years, whatprompted the band to get backtogether?Answer: We’ve stayed friends, alwaystalked about it, and wanted to makesure that we could do it the right way –and since it was the band’s 25thAnniversary, it felt like the perfect timeto get back on stage for some of themajor U.S. festivals. And the Reunionignited a creative spark that inspired thenew songs that appear on “Streets OfRock & Roll.”Q: You played your first shows inyears at last year’s Rocklahoma, M3and others, what was it like playinglive together after so long?A: It was easy, natural, and a lot of fun.We wanted to have a good time with itand enjoy ourselves. But also everyonecame in to the very first rehearsal pre-pared to rock, still feeling that hungerand passion that has always drivenKEEL. It was just like old times – com-bining the precision and the power ofthe music with a wild fun spirit of rock &roll, and sharing good times with thefans.Q: The new album is KEEL throughand through, was this your inten-tion from the beginning to keep thesame sound but with a more mod-ern edge?A:Of course we wanted great songs and

great production – but we really didn’thave any discussions about what direc-tion to take. We didn’t talk about it, wedidn’t even really think about it, we juststarted spitting out hard rock songs andit came out sounding like KEEL. Q: Were all the songs written afteryou got together again or did youhave older songs that you justupdated?A: This is all-new brand-new material,written in the past year, fueled by theenergy of the Reunion. Except for thetitle track, which Bryan and Dwainalready had written and recorded withtheir previous band Dogbone under adifferent title; the lyrics and music fitperfectly with both where we’ve beenand where we are now. I really wantedto create a song with the title “Streets OfRock & Roll” and tried singing that overthe chorus of their song, and history wasborn – it worked so well, we decided tomake it the title track of the new album.The rest of the songs were all writtensince we got back together. Rightaround the time we were announcingthe Reunion, Bryan Jay and I wereworking on music for his TV & Film busi-ness, and came up with “Hit The GroundRunning” and “Looking For A GoodTime.” We realized these could be KEELsongs... then Marc & Bryan sent me themusic for “Come Hell Or High Water”and I put the lyrics and melody to it, and

suddenly we had three strong songs toprovide a foundation. That’s when wedecided to move forward and record anew album, and the creative processshifted into high gear. The new songsstarted pouring out of us, sometimestwo or three a day, it was a very magi-cal time and one of the fiercest creativestorms I’ve ever been a part of.Q: As well as the new album 2010also sees the re-release of the ‘RightTo Rock And Roll’ as a 25thAnniversary package, does it reallyseem like 25 years?A: Man, it seems like another lifetime. Ipack a lot of living into a year, and I’vealways felt that my pace was threetimes the normal speed of life – so forme it feels like 75 years ago! But it’sstrange how when we’re on stage, or inthe studio, or writing songs, the yearsmelt away and we’re the same wildcrazy guys we were back in the day. Q: What does the band haveplanned for 2010, any toursmapped out yet?A: We’ll have our first European showssince 1986, starting with the StockholmRock Out in Stockholm, Sweden, onApril 30th – we’re hoping to add to theitinerary, and we have some excitingpossibilities that will hopefully material-ize. Hopefully the new album will be suc-cessful enough to create a demand tosee the band live.

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Band: The Murder Of My Sweet

Album: Divanity

Interview with: A. Rylin / D. Flores

nterviewed by: Vitale Nocerino

Question: Could you tell us theorigins of your moniker, and ofthe name of the album?Daniel Flores: We love Film noiremovies and we wanted somethingthat wasn’t that far from this style.The clothes and moniker are totallyinspired by this. If you have a bandname like “THE MURDER OF MYSWEET” then you need an album titlethat is very progressive and whatbetter than a hybrid word (which it’sbeautifully called), a mix of DIVA,VANITY and DIVINE. All those wordsconclude what we are as a band onthis album so it was a perfect combi-nation for us.Q: I’ve seen many importantresults, as to review and chartpositions. Did you expect all ofthis?DF: I have to be honest, after a whileI was even astonished with what wewhere able to come up with. Soyeah, I could predict some of theresults but Chart positions are diffi-cult to predict as it’s the public whodecides what they like, but so far weare all glad of the outcome.

Q: How much did your label workfor the promotion of this record?Angelica Rylin: We have a great rela-tionship with Frontiers and they havebeen such cool guys to work with butfrankly they entered the picture quitlate regarding to how long we’vebeen promoting our songs by ourselves on myspace and other inter-net sites. But they took us the extramile that we couldn’t have gone onour own and we are very happy withthe cooperation. Q: Now, I think it will be time totour! Have you already got tour-ing schedules?AR: We have a couple of promotersaround Europe working on getting uson tour and we are very anxious tocome out and meet our fans.Hopefully we will do some festivalsthis summer and it would be cool todo a few opening acts as well. Iwould really love to go and play inItaly and to rock the night clubs inRome. I’ve heard it’s supposed to bea really cool city. Q: Arriving to success in such anunexpected way can cause unex-

pected troubles, or is life stillgoing on as it was 6 months ago?AR: My life runs mostly the same assix months ago. I don’t get as muchsleep as I used to though but hope-fully I will be able to cut down on myday job when the album is out andwe have booked a couple of tours ;)But I have to say that it’s a hugeego-boost to log in on myspace andread all the comments and emailsthat we get and that makes up forthat whole lack of sleep. Q: Where did you find Angelica?She has a very particular andcharming voice…DF: Yes she has a very unique voice,not the type of voice you normallywould expect in a rock band yet it fitsso perfect. It was one of the thingsthat really got me hooked when shecame and auditioned for me. Somehave said that it sounds like CelineDion playing with Ozzy and in a wayI have to agree with them. She has avery warm and sensual voice and it’sa cool blend when you put it intomusic that is heavy and have lots ofcomplex layers.

A new band signing to Frontiers although one of the main people behind the band iscertainly well known, one Daniel Flores of Mind's Eye fame. The band also have avery talented female singer in Angelica Rylin. What a set of pipes she has! Rangingfrom Kate Bush one minute to a more female prog metal sound. Listening to thealbum it does remind you of Mind's Eye and in fact you could say at times this albumis like a female fronted Mind's Eye. But there are some new musical avenuesexplored including the pomp rock of 'Valerie' (Journey meets Dream Theater) andthe single, 'Bleed Me Dry' which is an instant hit on the ears. On 'Follow The Rain'the band throw in everything bar the kitchen sink with sweeping strings, banks ofkeyboards and guitars along with Angelica's vocals. 'Death Of A Movie Star' is a realOTT musical ride, featuring masses of harmony vocals (very Queen like in their con-struction) and lots of orchestration. A very accomplished debut album and hopeful-ly they will do another album as it would be criminal if this was the only musical out-put from this collection of musicians. Whether you like pomp rock, Dream Theater,Mind's Eye, Muse - this album will be right up your street. Jason Ritchie (92/100)

Focus on: THE MURDER OF MY SWEET - Divanity (Front iers Records)

Band: Sora

Album: Desire And Truth

Interview with: Erol Sora

Interviewed by: Gregor Klee

Focus on: SORA - Desire And Truth (Avenue Od Al l ies)Sora’s second album is heavier and more guitar oriented than the debut from2006, yet still very melodic in terms of vocals and songwriting. Highlights include the in-your-face opener “Taste of Rock & Roll”, a heavybluesy Whitesnake influenced song, “The Storm Has Just Begun”, with its stun-ning guitar solo. The Schenker-influenced Melodic Rocker “Diamonds In TheWind” and the tongue-in-cheek “Rock & Roll Dog”. “When You’re Gone” a heartfelt ballad, and the haunting “When You GonnaLove Me” deliver the quieter moments of this fascinating new album, recaptur-ing the spirit and sound of great British bands from the late 70s/early 80s suchas MSG, Whitesnake, Rainbow, UFO and Gary Moore. A Must have for all melod-ic and hard rock fans!

