TNT - Atlantis
This is not the TNT of old, neither of the 'Intuition' nor of the 'Transistor' days.
No one would argue.
This is the TNT of today. Different. daring, bold.
Tony Mills has unquestionably been a catalyst for change. Those changes were clear on the band's last album 'The New Territory'. The title was something of a dead giveaway.
'Atlantis' goes a step further. The dry humour is there, the unusual subject matter equally so. But what is also clear is this : the band still know how to write outstandingly good songs. 'Hello Hello', 'Tango Girl', 'Bottle Of Wine', 'Me&Dad' and 'Missing Kind' are all on heavy rotation right now.
Tesla - Forevermore
'Forevermore' brings together the Tesla of 'Mechanical Resonance' with the Tesla of 'Psychotic Supper'. Earthy, powerful, hard melodic rock.
The songwriting is sharp and focused, and Terry Thomas has given the material the heavyweight production it needs and deserves.
This release will change you into the Neighbour From Hell as it's not an IPod album. It's one to be played very loudly through huge speakers.
7th Heaven - USA-UK
7th Heaven's 'Silver' release (2003) was a real highlight of the new Millenium.
I've often criticised AOR bands for failing to move with the times, because the ones who don't generally sound stale and dated.
'Silver' was the exception. Dressed unapologetically in eighties' clothing, it took the best AOR stylings of that decade and breathed new life into the music.
Five years later, with a new (Brit) vocalist, Keith Semple, up front, 7th Heaven have released 'USA-UK'. It's an almost 50/50 split of rerecorded 'Silver' material with Semple on vocals, and new material, almost all co-written by Semple and the band's mainman and guitarist, Rich Hofherr.
You have to say that with the exception of new song 'Better Than This', the 'Silver' standout stuff - 'Gravity', 'Cellophane' and 'Undone' - remain the standouts.
If Michael Morales, Alias and Def Leppard around 'Hysteria' & 'Euphoria' are your bag, then this is the one.
They get an extra point for including me on their "thanks" list inside the back cover!
Icehouse - Code Blue
A blast from the past. 1990 to be precise. 'Code Blue' is an album never far away from my CD player. We all have CDs like that. That small number of prized possessions that we go back to time and time again, because they do something to us that we can't explain, we only know we enjoy it.
Icehouse's vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, producer etc etc is Iva Davies. He's regarded as something of a cultural icon in his native Australia and for me 'Code Blue' was his finest hour.
Davies combed old newspaper stories for interest and inspiration. All the songs on the album are based on what he found.
Some of the themes are universal, others unique to his home country; some are humorous, others are highly charged, emotional pieces. Each and every one is special. But probably 'Jericho Bay', 'Miracle Mile' and 'Harbour Town' are the picks.
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