CONTENTS04 Journey06 Warrant07 Electric Boys08 Night Ranger09 Reece - Kronlund10 Lionville11 Rhapsody Of Fire12 Reviews14 Symphony X17 Williams / Friestedt19 Black ‘N Blue20 Def LeppardMelodic Rock Fanzine

The official Frontiers Records magazineYear #7 - Nr. 3 / Issue #44

Editor-in-chief: Elio BordiGraphic & Design: Elio BordiWriters: Bruce E.J. Atkinson, Fulvio Bordi, DuncanJamieson, Barry McMinn, Vitale Nocerino, Rob “Ezy”Bone, Fabio Mainardi, Tommy Hash.Headquarters and general contacts:Frontiers Records - Via Gonzaga 1880125, Napoli - ItalyTel: +39.081.2399340/7753Fax: +39.081.2399794E-mail: elio@frontiers.itWebsite: www.frontiers.itMyspace: www.myspace.com/frontiersrecordsEditor and publisher: Frontiers RecordsUS Headquarters: usa.frontiers.itCopyright©2011 Frontiers Records. All rightsreserved. Reproduction in whole or in part

without permission is prohibited.Printed in Italy.

Focus on: JOURNEY - Eclipse (Frontiers Records)This is the album Neil Schon has been chomping at the bit to make for years. Closest inspirit to “Frontiers”, it’s possibly their heaviest album ever. “City Of Hope” is a typicallygreat Journey album opener with strong hooks but what really grabs you is Schon’s gui-tar that comes on like an unleashed, rabid dog. It’s indicative of the whole record. “ChainOf Love” has the biggest riff this side of their classic “Edge Of The Blade” and “Resonate”is another scorcher. Jonathan Cain’s keyboards do get to take centre stage on the bal-lad “Tantra” where Arnel Pineda steps out of Steve Perry’s shadow to give a terrificallygymnastic vocal performance. The more organic sounding “She’s A Mystery” also surpris-es, sounding rather ironically like a Tall Stories track! “Ritual” and “Anything Is Possible”are on more familiar Journey territory, their melodic flair similar to tracks on their lastdisc “Revelation”. The people who found Journey through Glee or the X Factor won’t knowwhat to do with this record, but Journey fans will rejoice as the band are rocking hard-er than ever and are still the benchmark for other melodic rock bands to aspire to.

Duncan Jamieson (98/100)4 | MRF

BAND: JOURNEY

ALBUM:ECLIPSEINTERVIEW WITH: JONATHAN CAININTERVIEWED BY : DUNCAN JAMIESON

Question: This is Journey rock-ing harder than ever before!How do you feel about the newrecord? Answer: It is a departure from whatwe have done lately. We felt it wastime to try something raw andedgy. I love the lyric concept woveninto the rock soundtrack—very cin-ematic stuff. It is big and wide --Journey has always been achameleon —so this CD is less ofour pop side…more of our rock side.Q: Before going into the studiowhat was the brief? It soundslike it was decided to rock hard-er and put Neal’s guitar to thefore. How close is that to whathappened?A: Neal had a vision for this albumduring the Revelation tour. Wespoke at length about the style andnature of the way the music wouldbe crafted. I shared this vision andworked in that direction with him. Itis a raw, edgy sound with a deepmessage. I am pleased with theresults. Q: To me this record holds ontothe solid gold hooks the bandhas been renowned for sinceyou joined, adding your songwriting skills back in 1980.Then, it adds some of the fire ofthe “Frontiers” record and itgives Neal the space to wig outon guitar in the manner he usedto in the first incarnation of theband back in the 70s. How doyou describe the sound ofJourney in 2011?A: Guitar driven rock with vocalhooks.--and message lyric--big,raw and wide sound.Q: You’ve mentioned that thereis a concept to the album lyri-cally. Could you expand?A: Neal and I stumbled into theconcept of Tantra — which meansto weave — ancient Hindu beliefthat all energy is connected in aendless circle. If we get ourthoughts out of our head… We canfind peace and enlightenment.—Ittakes place on the spiritual plane—thru meditation—the physicalplane—thru yoga and even sexualencounter. In a techno world withstreaming media we live in — wethought it was a good message toslow down and examine how yoursoul relates to God and the uni-verse.Q: Although there’s a lot ofinput on guitar from Neal, thelikes of “Tantra” and “AnythingIs Possible” totally sound likesongs from your pen. Whichones are your babies and howhas the way you and Neil writesongs and record changed overthe years?A: Actually, I wrote those with Neal.I brought in Resonate and Chain ofLove. Neal and I have moved awayfrom the pop sounding ideas --tothe rock.Q: What songs from the newrecord do you think will find

