Bad City - Welcome To The Wasteland (Atlantic Records)
This one is a real enigma.
The band, born from the embers of Chicago rock band, Powerspace, clearly worship at the feet of seventies and eighties' world straddling rock giants like Queen, Kiss and Van Halen.
Yet, just as clearly, there's so much more. Frustratingly, we have to keep our heads above a tidal wave of hero worshipping anthems, slick key changes and frantic, thick cut riffs to get a glimpse of something really special.
An identity of sorts emerges from several songs here, in amongst the Queen-isms and Kiss-isms. The beautifully constructed and relatively low key axe solo on 'Showdown In Central Park' tells us that deep down, they know that understated has a bigger impact than overdone; the memorably melodic and carefully harmonised middle section of 'Do You Believe In Rock'n'Roll' is way more interesting than the shout-it-out, homogenised chorus that the song revolves around; the intro to album standout, 'Wildlife' and the song's chord progression show invention and imagination, as does the chorus.
And so it goes on. Bits here, pieces there, all illustrating that there's more to this band than pastiche or plagiarism. A subtler, more sophisticated sound hiding behind the bluster and the bombast. Maybe they'll reveal more next time around.
Amberian Dawn - End Of Eden (Universal Records / Spinefarm)
Yes, another female fronted symphonic rock band.
(As they're on their third album, I'm sure you already know that).
Slavish emulation of Evanescence and/or Nightwish usually follows, and yes there are obvious similarities, but largely, AD plough their own neoclassical, power metal furrow.
The recordings of too many bands in the same genre sound cumbersome, calcified, weighed down by cliché and clumsy execution. Not so with AD.
'End Of Eden' is unpretentious and has both feet firmly on the ground. One in the world of rock and the other in the world of classical music. Songs like 'Come Now Follow' and 'Arctica' are never overblown or pompous. Yes, they strive for high ground and seek an epic sweep, but never let their reach (or the BPM's) outstrip their grasp.
Producer, writer, arranger and keyboard man, Thomas Seppala's compact choruses place a strong emphasis on supple, slender melody. Heidi Parviainen's controlled mezzo soprano stretches and flexes these wiry, operatic tunes into all kinds of shapes, enjoying every minute.
Everybody else is there to support the song and the singer. Just the way it should be.
All I Know - Vanity Kills (Melodicrock Records)
This band have been creating feverish gasps and gushes of approval since 'Vanity Kills' got released.
It's the first album on the label created by the genre's leading website, and appropriately is an impressive debut.
Again through, it will stir up an old debate. Does music that "sounds like" the product of one or more eighties' bands deserve this amount of praise?
Legendary producer Beau Hill seems to think so. He remixed first single, 'Rain' as a radio edit. You have to admit that it's a cracking track, with just a trace of contemporary edge.
Elsewhere, the band have an accidental talent for mimicry, vividly recalling Torsten (Stagedolls) Flakne (I Need You), REO Speedwagon (Asphyxia), Bryan Adams (All Night Long) and the late, great Van Stephenson (Turn Back Time . . . aside from 'Rain', the album's outstanding track).
That the band have the ability to write high calibre songs is without question - 'Vanity Kills' is filled with sturdy melodies and sharp hooks. But maybe next time we could hear a little bit more of who they are coming through the delivery.
That said, if you love those bands and artists, you'll love 'Vanity Kills'.
Family Of Strangers - Techniques For Beginners And Champions (Independent)
Offshoot band from Australia's Butterfly Effect, FOS are clearly related, but prove here to be something of the family's blacksheep.
'TFBAS' shares today's tendency to angsty, tortured narratives - darkly hued lyrics, expressed by frontmen in pained vocal tones.
But this is blessed with big, soaring melodies and cinematic arrangements, deftly transforming the songs from followers of fashion into something quite spectacular.
Opener, 'Lovely (The House At Number 23)' is the star of the show. Talented mainman, Glenn Esmond, wrote and performed this and the other five tracks, and he hasn't written and performed anything much better than this.
At first listen it's an unassuming jangle of ringing guitars and clattering rhythms, but thanks to a convincing vocal and a sinuous vocal melody, the song eventually grips you like the hand of a drowning man.
Worth the admission price etc etc.
Casablanca - Kings, Queens and Guillotines (Independent)
Michael reviewed this EP a few months ago, and I like to add my weight to his positive comments.
Frankly, I haven't heard a band this good, signed or unsigned, for quite a while.
There's an obvious affinity with Kiss and Alice Cooper, picking up and running with the template in much the same manner as today's pretenders, like Wigwam and The Poodles. But over these six, eminently tuneful, head turning songs, Casablanca have shaped and formed that glammy, hard rock template into their own likeness.
Only six songs - but every one is a genuine winner.
'Rich Girl' maybe edges it for pole position, but the race for the line sees a different track leaping into the lead with each spin of the disc.
I can think of half a dozen of today's NBT's who would sell whole families for songs like the groovy, Thin Lizzy-esque 'Downtown' or the Stonesy 'Beast Of Summer'.
Major labels should be forming an orderly queue.
Negative - Neon (Warner Music)
Like the music of fellow Finnish metallers, Lovex, Carmen Gray and Poets Of The Fall, there's an unavoidable thread of melancholy running through Negative's material.
That said, 'Neon' is unarguably the acceptable face of contemporary rock. The band have taken all the best elements of post grunge rock, mixed in some classic pop and eighties' melodic rock and percolated the outcome through a cool, wintry vibe.
The result is surprisingly engaging, with the hypnotic ' Blood On Blood' and the balladic, lusciously melodic first single, 'Jealous Sky' being satisfyingly accessible.
Huge in their native country, it's about time they made some converts in the rest of Europe. No excuse either, as they're on a major label.
One to watch, unequivocally.
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