In no particular order.
HEAT 'Heat'
Brother Firetribe 'Heart Full Of Fire'
HEAT and BF represent the New Wave of Traditional AOR.
Their albums recreate the glory days of the genre without conceding ground to contemporary fashions, or for that matter, without adding even the thinnest veneer of post grunge irony.
Martin Page 'In The Temple Of The Muse'
Chicago 'Stone Of Sisyphus'
This is Chicago being Chicago and Martin Page being Martin Page.
And that's not stating the obvious. The great thing about these 2 artists is their absolute refusal to sound like anybody else or to bow to market forces.
In Chicago's case it meant their then label declined the album and in Page's case it means a long wait between releases. But my God, the wait for both has been more than worthwhile. For Martin Page, maybe 'The House Of Stone And Light' just shades it, but for Chicago this has to rank among their best ever albums.
Tesla 'Forevermore'
Tesla's decision to become a band independent of major labels or any other such life sucking force seems to have inspired them beyond measure. Add Terry Thomas's confident, weighty, three dimensional production touch and 'Forevermore' becomes a veritable multi faceted gem, a prismatic hard rock light shining brightly in the gloom.
Raine Maida 'The Hunters' Lullaby'
Ex Our Lady Peace frontman in hip hop, slam poetry album shock!
Yes, it is he. He who found Leonard Cohen before the X Factor did.
Accompanied only by an acoustic guitar, his Missus on piano and bgvs, Maida spins a bunch of road stories and modern morality tales into something magical. And eminently listenable.
TNT 'Atlantis'
The addition of Tony Mills seems to have given Ronnie LeTekro and crew the nerve and energy to sail confidently into uncharted waters.
Many fans of old have flapped and floundered, several have gone under for the third time. Many more, I'm delighted to say, have found their sea legs and are enthusiastically embracing this new direction.
Rose Tattoo 'Blood Brothers'
A wonderfully full, er . . . blooded return to form. Minus Pete Wells, but plus a whole lot of old style attitude and an outstandingly good batch of new songs, The Tatts remind us of just why they were once considered as AC/DC peers.
Poets Of The Fall 'Revolution Roulette'
Contemporary rock as it should be. It emotes gracefully at times, nods respectfully to the giants of classic rock and delivers lots of chunky, well written, heavy'n'hard rock music.
Bonfire 'The Rauber'
Bonfire's songs are all points on the same curve. After a few wobbly flirtations with contemporary stylings, they've learned to live with their past.
That doesn't mean you have to stand still. 'The Rauber' sees them - lyrically and thematically - exploring their own cultural past. A remarkable album.
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