Gregor Klee (90/100) 8 | MRF

Question: Hello Erol, your newalbum will be called “Desire AndTruth”. Why the title ? Answer: I called the album “DesireAnd Truth” and as found a lot of thesongs touched on the theme ofdesire in terms of power, money,lust, religion and where in realitythis leads many people. A lot of thesongs are simply reflections ofwhat's been going on in the worldthe past few years as I tend to writefrom a very topical point of view sothis album turned out heavier anddarker than the last.Q: Which leads to my next ques-tion, how would you say “DesireAnd Truth” differs from yourprevious album “DementedHonour” ?A: This one is definitely heavier andmore intense in terms of guitar play-ing. The songs just naturally turnedout this way as I just wrote what Iwas feeling at the time. These pastfew years have seen a lot of crazythings going on in the world whichcame through in the lyrics/feel ofthe songs, though having said that,there's still some lighter moments

on the album in songs such asWinter, Stop Messin' Around, etc....Compared to Demented Honour, thisalbum is more consistently Britishsounding as I really wanted to cap-ture the spirit of bands like MSG,Whitesnake, UFO, Gary Moore fromthe late 70's/early 80's which is anera often overlooked.Q: Who are your main influencesin terms of guitar players andvocalists ?A: My favourite players are peoplelike Ritchie Blackmore, John Sykes,Michael Schenker, Gary Moore.They're all guitarists who combinemelody with technique, who playfrom the heart and have very mem-orable solos, almost songs in theirown right. I really made a consciouseffort to take that approach with thisalbum so the lead breaks would bememorable and have a beginning,middle, and end. In terms of vocal-ists I've always admired singerssuch as David Coverdale, PaulRodgers, Ian Gillan, John Lawton(my previous band mate!), though Iwouldn't say I sound like them!Singing is such a personal thing so I

simply try to be myself and comeacross as natural and honest as pos-sible and make the best use of thevoice I was born with. I enjoysinging as much as playing guitar sowas thrilled with the positiveresponse I received after my lastalbum was released which was myfirst venture as a lead vocalist.Q: What does the future hold forErol Sora?A: This album took a long time tomake but I simply didn't want torush it as I wanted it to be some-thing I can be proud of in the future.I hope the album does well enoughso it will warrant doing more showsin Europe. Having lived in the UK forso long and playing many differentcountries with The John LawtonBand, I want to get back ASAP!Besides promoting this album, I'mgoing to continue writing/playingand doing what I've always done! Inclosing, I have to say a big thanks toall the amazing fans and their wordsof encouragement over the yearswhich means so much to me. It real-ly helped in making and completingthis album. Cheers!

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Question: State Of Rock is a debut release basing on thereunion of three ex Frontline bandmates finding them-selves together working on new songs in cooperationwith monster Melodic Rock voice Tony Mills. Please, wouldyou tell us about the story behind this new band?Tony Mills: Well, thank you!!! I think it was very important forAOR Heaven to see Robby Bobel and the guys from Frontlineplay live again, but they had lost contact with their vocalist.Georg Siegl contacted me and asked me if I would be preparedto co-write an album with Robby and after hearing the initialbacking tracks, I was delighted to get involved with such profi-cient musicians. The music has great credibility in my view, so ithas been very exciting so far.Q: I think “A Point Of Destiny” comes out as a very inter-esting, elegant, great sounding album, featuring extreme-ly high-level songwriting. How did songs come out? TM: It was actually written in only eight weeks and there is asimple reason for this. The music was handed to me with novocal ideas, but the strength of the performances inspired thewriting of the songs immediately and before we knew where wewere, the record was finished. It came as a surprise, but it justgoes to show when strong ideas are formulated, it doesn't takelong for everything else to fall into place.Q: Where did the band record the album? And who didproduce it?TM: The music was recorded in Nuremberg and the vocals wererecorded in Birmingham, U.K. Robby finished the mixes and pro-duced the album himself.Q: Since the starting “Black & Blue”, passing through“Without My Love”, “Heartless Dreamer”, “Hanging InThe Balance” and so on, I’ve been immediately kicked intothe band’s world, captured by intense Hard Rock pathsand melodic hooks going straight deep into the heart. Isthe final result what the band exactly had been expectingsince the very beginning of the songwriting sessions? Orthings have been changing step by step bringing to a dif-ferent musical horizon?TM: The songs practically wrote themselves. In fact, I think weonly decided to lose one of the ideas that we came out with,because it didn't stand up to the rest of the material. Black andBlue was the first piece of music I was presented with and it blewme away. I think I finished the song the same day. It was real-ly a similar situation throughout the recording process; no soon-er had I returned a completed song than Robby had sent me anew track and so on. There was no specific protocol other thanto write a middle of the road straight ahead commercial rockalbum.Q: Besides the Tony Mills’ presence, which are, in youropinion, the main differences of what you did withFrontline compared now with this brand new State OfRock act?TM: Obviously, this is Tony answering the interview, so I cantreally answer for Robby on this question.Q: Is the band meant to be a stable project among yourotherones? TM: Yes. We have already played together in Germany and wenow have plans to play in the UK and plan a forthcoming albumat the back end of 2010.Q: Any project for the next months? Has the band plannedsome live dates to support the release around?TM: Yes, we will be promoting the album over the comingmonths and looking to jump on any credible festivals both inEurope and the UK. Exciting times !!!

Question: The first track says itall: “I’m Back”. Well, after thir-teen years from your debutalbum, here you are with yoursecond solo chapter “CircusBar”. Answer: It's actually been 13 years.I really have been concentrating onlive concerts during that time. Ihave been everywhere except Italy.My shows have been mainly sellouts in the states. Serafino fromFrontiers Records contacted me andasked if I wanted to make a recordand I thought well, it has been along time, so why not.Q: I read the CD title comesbecause of your creative timespent in a bar managed by cir-cus artists. How did this placeinfluence your songwritinginspiration?A: It was in Panajachel, Guatemala.it is run by former european circuspeople and the live music is amaz-ing. We would work all day and inthe evening we would walk about 2miles to the bar and eat and drink alittle. It has a unique atmosphere.Clown marionettes hang from theceiling above the bar and thats whatgave me the idea for the frontcover. Have you ever wonderedwhere clowns go to relax?? Theyhead for the circus bar. The mari-

onette i used for the front cover isalso now hanging from the bars ceil-ing so go and say hello.Q: The tracks feature so manyfriends of yours performing.How important has been theirsupport to end up the album?A: I picked young, keen talentedplayers though the experience wasalso there with Wayne Nelson fromthe little River Band on bass and PatTravers on guitar. I didn't want towork with jaded people like i hadbefore in a band. Brooks (the pro-ducer) is also a great guitar playerand that was a great help. My regu-lar band was also involved with MattBrown (drums) and Miguel Gonzalez(bass) and my long time guitaristDean Aicher.Q: Two newly refreshed songscoming from the Bad Companyera are featured in the tracklist.Please, tell us of how did youget the idea to give them a newinterpretative dress.A: I think Holy Water has developedinto a wonderful new version whichbears little resemblance to the orig-inal. how about that has beenrevamped with a new arrangementand real drums and I think it is bet-ter than the original. It’s not as if Ihave just repackaged an oldrecording like so many older bands

and call the record a different name.Q: You recorded a song withNWOBHM band White Spirit.What memories do you havefrom that experience?A: 1982... That was a fun time... Wewerent very good but we were keen.I left them because I got tired ofthem trying be Deep Purple clonesand wanted to move on with differ-ent material. As for them recordingone of my songs I have no idea, Icertainly haven’t been paid for any-thing but I guess thats in the mail.Q: What about the future?A: I have already started recordingmy next cd and it is going verywell...Q: Any tourdates fixed to sup-port the release? A: I will go and play wherever I amwelcome... I would love to do someeuropean shows but I guess we willhave to see what happens with therecord. It’s very expensive to bringa band over from the states but if Isling enough shows together Iwould love to come over. I havelots of shows booked for the sum-mer in the states and i am hopingfor european dates... I am off toIraq in march to do 5 shows for thetroops and i am looking forward tothat... not many bands have theballs to do that !!

