Band Steve Gornall
Info: Electric Bible Of The Blues
Years: 2001
Style: Blues Rock
Info: MP3 CBR 320 (256) kbps
Info: USA
Time: Golden Gate Records
????? Tracklist: 59:28
Info: 135 Mb
Tracklist:
1. Please Listen To My Pleas
2. Bad Whiskey
3. Hook, Line And Sinker
4. Lovers Blues
5. Peaches And Cream
6. One More Bad Habit
7. Turnpikin'
8. It's Too Late
9. Some Kind Of Lover
10. Black Ice
11. Derek James
12. Denied
13. Timor Mortis
Cross are one of the most spectacular, and, at the same time, seemingly one of the most underrapreciated bands on the modern progressive rock scene. The Swedes have been around now for quite some time, delivering one solid album after another, and this latest release Wake Up Call is certainly no exception. Band leader, and Progress Records boss Hansi Cross once again handles the guitars, vocals, and bulk of the keyboards, along with drummer Tomas Hjort, bassist Lolio Andersson, and a few guest musicians who flesh out the songs with additional keyboards, vocals, and violin.
The somewhat heavier approach of the last few releases is again evident here, mixing quite well with their symphonic prog sound. Opener "Human Resolution" is a gorgeous song, kicking off with thunderous guitar riffs that wouldn't sound out of place on a Dream Theater album, before the sumptuous keyboards and catchy vocal harmonies settle in, as the band show their vintage Genesis and Marillion influences. After the short instrumental interlude "Remembrance" (again, reminded of classic Genesis here), the band offer up the upbeat and quite symphonic "Falling Beyind", an 11-minute track littered with tasty keyboards, lyrical guitar solos, and lush, understated vocals. On "Racing Spirits", the band again pile up the crunchy guitar riffs alongside some splendid keyboard passages, while the haunting 17-minute epic "Waking Up" is a must hear for lovers of atmospheric, adventurous prog rock. The lovely violin lines work quite well next to the soothing keyboards and tasty guitar solos, and the vocals are simply intoxicating. The CD also includes a bonus track, the song "Now", which originally was supposed to be a Cross song back in 2001, but the events of 9/11 led the band to cancel the recording of their album and instead the song was donated to the band Spektrum to use. Hansi and the band now have recorded it themselves, and it's a good symphonic rocker. For those who know the Spektrum version now can compare the two versions and see which was one more successful.
Wake Up Call comes in a nice digipack with glorious green tinted artwork, though the lyrics in the booklet are extremely hard to read. Overall this is a lovely work from a band that never fails to deliver melodic, adventurous, and symphonic progressive rock of the highest quality.
Band Cross
Info: Wake Up Call
Years: 2012
Style: Crossover Prog
Info: MP3 CBR 320 kbps
Info: Sweden
Time: PROGRESS RECORDS
????? Tracklist: 53:02
Info: 121 Mb
Tracklist:
1 Human resolution 9:02
2 Remembrance 1:10
3 Falling beyond 11:08
4 Racing spirits 4:22
5 Waking up 17:28
6 Now (bonus track) 10:02
Hansi Cross - guitars, keboards, lead and harmony vocals, percussion
Lollo Andersson - basses, taurus
Tomas Hjort - drums, percussion
with:
Jock Millgardh - lead and harmony vocals
Mats Bender - keyboards
Hannah Sundkvist - electric violins
Stefan Damicolas - harmony vocals
Lizette von Panajott - processed female voice
Sabina Cross - additional violin
Band VA
Info: This Is Psychedelia
Style: Psychedelic Rock
Years: 2007
Info: 320 kbps
Info: 387 mb
Info: International
Tracklist:
CD1
1. Jefferson Airplane - White Rabbit
2. Small Faces - Itchycoo Park
3. Strawberry Alarm Clock - Incense And Peppermints
4. The Yardbirds - Shapes Of Things
5. The Mooche - Hot Smoke & Sassafrass
6. The Byrds - Eight Miles High
7. The Purple Gang - Granny Takes A Trip
8. The 13th Floor Elevators - Slip Inside This House
9. Status Quo - Pictures Of Matchstick Men
10. The Velvet Underground & Nico - Venus In Furs
