Fergie Frederiksen – Happiness Is The Road album review

Fergie Frederiksen – Happiness Is The Road album review

Released on: Frontiers Records. Release date: Available now … For a while!

This is an album I confess I’ve had for a while, I received it around the time when Frontiers was swamping all us reviewers with plenty of excellent new material and just recently I found it again and realized that I had not posted the review ... Arrrggghhh!!! Shame on me!
So I got writing again, pretty sharpish, to share this gem with you and here it is!

Former Toto, Trillion and La Roux singer Fergie Frederiksen has such a fantastic voice that can really reach those heights, that so many vocalists wish they could reach, but many simply wouldn’t stand a chance even trying and it's slick too!

The man has in recent years been through a pretty rough ride having been diagnosed with liver cancer in 2010, but he wasn’t going to just lay back and let it beat him. No, instead he decided to continue recording great music, while still fighting back against the evil cancer that sadly is seemingly at almost epidemic proportions these days. Those with the disease would most likely tell us it that it is an epidemic.
It’s indeed truly awful and I’m certain we all know someone that has either got it, passed away from it or had it at one point, but has battled to defeat it, but enough on that ...

 

The thing is, Fergie is no slouch and he with the help of some great writers, Jim Peterik (Survivor, World Stage, Pride of Lions), David Roberts (Bad English), Robert Sall (Work of Art), Mark Baker (House of Lords), Joe Vana (Mecca) as well as the albums producer Dennis Ward (Pink Cream 69), have written some stunning material, that brings back great memories, from those old great glorious years!

Opening with ‘Angel (Mirror To Your Soul),’ it’s so lush, so rich with its musical escapades and the lead vocal will remind you of what a great voice this man has and how much so many people have missed it. 

Oh yeah, the rocky, catchy very Toto like ‘Elaine’ is up next and it just gets you from the start and I’m sure before too long you’ll be singing along with the chorus. Again, very rich musically, brilliant!

Now that’s funny, I’ve heard this next one before … ‘First To Cry’ was indeed on last year’s House of Lords album ‘Big Money,’ another Frontiers release.

  Once more, it’s packed with hooks and yes, vocally it’s so strong and it’s going to have you singing along again in no time at all!

 

‘Follow Your Heart,’ is a beautifully presented power ballad, really sweet guitar solo here, lovely keyboard flourishes too.

 

The title track ‘Happiness Is The Road’ next starts with a little piano before picking up and getting punchy, nice up tempo pop rock, almost sounds a little like some classic Survivor material. Nice work!

‘I Still Believe In Love’ starts easy and then picks up a little more, with hints of Toto about it, another well-presented track indeed, but to be honest, for me, there isn’t a track here that I don’t really like. It’s classic slick AOR!

 

Next up, ‘Lyin’ Eyes’ reminds me a little of Journey meets Toto in its musical structure, nice steady pop rocker with some nice guitar work too, some nice changes late on too.

‘Love Waits For No One’ is like the last track, pretty much mid-paced and more pop rock in its style, with a nice guitar solo, albeit a little brief, but then there’s a little more as the song fades out.

Fergie's vocals throughout the album are great and the man is indeed truly blessed to have such talent.

 

Back to some more up tempo material with next song ‘Writing On The Wall,‘ which is certainly more rocky, yet the multi layering of so much sound keeps it’s melody present.
I love the way the guitar and keyboards echo each other, in harmony in the second verse, between the vocals and when the guitar solo kicks in here it rips! Great stuff!

‘The Future Ain’t What It Used To Be’ could almost be a Bon Jovi track to be honest. It’s one of those tracks that kind of hangs back then picks up and goes back and forth like this, in its own poppy kind of way.

I really like the keyboard stabs that introduce next number ‘The One’; it breaks a lot of the intro patterns across the album.

 The song follows a stop / start riff pattern, but yet still picks up in the chorus and eases back a little in the chorus. It actually sounds a little reminiscent of Canadian rockers Harlequin at times to me. I love it!