Focus on: BRIAN HOWE – Circus Bar (Front iers Records)

Album: Circus Bar

Interview with: Brian Howe

Interviewed by: Fulvio Bordi

Brian Howe, ex Ted Nugent, White Spirit voice and the one who replaced Paul Rodgers in BadCompany in the eighties’ giving life to albums such as “Fame and Fortune”, “Dangerous Age”,“What You Hear Is What You Get- Live”, “Holy Water”, “Here Comes The Truble”; as the open-ing track title states, is back on the line and ready to bring us to the beauty only the goodold school Melodic Rock can lead. Songs come out great, written and performed with heart,passion, just as a wide open window of inner feelings. Music and arrangements are perfectto get quite direct, raw and essential, just to create the right home for the Brian’s voice; but,at the same time, guitars get particularly rocking and push the songs in a more “solid”dimension than the previous thirteen years ago solo debut “Tangled In Blue”. Brian Howe’svoice is in great shape, giving us such an interpretative performance so many today’s newupcomers singers could only dream on to produce. “Circus Bar” is a release of soulfulmelodies and music going straight to your heart. Fulvio Bordi (90/100)

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Question: You are a successfulband in your home country ofMalta. Still there will be a lot ofpeople that might not haveheard of Fire before, can youplease introduce the band bytelling us about the history ofthe band. Robert: Fire started out in 1998 asa cover band. Over the years theband has gone through a lot of line-up changes, in fact our singerKenneth is the only original memberin our current line-up. When Pexjaand I joined Fire about five yearsago, the band had only one originalsong, but we were very interestedin becoming involved and over thecourse of the years the originalmaterial became more and more,which led ultimately to the record-ing and the release of our firstalbum “Ignite” in 2006. The follow-ing year we shared the stage withthe Swiss Hard Rock icons Krokusand we also did a couple of gigs inthe UK. Later in 2007 we recorded aradio single called “Miss You ThisChristmas Time”, the song will nowbe featured in the movie“Maltageddon” along with the titletrack from our brand new album“Thrill Me”. We also did a video forthe song “Thrill Me”, which you cansee at various sites on the internet.Q: You are well known for yourlive performances, so I guessyou love being in front of a live

audience ?Kenneth: Playing live is a great feel-ing. There is so much energy andthe songs take on another dimen-sion. Opening for Krokus back in2007 was an incredibly gratifyingexperience. R: When I look at our audience it’spractically all ages, from teenagersto middle-aged people and olderones too, and they all share thesame passion for our music.Q: Please let us know a bit moreabout the song writing processof the band. R: The live situation and the studioare two very different situations, inthe studio the possibilities are end-less, you can take your music any-where. Actually all of our songs are“born” in the recording studio. Forthe most part I am writing themusic and after demoing a song Iusually pass it on to Kenneth whowrites the lyrics. The band thenrecords the track and we allrehearse the final version. This waywe can work out how to adapt thesongs for a live setting. Q: Would you agree to the state-ment, that the new songs are abit heavier than the ones on“Ignite” and what is your viewon today’s Hard Rock scene ? R: Well, we’ve tried to infuse newmodern sounds and elements intoour signature Hard Rock sound. Welove this musical style with its driv-

ing energy, powerful rhythms andprominent melodic traits. Hard Rockhas survived changing trends forover four decades and it’s still goingstrong and even though it may nolonger be the preferred style of themasses, it still commands a loyaland dedicated worldwide following. The overall sound of the new albumis harder and edgier, with songs like“Come with Me” and “Where areGoing” being considerably heavierand darker than any of the band’sprevious offerings, but still thesongs have the strong melodies weare known for. Highlights of thealbum include the ballad “No MorePain”, which reveals the band’ssofter, bluesier side, and of coursethe title track ‘Thrill Me’, a foot-stomping crowd pleaser that hasalready garnered extensive airplayon local radio stations and we arecurrently number one on severallocal charts with this particulartrack. Q: What are the bands plans toin the near future ?K: The band has already lined up acouple of live concerts for the nextweeks and months on Malta and wehope to get the chance to playabroad again. We are also talkingwith our German label “Avenue OfAllies” about the possibility of a re-issue of our debut album “Ignite”with some bonus tracks for theinternational market.

Band: FireAlbum: Thrill MeInterview with: R. Longo / K. CallejaInterviewed by: Michael Bugeja

