Before diving into this gem, I wanted to throw one thing out there that you should know. This cd is split into two parts.
Part 1 contains 4 songs done in the studio this year which total about 21+ minutes.
Part 2 contains 3 old live recordings from 1977 which total about 15-16 minutes.
Having said that, you'll get about 35 minutes of music from this cd.
On to part 1 which is why I bought the cd in the first place. I remember years ago listening to the Mellow Release "Locanda Delle Fate Live" (Bless Mellow records for making all this available to us) and being very very sad that the only recording of "La Giostra" in existance is a recording that is practically unlistenable. For all practical purposes, that song may be better than any of the songs on their "Forse" album which is really saying a lot (for those who know that album)...
Ah and what a treat that there is a clean/crisp/re-recording of "La Giostra" done on Part 1 which clocks in close to 8 minutes. I was nervous that perhaps LDF would use new modern instruments (ie, drum machines and digital keyboards) as it seems to be trendy these days. Ah but what a surprise as this song (and all 4 of the studio songs) sounds so nostalgically 70's that I cannot tell the difference. You could literally put these 4 songs on their 1977 album and not know the difference.
"La Giostra" is simply a beautiful emotional epic with many melodic surprises. And Sasso's voice has not really lost a heartbeat. IN-fact, it sounds even more awesome on parts of this album.
"La Giostra" alone is worth the price of this album.
Another pleasant surprise is a studio version of their 1977 song "No chiudere a chiave le stelle" with Sasso doing all the vocals on this. If you recall on the 77 version (track 6 on their "Forse" album), Sasso does is not doing any vocals on that one. So once again, a beautiful track with a twist (Sasso on vocals). The opening studio song "Crescendo" is another top notch 8+ minute "emerson-esque with italian touches" song in the style that you came to know and love on their original 77 album. Plenty of surprises and emotional vocals. The 2nd song "Sequendza circolere" is a 3+ minute instrument classical piano piece (maybe the least interesting of the studio songs but still very good and definitely not a throwaway track) .
Now you get into part 2 which contains 3 live versions from 1977 with better sound quality than anything on their "Locanda Live" mellow releases album. But still I won't be listening to these 3 songs on part 2 nearly as much as they're there for the fans I think.
All in all a slightly disjoined album (in terms of parts 1 and 2) but oh my oh my the 4 studio songs you get on part 1 make this another essential classic italian prog album.
Just be warned though that you'll only get 21 minutes worth of studio music on this album so it's more like an "EP" with an extra 15 minutes of live recordings from 1977 thrown in.
Still though "La Giostra" makes this all worth while and it may be in my top 5 all time favorite prog songs and I'm so grateful they came into the studio (with Sasso) 34+ years later to do it the way it should have been done in the first place.
For that, I rate this a "masterpiece" but take my review with a grain of salt if you're only a mild fan of italian progressive rock...
I love that these italian prog bands are getting together again after 30+ years and doing new albums.
Now if only Alphataurus can complete their new album (which was supposed to be released in Jan of last year) but I'm not sure what the hold up is.
If you like the 1977 "Forse" album and can accept you'll only get 21 minutes of new material in the same vein of their 1977 album, then this purchase is a no-brainer...
This is also a "no-brainer" if you were sad (over the years) about the low-quality recording of "La Giostra" from their "Locanda Live" album and wished to have a good clean crisp studio recording of it. Here's your chance now 🙂 It was the primary reason I bought this album and I ended up pleasantly surprised at the other 3 studio tracks. In the order of my favorites, it's "La Giostra", the opening "crescendo" track, "Non Chuidere a Chiave le stelle"(thanks to Sasso for the vocals) and the instrumental "Seqquenza circolare" track. I don't see myself listening to the live tracks much but please know the sound qualify of those is better than that of which you'll hear on the "Locanda Live" mellow release. But these live tracks still suffer a little bit from bootleg quality but they're still listenable. I would have been just as happy without the live tracks and would have still given this ***** for the 4 studio tracks alone.
1. Crescendo
2. Sequenza circolare
3. La giostra
4. Non chiudere a chiave le stelle
5. Non chiudere a chiave le stelle (Live)
6. Crescendo (Live)
7. Vendesi saggezza (Live)
YOU couldn’t exactly say that Bonnie Raitt was underrated as those who know her rate her very highly.