  There’s certainly more than a touch of Survivor about final track ‘The Savior,’ which has some nice little synth lead touches in the pre-choruses, in this mid paced rocker. Some nice little musical interludes here and there too, good one!

So that wraps the album up and I have to say that Fergie has every reason to be very happy and proud of this album, it’s so well done.

  Much praise to all the album players!

Fergie Frederiksen - Vocals
Dennis Ward - Bass Guitar, Guitars, Keyboards and Background Vocals
Dirk Bruinenberg - Drums
Nathan Eshman - Guitars
Eric Ragno - Keyboards

Rating: 4.25 out of 5

Official weblinks:

http://fergiefrederiksen.com/

http://www.frontiers.it/

Brief News Update for Friday January 27th, 2012

Hi there folks, well, it's another day with very little noteworthy new news coming my way in terms of press releases, so I've been trawling the usual spots ... i.e. Artist's websites and boy, is it quiet out there!

So, here we go, this is all I have for you on this Friday morning.

Have a great weekend, cheers,

Al 

GIRLSCHOOL
HIT AND RUN – REVISITED

There is a very limited number of rock albums which have stood the test of time, only true masterpieces continuing to sound fresh and exciting even years after their release. The reason for their cult status: the songs are timeless and the album’s sound has captured the magic of the moment perfectly. Girlschool’s second album, Hit And Run, out in 1981, was such a classic. For the British all-girl group surrounding singer/guitarist Kim McAuliffe, the successor to their debut, Demolition, marked their international breakthrough. To this day, a number of tracks off Hit And Run feature on the live tracklist of the band which still consists of the original line-up – with the exception of the late Kelly Johnson, who sadly passed away in 2007 (she was replaced by guitarist Jackie Chambers in 2000). The news that Girlschool are about to present a re-recorded version of Hit And Run, complemented by two awesome bonus tracks, will delight media and fans from all age groups alike. “I’m just amazed that people still love it, even young people come up at our gigs now with copies that they found on the Internet or in shops or something,” comments McAuliffe. Hit And Run – Revisited will be released in three versions: the first edition of the album will be available as a CD Digipak, followed by a regular jewel case CD and a vinyl LP with gatefold sleeve.

For McAuliffe and her three colleagues Chambers, bassist Enid Williams and drummer Denise Dufort, these re-recordings are much more than a journey back in time to the beginnings of their career: Hit And Run – Revisited documents the songs’ great sustainability, recorded all over again in spring 2011 with a modern sound and contemporary studio equipment. Back then, in March 1981 at the Jackson’s Studios, the conditions were almost archaic: “This studio, which was almost like a shack in the middle of nowhere in Rickmansworth, was so old-fashioned,” McAuliffe remembers, “you used to have to kick things to make them work. It was that sort of studio. It was just the four of us and Vic, as simple as that.” But the spark was ignited as soon as producer Vic Maille recognised the quality of the material and Girlschool started to have an idea what kind of gem they were about to hold in their hands. “We weren’t sure,” McAuliffe confesses, “I mean we were surprised and obviously delighted at the success of Demolition, so we were hoping that this one would do well. But we weren’t quite sure how well it would do.”
Fact is: following its release, the album instantly hit it big. Hit And Run climbed the charts fast in America and Canada (even making the gold mark!), made no. 5 in the UK and opened the doors to major venues for Girlschool. As a result, the musicians led a real jet set life and were flown around the globe by Jerry Bron, the owner of their record company Bronze Records. McAuliffe: “Jerry had his own little airline. And we’d be zipping off in these little planes all over the place. One minute we’d be in Germany doing an interview or a TV show, and the next minute we’d be back in Newcastle. On the same day, you know. We thought ‘Blimey, this is incredible. This must be what it’s like to be rock stars.’ We zipped off everywhere in these little planes. So it was quite an amazing time, really.”
A life full of highlights began, including the amenities of the dolce vita in the true sense of the word: “That was the first time that we could have everything we wanted on the rider. You know, you hear these things about how you could just have whatever you want, so we used to love these things from Marks & Spencer’s. There were these little chocolates with cream on top. Sort of desserts. We had them every night on our rider.”
Naturally, re-recording their classic under ideal studio conditions brought back memories for Girlschool of days gone by. At the same time, the musicians took the artistic liberty of updating a number of arrangements. McAuliffe: “We’ve made quite a few changes. But I’m not gonna say anything about them because we’re hoping that our fans will notice for themselves, just to see how well they know the original ones. But of course it’s a different sound, we have Jackie play now, obviously, instead of Kelly, and also again, studio-wise it’s just a completely different experience because the technology now is incredible compared to what we had in those days.”
So Hit And Run – Revisited sees Girlschool come full circle: all eleven numbers from the original now sparkle in amazing and dynamic versions, with small changes to a number of details and two fantastic bonus tracks: Girlschool have re-recorded ‘Demolition Boys’, the opener from their debut album, plus a haunting duet with Germany’s no. 1 rock vocalist, Doro, on the title track ‘Hit And Run’. In addition, this year’s tour will see them play the same setlist as they performed in the early Eighties plus a number of tracks from their 2008 release, Legacy. An appearance at the 2011 Wacken Open Air has already been confirmed (McAuliffe: “Every rock act wants to play Wacken. And we’ll be there for the third time, following our gigs in 1999 and 2008. A dream-come-true!”). In other words: present and past will be combined by one of the most successful all-girl bands in the history of rock music!