11. The Glass Menagerie - She's A Rainbow
12. Kaleidoscope - Keep Your Mind Open
13. Fleur De Lys - Circles
14. Velvett Fogg - Yellow Cave Woman
15. H. P. Lovecraft - Electrallentando
CD2
1. Spirit - Fresh Garbage
2. Eric Burdon & The Animals - Sky Pilot
4. Honeybus - Under The Silent Tree
5. Moby Grape - Hey Grandma
6. Marc Bolan - Misfit
7. Blonde On Blonde - Spinning Wheel
8. Kak - Lemonaide Kid
9. Nirvana - Rainbow Chaser
10. Peter Thorogood - Haunted
11. West Coast Consortium - Colour Sergeant Lillywhite
12. The Orange Machine - Real Life Permanent Dream
13. The Poets - Locked In A Room
14. Man - Sudden Life
15. Status Quo - Mr Mind Detector
16. The Onyx - Tamaris Khan
CD3
1. It's A Beautiful Day - White Bird
2. The Nice - Flower King Of Flies
3. The Youngbloods - Darkness, Darkness
4. Small Faces - Long Agos And Worlds Apart
5. The Blues Magoos - (We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet
6. Status Quo - You're Just What I Was Looking For Today
7. The Smoke - My Friend Jack
8. The Searchers - Crazy Dreams
9. The Orange Seaweed - Pictures In The Sky
10. Pussy - The Open Ground
11. The Bystanders - Cave Of Clear Light
12. Nico - Little Sister
13. Episode Six - I Can See Through You
14. The Rockin' Berries - Yellow Rainbow
15. The New Formula - Stay Indoors
16. The Tremeloes - Suddenly Winter
Band The Poppy Family
Info: A Good Thing Lost 1968 - 1973
Style: Rock
Years: 1996
Info: 320 kbps
Info: 129 mb
Info: Canada
Tracklist:
Beyond The Clouds
Free From The City
What Can The Matter Be?
Which Way You Goin', Billy?
Happy Island
There's No Blood In Bone
A Good Thing Lost
You Took My Moonlight Away
Shadows On My Wall
That's Where I Went Wrong
Where Evil Grows
I Was Wondering
Tryin'
Winter Milk
Good Friends?
I'll See You There
You Don't Know What Love Is
I Thought Of You Again
Another Year, Another Day
Evil Overshadows Joe
That's Where I Went Wrong (U.S. Version)
Band Motis
Info: Prince Des Hauteurs
Style: Prog Folk
Years: 2004
Info: 320 kbps
Info: 107 mb
Info: France
Tracklist:
1. Roman De Renard
2. Chanson A boire
3. Prince Des Hauteurs
4. Sorcellerie
5. Le Rire et l'Ep?e
6. Le Temps, La terre, Et l'homme
7. Les Damn?s
8. Dans Dix Jours, Un An, Ou Six Mois
9. Les Sir?nes
10. L'?veil Des Gargouilles
11. Cornemuse
Great disc from this young band from Alicante. After some changes in their line-up and after a good EP Camino a la luz that already promised, they debut with this album and they premiere new vocals line with the throat of Álvaro.
If the EP was good, this album surpasses and gives many turns. Composites have improved a lot and mastering and arrangements of the disc are of very high quality. Too much for a first album, so, we can think that this people will be important on the national scene!
1 Preludio 1:49
2 La Senda Celeste 5:01
3 Cuento Olvidado 3:41
4 Buscando Un Sol 5:21
5 Eterna La Noche 4:13
6 Sombra En El Oceano 5:10
7 Interludio 1:21
8 Reflejos 4:41
9 Entre Cielo y Mar 5:12
10 Tras Las Llamas 5:25
11 Todos Los Sueños 5:22
Band Mick Ronson
Info: Play Don't Worry
Style: Hard Rock / Glam
Years: 1975
Info: CBR 320 kbs
Info: 188.73 Mb
Info: UK
Tracklist:
01 - Billy Poster.
02 - Angel ?9.
03 - This Is For You.
04 - White Light-White Heat.
05 - Play Don't Worry.
06 - Hazy Days.
07 - Girl Can't Help It.
08 - Empty Bed(10 Me Ne Andrei).
09 - Woman.
10 - Seven Days(Original B Side).
11 - Stone Love(Soul Love)(Bonus Track).
12 - I'd Rather Be Me(Bonus Track).
13 - Life On Mars.
14 - Pain In The City.
15 - Dogs(French Girl).
16 - Seven Days(Alternative Take).
17 - 28 Days Jam.
18 - Woman(Alternative Take).
Band Line
Info: Solitary Nite (EP)
Style: Melodic Rock / AOR
Years: 1987
Info: CBR 192 kbs
Info: 32.76 Mb
Info: Netherlands
Solitary Nite - this is the first song written by Robby Valentine, and the Line - this is his first band, where he played keyboards and was a backing vocalist. However, realizing that theway to succeed, not to wait, he left the band and started "project in its own name."
