1. Tesla - Into the Now - Read review
Tesla made a fantastic comeback album, which had everything a Hard Rock fan could ask for. "Into the Now" had all the classic Tesla elements and still built-in a modern sound to their music.
2. Pure Inc. - Pure Inc. - Read review
Surprise of the year! The debuting band from Switzerland came to my knowledge when they blew Doro off stage this November in Denmark. Ever since Pure Inc. has been glued to my Cd player. Massive grooves, cool guitars and a shining star in singer Gianni Pontillo are the main ingredients on Pure Inc.'s very powerful debut album.
3. The Quireboys - Well Oiled - Read review
The English lads sounded in fine form and made a very straightforward album. Maybe not inventive, but Quireboys encompass everything about the notion Rock 'n' Roll. Good time Rock 'n' Roll never goes out of style.
4. Jizzy Pearl - Just a Boy
Love/Hate, Adler's Appetite and Ratt singer Jizzy Pearl made a fantastic album that surpassed everything Love/Hate ever released. Very energetic in the Love/Hate vein with 2 fantastic ballads
Better Days and
I'm on Fire to diversify the album - both had Steve Stevens on guitar.
5. Velvet Revolver - Contraband
An all star band consisting of the trefoil from Guns N' Roses and charismatic vocalist Scott Weiland. "Contraband" was a strong album because the band proved to have their own identity.
6. Richie Kotzen - Get Up - - Read review
"Get up" proved that Kotzen keeps progressing. Being very diverse on his albums, "Get Up" was a consistent album of full blown Hard Rock focusing on melodies instead of long solos. A very recommendable album.
7. Tak Matsumoto Group - TMG 1 Read review
Another all star group with Jack Blades, Eric Martin and in my book unknown Tak Matsumoto. Tak is a huge star in Japan and his inventive playing and Eric Martin's strong vocals made this among the best albums this year. In your face guitar driven Hard Rock.
8. Mike Tramp/White Lion boxset
Bought this boxset consisting of 6 CD's at Mike Tramp's first European solo show this year. WOW, I am completely blown away by the quality of this. The highlights are the White Lion stuff. "Pride take 1" includes the worktape of "Pride" plus the first take of the album recorded in Germany 1986, which wasn't used for release. "Big Game Demos" and "Mane Attraction Start To Finish" are excellent and gives a unique insight to White Lion with pre-production recordings and alternative takes of White Lion's songs.
9. Enuff Z'Nuff - ?
My favorite band made another fantastic album. Being a collector of their material including bootlegs and demos for several years I had heard most songs, since "?" contained several songs dated back to the old days with drummer Vik Foxx and the late guitarist Derek Frigo. However, you never go wrong with an Enuff Z'Nuff album and "?" contains lots of high quality songs.
10. TNT - My Religion - Read review
Back to the old style, "My Religion" is TNT's strongest record in ages. Tony Harnell still sounds amazing and "My Religion" had many songs that ranked among the best TNT ever written.
11. L.A. Guns - Rips the Covers off - Read review
With this cover album L.A. Guns introduced their new guitarist Stacey Blades. L.A. Guns performed the cover songs with the classic L.A. Guns sound to them, which made "Rips the Cover off" a great album.
12. Dokken - Hell to Pay - - Read review
A more mature approach characterized Dokken on "Hell to Pay". Jon Levin was new guitarist with big shoes to fill, but he did a superb job. "Hell to Pay" also produced one of the best songs of the year, namely the first single off the album
Escape.
13. Glenn Hughes - Soulfully Live in the City of Angels Read review
A live in the studio recording from Glenn Hughes introducing funky drummer Chad Smith from Red Hot Chili Peppers. The recording had very skilled musicians, excellent songs and a cool vibe to it. The song selection spanned through Glenn Hughes' long career and his timeless songs are Rock history.
14. Mike Tramp - Songs I left behind
Along with the very appetizing boxset Mike Tramp also released a studio album with leftovers. The album follows the tradition from Mike's later solo albums, but also has some rocking songs recorded around "Remembering White Lion" with guitarist Kasper Damgaard. 16 never released tracks made it value for money with a high standard.
15. Bang Tango - Ready to Go - Read review
A blast form the past - Bang Tango released their first studio album in 10 years. Only singer Joe Leste remains from the old line-up, but with help from members of Leste's other band "Beautiful Creatures" Joe Leste made a great album written with the brilliant guitarist Alex Grossi. "Ready to Go" sounds very up-to date without losing the band's original integrity and selling out. Lately I have been getting into the old albums as well, so I hope that the planned European Tour with my favorite band Enuff Z'Nuff and glamsters Pretty Boy Floyd becomes reality.