TRACKS1. C`Mon Let`s Go (K. Mcauliffe, K. Johnson) – 3:37
2. The Hunter (K. Mcauliffe, K. Johnson) – 3:15
3. (I`m Your) Victim (K. Mcauliffe, D. Dufort) – 2:42
4. Kick It Down (K. Mcauliffe, K. Johnson) – 3:03
5. Following The Crowd (E. Williams, K. Mcauliffe, K. Johnson) – 3:08
6. Tush (B. Gibbons, D. Hill, F. Beard) – 2:16
7. Hit And Run (K. Mcauliffe, K. Johnson) – 3:08
8. Watch Your Step (E. Williams, K. Mcauliffe, K. Johnson) – 3:22
9. Back To Start (K. Johnson, E. Willams) – 3:32
10. Yeah Right (K. Mcauliffe, K. Johnson, D. Dufort) – 3:21
11. Future Flash (K. Johnson, K. Mcauliffe) – 4:27
BONUS12. Demolition Boys (K. McAuliffe, K. Johnson)
13. Hit And Run (with Doro)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7010805874&ref=ts
www.girlschool.co.uk
http://www.myspace.com/girlschool1

Manfred Mann's Earth Band line up select UK shows

In March, Manfred Mann's Earth Band will play some shows in Germany, some with Barclay James Harvest and then a brief stop in Norway, before a few more German dates and then they'll be a few rare live dates in the UK in May, well, just in England actually.

Manfred Mann of course started back in the 60's, with many pop hits such as 'Do Wah Diddy, Diddy,' 'Pretty Flamingo,' 'Mighty Quinn' and many more.

Then in the 70's he created Manfred Mann's Earth Band and earned hit's with 'Blinded By The Light,' 'Spirit's In the Night,' 'Davy's On The Road Again' and 'Runner' through the 80's and then seemed to disappear generally before reviving the band during the 90's.

I was fortunate enough to catch the band playing at The Brook in Southampton in the late 90's and it was a great night, especially realising how rare live dates are from the band.

The band now features Robert Hart (Ex-Bad Company, Company of Snakes) on lead vocals, replacing Peter West who has now rejoined Richard Drummie to reform pop rock act Go West.

The select dates that they have announced in the UK are: 

Tues. May 1st - Robin 2, Bilston, Wolverhampton.

Wed. May 2nd - The Brook, Southampton

Thurs. May 3rd - London The Jazz Cafe, Camden Town, London

Sun. May 6th - The Stables, Milton Keynes

Official website:

http://www.manfredmann.co.uk/

 Rory Gallagher reissues on the way from Sony

Sony Music in association with Capo Records and Legacy are proud to re-issue the first six original Rory Gallagher albums in chronological release date order – “Rory Gallagher” (1971), “Deuce” (1971), “Live! In Europe” (1972), “Blueprint” (1973), “Tattoo” (1973) and “Irish Tour ’74” (1974). 