their way onto your Europeantour this summer?A: Resonate, Human Feel, Chain ofLove and City of Hope, Anything isPossible.Q: The story of Arnel’s rise tostardom sounds like a JonathanCain lyric! How did his input onthis record differ to“Revelations” and how do youfeel he’s changed as a live per-former since he first startedtouring with you?A: Arnel inspired a lot of this music.It began when Neal and I wrote Cityof Hope in Manila while we werethere for the DVD. He is the maincharacter of this CD is search ofenlightenment—he is a Buddist anda person with a deep conscienceand conviction. He cares about thehuman race—his foundation feedsthe hungry in Manila. Writing withhim has been brief but I look for-ward to more opportunity. Since theshow in Manila, I think he has takencomplete ownership as the leadsinger of Journey. No questionabout it. Q: You’ve worked with KevinShirley for the last four out ofyour last five albums. Whatdoes he bring to the process?A: Kevin has a musical sensibilityand a creative spirit that helps uslet go while we are recording. Hehelps us arrange raw ideas and isfearless when it comes to tryingnew concepts.Q: What is a typical day at homewith Jonathan Cain?A: First there is a loving "goodmorning" to all my children. Thenbreakfast, off to school withMadison, dash to the gym, back tothe studio in the afternoon andchaos with the kids followed by din-ner, jammies a bedtime story andthe 10:00 news, then into bed.Q: Has having a family changedthe way that you look at life,and Why?A: I still view life the same... oppor-tunity to grow and become closer tothe Lord. I think a family puts youin the ground like an Oak tree andallows you to establish a creed andphilosophy based on your own val-ues and beliefs. Passing down tothe next generation your personalKEYS to - HAPPINESS AND LOVE INLIFE.Q: Do you have a favorite periodin your life and Why?A: This is my favorite periodbecause I've been so blessed toexperience the richness of parent-hood, a loving marriage, a success-ful career and great friendships.Q: Who influences you now?A: My family and the Journey fans.Q: What was the first song thatever wrote?A: A song for the 8th grade schoolplay, it was called "Madalyn", abouta girl I had a crush on.Q: Are you surprised by theresurgence of popularity of theband’s old hits, and the recent