They are going to be far from disappointed with this eclectic album, her first in seven years, that touches on blues, reggae, old-school soul and rock.
The voice is as loaded with emotion as ever and the songs of the highest calibre with work by Bob Dylan and Loudon Wainwright III among them.
01. Used to Rule the World (04:17)
02. Right Down the Line (05:29)
03. Million Miles (06:26)
04. You Can't Fail Me Now (04:18)
05. Down to You (03:59)
06. Take My Love With You (04:23)
07. Not Cause I Wanted To (03:37)
08. Ain't Gonna Let You Go (05:59)
09. Marriage Made In Hollywood (04:55)
10. Split Decision (04:34)
11. Standing In The Doorway (05:24)
12. God Only Knows (04:26)
HONEYMOON SUITE, one of the most beloved Canadian AOR acts of the '80s have just 'quietly' released a new track through iTunes, their first new music since 2008's full length 'Clifton Hill.'
The band featuring original members Johnnie Dee (Vocals), Derry Grehan (Guitars), Gary Lalonde (Bass), Dave Betts (Drums) and Peter Nunn replacing original keyboard player Ray Coburn, is still playing gigs in their home country.
The new single "If Tomorrow Never Comes" is a special release, as the group isn't planning a new full CD in the near future.
As usual with Honeymoon Suite, the song has a sweet melody driven by a catchy rhythm, with lyrics delivering a solid message to keep trying at your dreams.
If Tomorrow Never Comes (3:58)
Johnnie Dee - Vocals
Derry Grehan - Guitars
Gary Lalonde - Bass
Dave Betts - Drums
Peter Nunn - Keyboards
DOL AMMAD, the pet project of improbably named Greek composer and keyboard player Thanasis Lightbridge, whose concept for what he calls "electronica art metal," will release its new album, "Cosmic Gods: Episode I - Hyperspeed", on March 28.
A music video for the song "Hyperspeed" taken from the upcoming CD can be seen below.
"Cosmic Gods: Episode I - Hyperspeed" track listing:
01. Magus Invicta
02. Noctis Labyrinthus
03. Golden Phantasma
04. Titan Warriors
05. Xenocide
06. Stargate Pyramid
07. Hyperspeed
08. Supernova
09. Caravan Of Mars
10. Seeds Of Life
Lightbridge was born in Thessaloniki, Greece. Growing up with the influences of great electronic music masters such as Jean Michel Jarreand Vangelis, Thanasis discovered along the way the energetic and powerful world of heavy metal which changed the way he thought about music.
During the end of the '90s, he began to experiment with sounds and set out to create a new kind of music that would initially satisfy his strange personal and hard-to-satisfy music taste but also anyone else looking for something fresh, adventurous and experimental, a new sound.
His creative and exploring nature creates highly descriptive and unpredictable music, music that doesn't always follow structure and rules.
Thanasis and his "electronica art metal" vision were presented and interviewed in the Music University of Thessaloniki Greece in 2002 for giving birth to a new music genre.
Thanasis has created DOL AMMAD and DOL THEETA and has often stated that there are countless more projects in his mind. In a recent interview he has implied of an imminent third project that would be a darker more brutal side of his music. ??????? / Download:
Band Crown Of Glory
Info: A Deep Breath Of Life
Style: Melodic Power Metal
Years: 2008
Info: CBR 320 kbs
Info: 151.55 Mb
Info: Switzerland
Tracklist:
01 - The Calling.
02 - Pathfinder.
03 - The Raven's Flight.
04 - Inspiration.
05 - The Prophecy.
06 - Save Me.
07 - Anthem Of The End.
08 - Mirror,Mirror.
09 - Ikarus.
10 - See You Rise.
11 - The Lament Of The Wind.
The April Issue of METAL HAMMER Germany containing the 10 track POWERWOLF live album "Alive in the night" is in stores now! Make sure to pick up your spring salvation everybody and prepare yourselves for the upcoming Wolfsnaechte-tour with the live album.