These six seminal re-issued albums celebrate 40 years since the birth of Rory’s solo career.

Rory Gallagher was a musician like no other. He was, and still is, one of the world’s greatest guitarists, singer/songwriters and live showmen. His guitar playing is an inspiration to some of today’s hottest guitarists including Slash, Joe Bonamassa, Brian May, Johnny Marr, and The Edge.

“The man who changed my musical life was Rory Gallagher, I picked up a guitar because of him.” – Johnny Marr

Each of the six milestone albums were released during Rory's most prolific years (1971-74), when he recorded and produced them in the short space of three years. The albums are re-released in digipack form, with newly restored original cover art. The audio has been re-mastered from the original ¼” inch tapes, true to how Rory intended it to sound. Each album includes exclusive sleeve notes personally written by Rory’s brother and former tour manager “Donal Gallagher”, journalist “Roy Hollingworth”, and legendary rock photographer “Mick Rock”.

Read the official press announcement here - http://www.noblepr.co.uk/Press_Releases/sonymusic/rorygallagher.htm

Brief Late News Update for Thursday January 26th, 2012

Mark Reale RIP

June 7, 1955 – January 25, 2012

Sad news today in the world of rock, as another long running band's founding member, Riot Guitarist Mark Reale has passed away.

Mark Reale, the founding guitarist of the hard rock / metal band Riot was admitted to San Antonio hospital last week in critical condition due to complications of Crohn's disease — an ailment he has battled for most of his life.  - sadly yesterday he lost his battle for life, after being in a coma since January 11th.

Mark was 57.

I have to say that I never followed Riot passionately, but I certainly recognised Mark's talent and he was indeed one heck of a player and was the ONLY founding and remaining original member of the latest Riot line up, right up until the beginning of this year.

Sadly now he has gone.

I actually first saw Riot back in 1980 when they were playing the UK, opening for Sammy Hagar as a pre-cursor to their 'Fire Down Under' album, released the following year.

They were good no question and Mark even then was a shining star.

Riot released fifteen studio albums since they started in 1975 and the sad thing is, even for all of those, they never really broke through big time.

There's a lot of good material out there and my personal preference was the band earlier material, through the 80's.

After that they really became a lot heavier - IMO - but Mark remained a constant in the band throughout the years, so all power to him for persevering.

Prior to Mark passing, sadly two other well known former Riot players had passed on too.

Original vocalist Guy Speranza - with Riot from 1976 - 1981 - passed away in 2003.

Then the following vocalist Rhett Forrester - With Riot from 1981 - 1984 - Passed in 1994.

Today is another sad day in the lives of Riot fans.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Mark Reales family at this time.

RIP Mark, the pain is now over buddy.

http://www.markreale.com/

http://www.riotrockcity.com/

 Deep Purple announce new album will be released in 2013

This information comes from Deep Purple's official site ..., er, via www.Blabbermouth.net

Funny that huh?

Must say I've always found the official Deep Purple site - http://www.deeppurple.com/ - to be a little lame if I was honest, with the fan run site http://www.deep-purple.com/ to be a lot better and very much more up to date.

The fact that the official Deep Purple site posts a news update on the band, via another site to me pretty much sums things up!

Anyway, here's what comes from there ...

British hard rock legends Deep Purple are very excited by the prospect of making a new and significant album. To that end, they have decided to extend their writing and recording period through the summer of 2012.

Commented Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan: "We know we will disappoint some of our fans this summer. However, we look forward very much to our autumn/winter tour and continuing our worldwide tour with our new album in 2013."

 Durung a 2011 interview with U.K.'s (Daily) Express and (Daily) Star, Gillan was asked when fans might be able to expect Deep Purple's follow-up to 2005's "Rapture Of The Deep" album.