critical acclaim your last albumreceived from most quarters ofthe rock press (and I predictthis record will too)? What doyou attribute to your star risingagain?A: It is humbling to say the least. Ithink we always tried to be soulfuland authentic no matter what wewrote or recorded. Maybe that iswhy our music has lasted. Thealbums we did still sound effort-less—due to the musicianship andvocal prowess that we were lucky tohave as components of our sound.We tried to write positive feelingmusic—avoiding the dark stuff.Q: There are some big shows onthe European tour. You’re play-ing Wembley Arena which is asbig as a gig gets in the UK. Also,it’s the first time you’re playingItaly with Journey. It must begreat to still be reaching newaudiences. Are there any dateson the tour you’re particularlylooking forward to?A: We look forward to all of thedates in Europe, especially theplace we haven’t been. It is a mar-ket we thought we could nevercrack. With our new agent andmanagement---we have madestrides in changing that. All of usare now committed to makingJourney a world brand. Wembleywill be a trip for sure.Q: Europe missed out on seeingJourney in the 80s. Why wasthat?A: Certain members didn’t want toinvest the time touring Europe.Certain members thought it was abig mistake to not tour Europe.Personally, I thought we missed outon a huge opportunity back then.Q: How does the touring experi-ence differ for you now in 2011than it did in the 80s?A: The sound equipment is muchbetter. We have in ear monitorsnow—so there is less volume todeal with. I think the new venuesare improving—better sounding—more enjoyable to watch a show.The busses are hi tech and comfort-able compared the smelly dieselones from the old days. Some of ushave families and are married—which keeps us grounded.--lessbooze, chicks and drugs…thankGod…that sounds boring… but it haskept us together and on the roadafter all these years.Q: Have you got an eye on anyprojects outside of Journey inthe near future?A: Just helping my daughterMadison when I can—who desires tobe a country artist here inNashville---being a good husbandand father to my other kids, Westonand Liza.Q: Good luck with the newalbum and tour. So glad Journeynever stopped believin’.A: Thank you for your interest inour band. We look forward to con-tinuing.

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Focus on: WARRANT - Rockahol ic (Front iers Records)The last time I chewed in to Warrant was back in ’06 when I was ‘Born Again’ into their infec-tious Hard Rock musings! This time I’m immersed in a Spiritual renewal with the arrival oftheir brand new release! “Rockaholic” comes out of the box sleek, potent and very tasty!The group has battled through four tough years, and yes you can say they have been tem-pered by fire. Maybe it’s the addition of Robert Mason — the group’s new lead singer—butall I know is that 2011’s Warrant is stronger than ever!! “Rockaholic” showcases these vet-erans’ talents wrapped in some of the tastiest Blues-Rock this side of Montreal! A strapping—mature sound—the album is simply a Killer! It is all here: the signature sound of Warrant,along with many surprises… a collection of finely honed musical journeys that will infuse yourspirit with untold energy. There is also a depth and richness to this collective Work that ismatchless. I cannot express this adequately in words... but it is there, and you will hear itfirsthand! Warrant-“Rockaholic”, a great habit to have!! Bruce Atkinson (92/100)

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Question: I started our last inter-view with stating that “BornAgain” was such an apt title, andnow with the release of“Rockaholic”, history repeatsitself! Congratulations on the newalbum, however, this record didnot come easy… let’s discuss someof what happened between 2006and now…A: Warrant are a very hard workingband, this is so evident in the amountof road miles you guys put on, and bythe sounds that I hear on the newdisc… that energy translates unto therecord…Q: Erik, you have been with thegroup since its beginnings…whatmakes your vision of the group sostrong?A: Jerry (16) and I (19) have been inthis band since the beginning, 1984and have had a mutual never say quitattitude, without ever really discussingit. We have both hung in there alwayslooking forward and rolling with thepunches when they come along. Thatsaid being in this band for all these

years has been pretty fugging coolmost of the time! I wish we made it toBon Jovi level, but hey, I sure am notcomplaining!Q: “Rockaholic” is an album thathas brought you all back to form,but at the same time enters intosome uncharted musical waters…an amazing work... walk usthrough some of the recording ofthe record.A: Thanks! Well the writing processstarted at least two years ago. The firstsong I can remember is Dusty’sRevenge. The title idea came up whenDixon was showing me some videogame artwork that had a westerntheme to it on a plane ride somewhere.Then we got together at his studiosometime later and worked up themusic. Jerry wrote the lyrics andrecorded the idea for everyone. I won’tbore you all with the long drawn outwriting process, but everything fromthe record deal to finally finishing thisCD took a long time and could be veryfrustrating to different degrees fromtime to time & band member to mem-