By the way: The Issue pf Metal hammer also contains a nice 3 sides tour diary from the "Russian Resurrection tour, revealing all the insights about our trip to russia earlier this year. For all those outside of germany, who can´t get Metal hammer in their local mall, here is where you can order it:
www.metal-hammer.de/powerwolf
01. Lupus Daemonis (Intro) 01:20
02. Sanctified With Dynamite 04:53
03. Prayer In The Dark 04:37
04. Raise Your Fist, Evangelist 04:35
05. We Drink Your Blood 04:32
06. Werewolves Of Armenia 04:13
07. Dead Boys Don't Cry 04:03
08. Resurrection By Erection 05:25
09. Saturday Satan 05:55
10. Lupus Dei 06:59
New Eden's latest, Solving for X, their fourth album, may be equally difficult to grasp as to enjoy. What's difficult to grasp is the near formulaic predictability of the album, which revolves around Horacio Colmenares' traditional metal guitar work.
New Eden: shipwrecked.
Mostly, Solving for X is torrid heavier power metal bordering on thrash, at times. Excepting the quizzical closer, the soft Three Words, each song bristles with speed and heaviness, a heaviness almost nearing the harshness of modern metal. Of course, this could be by design. Everything eventually leads to a Colmenares guitar solo, which may be the real highlight here. However, there are two songs, The Not Self and possibly Watcher, that seem to moderate the feverish heaviness, feeling more like traditional melodic power metal.
Otherwise, Solving for X is simply a roaring speed machine of heavier power, and sometimes thrash, metal, with little variation. Buckle up dudes.
01 Anthem Of Hate 3:45
02 Flames For Hades 4:19
03 Brainless 5:29
04 The Not Self 4:37
05 Unsolved Aggressions 4:11
06 Live Not Death 4:54
07 Searching the Loss 4:20
08 Grawling Errect 3:16
09 Infecting the Lie 3:33
10 Watcher 4:34
11 Three Words 4:36
By Josiah HughesUK-based power metal warriors DragonForce parted ways with founding vocalist ZP Theart in 2010, leaving some wondering what would happen to the band's uplifting riffs without any singing. Then, last year, the remaining members announced that they had recruited Oxford, England native Marc Hudson. Now, we'll get to hear this new lineup on record.
Embodying the epic positivity that could only come from DragonForce, the new album is called The Power Within. Even though it sounds like the ending of a Disney special, however, guitarist Herman Li promises it will be the band's best material yet.
"The last two years have been the most fun we ever had making an album," Li said in a press release. "Through writing, jamming and touring together, we have built this incredible energy and it has been fully captured on the new album.
"This time around we've really brought our metal side to the surface and made some of the best music of our career. From the fastest song we've ever recorded to the slower songs, and some things you would never expect from us, this is by far the most diverse DragonForce album yet."
Yes, you read that right -- the fastest song they've everrecorded. That's gonna be some life-consuming tablature.
The Power Within will be available on April 17 via Roadrunner.
The Power Within:
1. "Holding On"
2. "Fallen World"
3. "Cry Thunder"
4. "Give Me the Night"
5. "Wings of Liberty"
6. "Seasons"
7. "Heart of the Storm"
8. "Die By the Sword"
9. "Last Man Stands"
10. "Seasons" (acoustic version)
Band Jean Beauvoir
Info: Rockin' In The Street
Style: AOR
Years: 1996
Info: 192 kbps
Info: 104 mb
Info: USA
Tracklist:
1.Jacknifed
2.Feel the Heat
3.Rockin' in the Street
4.Standing on My Own Two Feet
5.Dyin' at Your Door
6.Same Song Plays on and On
7.Sorry I Missed Your Wedding Day
8.If Love Could Only
9.Spend Your Life with Me
10.Find My Way Home
11.Never Went Down
12.Alone Again
13.Searching for a Light
14.Drive You Home
15.If I Was Me
16.Missing the Young Days
17.Gamblin' Man
18.Nina
Band Lance Keltner
Info: Last Of The Cowboy Vampires
Style: Hard Blues Rock
Years: 2001
Info: 320 kbps
Info: 94 mb
Info: Netherlands
Tracklist:
1. The Ledge
2. Love Like Abilene
3. House Of Blue Light
4. Pocket Full Of Money
5. Chain Gang
6. Victim
7. Bye Bye Donkey
8. Anadarko
9. I'm Ready
10. Santoria