"The fact is that we've been touring flat out," said Gillan. "We did 48 countries last year. We're getting so much off on that we just don't feel the drive at the moment for writing."

Gillan did reveal, though, that Deep Purple convened for a mini writing session earlier in the year.

"We were in Spain for a little while and we had a week off," he said. "We spent most of the time in the bar, to be honest with you. It was a good session, but nothing absolutely dynamic came out of it.

"I think to get some progress as far as an album's concerned you've got to have a target, you've got to work to a date, and that gives you pressure. If you've got the pressure, you get stuff done. We don't have a plan, to be honest."

"Things have always been chaos, certainly since I joined, and we've never been able to plan anything. If we'd been able to make plans, we'd probably have retired by now!"

"People like to do stuff that they're good at, that they enjoy, that they get something out of. So while it's fun and we're all getting older and bits are dropping off here and there, it's still great. I think there probably will be another album.

"And because we're not doing an album (right now) doesn't mean I don't write every day. It's a day off today and for me it's a full day at the office. This morning is interviews and this afternoon I've got two or three interesting pieces I'm working on at the moment. I write every day and so when I do come round to making an album there's never a shortage of what I call color material."

You can read more at the story source location here:

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=168624

 

I guess we'll just have to wait and see folks, but no live dates in 2012, unless you catch the current tour running through Canada. Details here:

http://www.deeppurple.com/index.cfm/pk/content/pid/430562

That's really it for today folks, I really do appreciate those of you that tuned into the online interview I did with CJAM - 99.1 FM.
For those that didn't you can go to www.CJAM.ca and then click on "Programming," then select the day - Wednesday 25th January. - scroll down to 4 - 4.30pm and 'U Talkin' 2 Me?'  and click there.
You will then see all the previous podcasts for the year so far including the 25th January.
Right clich on that date, select 'Save As,' and you can download the show as an Mp3 file.
Hope you enjoyed the listen those of you that did and if you didn't, I hope you enjoy the interview playback from the download.
Cheers and thanks as always for your continued support,
Al
 

Sweet – Are You Ready? Live album review

Sweet – Are You Ready? Live album review

Released on: Sarabande records. Release Date: Available now

This show was recorded originally in August 2008 at the Morongo Casino, California and originally released as ‘Sweet – Live In America,’ in 2009, but it’s just been re-issued with slightly different track listing with the original track ‘Sweet Dream’ replaced by the new bonus studio recording of ‘I Saw Her Standing There,’ yes the old Beatles tune.

A lot of people have already questioned the validity of any Sweet line up today, especially with the only two surviving members of the original lineup now playing in two different versions of the band, since they really don’t talk anymore, except through lawyers no doubt!

Sadly original lead vocalist Brian Connolly and original drummer Mick Tucker are both no longer with us.

This recording features the Steve Priest, original bassist in Sweet, version of the band that includes the extremely talented guitarist Stuart Smith, drummer Richie Onori, the very good Joe Retta on lead vocals who are all a part of the latest Heaven and Earth band lineup. The lineup is rounded off by the equally talented Stevie Stewart on keyboards / vocals.

This opens with an excellent version of ‘Action’ and I think between Joe Retta’s lead vocals and the backing vocals of Priest, Smith and Stewart, vocally this lineup wins for me over the UK version, featuring original guitarist Andy Scott.

I have heard the UK version’s ‘100% Live Bootleg’ recording that doesn’t sound bad …, except for the vocal mix IMHO.

‘Fox On The Run’ was actually my all time favourite Sweet track when it came out and once more this is very well done.

My complaint overall on the sound here is the sound, overall mix, where the keyboards sound effects are very loud, when played, vocals are all good to me, drums are OK, but perhaps bass and guitar could’ve been a little more distinct and certainly some of the guitar work could’ve been clearer or up more in the mix.

Next up ‘Hellraiser’ rocks out very well, following a wicked scream to introduce the song. Again guitar should be clearer to me. The vocal interplay, brings a smile to my face as I play this again and again. This was another favourite of mine back in the day. The harmony vocal still works very well …, even if the keyboard sound effects do raise another smile!