ber. Recording the CD was finally thefun part and was a great experienceworking with Keith Olsen & RobertMason for the first time, then we start-ed mixing…Q: The new record is coming out onFrontiers… is this a worldwiderelease on the label? A: Yes it is a worldwide release, whichmeans I have to dust off my passportand learn several new languages veryquickly! Frontiers signed Journey,Whitesnake, and Mr Big and Extremejust to name a few great bands that weare label mates with. Q: Are you planning to tour aloneor with other groups and if so,what has been booked so far? A: We will be doing a combination ofboth, a smorgasbord of ROCKAHOLICtouring. We book shows all year roundand we mostly play on the weekendsand then come home to chillax duringthe week. Weekend warriors we like tocall it. We will be adding dates yearround so check out WarrantRocks.comfor touring updates or join our mailinglist...

BAND: WARRANTALBUM:ROCKAHOLICINTERVIEW WITH: ERIK TURNERINTERVIEWED BY : BRUCE ATKINSON

Question: Firstly welcome backboys!Answer: Thank you. It's good to beback!Q: And secondly great album in‘And Them Boys Done Swang’!A: I'm glad you like it. I'm veryhappy about it too. It is the kind ofalbum we wanted to make at themoment so it feel good.Q: The band got back togetherin 2009 for a series of festivaldates, did you feel back then thetime was right for a new ElectricBoys album?A: I had a bunch of ideas alreadyand we had talked about it. Westarted out playing together to seeif the vibe was there still and it defi-nately was. Then I played themsome demos and started writingmore, new material and we were allway into it by that time so making anew album seemed like a naturalstep.Q: When you got back togetherin the studio was it just likeyou’d never been apart?A: It sounded a bit ruff in the edgesobviously but the SOUND and thechemistry was there from scratch.We have a very distinctive soundwhen we get together in a room and

play I noticed.Q: How long did the album taketo put together?A: It's hard to say, cuz it was donea bit here and there. The actualmaking of it didn't take as long assorting out deals, contracts etcthough.Q: Were all the songs writtenspecifically for the new albumor did you have a few tunesfrom the past you reworked andrefreshed?A: It goes from some ideas I hadback when I was a teenager til thevery last minute. I wrote 4 newsongs during the making of thealbum that we recorded as well.Q: The band’s albums havealways seemed like parties putto music, so do the band have agood time when it comes torecording or is strictly businessand then party time when all theworks done?A: It's partytime 24/7!! :-)Seriously, it's pretty hard workmaking a great album so there'splenty frustration involved until youhave the finished product in yourhands. I usually go into the studiowith a big smile on my face andthen halfway through you think

"how the fxxk are we gonna get thisthing finished". Then by the endwhen you're mixing it all becomesfun again. Touring, playing live, isthe essential thing for us and mak-ing albums is a way to get you outon the road, to play in front of peo-ple. That's how it is for us anyway.Q: The band appeared on tourwith Alice Cooper in Decemberlast year, but what we want toknow is will the Electric Boys behitting the stages once more in2011?A: We've got plenty of festival linedup for our home country (Sweden)but now that the album is gettingrelease all over Europe we're start-ing to book shows in other countriesas well. Would love to take the bandaround Europe!Q: Finally where do you go fromhere and is there another albumin the pipeline?A: Right now we're focusing on get-ting the machine around the bandto work smoothly, with bookingagents, management, record com-panies etc. Home is where the stageis, so like I said, the main goal is totour, then tour, then tour again. Ican definately see another albumcoming, that's for sure!