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KEEL - The Right To Rock 25th Anniversary Edition (Frontiers Records)Kicking off with the title track and possibly the band's most recognised song, it's easy to hear why TheRight To Rock made enough of an impact to break the Billboard top 100. Ron's vocals are tough andgruff, however he possesses bags of character and the sort of ballsy performance so many of today'spretenders can only dream of. Whether it's the razor sharp riff of "Speed Demon" or frenetic licks on"You're The Victim (I'm The Crime)" his style is hugely engaging and still feels fresh some 25 years downthe line. The remastering of the tracks breathes new life into an already classy set of tunes, howeverthe bonus songs really add little to the release as the remixed version of "Easier Said Than Done" is noimprovement on the proper version and the 25th anniversary rerecording of the song "The Right ToRock" smoothes all the edges off the original and lacks the raw appeal that made it such a great songin the first place. Putting those tracks aside The Right To Rock has a place in any serious rock collectionand hopefully this welcome reissue will see it regain the recognition it deserves. SeaOfTranquillity.orgORDEN OGAN - Easton Hope (AFM Records)From the onset the German Melodic Metallers Orden Ogan take no prisoners with their epic metal taleson their new album Easton Hope. The album is all you would expect from a Melodic Metal band andmore. Rampaging guitar licks a thunderous rhythm section and a massive (I mean MASSIVE) vocal pres-ence. From the opening epic styled intro which leads into the album’s real opener ‘Rise and Ruin’, youknow that this is without a doubt going to be a thunderous success in a genre that has many falseprophets declaring they are the new messiah in Metal, but stand aside all those who have gone beforebecause a new band is in town and their here for the crown. The album is an all guns blazing metalassault, mixing short bursts of metal thunder and madness, with tracks of epic proportions. The thun-der starts with ‘Rise and Ruin’ as showers of guitar riffs with ear melting double kick drums hail downon the unsuspecting listener. This torrent of molten metal continues throughout the album with a few ofthe noteworthy highlights like ‘Easton Hope’, ‘Welcome Liberty’, the titanic ‘We Are Pirates’ and ‘The BlackHeart’ (from me the track of the album). As I said earlier, an album that will see the band take to greatheights and definitely on band to watch out for in 2010. If you like you metal big and bold and edgingtowards the grandiose then ‘Easton Hope’ may be the one for you. Barry McMinn (90/100)STATE OF ROCK - A Point Of Destiny (Metal Heaven)Take all the best Middle European Melodic Hard Rock tradition having in mind classics such asBonfire, Frontline, Jaded Heart , Talon, Affair; add the best melodic hooks possible with the exShy, Siam, TNT Tony Mills, shake it all and then serve on the rocks! Now here we have State OfRock! The band has been built up with the reunion of three ex Frontline bandmates (axemanRobby Bobel, bassman Hutch Bauer, drummer Rami Ali) crossing their ways with a differentcharismatic voice. “A Point Of Destiny” gets the final result, featuring ten tracks of brilliant, classsparkling high level Melodic Rock gems. I love the Tony Mills’ performance, how his melodies andsongwriting interplay so damn good with the rest of the band. Special mention about the arrange-ments, the sound production and for the really smart use of essential keyboard carpets givingsongs a still more ear-attracting sound. “A point Of Destiny” is a sure top notch release for anyMelodic Rock fan and now State Of Rock merge as a new fantastic act to keep in mind from nowon. Congratulations guys! Fulvio Bordi (88/100)THE QUIREBOYS - Halfpenny Dancer Vol I (JCPL Recordings)For the life of me, I do not know why Spike and The Quireboys are not a household name aroundthe musical world! The expanse of talent seems to know no bounds. The Quireboys are simply atop drawer group and ‘Halfpenny Dancer’ cements that notion. This release sees the group reworksome of their finest compositions and breathe in to them some fresh air. Coupled with some newgems, ‘Halfpenny Dancer’ is certainly a ‘must have’ for any serious music lover. Now, being thatthis cd is subtitled ‘Volume One’, we should expect more from the lads along this stunning vein ofmusical expression. Exploring the acoustic side of the Quireboys allows us to further appreciate thehigh talent of Spike’s song writing and the poignant slant of his lyrics…and his interpretation of oth-ers. Everything this group writes about is genuine---they have lived through every moment. Letthe Quireboys take you on a musical voyage that will tear at your heartstrings…and let you in, justa little, to their world of musical adventures and halfpenny dancers! Bruce Atkinson (80/100)LAST AUTUMN’S DREAM - A Touch Of Heaven (Escape Music)LAST AUTUMN’S DREAM was formed in 2002 by Mikael Erlandsson and Andy Malecek (FAIRWARNING) and since then they have recorded 6 studio albums; "A Touch Of Heaven" is their newone. I have to mention that Nalley Pahlsson(TREAT) is a new member due to the death of MarcelJacob (TALISMAN) who was their former bassist. "A Touch Of Heaven" is absolutely a melodicalbum that can make you dream. From the beginning to the end I enjoyed it’s music so much...It just made my mind fly! There are some songs, like "Candle In The Dark", "Heartbreaker","Renegade" and "Jenny’s Eyes" for example, that you want to listen to again and again, or (to sayit better) are pretty catchy. And what can I say about Mikael’s voice? Just excellent! Awesomemelodies, lyrics that can stick to your mind... I think that this album has it all. If you look forsomething melodic enough you should give a chance to this album. I’m sure that you’ll love it.

metal-temple.com (90/100) SHYLOCK - Rockbuster (Metal Heaven)The most obvious comparison for this German band is the present incarnation of Jaded Heart as bothbands deal in muscular rock that emphasis heavy riffs and strong melodies. Now on their fifth album,Shylock continue their modern spin on the traditional metal sound. There’s a contemporary song struc-ture that takes you into euphoric choruses especially on “Damn Good”, “Dawn” and “Somebody Else”that the likes of Paramore and the emo brigade have found success with in recent times. An interestingchoice of cover song is Timex Social Club’s “Rumours” which is an old style r’n’b number from the ‘80sgiven a metal make over. Its crunchy verse and bouncy pop rock chorus is an example of their willing-ness to keep things current. More traditional rock fare can be found on the power ballad “Sunshine vs.Rain” that is lighter than much of the other material on the disc but it’s got an effective chorus and theMiddle Eastern vibe on “Rose of Cairo”, both demonstrate the band’s versatility. If Teutonic metal withcontemporary rock hooks interests you then see your local moneylender and get your hands on this.

Duncan Jamieson (85/100)

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RICK SPRINGFIELD - Venus In Overdrive + Live in Rockford (Frontiers Records)This new “Venus In Overdrive” version comes with the worthy addition of a bonus track (a newrecording of Celebrate Youth) and a concert DVD, “Live in Rockford” originally released in October2006 in the USA only. “Venus In Overdrive is powerpop/AOR by perfection because you don't haveto skip tracks or just, while listening to it, wait for “better songs”. Rick also shows what a downto earth kinda guy he is with the song "Saint Sahara" which is a celebration to Sahara Aldridge,she was a huge fan who attended frequently to Rick's shows and recently passed away. VIO haseverything you could ever wish for in a Rick Springfield album, the single "What's Victoria's secret"gets maximum points from me but other songs worthy to be featured on future best of compila-tions are "Mr.PC", "3 warning shots, "One passenger" and "I'll miss that someday". This has clas-sic written all over it!

Vitale Nocerino + Melodic.net (90/100)ANGELS OF BABYLON - Kingdom Of Evil (Metal Heaven)Angels Of Babylon are a gathering and combining of some heavy Talents from the kingdom ofHeavy Metal… including ex-Megadeth bassist David Ellefson and Manowar drummer Rhino.“Kingdom Of Evil” is a very strong statement and powerful debut.Vocalist David Fefolt has a rich & deep voice that lends itself swimmingly to the ten muscularmusical creations that appear on this record. Solid guitar work Ethan Brosh guarantees that thisrecorded effort finds a prominent place in Metal lovers’ musical libraries. The album drives on…each performance: beefy… each arrangement: classy. Highlights of the album are, in my opinionthe opener “Conspiracy Theory” and the second track “Apocalypse 2012”, “Tarot” and the amaz-ing “Kingdom Of Evil”.From four heavy Talents, “Kingdom Of Evil” is a fitting debut from a promising new band.

Bruce Atkinson (89/100)JON OLIVA’S PAIN – Festival (AFM Records)The beautiful CD’s cover is the right bridge to introduce us to “Festival”, the new chapter in theJon Oliva’s Pain discography. “Festival” maybe it is the best album among the ones this band hasbeen releasing until now and absolutely won’t disappoint all the long date Savatage and JonOliva’s fans. The best thought coming in mind after so many times spent in listening is this is avery peculiar album, complex, sophisticated but… simple at the same time! Sure, indeed, this istheir most progressive effort made, but the way all the different feelings, musical types andmoments are grouped and linked together along all the tracklist, and in the songs themselves, isdisarming. Songs flow easily one by one surrounded by a very thrilling and dark atmosphere untilthe final chapter “Now”. Guitars riffs and solos cut just like a blade , while the rhythm sectiongives the perfect dynamic boost to all the songs’ structures, creating a so wide intense depth. Noexcuses, this is an absolute “must have”! Fulvio Bordi (95/100)HUMAN TEMPLE - Murder Of Crows (Escape Music)From the beginning of the CD, "Not My Fault" can put you in the right mood: the inspiring chorusis able to stick to your mind for days and the tuneful aura will ’trap’ you from the first two min-utes just like the following "Just One Night" does. The vocals remind me something between JoeLynn Turner and Joey Tempest’s tone, whereas the keyboards are in the middle of VAN HALEN’sand JOURNEY’s musical structure, a fact that you can clearly notice in "Lie". I believe, though,that the breath taker of the album is the ensuing "Ghost Of You": a pure AOR song with a strongchorus and an absolutely melodic reading that fulfills all the expectations for fans of this genre."Murder Of Crows" has all the components to be an all time classic album for the melodic HardRock scene (another reason why we love Finland) and, for that, is strongly recommended. Don’tlet the crows on the cover scare you...

