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Brothers Joel & Luke Smallbone comes from a pretty musical family. The sister is none other else than Rebecca St. James and the brothers-in-law is Jacob Fink, bassist for the Grammy-Nominated band Foster the People.
Their debut "Crave" is a given record if you're into big sounding pop not unlike Petree and Leeland. They are also in the same class when it comes to quality and this album that will be high on my list of the best albums of 2012. I am very impressed with the song material with huge songs like "Busted Heart" and "Missing" that are pure pop magic. However, the album loses slightly at the end, but overall is "Crave" a given pop record if you like the bands I compared them with. Great stuff!
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| Griffen Alexander has a warm and truly nice voice, his songs sounds like they´re perfect for tv dramas like Gilmore Girls and The O.C. I think of his music as a mix between Richard Marx and Hanson, the new album "The sound and the sea" starts really good but falls a bit at the second half. The acoustic ballad "Hold my hand" will do just fine at wedding ceremonies and the first single "Mississippi river" is a great midwest rocker that even bring thoughts to Mark Spiro. The album will be out in early September. |
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Hell or Highwater is the side project of Brandon Saller, more known from his work in Atreyu. I had not heard of the band until I stumbled upon them on Spotify. This debut album is a fine slice of fast paced rock n roll in the same vein as No Love Lost, Burn Halo and Black Stone Cherry. From the get go we are treated to three great songs, a nice way to start the album. Sure not all songs are great but for the most part they are of very high quality.
The first three as mentioned are brilliant, Rock Waters Edge is a song that would not been out of place on an album by Black Stone Cherry. Crash & Burn is another great song as is When the Morning Comes. There is a nice variation to the songs and the production does not give away that this is an independent release. Hopefully this will get them signed to a major label soon.
After a couple of spins I really dig this album. When the finals notes of closer We all Wanna Go Home I must say that I disagree, I want to stay and listen to this album some more. From flying under the radar this has evolved as a candidate for modern rock album of 2011 in my books. Highly recommendable!
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Ben Folds is a master of feel-good music, 22 year old New Jersey native Ian Axel is heavily influenced by Ben Folds and just like his mentor - a natural talent of making warm and embracing melodies with every piano chord made with unconditional love.
Ian Axel won WSN´s 2007 Battle of the bands and I wonder if he was ever threatened as no.1, this 6 track EP which also includes a hidden 7th track features 4 extremely good piano based pop songs and 3 quite nice songs.
"Stand tall", "Afterglow", "Beautiful somewhere" and "We are" will take you for a paradisian walk in Ben Folds garden, if the other 3 tracks would´ve been this great - I wouldn´t hesitate to give this EP 1 more star.
Highly recommendable! |
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Jamie Allen is a new interesting artist from the States that is influenced by the 80s hair band and AOR scene. For this album Jamie got help from Johnny Lima that has co-written songs for this album, played on it and produced it. Johnny has done a nice work on the production because the album sounds good. Fans of Poison, Bon Jovi and of course Johnny Lima will have a blast with this album.
Jamie has a good voice, it’s kind of a mixture of both Bret Michaels (Poison) and Johnny Lima. Smoke And Mirrors opens the album in a nice way with strong riffs and has a Poison feel over it and the chorus rocks good. That’s Rock `N Roll is a typical Johnny Lima rocker with a catchy chorus with great harmonies. The crunchy melodic guitars on Superman are fantastic and the chorus is pure Bon Jovi. Reminiscin is a strong power-ballad with lovely melodies and a memorable chorus.
The first half of the album is filled with great songs, but the second half is a bit weaker with a couple of average songs. But there’s also the best track of the album called Ghost Of My Hometown. I’m My Way is a nice acoustic ballad with strong melodies is worth a mention. This is an awesome rocker filled with big hooklines, great keyboards and a catchy chorus with powerful background vocals in the best Johnny Lima style. A really nice surprise Jamie Allen has delivered with some outstanding rockers and few fillers, but all in all an album worth checking out if you´re into 80s hardrock/party AOR. |
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If you read my short biography on Swedish christian artist JAN ALMQVIST, I state he's one of the artists that should be more famous than he actually is. Especially this debut CD is well worth having if you like soft westcoast/pop with spices of soul and gospel. In short, this is quite close to the EDIN/ÅDAHL division although at times with even more westcoast and AOR in the sound. A bunch of awesome musicians were gathered to back Jan up on the recordings, including PER LINDVALL and KLAS ANDERHELL (drums), SAM BENGTSSON (bass), PETER LJUNG (keyboards), STAFFAN LINDER (guitar) and many more.
From the 10 songs I'll point out a few that stand out a little extra. "Fri som en fågel" (Free as a bird) is really close to EDIN/ÅDAHL as well as the more westcoast sounding songs from ROLAND UTBULT. "Minnenas estrad" (Memory Lane) actually moves into up-tempo pop/AOR, with some westcoast vibes as well. This one's maybe the best song of this nice album. More tempo is found in "En vacker dag" (A beautiful day), where we get an equal share of soul, westcoast and pop - added by some AOR!
There's not a lot to complain about. Sure, I could do without the r'n'b flavoured song "Öppna fält" which gets a little anonymos, but that's OK. I'd also like Jan to push a little more in the singing, and this is actually a common thing among Swedish christian artists. It's like they hold back. However, it's not a big thing to worry about in this case. This is a really good album, and if you ever see this long deleted item - get it. |
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I am surprised every time I hear about a new modern rock signing that sounds like all the bands from the late 90?s such as Splender,Nine Days and Evan and Jaron.