‘Love Is Like Oxygen’ still sounds as good as I recall when I first heard it, which is part of why I feel this version of the band works so well to me, unfortunately based on comments of UK fans in response to my review of the band’s live performance, when they played Michigan last summer, there’s many that disagree with me ... Shame. 

The You Tube clips that surfaced from that performance, don’t give the band much credit, but I recall the performance as not too bad at all, considering they were not the headline act … They did not have the best sound mix of the day and again, it was an outdoor free festival!

Oh yeah, I can remember ‘Blockbuster’ very well from all those school parties and disco’s yes …, we used to go to discos back in the 70’s and it wasn’t all disco music, sadly though there was more ‘lame’ music than rock …

This is the extended version, which features an ‘incidental’ music type piece in the middle, which takes the track on a different track. Still a fun track and well presented here, to put it into a rock perspective.

You know when I saw the band live last summer ‘Wig Wam Bam’ was one song I was praying the band would NOT play, as it tends to remind me of stuff like the Bay City Rollers – Yuck! – but the band tries to rock it up enough here to make it OK, giving it an almost punky rock sound.

Next track ‘The Six Teens,’ is more of a track that reminds me of the David Bowie era of the 70’s and it’s still a good strong track and Stuart Smith rips up the guitars a little here and it’s good to hear again.

The Sweet were a band probably best remembered for a lot of bubblegum pop rock, thanks to the writings of (Nicky) Chinn / (Mike) Chapman that they were directed to use and admittedly if they hadn’t, would they have ever been as successful as they were ...?

The thing was, when it came to the band writing their own material, it was very clearly more rock driven than most pop fans might’ve liked, but for us rock fans that gave Sweet’s albums a chance, we’d be impressed by stuff like next track ‘Windy City.’

It’s more serious rock fare without a doubt, even hitting borderline prog rock with this eight plus minute version.

Sadly they took some stick for the riff sound very like Deep Purple’s ‘Woman From Tokyo.’ I love the track!

‘Sweet F.A.’ was another rocker from the band that won the band a lot more respect from rock fans and this seven and half minute version certainly shows what that is all about, with Joe Retta singing with almost Robert Plant like tones in the chorus.

Well presented track guys!

‘Turn It Down’ although another Chinn / Chapman composition was put into rock terms on the ‘Desolation Boulevard’ album and that shows clearly enough here, I’d even say Joe puts a little southern drawl on the vocal here.

Another classic Sweet song from the earlier stages for me was ‘Teenage Rampage’ and they play it well here, if perhaps the Connolly tone is not so present here, it’s very enjoyable romp through the song.

 

Oh boy, right up there with ‘Wig Wam Bam’ is ‘Little Willy’ that I personally wish the band didn’t feel they had to play but …, they do. It’s OK, probably my least favourite track on here, just because of that reason, but it’s OK.

‘A.C.D.C.’ is next, which is kind of glam meets punk rock, on an interesting topic and no, if you don’t know, it’s absolutely nothing to do with the band of the same name! It’s still very much a favourite among rock fans too.

Then it’s ‘Set Me Free’ which is another personal favourite of mine and they rock it well, with some serious riffing from Stuart Smith!

I would add at this point through the set, that the last few tracks it seems that Joe tends to disperse with singing the songs ala Brian Connolly and sings them in his own style and that’s no bad thing, to gain his own identity on each track.

Seriously though folks, when Sweet are rockin’ their self penned songs, it’s at times akin to say Deep Purple in rock style, maybe that’s why I’ve always liked the band so much!

‘Ballroom Blitz’ is the last song of the live set here and it’s still as fun as it always was, although the intro …, ‘Are you ready Steve, etc …’ It is cheesy and that aspect just conjures up the bubblegum era image of the band, which I know was the main factor behind most of their success, but the band is really a ‘rock’ band, so it takes a little away for me.