Metal-temple.com (80/100) MASQUERADE - Cybernetic Empire (Steelheart Records)It’s really incredible to think that awesome material like the one featured on this CD have seenthe light of the day almost 20 years later than when it was recorded! MASQUERADE was a bandcoming from Holland and active between the end of the ‘80s and mid-‘90s, and – during theircareer – they opened some shows for the one and only European headlining-tour of CRIMSONGLORY, plus they played with HELSTAR, ELEGY and more. As you might guess from the abovementioned bands, Masquerade’s music style is strongly placed into the US Power-ProgressiveMetal vein; their trademarks were the incredible vocals a la Geoff Tate/Midnight, powerful and fastdouble-guitars parts and awesome melodies, recalling, obviously, bands like Crimson Glory,Queensryche, Heir Apparent and Screamer. This CD includes all the songs MASQUERADE everrecorded, starting from their first “Behind The Mask” demo-tape, passing thru’ the never released5 tracks EP and finishing with alternate versions, studio-outtakes, live and unreleased songs,spanning a 1989-1994 period. It would have been a real crime to leave these songs unheard. Outof the dusted shelves and into the stores. Finally. Rob “Ezy” Bone (90/100)HEAVENLY - Carpe Diem (AFM Records)Hang on to something! Anything!—as you are about to be propelled into the stratosphere!! “Carps Diem” is per-haps Heavenly’s strongest set yet! What with a sterling production and deep complicated musical rivers flow-ing throughout, this record will delight, stimulate and send your aural senses in to a cosmic spin. Driven by awall of guitar and draped profoundly by amazing keyboards… each piece is driven by heaving percussion andtopped with towering vocals that are, at times, unbelievable! Heavenly performs at top form-always. There areno fillers here! In some passages, the group sound like classic Queen, but on steroids!! Totally strapping in theirdelivery, combining power and subtlety in an unique fashion—Heavenly truly reaches musical Nirvana. As onelistens and flows forward with “Carps Diem”…you will start to plunge in the vast undercurrents of their music.Recognising their immense and varied Talents, increasing your appreciation of the richly layered and powerfulmusic that lies before you! Wrap yourself around the depth of this operatic collection and listen carefully to whatis being sung… then and only then will you have a true Heavenly experience! Bruce Atkinson (88/100)

Fulvio Bordi: Hi Chris! “Festival” is a very brilliantwork and the title says it all! It is a real festival, aparade. So complete, polyhedral, well rounded. I’vebeen considering it as a release where we can findso many influences and elements involved in thesongwriting’s style: from Heavy Metal, Prog Rockinfluences, Seventies’, Classical Music, Rock Operaand even Jazz inserts, celtic and folk influences.What do you think about? There’s really everything.Is it the right impression?Chris Kinder: Awesome and glad you like it! Thats the bestdescription we have heard so far, and so accurate. Wewent into writing this new record with no boundaries what-soever. Actually I can recall some of the early pre-produc-tion sessions with Jon with him saying: " I want us to thinkoutside the box and try to make this record as interestingand compelling as possible... heavy, epic, sad, fun, evil,silly, technical... let's just for it and see what happens".FB: Why a title such as “Festival”? CK: The CD is a music "Festival" just as you described inthe last question. It's a crazy musical carnival with yourears and your soul being pulled in all different directions.What title would have been more appropriate?FB: May we consider it as a concept album? If so,please, would you like to tell us in brief the story andthe philosophy behind the lyrics?CK: Definately not a concept album...more like a bunch ofshort stories. You may even consider them life stories ofthose attending the festival....so many people, so manyemotions, so many stories to tell.FB: All the tracklist features a real kaleidoscope ofmusical moods and feelings. Since rage, pain, anxi-ety, desperation, to hope and sweetness. Where didJon find the inspiration this time?CK: Same place he always does...life! He has such anincredible way of capturing the day to day emotions of allof us. There's a song for everyone on this album. And thatsong changes day to day as our life and life experienceschange. Maybe your feeling evil today,,,maybe your miss-ing a loved one. It's all there is this cd if you just let it getinside you.FB: How did the band work on songwriting this time?CK: Jon of course brings the main body of work and idea's.It is my job as producer to help him formulate those idea'sin an interesting/balanced structure. From there Matt,Kevin and Tom get copies of "the work in progress" andare all expected to bring fresh new idea's to the table. It'salways a group effort but Jon is firmly at the controls ofwriting. We make so many changes and decisions in thestudio...when the real art begins to be recorded.FB: What about the band’s line-up? Is it the same ofthe previous release?CK: Yes, minus John Zahner (keyboards). John has otherprojects he is working on so JOP is now permanently a 5piece outfit... It's all good!FB: Any tourdates to support the album at themoment? Will you perform live with the same band?CK: Always booking tours...Summer Festivals and a big falltour for sure. The band is fully intact and ready to come toItaly. We miss the fans and the food/wine!14 | MRF

Barry McMinn: For those unfamiliar with the bandhow would you describe the band’s sound? Lars: It’s always hard to do this, because I’m too close toit to be really objective but I will try anway. Orden Oganis a metal band that draws its influences fromPower/Melodic/Traditional (which ever label you prefer)Metal, Progressive Metal and Thrash Metal. You can findelements of all those styles in our music. Generally themelodies – be it vocally or instrumentally – are a big focusof ours, so in that regard pop is an influence, too.Aditionally, we can get quite bombastic at times, but weNEVER lose track of fat metal riffs. These kind of „mod-ern“ (uh-oh, I’ve said the bad word ;-)) elements are alsounderlined by the crushing production of „Easton Hope“.To sum it up: If you like metal, check us out!! ;-)BM: The band’s new album ‘Easton Hope’ is a tri-umph of Heavy Metal, how long did the album puttogether?Seeb: We startet with the songwriting directly after wereleased "Vale" in 2008. Some Songs were finished veryearly (Nobody Leaves, Easton Hope), some others haveliterally been finished the moment they were recorded(The Black Heart for example). The complete recordingprocess from the first drum take to the last fader on themixing desk I moved in the mix took around 6 months.That's heavy shit and if we would not have our own stu-dio we couldn't have realized this record . But we wantedto take as much time as needed for recording and we triedout a lot of things (different mics, different guitar ampsand so on). But it was all worth it.BM: How would you compare ‘Easton Hope’ to thebands 2004 album ‘Testimonium’?Lars: Simply put: It’s way better! ;-) Well, obviously theband has changed a lot since then. The line-up haschanged since then and so has the music. The songwrit-ing is more focused now and stylistically the band had amuch bigger folk/medieval touch than today (that ismostly gone now). As an album, "Easton Hope" is superi-or in every respect: songs, songwriting, melodies, playingand not leastly the production. But I guess that's a natu-ral development and we still like "Testimnium AD".BM: How did the band come to get involved withAFM Records? Seeb: Timo, our A&R Manager from AFM records was afan of the band since the release of "Vale" in 2008. He iswhat you can call a "hardcore supporter". So he showedthe record around at AFM and very quickly everyone therewas sure that they wanted to have Orden Ogan in the AFMband rooster. We always wanted to have a record compa-ny that gives 110% for the band and with the cooperationwith AFM records this dream came true. Even the boss isa Orden Ogan fan meanwhile - is there anything betterthat can happen to a band?! ;-)BM: What plans do the band have for 2010?Lars: To play as much as possible! We're planning to doseveral tours, but nothing's confirmed yet. We're alsogoing to do as many festivals as possible, with somealready confirmed. The highlight will of course be the leg-endary Wacken Open Air, where we will be playing for thefirst time this year. We're already looking forward to thatand it's definitely going to be huge fun. Actually, I reallycan't wait for that! ;-) We'll hopefully see a lot of yourreaders there in the first row! :-)