Jeff Anderson plays soft modern rock with a singer/songwriter feel to it where he mixes acoustic with electric guitars.
You could say this is contemporary christian rock in the most traditional way,"Seamless" hardly contains any odd harmony turns coz all the chordchanges are made by the book.
The album opens in a positive way with two nice tracks "Open my eyes" and "As I am",then we?re stuck in the slow lane with a few calm and boring songs just to wake up with the closing 3 songs "All I need","I will follow" and the strong ballad "Your love never fails me"!
Half of it is really good and the other half sounds more like a sleeping pill. |
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| Here is a guy who you sure can count on! Jeff is always good and this album is no exception. Strong singer songwriter based midwest rock without any bad feelings at all. Jeff is one of the coolest guys around. Check up his album at once at the just mentioned webpage. |
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This is the fifth album with Jeff Arundel. This man sits on a really nice voice somewhere between Michael Ruff, Gerry Beckley, Marc Jordan and Keven Jordan, and musically we?re somewhere between these guys in style as well. ?Ghost Party? is a really nice album on the most part of the record.
A track like the third song ?Gone Is The Way? deserves to be a radiohit in the same radio-channels as Gavin DeGraw and James Blunt, and seventh out ?Into The Curve? is a lovely piece of work with a typical Don Henley sort of groove.
Unfortunately there are a couple too many ?in the middle and doesn?t grab my heart? ? tunes to get the 4 on the grading scale, because when the man is good he is sure well worth it. |
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| For you guys whove been around my fanzine business since many years - my love to Joseph doesnt come as a surprise. This guy is sure a hero. A Hero almost in the same league as Kevin Gilbert whos my musical god number 1. Anyway - what can we say about Josephs new album then? Well - it is his most "commercial" album to date. A little lighter and perhaps even a bit softer than his past three albums (if you count the wird ep he released a couple of years back). Its a GREAT CD. And its pure heaven on the main parts. Listen to second out "Honey And The Moon" which is a tune that explains what a collaboration between Marc Jordan and Kevin Gilbert would have sounded like. Marvellous tune. Other freekin monsters are the uptempo "I Would Rather Hide" and the beautiful "Innocent World". But we should also be aware there are actually a few "just good" tracks that doesnt get my attention 100%. The CD contains 16 track but 12-13 would have been perfect. In any case, this is more than a must for all you readers. Joseph Arthur is one of the coolest artists on the earth. No doubts. |
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| Joseph last album was one of my most played that year, here is hes new one and it continuing in the same school of wacko ideas, nice hooks and a nice production signed T Bone Burnett. The whole album isn´t good though, I miss a few good choruses in a few songs but still - if you bought his last album, this one is a sure buy. For Jeff Buckley goes Peter Gabriel freeks. |
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| Julian Angel is back with his Beautiful Beast. California Suntan is the second album and follows the same ingridienser as the first album. He delivers gloriuos hookladen 80s party hardrock with catchy choruses and stunning melodies. Julian has improved everything on this new album since the last album. Listen only to the first tune Wet Wild willing that sounds Autograph all the way, the chours hits you right away and you won´t get it out of your head. Best tune on the album is Rockschool and it´s a fantastic rocker with superb hooks and a sing-a-long chorus with nice keyboards in the background. Cry Cry Cry has crunchy guitars and a great chorus. The ballads are great as well, just listen to Fair Weather Friend and the Def Leppard sounding Something In The Air (Ok, this reminds maybe to much of Two Steps Behind). Great work Julia and this album is really made for fans of late 80s hardrock such as Autograph, Johnny Lima, early Bon Jovi and Warrant, they will have a treat with this album. |
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Ken Andrews, a former member of Failure and Year Of The Rabbit released in 2007 this magical album. For me it was perhaps that year's best albums with a perfect mix of straight pop tracks and more alternative rock like Smashing Pumpkins meeting Beck. However, it is very difficult to give a good description of "Secrets Of The Lost Satellite" as it has a very own style and this without being inaccessible. However, it requires a few listens as always from Ken Andrews, but once it is, then you want to give it up.
A must to check out if you like something complex and alternative pop / rock!
Highlights: "Allergic", "Up Or Down", "Write Your Story"
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Actually, it is enough to mention that this is a Ken Andrews album to know that it's worth purchasing. Ken is king and everything he has done since Failure in the 90's until the solo album "Secrets Of The Lost Satellite" is worth checking out for sure.
This live album recorded in 2007 at his Secrets Of The Lost Satellite Tour is of course very good. He mixes fresh from his career even though most revolve around a solo album.
To be a live, it feels very well made and is very impressed with the sound that is perfectly balanced. It sounds live for sure, but there are still plenty of details in the sounds, which make it even cooler.
There is nothing to complain about really as it also is loaded with 15 strong tracks with one of the most talented artists in the Modern Rock genre.
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Names like Berlin,Patty Smyth,Pat Benatar and Heart often pops up when the subject female fronted AOR/pop comes up at the dinner table or at the cafe? with your friends but Canadian singer Kerri Anderson?s album "Labyrinth" from 1992 is a hidden treasure in the land of 80?s AOR/pop.
Her voice reminds a lot of Pat Benatar and Patty Smyth,the music goes from the hi-tech pop of the single "Ghosts" that echoes out Device (Holly Knight) to the straight AOR of "In the night".
The happy and countrypop-ish "Corner of life" could very well be a hit today with Shania Twain,the ballad "I will disappear" sounds like something that could?ve been taken from Patty Smyth?s "Never enough".
Maybe not the easiest album to find but if you happen to stumble over it,don?t hesitate to get it!
Thanks to George Mouat for sharing this one with me. |
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