Focus on: ELECTRIC BOYS - And Them Boys Swang (Escape Music)This is the band at their funk ridden best, with Bloom not only proving his worth on thesix-string but also vocally. The album gets underway with ‘Reeferlord’, no intro’s juststraight-up funk driven hard rock. The album boasts not only some of the band’s bestsongs to date, but also some of the best titles you’ll hear this year. Just the sound of‘Father Popcorn’s Magic Oysters’ fills you with wonderment, not only is it a cracking tune,but you’ll want a taste of what they were having when this was written. The feeling oftranquility is felt at its most sedate with the mellow ‘Ten Thousand Times Goodbye’ and‘The Day The Gypsies Came To Town’, but I simply love the rockier moments like ‘TheHouse Is Rockin’, the soul grooved ‘Welcome To The High Times’ and the superb‘Sometimes U Gotta Go Look For The Car’, that really bring back the magic that can onlybe Electric Boys, because in a world where doom and gloom seem to dominate, it’s niceto sit back and just get a little funky from time to time. Barry McMinn (90/100)

BAND: ELECTRIC BOYSALBUM:AND THEM BOYS SWANGINTERVIEW WITH: CONNY BLOOMINTERVIEWED BY : BARRY MCMINN

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Question: Hi guys, thanks forbeing here and thanks for anamazing album too!! What aboutthe title, is it an homage to yourland and your origin?Answer: Yes it is... All of the NightRanger boys have roots in California.Jack, Eric and I still live in Northern Caland it's a wonderful state where youcan be on the beach and three hourseast, you can be in the Sierra moun-tain snow. The weather never gets toohot or cold in the Bay Area with SanFrancisco only a few minutes away.Q: Somewhere in California, isyour 4th studio album since the1996 reunion, How the thingsgoing among you? Is still fun therecord&tour life together?A: Recording the new CD was a blast!The comfort of recording at Jack's stu-dio takes the pressure off and we wereable to take our time gifting the rightsong, lyrics and guitar solos together.It was a truly laid back experience tobring out the best in everyone’s tal-ents. It seems our touring schedulewill be very heavy with Japan, Europeand about 80 shows in the US thisyear. Most of the shows will be withJourney, Foreigner and Night Ranger.Q: Would you like to tell us more

about the writing and recordingprocess of the album? A: We went into the studio prettyopen with ideas. I had quite a fewmusic track ideas that I brought intothe guys and Jack and Kelly finishedup with some great lyrics. Jack hadwritten "Growing Up In California" forhis solo CD but I new we needed toput the Night Ranger touch to the songand save it for our new CD"Somewhere In California". It wasgreat to work with Joel on guitar solosand we feel we did well, as we pulledoff some cool harmonies and wantedto get back to old school NR with thebig vocal choruses and double leadguitars...Q: You had separate and very suc-cessful solo or outside careers inthe past years. What good or newelements these experiences bringin into the Night Ranger picture?A: Many of the ideas that I brought tothe band were tracks that were initial-ly written for another solo effort orESPN music beds... I'm always writingmusic but when I found out a newworldwide record deal was looming, Isaved my best tracks for the new CD.Another great new element was thateveryone had input into the songs and

took advice from others to end up withthe best possible parts that everyoneagreed on...My advice to bands in therecording process: every band mem-ber should look to all other band mem-bers to get the best out of the team. Itwill turn good songs into greatsongs!!!Q: What your thoughts about thecurrent Music industry situationand have you a secret receipt tobring a new gold era in it like itwas in the 80’? A: The industry is in the download erawhere CD sales are slacking. We're notexpecting much airplay in the US butour heavy touring could help aware-ness of the new CD. Were hoping onthe freshness of the new record togenerate resurgence in 80's music.The energy and feel of our new musichas a good natured vibe and the newsingle and video "Growing Up InCalifornia" will turn heads...Q: I read you are going to toursoon, can you tell us about thatand your future plans?A: We're hoping for a massive "Buzz"on the new CD and would like to hitAustralia and South America nextyear...Only time and a little luck willtell our future.