Bruce Atkinson: First, gents…let’s talk about thehistory of the group, knowing that Heavenly hasprogressed through several line-up changes, areyou now feeling satisfied with the strength of thegroup presently?Charley Corbiaux: In a band as in the normal life, it alwayshard to find someone who is able to do the same things orto go in the same directions at the same moment. As youhave said, Heavenly through several line-up changes forthoses reasons. We don't really know what the futureholds but today everybody found his place in the band andis ready to do his best to lead our music as far as possi-ble. And I think our new album Carpe Diem is the proof ofthat.BA: Being that we are beginning a New Year, anddecade…let’s go through some of your plans…begin-ning with the release of your new album….CC: Carpe Diem was released few weeks ago all over theworld so we do not enough feedbacks to pronounce usabout sales, but at this moment everything is positive.About future, we hope first to continu heavenly and havefun!!! this is the best wishes we could have for futur …because things are perfect for us today… I am not surethat sells more cd’s make more happiness or make yourmusic better… so if we could do as today should be fantas-tic!!! a good thing also should be to go on tour as headlin-er… then why not record a dvd of this experience !!! westill have many project for our band. But first of all as ouralbum title is .. we want to live the moment now and enjoyit "trusting as little as possible in the future"… CARPEDIEM….BA: Take us through your creative process… withsuch complicated yet beautiful musical expressions,it must take months for a complete album to be fin-ished, (in the writing stage).CC: The writing process is simple, we record demo songsand each member bring his own part. Sometimes, we startby a guitar riff, so I give it to Olivier and Charley whorearranged and each musician arrange his own part. I'mstill the main writer in Heavenly, Olivier and Charley com-pose a little too. For the recording, we've got our own stu-dios, this album has been recorded at home. Then we'vesent all the tracks to our sound engineer, Philip Colodetti,who works with Kamelot and Epica, and he did the mixand mastering. We started to write this album early 2008,and finished on spring 2009. Then entered in studio. CarpeDiem was expected for September 2009 but as ever wegot problems during the mix and mastering, so we delayedthe release to December. Finally, the composition and therecording of this album have been standard but we start-ed it lately and problems we met delayed at the end of theproduction.BA: What about touring? Are you hoping to tour in2010? Where can we see you? CC: First, we're scheduling a new music video clip. Then,I hope we could plan a tour as soon as possible, this couldbe nice on spring. We are eager to play live, it's always agreat experience. Also, we want to play in summer festi-val. But nothing is definitely scheduled today....hope soon.We obviously want to defend this album on stage so we'llplay everywhere we could.

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Question: How would you like tointroduce your fans to your "Fromthe Vault" Release?Rick Springfield: First of all I would liketo say "God bless you for still beingfans!" This is a collection of songs andexperiments from the late 80's. Songs Iwrote by myself and some with JeffSilverman my long time friend and agreat producer. We recorded these inhis studio and they never really found ahome till now. I'm glad they finallyhave.Jeff SIlverman: There are very fewtimes in your life that you can watch amemory transform into a reality. "FromThe Vault" is a collection of works thatis exactly that. Unreleased songs andversions of songs that have never hadthe opportunity to be introduced to theworld in this way.Q: Was this collection of songs allthat you had to offer, in terms ofunreleased material, or there's achance more will be released in thefuture?RS: This is the best of the unreleasedstuff I think but there is always more.Mostly demos, some rougher than oth-ers. I have reels of unreleased demosfrom the 'Working Class Dog' periodand there are always songs that dontmake it to an album. These are the bestsounding and best recorded of thegroup.JS: There were other candidates, butafter much consideration, Rick and I felt

this "Collection of Works" was the mostcohesive sounding group of songs. Q: I suppose that looking backthrough this material made someold memories resurface. Is thereanything you'd like to recall?RS: Mostly that Jeff and I drank a lot ofred wine during these sessions. And Ilisten back and am quite pleased at howadventurous some of the arrangementswere. It’s clear to see I was definitelyexperimenting, and some of it reallyworks.JS: "Religion of The Heart" has alwaysbeen one of my personal favorites ofour co-writes and was the last of theco-writes we did together (but hopeful-ly not THE last). There was a maturityand comfort level that had evolved withour collaborations and friendship by thistime, and I believe was a direct reflec-tion in the writing and production of thissong. So, we both decided to have mere-master the tracks and then evaluateif we were hitting or missing the mark.It didn't take long to figure out that themixes were going to stand the test oftime once I began re-mastering"Dancin' On The Edge Of The World" asmy first song on the timeline. ItROCKED! The rest just fell into place.Q: The songs were conceived in aspan of time (late eighties+earlynineties vs. rest of the nineties)where the music scene wentthrough some really dramaticchanges. What kind of impact did

the "Grunge" explosion have onyou, both from the artistic andbusiness point of view?RS: On these songs, not much obvious-ly but the grunge thing did get meexcited in a smaller way like the punkmovement did in a huge way back inthe 70's.JS: I was a big fan of the alternativeSeattle sound, with great bands likeNirvana and Pearl Jam. But, I was aneven bigger fan of watching how itexpanded not only top 40 radio, buttook the song-writing, production, sonicand structural boundaries to a muchlarger creative field to work in. Thatera, reminds me of how current rockbands such as Nickelback, Linken Park,Creed, and one of my most favs,Apocalyptica, have expanded the rockfield once again. To take 1:45 secondsto get into the first verse? UNHEARD OFfor the most part in the more conserva-tive top 40 rock days. Song structureswith limited to pretty much of the stan-dard verse/chorus/verse/chorus with abridge, maybe? Now it's ok to includeadditional unrelated sections to addeven more dimension to the productionand song-writing. Sounds, structures,lyrical content etc. are opening back upagain with rock, especially, with influ-ences with that very heavy metalundertone with a pop/rock overtone tomake it more commercially accessible.Breaking new ground once again. ILOVE IT!

Band: Springfield / SilvermanAlbum: From The VaultInterview with: R.S. / J. S.Interviewed by: Vitale Nocerino

Focus on: SPRINGFIELD / SILVERMAN - From The Vault (Front iers Records)From the Vault (A Collection of works by Rick Springfield & Jeff Silverman) consists of 13tracks, originally recorded between 1986 and 1999, that have been digitally re-masteredby Jeff Silverman, giving the audience an entirely new listening experience. The album iscompose by brand new tracks never releseased like:Dancin’ on the Edge of the World,Right Planet, Wrong World, You Write the Book, Dream in Colour, and Religion of the Hearand some songs already recorded for Springfield’s albums (Somewhere, Monkey, LoveReceiver and My Depression). Pay attention, this is not a compilation but a real albumfull of passion and love ofr the classic aor sound. Both the artists are really amazing play-ers and they really can be “described” like icon of the 80s melodic music.Buy the album and discover what amazing songs were never been publiched and live thereal mood of the classic melodic rock. I love this album!