 

The bonus studio recording of ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ is a seriously fun hard edged rock ‘n’ roll romp through the song.
Shame there wasn't a bonus new Sweet track here though honestly, although I guess perhaps it might not be possible with the beef between Andy Scott and Steve Priest which is a shame, as I'm sure both bands could come up with new material.

Overall more good than not so good, but even the two songs that I'd - personally - rather they wouldn't play, weren't bad at all.

Rating: 4 out of 5 – For all the peaks here!

 

Official website:
http://www.thesweetband.com/

Quick Note Update for Wednesday January 25th, 2012

Hi folks, just a brief note ...

Trying to update the site today remotely ... No luck?!

For some reason there's a problem with blogger.com allowing me to add images ...??!

Beats me, but maybe this evening I'll be able to add a review I was looking to post and then maybe a few news updates.

Today of course for me, as regular readers will no doubt know, is a big deal, the radio interview I'm doing with local station CJAM - 99.1 FM in Windsor, Ontario (Canada) -  www.CJAM.ca - weekly show 'U Talkin' 2 Me?' airs at 4 - 4.30pm EST / 1pm Pacific / 9pm GMT and will be streaming live at www.CJAM.ca 

I hope some of you get to listen to get a little background on what's what here at 'Chambers of Rock,' as well as other discussions of course, covering how this all came into being.

I really do appreciate all of your support folks, if it wasn't for that, they would not have wanted to speak to me! 

Hopefully it'll bring onboard a few more new readers, who of course I humbly welcome to the site.

Have a great rest of the day folks and hopefully - Fingers and everything else crossed! - tomorrow they'll be something more than this for you to read.

Cheers, Al 

Brief News Update for Tuesday January 24th, 2012

Hi folks, I know, no news yesterday, but I'm back here again now!

Phew, what a weekend!

Great to catch up with one of my old mates from the UK, haven't seen in a couple of years. He's over visiting on business from Saturday through until Thursday, Rhonda and I caught up with him on Saturday night.

Enjoyed Saturday evening Malc, have a safe trip and stay while you're here mate.

Then on Sunday I got to interview the greatly talented guitarist Howard Leese (Heart, Paul Rodgers, Bad Company). We had a great chat and that interview will post just as soon as possible.

On Sunday again I was contacted by 99.1FM - CJAM radio's host Big JD of  'U Talkin' 2 Me?' who said they'd like to bring the show with my interview forward to THIS Wednesday, 25th January ... Yes, tomorrow!

For those wanting to check it out, here's the show plug that Big JD shared with me:

Wed. Jan. 25th: Chambers Of Rock.

Chambers Of Rock, the almighty blog of rock! Editor Alun Williams is this week's guest.

He'll be on the show to discuss his blog and all things rock and roll.

Visit: http://chambersofrock.blogspot.com/

Added to the www.utalkin2me.ca site, - listen at 4pm Jan 25th EST - 99.1FM in Windsor-Detroit area and at www.cjam.ca for the stream for the rest of the world.

So there's a little snippet of what occurred this past weekend ... There's supposed to be another interview, maybe even two coming up this weekend, so I'm pleased to say that 'Chambers of Rock,' is certainly busy! Thanks for your continued support, hope you can check out my interview online or radio tomorrow. Cheers, Al

Some Updates from Europe

Swedish rockers Europe, currently wrapping up recording their latest album with legendary producer Kevin Shirley  (Journey, Black Country Communion, Joe Bonamassa, Aerosmith, Iron Maiden), have shared a little update ... This info posted through all their networking outlets:

WE CAN PROUDLY ANNOUNCE THE TITLE OF THE NEW EUROPE ALBUM, PRODUCED BY KEVIN SHIRLEY!

WATCH OUT THIS APRIL/MAY FOR OUR 9TH STUDIO MASTERWORK "BAG OF BONES"! 

This image was posted through Europe's Facebook:

Last year from November, the band also shared this info, so fans can follow the progress of the recording of the new album:

** EUROPE - TGIF FILM FEST 11.11.11 **

  STARTING THIS FRIDAY 11/11/11 AND EVERY FRIDAY UNTIL THE RELEASE OF OUR NEW CD IN APRIL / MAY 2012, WE'RE GOING TO POST CLIPS FROM OUR RECENT RECORDING SESSION ON OUR OFFICIAL EUROPE TOUR BLOG!