BAND: NIGHT RANGERALBUM:SOMEWHERE IN CALIFORNIAINTERVIEW WITH: BRAD GILLISINTERVIEWED BY : FABIO MAINARDI

Focus on: NIGHT RANGER - Somewhere In Cal i fornia (Front iers Records)Formed by the three original members, Jack Blades – bass guitar, lead & backing vocals,Kelly Keagy – drums, backing & lead vocals and Brad Gillis – lead & rhythm guitars andbacking vocals, plus Joel Hoekstra – lead & rhythm guitars and backing vocals and EricLevy – keyboards and backing vocals. The album is fresh a and crunching, form the titleis California sound from head to toe. Night Ranger play all sort of classic numbers on thatfrom up-tempo beats to melodic cuts and hard rocking tunes with shredding guitars workand catchy melodies that will please all their fans out there and also the casual rock fan.Although some songs play like fillers such as the ending track “Say It With Love” or theballad “Time Of Our Lives”, there are plenty of good songs, such as the opener Growin'Up In California, or the energetic “Lay It On Me”, and the almost progressive rock “FollowYour Heart”. Night Ranger will soon be on Tour in Japan and Europe in June then head-ing to the US, so do not miss them live too. Fabio Mainardi (90/100)

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Question: David… Martin, thisis a very interesting musicalproject; let us begin by talkinghow you two first got togeth-er… Answer: Firstly thank you for thechance to speak with you. I metMartin in 2007 when we wrote andrecorded the 'Gypsy Rose' record'Another World'. From the beginning Martin and Icould feel a natural ease in writingand we share some of the sameinfluences musically as well. Martinto me is a great musician as wellas a top producer and I look for-ward doing much more with him.Q: With “Reece-Kronlund”, youhave included some hard-hit-ting musical friends… let’s chatabout them and how you havealso explored their individualcreative prowess with somecollaborations…A: I understand first that the songis the most important!For myself as a lyricist I don't like

cliche words about 'getting lucky'and the party scene, althoughthere are certain songs that natu-rally lend themselves to those sub-jects I would rather write storyswith depth. Songs like 'Could thisbe madness' which is about middleage which we both are speak ofthe day in and day out things weexperience.All this said sometimes you runinto walls creatively so myself Iwrite with others to stay fresh.Writing with Jon Wilde is a realtreat as he and I have the samestyle. Some of the other co-writersare Tommy Denander, RikardQuist, Brynn Arens, Andy Susemihland Christian Tolle, all of thesepeople I hold in high regard musi-cally and find easy to write with asI know some of them for ages.Q: Now, are you wanting totake this musical experienceon the road, or are you happywith having this as a recordingproject only?

A: Of course touring this recordwould be wonderful and if giventhe chance to perform these songslive, Absolutely! Martin and I havewritten many songs for otherartists and definately will doanother Reece-Kronlund recordwhich we are talking about now.Q: I realise that you both arebusy with other musical jour-neys…however, can we expectmore from this team? A: As I say this is a real musicalrelationship which I have beenexcited about from the start of ourfriendship... stay tuned!!!Q: Thank-you for your timewith answering these ques-tions… please leave us withsome words of wisdom…A: I would like to thank all of ourfans and friends, the press as wellas Georg Siegl for believing in usand our project 'SOLID'.Remember to keep the spirit ofmusic alive!!!

A brand new creative partnership — “Solid” is the first effort of Vocalist David Reeceand Swedish guitarist Martin Kronlund. ‘Solid’ is a treasure chest of Progressive &Hard rocking musical expressions. This duo have invited many top Rock/Metal musi-cians to take part in this creative endeavour, resulting in more than a ‘Solid’ record-ed work. Beautiful, yet forceful… the guitar work of Martin can also be breathless…and David’s singing, at times, touches upon the realm of a David Coverdale! Davidand Martin have also teamed up with some of their musical guests in the song writ-ing department. Tommy Denander appears on the album and co-wrote “My AngelWears White”… along with Christian Tolle pulling the same duties on “Animals AndCannibals”. There are ten slices of astounding, rocking music on this record. The newteam of Reece-Kronlund proves to be a ‘Solid’ combination and a team to watch!