Vitale Nocerino (90/100)

Focus on: STAGE DOLLS - A lways (AOR Heaven)They might be Norwegian but the Stage Dolls sound as American as Yankee DoodleDandy. Their signature sound of Brian Adams with touches of Def Leppard remains intacton the raucous opener “Always” and the Adam’s comparison remains on “Better Off witha Pretty Face” and the party-tastic “Saturday Night”. There’s a nod to Colin James on thefunky raunch of “Rollin”. Elsewhere it’s a mellower affair but it’s adult rock of the highestorder. Tracks like “Highways”, the terrific smouldering “Taillights” and “Where theBlacktop Ends” have the rootsy feel of Jude Cole and even a hint of the assured cool ofDon Henley. The band is augmented by female backing singers (the same ones from theirbreakthrough album “Stage Dolls” back in ’88) who add a classy Southern Soul feel tomany tracks. There’s even a successful stab at alt-country on “My Strangest Friend”. Thesong writing throughout is first-rate and they’ve matured in the way Bon Jovi can onlywish they had. It might still be winter but I’ve already found a record that’s a perfectcompanion for those long hot days ahead. Excellent. Duncan Jamieson (95/100)

Band: Stage Dolls

Album: Always

Interview with: Torstein Flakne

Interviewed by: Vitale Nocerino

Question: Your last studio record,“Get A Life”, was released in2004. What have you done in themeantime?Answer: 6 years is a very long timebetween 2 albums but we’ve beentouring a lot,doing from 50-100 gigs ayear. We also believe that you have tocome up with some good songs to doan album because it’s gonna last along time for the fans, well, this timeit took 6 years.Q: How much time did you actual-ly spend with the writing and therecording of “Always”?A: The first song I wrote for the albumwas ‘Rainin on a sunny day’, I startedwith that one late 2007, the last oneI fininshed I guess was ‘Always’ sum-mer 2009. We did some tracks nov.2008, and the rest through 2009. Q: The album was mixed by yourpast producer Bjorn Nessjo andfeatures the same backingsingers as your “Stage Dolls”album. Did you want to go a littlebit “back to the roots” for the newalbum?A: Me and Terje have always liked thesound of the old stuff, mixing oursound with the ‘soul’ - feel of Darryl,Angela amd Vaneese. To get themback to sing on this was really amaz-

ing. We haven’t had contact for solong and meeting up was unbeliev-able, we all sounded the same!Getting Lisa Fisher to join in withthem was also tremendous. Then wehave the singing wizard, Mark Spiro,that we started to work with on Get alife. He has a great voice that helps asong getting from good to ‘Yes’! I’mreally pleased that they all could workon this. Bjorn helped out on ‘Rainin’,and that brought back good memo-ries as well. I think we have found outthat this is the Stage Dolls’sound,some kind of trademark. Latbut not least I have to mention RonnyWikmark (mix / production / key-boards). He’s done a unbelievable jobhere. He’s a great musician and veryimportant for me to ‘play ball with’.We talked a lot about the sound,forinstance, noone uses the kind ofreverb (room) that we used before,therefore we decided to use it.Q: How would you describe themusical direction of “Always” inyour own words?A: Basically, it’s me writing somesongs on the acoustic guitar that Ilike, I bring it to Morten and Terje andwe arrange it together. Even if there’sjust the three of us threre we usuallysort out like where to have keyboard

parts, background etc. It’s not like ‘let’s do a more bluesy album or hard-er of softer’. We write songs we likeand hope that somebody else likesthem too.What about doing a live DVD? Anychance you will film one duringyour upcoming shows?A: At the time,no actual plans.We willprobably bring along some camerason certain gigs but mostly for docu-mentation. If we’re gonna do a DVD ithas to be properly done like every-thing else we’re doing.Q: I guess you will do a tour inNorway to support “Always”, butwhat about the rest of Europe?Any plans to enter stages aboard?A: We’re gonna do a big tour inNorway this summer so everyonethinking about going here has tocheck out our schedule onstagedolls.com, apart from thatthere’s no actual dates abroad but Iknow there’s talk about certain festi-vals. Check with our web-site! We didone gig in Munich last January andwould love to go back. It was a shockto us to hear the packed housesinging along on almost everylyric.From what I heard, people werecoming from all over Europe to see usthere, fantastic!

MRF | 19

Band: Wig Wam

Album: Non Stop Rock N Roll

Interview with: Flash

Interviewed by: Bruce Atkinson

20 | MRF

Focus on: WIG WAM - Non Stop Rock N Rol l (Front iers Records)Modern day ‘Power Pop’?... Nah!!... this record is just what the title says: forty-five minutes of ‘Non-stop Rock n’ Roll”!! So are Wig Wam glam? Yeah, to a point-but they are more… actually they are exactly who they are: Glam—Teeny—Flash—and Sporty! That is right… a fantastic combination of Talent that delivers hookladen Rock that fires on all cylinders. ‘Non Stop Rock n’ Roll’ is a collection ofaddictive memorable melodies, wrapped up in a straight shooting Rock attack.Others are calling this Wig Wam’s most complete Work to date, and they areright. The group is showing their wide spectrum of musical craftsmanship… excel-lent sensibilities of melody and straight in yer face Rock! Oh!, they can deliversome very tasty heart melting musical forays as well… just for good measure!

Bruce Atkinson (95/100)

MRF | 21

Question: I would like to beginwith a brief history of thegroup… and your influences:Answer: WIG WAM was foundedlate 2000 after finding back to ourpersonal musical roots as a jam-band. Covering songs thatinspired us to pick up instrumentsin the first place gave birth to WigWam. Bands like Kiss, AC/DC, VanHalen, Alice Cooper, Beatles,Queen and Journey to mentionsome, are obviously our musicalheritage. We released our firstalbum 667… neighbour of thebeast in 2004 after heavy touringthe previous years. After joiningthe Eurovision song contest in2005 things really got movingwith the big hit “In my dreams”We toured Norway extensively,Europe, and went to Japan for thefirst time. After a break in 2008,we all found our way back to thestudio to record our third album“NON STOP ROCK’N ROLL” andhere we are excited to present thisalbum through our record compa-nies which has made this a worldwide release simultaneously. Q: Others are saying that thenew album, “Non-stop Rock N’roll” is your most complete todate… do you agree?A: Absolutely! We’re wiser andbetter at what we do. We’d had abreak which did us some good inthe sense that we got more moti-vation and inspiration to write andrecord new songs. We just wantedto make the best record and havefun with it again. This time theconditions for making this albumwere better than ever.Q: What makes this a differenteffort than before? Did yourecord differently? A: This was the first time we hada record company and time torecord at the same time. Whichmeans we’d record our first albumon our own expenses and, finallygot to release it after some time.The second album we did in justthree weeks. Now we had betterequipment and more time whichmeant we could do things overand over until we all felt it waswhere we wanted it to be. Therecording process was the sameas before except now we did in aproper studio, not Teeny’s livingroom.Q: Are you more comfortablewith the creative side? Say,approaching the songwritingdifferently? A: The three of us who are writingare constantly trying to writemore together, and this time wedid. When we meet there’s alwaysan creatively explosion comingout. But still there are songsbrought on the table more or less