PLEASE JOIN US FOR SOME FUN TO SEE WHAT WENT ON BEHIND CLOSED DOORS.

ITS THE LEAST WE CAN DO FOR YOU GUYS TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND INSPIRATION.

TO CHECK IT OUT, GO HERE:

http://europethebandblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/europe-tgif-film-festival-volume-11.html

EUROPE

Official weblinks:

http://www.europetheband.com

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Europe-Hard-Rock-Metal-Band/52545531026

Alice Cooper putting out European double live CD set

From Alice Cooper's 'No More Mr Nice Guy' tour 2011, comes 'No More Mr Nice Guy Live,' which will either be a double CD live set, recorded at London's Alexandra Palace back in October last year.

Release date is February 27th.

If you saw the tour anywhere in the world - We caught it here in Detroit. - you'll know Alice is still in great form!

The album is available for pre-order through Amazon.co.uk and as an import at Amazon.com and the details on Amazon say it's a Box set

UK details: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B006T5LGXA/sickthingsuk-21

Import in the US - http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B006T5LGXA/sickthingsuk-20

Amazon is giving no tracklisting details, but it does say it's a box set and also indicates it's a three not two disc set ..., strange?

This tracklisting below comes from Classic Rock magazine in the UK, which only shows it as a two disc set?

CD1

1. The Black Widow
2. Brutal Planet
3. I’m Eighteen
4. Under My Wheels
5. Billion Dollar Babies
6. No More Mr Nice Guy
7. Hey Stoopid
8. Is It My Body?
9. Halo Of Flies

CD2
1. I’ll Bite Your Face Off
2. Muscle Of Love
3. Only Women Bleed
4. Cold Ethyl
5. Feed My Frankenstein
6. Clones (We’re All)
7. Poison
8. Wicked Young Man
9. I Love The Dead
10. Schools Out
11. Elected
12. Fire (with Arthur Brown)

Alice Cooper official site:

http://alicecooper.com

Joe Matera a greatly talented guitarist

2011 turned out to be quite a big year for Australian rock guitarist Joe Matera. Both his solo instrumental single ‘Face Off’ and his guest solo spot on UK metal legends Atomkraft’s ‘Cold Sweat’ release, brought Matera’s highly energetic, melodic and tasteful guitar playing to a wider international audience. Taking note of Matera’s guitar prowess was European based label W.A.R Productions whom quickly signed Matera to a deal which sees Matera’s new all electric solo instrumental EP Slave To The Fingers receiving a European CD release.

 

Slave To The Fingers features four brand new studio tracks, all showcasing Matera’s six string talents at its best. The EP begins in bombastic fashion with a brief balls to the wall rocking interlude before Matera’s tasteful melodic playing takes center stage on the title track ‘Slave To The Fingers’. Underscored by some eclectic styling, the track also features a special guest appearance by guitarist Mick McConnell from legendary rock band Smokie who contributes a breathtaking guitar solo on the track.

The next track, ‘Cruise Control’, leads the charge as the EP’s first single and is a soaring melodious affair, peppered by harmony guitars and a spirit recalling the halcyon days of 1970’s classic guitar rock. ‘Out Of The Blue’ shifts things into overdrive, with Matera’s harder rocking elements coming to the fore, for an all out sonic ear assault before ‘Face Off’, Matera’s first all electric instrumental single from earlier this year, and here being issued for the first time on CD, closes the EP majestically. The tight, rocking rhythm section backing Matera on Slave To The Fingers is comprised of Englishman Tony ‘Demolition’ Dolan (Venom, Atomkraft) on bass and American James Strickler (Angellic Rage) on drums.

Slave To The Fingers was officially released November 28^th through W.A.R Productions (Europe). 

W.A.R Productions

https://www.facebook.com/W.A.R.Production

Joe Matera Official Website

www.joematera.com