16. Don. E. Vie "This and That" - Read review
Enuff Z'Nuff's Donnie Vie made another low budget album mainly of old Enuff Z'Nuff demos along with newer solo songs thrown in as well. Even though most were Enuff Z'Nuff demos transferred from cassette, the sound quality was decent and you cannot question the quality in the music plus Vie's expressive vocals.
17. Influences and connections - Volume 1: Mr. Big - Read review
An interesting concept deviating a bit from other tribute records, since Mr. Big members, except for Eric Martin and Paul Gilbert, also performs on this disc. A worthy tribute to Mr. Big's career and an impressive all star line up.
18. Y&T - Unearthed vol. 1 - - Read review
An album, which salutes Y&T's thirty year career. It contains unreleased stuff that didn't make on Y&T's 16 albums. A lot of the songs on "Unearthed vol. 1" are absolutely worthy to be on their albums and personally this is one of my favorite Y&T albums.
19. Fastback - The Pain of Beauty - Read review
Michael Thomas and Brian Saunders, who previously played together in Tuff etc, made a very interesting and fresh sounding record. Hooks, melodies, thunderous bass, heavy drums, crunchy guitars and great vocals made this a welcomed newcomer in 2004.
20. Drama Queen Die - Drama Queen Die - Read review
A record made in 2004 but sounding like it was made in 1986!!! Drama Queen Die main man Andrew Walker hired Chip Z'Nuff and Ricky Parent of Enuff Z'Nuff fame and made an 80's Hard Rock record. Three unique songs stand out and will stand as party favorites forever.
Disappointment of the Year:
Brides of Destruction - Here Comes the Brides Read review
Not a bad album, but when Tracii Guns and Nikki Sixx get together to form a new group I expect high quality Hard Rock. Along with Tesla it was this year's most anticipated record. Brides were more punky and while it had some good songs the overall impression was very disappointing.
Best concerts 2004 (in chronologic order)
L.A. Guns, Malmoe Sweden - February 18th -
Read review
This classic L.A. band delivered the goods and it was a blast to hear classic songs like
Sex Action,
Never Enough and
Crystal Eyes in concert.
Tesla, Detroit MI, USA - March 9th
The Hard Rock Café in Detroit was closed to a very intimate record release party celebrating the American release of Tesla "Into the Now". Tesla (Jeff Keith, Frank Hannon, Tommy Skeoch) played an acoustic set. They were supposed to play around 50 minutes but ended up doing about an hour and a half. The atmosphere at Detroit's Hard Rock Cafe was very alike the "5 man acoustical jam" record. Since "Into the Now" came out a little earlier in Europe I knew the songs already and it was an honor to attend a record release party/show of my favorite album in 2004.
Firehouse, Mt. Clemens MI, USA - March 19th
Never been a huge Firehouse fan, but they were awesome in concert. Really good musicians and CJ Snare had amazing pipes and redid the characteristic vocals like they sounded on record. Firehouse really convinced me after this gig, which mainly was a greatest hits show blended with song from the strong latest disc "Prime Time".
Skid Row, Copenhagen Denmark - March 30th Read review
Is there any Skid Row after Sebastian Bach? Hell yeah!! Johnny Solinger and the rest of the Skid Row gang played a fantastic concert. The band gave so much gratitude to the audience who enthusiastically responded with warm applauses making it form a synthesis and it was a night to remember for both the band and crowd.
TNT, Sweden Rock Festival - June 10th
Read review
A top professional performance from TNT, who delivered the best performance on this year's Sweden Rock Festival.
Danger Danger, Sweden Rock Festival - June 12th
Read review
Not a huge fan, but these guys came and conquered. Danger Danger came with a fierce appetite and an obvious joy of playing. The inclusion of the amazing "Cockroach" songs made this a brilliant show with the band showing lots of gratitude, since a pretty full crowd showed that the fans still support the band.
Quireboys, Hamburg Germany - August 4th and August 27th -
Read review
Completely blown away by Quireboys energetic performance at a small club in Hamburg August 4th we decided to return to Hamburg 3 weeks after to check them out on a festival. Both times was a blast and Quireboys (singer Spike in particular) surely lived up to their Rock 'n' Roll image.
Velvet Revolver, Skanderborg festival Denmark - August 8th
Read review
Living legends on stage delivering a great, but way too short concert.
