Circle II Circle. Delusions Of Grandeur
How time flies, this is already the bands fourth album and even though its got few really spectacular moments it upholds a high level of consistency and up front heaviness. This will have the same effect as a strong cop of coffee Monday morning.
Danger Danger. Screw It!
Some of it is just too silly but you can't deny the raw energy or melodic quality of I Still Think About You or Don't Blame It On Love, the party rocker Crazy Nites is unpretentiously cool too.
Dream Theater. Greatest Hit (...And 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs)
A double disc that will give you a thorough insight into the realm of DT. As a long time fan there is something to get from this too, To Live Forever originated on the Lie single and is a rather interesting track.
Honestly I think the remix for Pull Me Under (the hit) has gone a little too far in creating a very bright sound while the drums in the remix of Take The Time rings a bit artificial. Guess it's not easy to please when you start pushing the knobs on these old sacred ones. Apart from four different mixes it also has four edited versions of songs from the bands back catalogue.
Dio. Sacred Heart
It's not at all up to level with the two first discs but still uncomplicated enjoyable. Rock 'n' Roll Children just has something magic about it.
Dokken. Under Lock and Key
Melodic and edgy goes well together here. The guitar playing is at time ecstatic and most songs really good.
FM. Indiscreet (Re-release)
As much as American Girls is the ultimate holiday-summertime-letting go-over the top rocket, Frozen Heart is immensely haunting and hurtful, like cold razors to the heart. AOR doesn't get much better than this.
The 8 bonustracks are fantastic too, from the charming B-sides to the effusive live performances.
Harem Scarem. Believe
Somehow dynamic and very melodic Believe is a fine collection of songs. The thrilling way Harry Hess sings Rain is like... Wow.
Harem Scarem. Voice Of Reason
Alternative elements and a darker feel results in a less accessible round of songs. It has some enlightened occasions but overall the album appears a bit static, making this my least favourite from the band but still overall good.
Harem Scarem. Hope
A magnificent band is off pursuing other projects making this is their last effort; luckily it's a really strong one. Crisp, balanced and deliciously infectious.
Iron Maiden. Piece Of Mind
Two concerts with the legends coming up makes you want to go back in time and revisit some true classic Metal albums; this is certainly one of them.
It mixes traditional with slightly progressive tendencies in a refreshing way; personal favourites are The Trooper, Revelations, Flight Of Icarus and Still Life.
The musical performances are excellent all around and the production is in my opinion Maidens best ever.
Jorn. Lonely Are The Brave
Groovy and loudly metallic this album leaves a clear mark in the concrete as it steadily burns through. The band really shines and Jorn's vocals are almost frightlingly dominant, but only 8 new songs and a few failing to really evolve takes some points away.
Journey. Revelation
The return of Journey sees a band trying out a range of different outfits, some fit better than others but overall this is one really strong performance. Never Walk Away is a marvellous catchy rocker and Turn Down The World Tonight is just a perfect nigh time symphony dripping with affection.
Michele Luppi´s Heaven. Strive
A positive, sympathetic and quite interesting AOR solo album from the former Vision Divine singer. Main problem is that the choruses generally lack that ever so important memorable element but there are some delightful passages to enjoy and of course the voice.
Opeth. My Arms, Your Hearse
With this album the bands true potential became very clear giving a glimpse of things to come. Intriguing, versatile and profound.
Overdrive. Let The Metal Do The Talking
The title sums it up pretty well, Overdrive delivers an intense slap of Classic Heavy Metal with a vengeful roar after 23 years of album absence.
It's not fantastic or overly creative but solid and powerful.
Primal Fear. Nuclear Fire
Fight The Fire can't get any fiercer and the title track is Power Metal at its absolute best. Together with the debut this is the bands finest hour.
Rubber. Ultra Feel
Under the attention of much controversy Harem Scarem changed their name to Rubber for a period, releasing Rubber and Weight Of The World under the new moniker, but only in Canada, in the rest of the world those two albums were still Harem Scarem discs.
Ultra Feel was nevertheless only released under the Rubber band name and even though the music has a modern feel and has Pete and Barry singing on three songs, the Scarem vibe is easily recognised. Happiness is innocently cute and Forgive memorable ear candy of the stickiest kind. Great stuff.
Savatage. Dead Winter Dead
Bombastic, epic, moving. Simply genius.
Shy. Excess All Areas
All around an awesome round of Melodic Hard Rock.
Tony Mills is on his toes and nails the sweeping choruses in Can't Fight The Night and Young Heart with outmost brilliance, two amazing songs by the way.
The London Quireboys. A Bit Of What You Fancy
It's quite fun, easy going and with some cool songs but don't expect much more, too many tracks have a hard time remaining interesting.
X-World/5. New Universal Order
Pagan's Mind vocalist Nils K Rue, King Diamond guitarist Andy LaRoque and Magnus Rosen (ex-Hammerfall) have evidently wanted to create a new breed of "Future Metal". I'm mostly let down by the result, a bunch of distorted vocals, a rather muddy mishmash of instruments and noisy programming and general lack of focus pulls in a negative direction. In glimpses interesting ideas pops up but this is alternative in the unsuccessful meaning of the word.
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