complete. Still, we all have bitsand pieces in the drawer whichmight fit in where we all agreethat something is missing orshould be altered. Personally Iwould like to spend more timewriting together, yet I find itrelaxing writing by myself too. Inother words, there’s no formula inthis band.Q: Your music and lookremember of 80's glam-hairmetal: do you feel particularlylinked to that decade? A: Yes we do, we all started ourcareers back in the early eightiesand the heavy metal style had it’shey days when we started playingin different bands. You can say weare very familiar with the styleand really enjoy all the funnySpinal Tap sides to it.Q: Many metal bands comesfrom Norway, Sweden orFinland: do you think there's abond between Scandinavia andmetal music?A: I never really thought of that,but I noticed many reporters havepicked up the fact. I don’t haveany answers to why that is, butmaybe the weather conditions areparticularly good for rock music ormaybe it’s in our genes. Q: It seems that you have avery hard fanbase: do youthink that touring a lotthrough Norway and Europehas something to do with this?A: If you don’t tour, the reason foryour existence as a band is gone.When the record sales are gone,the only thing left is touring. Andwe have toured a lot. Mostly inNorway, but also some abroad.Luckily there’s nothing that canbeat a live show. It’s where weconnect with our fans and hopeful-ly meet new ones. Wig Wam willalways put on a big show. Duringthose 90 minutes you’ll alwayshave in mind that you will give theaudience a good run for theirmoney.Q: How did you came to theidea, in your first record, tocover Mel C's single I Turn ToYou?A: I really don’t remember it toowell. We recorded some tracks inthe early days which were mostlycover songs. I think it was Teeny’sidea to make the song a bit likeBilly Idol style. I had not evenheard the original before and wasvery reluctant to the idea. But itturned out to be very successful.The song is still with us in our liveset.Q: Looking forward to the newyear, do you have plans ontouring in 2010? If so, whenand where? A: Right now we’re at the early

stage in booking a tour. There arejust a few confirmed dates, still aJapan tour is confirmed in lateApril early May. We are doingsome gigs in Norway of course,but would very much like to dosome gigs throughout Europe thistime. This is after all the first timean Wig Wam album is released inseveral European countries andthe US as well. So playing somenew territories would be excitingindeed.Q: Back to the new album,overall, the sound is fresh,almost like a rejuvenatedband, am I detecting this cor-rectly? A: Like I said, we spend more timeon this one, and we had a lot ofmaterial to choose from. When itcomes to producing, it’s obviousthat Teeny has come a long wayand can easily be compared to anyproducer in the business in myopinion. And after constantly tour-ing since 2001-2002, we’d reallyneeded a break. And when wefinally got back together, every-body was really up for doing analbum with lots of energy and afresh spirit. So in many ways thisalbum confirms that the band isrejuvenated and ready to rock nonstop.Q: I’m sure we will all share inyour exceitment about the newrelease… any comments onyour signing with Frontiers’…especially the US release of“Non Stop Rock n’ Roll”?A: Frontiers has been in touchwith the band for some time now,and finally we’d signed a dealthrough our Scandinavian recordcompany and so far it looks verygood. I know the label has manyacts, but I’m confident that theseguys have the ability and thedesire to make this album do verywell. When it comes to the USrelease we are very excited aboutit. Still we know what a huge mar-ket it is, but to be in a positionwhere we could do some gigs overthere would be a thrill for us.Q: In closing, I usually leavethe last words to my Guests…so please, go ahead and all thebest in 2010 and beyond!!A: Thanks a lot. I really want tomake your readers aware of thisalbum. If you’re into a classicrock’n roll album with a “in yourface” attitude, and a bunch of wellwritten songs with big hooks andloud guitars, I’m sure this one willput a big smile on your face.There’s no fancy effects or over-dubs on this one. Just great tunesplayed by a band on fire. Hopeyou’ll enjoy it, and to see you outthere soon.

22 | MRF

Question: Hi Bruce thanks for takingtime out to complete this interview,we really appreciate it. I would justlike to say what a great album ‘BK3’is. Answer: Thank you! It was a labor oflove for sure! Q: How long have you been workingon the album? A: It took a long time due to many rea-sons. I had to work between my sched-ule for travel with Grand Funk shows, andother performing gigs, like the Rock NRoll Fantasy Camp, and various otherevents from clinics to KISS Expo's. Ofcourse the other reason was my produc-er Jeremy Rubolino and I were deter-mined to be 100% satisfied with theresults, which caused us to be extra cau-tious with the recording. We would redothings if we needed to, and the songchoices for the final disc kept changing aswe got closer. It is no accident it is asstrong as it is. It took from writing in late2003 to recording in 2006 till mid 2009 toget the CD finished!Q: You have a number of artists fea-turing on the album, was this howyou envisaged it from the beginning?

A: Not really. I knew John Corabi wouldbe asked sing one or two songs. Jeremyis a huge fan of his, and he loved the BlueRoom UNION CD from 1999. But honest-ly things got heated up when GeneSimmons committed. Then he suggestedhis son Nick, and then Jeremy convincedme to get Steve Lukather for the instru-mental, and so on. A natural progressionof guests and for all good reasons. I amvery proud of the contributions they allmade to BK3.Q: One notable guest is GeneSimmons, how did you manage to tiethe great man down for the album? A: Eric Singer (another guest on the disc)suggested I ask him. When I did Genewas very quick to say yes. That was areal score for me. We got together whenwe could and worked on a few songideas. Once we realized we were on tosomething strong it was time to coordi-nate the studio time. We wrote the lyricsin the studio and Gene did a great jobsinging it right after that. Q: This album differs from your pre-vious two solo albums, was this astudio evolution or did you set out tomake a different album?

A: When Jeremy approached me duringmy recording of Transformer the secondBK solo disc, I told him lets hook up whenI am ready to my next CD. As soon aswe got together to write, I heard thechemistry we had and knew that wewould be making some great songs formy next effort. He reminded me ofREVENGE, my fave KISS CD and said letsmake it that good... which would meanwe would have to use better studios,engineers, and be "no compromise"about the approach. I kicked andscreamed but he was right. By followinghis lead with all of this, and us being veryclear what we loved would stay on the CDwe were on our way to my best work yet. Q: How hard was it to focus onanother band when putting a bandtogether for ‘BK3’? A: Not hard at all. I wear many hats youknow with the different work I alwaysdo... easy to change gears and do a GFRshow or record a blistering solo. Q: Will you be taking ‘BK3’ on theroad or is this purely a studio proj-ect? A: I do hope to get out there and performand support the CD. I am up for it.

More renowned for his twelve years as KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick is more than a oneband man, with over thirteen years as a guitarist before the KISS years, first gainingnotoriety as part of Meat Loaf’s touring band, as well as being a member of Hookfootand Blackjack amongst others. After KISS he collaborated with John Corabi on the bandUnion and later joined the Grand Funk Railroad. But it was in 2002 when he firstreleased his first solo album ‘Audiodog’. Now in 2010 it’s time for the third solo effort,some five years after album number two, simply entitled ‘BK3’. This is a stunning HardRock album which features a host of guest artists including Gene Simmons and son Nick,John Corabi, Tobais Sammet and Eric Singer, even the legend that is Steve Lukathergets involved in this excellent album. The album is quite simply stunning a great mix ofvarious rock styles with some quite sublime moments like the opener ‘Fate’, an angstfilled rocker, the anthemic Gene Simmons collaboration ‘Ain’t Gonna Die’, the feisty rock-er ‘I Am Animal’. The list just goes on and on. There is something for everyone on thisalbum and is as true an example of Kulick’s formidable years at the top of the guitarworld. A must buy album for all true rock music lovers. Barry McMinn (92/100)

Band: Bruce Kulick

Album: BK3

Interview with: Bruce Kulick

Interviewed by: Barry McMinn

Focus on: BRUCE KULICK - BK3 (Front iers Records)