I find Russian metal scene to be very interesting, and I've firmly decided to discover it more profoundly than before. Of course, that means I'll have to dig some obscure and unknown (even in Russia) bands, but I'm okay with that, I love new experiences and music. The easiest way is to seek latest albums, and luckily, I know an excellent Russian site that informs me regularly about all news and releases.
That's how I ended up with Amalgama's sophomore effort, the album called ''Dream''. This band in particular isn't by any means unknown in Russia, it has a lot of fans, who absolutely loved this album. But I didn't care about that at all, since fanboys love anything related to their favourite band, so I had to see it for myself.
First, as I always do when writing about not so well-known bands, I'm gonna describe Amalgama's way of musical expression (how posh this sounds). Amalgama is a heavy/power metal band, with strong hard rock and modern metal influences. The hard rock influences reflect in vocalist's (Vlad ''Graf'' Ivoylov) singing and vocal lines, since his voice reminds me strongly of Zvonko ''?ipi'' Pantovi?, the leader of Serbian glam metal band Osvaja?i (once hugely popular in Yugoslavia). Graf's voice is very unique, since for the most of the time it sounds dreamy, almost sleepy. However, when he goes for high notes, it's just stunning how clean and powerful is his singing in high register. He is definitely the key factor in Amalgama, since no other band member stands out that much in his playing. That is a direct consequence of this modern side of Amalgama's music. Musical-wise, Amalgama plays straight-forward heavy metal, with simplistic riffs, and the downtuning make it sounds very modern (read groove and mallcore influenced). However, Amalgama never descends into mallcore territory, although dangling dangerously close several times (especially in ''Wake Up Again''). One more thing - most of the modern bands I listen to try to resemble or at least have something in their music which can be directly associated to '80s metal. Amalgama doesn't - the year is 2012, and these guys are telling you: ''Live now, stop thinking about the past''. So if you hate every metal that wasn't written in the '80s (and I know that kind of freaks), stop reading and go somewhere else. You won't find anything here for you.
So how does work this unusual combination of past and present, personified in Amalgama? Surprisingly well, I must say. When they're in top shape, they sound convincing, refreshing and irresistibly charming. Just perfect if you got brainwashed from stereotypical generic power metal, which occupies today's European metal scene. The songs like ''Dream'', ''Live and Remember'', ''The Night is Tender'' and ''Believe in Love'' are all brilliant gems that show you all virtues of Amalgama. They're perfect from the start to ending, which will prove to be one thing the other songs don't have. The only flaw of this album lies in this - a good amount of songs have one specific aspect in it that can called filler - the main riff, bridge, chorus, whatever. You're probably confused now, so here's the deal: the ballad ''Why'' has a great beginning acoustic riff and build-up, but the chorus is dead boring and uninspired. Same thing with ''Your Opinion'' - it starts as a speed metal monster, but who the fuck thought that a quasi-progressive chorus would suit the song? It practically ruins it. ''Kings of Sky'', on the other hand, has a brilliant, ''Aces High''-reminiscing chorus, but the verses are just bland. I could go on and on, but you get the point. This is one awkward situation, because never before I listened to so many songs on one single album in whom brilliant and pitiful parts go side by side. The good consequence of this is that there are no total fillers on this album, and the bad is that you just can't totally enjoy it. Oh yeah, the bonus tracks are great - Oleg Zhilyakov (Catharsis) makes a great guest appearance on ''Dream'', Artur Berkut makes ''Why?'' a tad better, and the cover of Aria's famous piece ''Angel Dust'' is awesome. Check out how this song sounds in a modern arrangement.
Call me a masochist, but I still enjoyed this album very much. Despite some very obvious facepalming parts, I wasn't bored one single second, what's more, I had a great time listening to ''Dream'', and that's what really counts in the end, doesn't it? This album could be an excellent indicator to Amalgama what they should and shouldn't do in the future. A little more focus would give astonishing results. All pieces are there, just waiting to be sorted. I'm holding my fingers crossed for Amalgama's next efforts, that's for sure!
01. dream
02. Live and Remember
03. wake up again
04. Why?
05. Kings Of Sky
06. Make It Happen
07. tender Is the Night
08. Believe in Love
09. your opinion
Band Holy Mother
Info: Tabloid Crush
Style: Heavy/Power/Traditional Metal
Years: 1996
Info: MP3 CBR 320 kbs
Info: 96.95 MB
Info: USA
Tracklist:
01 - Spit.
02 - In The Gutter.
03 - Electric Love.
04 - Yesterday.
05 - Disconnected.
06 - Machine World.
07 - Time Of The Season.
08 - Hole In The Sky.
09 - Shoot The News.
10 - Spanish Skies.
11 - Prince Of The Garden.