Bruce Atkinson (88/100)

Focus on: REECE-KRONLUND - Sol id (AOR Heaven)

BAND: REECE - KRONLUDALBUM:SOLIDINTERVIEW WITH: DAVID REECEINTERVIEWED BY : BRUCE ATKINSON

Question: Let’s start at thebeginning, how did Lionvillecome about?Answer: First of all hello and thanksfor the interview! The project“Lionville” originated from an idea bymyself and my brother Alessandro(the executive producer of the albumand a great AOR lover). I’m writingsongs for many years now and mybrother convinced me to finally makemy dream become reality. Thefriendship with drummer and song-writer Pierpaolo "Zorro11” Monti(Shining Line) and producer, musi-cian and singer Alessandro DelVecchio (Edge Of Forever, Eden'sCurse, Glenn Hughes, Axe) made therecording of the album possible.Gregor Klee, owner of Avenue OfAllies, immediately believed in mydemo, so he decided to sign the proj-ect and get some great artistsinvolved in the recordings. It wasGreg who suggested to have theword "Lion" in the name of the proj-ect to have the connection to my lastname Lionetti. Greg’s idea “Lionville”seemed very fitting and I also likedthe idea of having a unique nameand impact.

Q: What was it about LarsSäfsund that made him the idealchoice for the album?A: Work Of Art’ “Artwork” is one ofthe greatest AOR albums of the last10 years, in my opinion. I think thatthe voice of Lars is a big part of that.When I decided to record theLionville debut I had no doubt: Iimmediately thought that Lars wasthe right voice because of his timbreand vocal range and his technicalabilities. He is really extraordinaryand an amazing talent and I think hecan sing just about anything. He cer-tainly added a lot of value toLionville.Q: The album is just stunningand one of my favourite trackshas to be ‘The Chosen Ones’, theduet Lars does with ArabellaVitanc is just great. Will we behearing more of Arabella withLionville?A: Thank you, I'm glad you like thealbum and that song in particular ! Iwas lucky to write this track basedon an idea of Tommy Denander andSoren Kronqvist and I also think itturned out really cool! The duet withArabella is great indeed. Everyone

involved would be happy to haveArabella back in the line-up foranother Lionville album. Q: Will there be another Lionvillealbum in the not too distantfuture?A: I surely hope so ! I’m writingsongs constantly, so there is certain-ly material for a new album ! Now Ihope that the enthusiasm I andeveryone else involved put into thisfirst album will be embraced by theaudience. Q: We are seeing more and morebands with Melodic and HardRock pedigree’s coming out ofItaly, is it something in the pastathat’s bringing a touch of Italianflair to the scene right now?A: Hahaha ... Well, good food is cer-tainly an added value, I live inGenova, we have the "Pesto" sauceused for pasta. It’s really a magicpotion ;-) Seriously I think that thereis a lot of talent in Italy these days.For me it’s sad to see that a genre asenjoyable as AOR with all its atten-tion for melodies and details, doesn’tenjoy a bigger success. Lionville andShining Line will try to change thissituation !

Over recent years the collaboration album has seen many a great partnerships evolveand in this digital age we have seen many great albums take shape as artists from allover the world can now work together like never before. Another partnership hot off thepress is that of composer Stefano Lionetti and Alessandro Del Vecchio, who along withLars Säfsund (vocals), Anna Portalupiv (Bass), Pierpaolo “Zorro11” Monti (Drums) andguest artists and songwriters, have been put together under the moniker of Lionville. Thealbum is pure bred Melodic and AOR in one tight package, with some quite outstandingmoments like the stunning ‘Dreamhunter’, the excellent ‘The Chosen Ones’, which seesSäfsund duetting with Arabella Vitanc. The cover of John Farnhams ‘Thunder in theHeart’, which is just stunning as Säfsund makes this version his own. Even the RichardMarx penned ‘The World Without Your Love’ will bring a lump to your throat. This one willgo down great with the diehard AOR fans and will even cross over to the Melodic rock-ers with ease. For those looking for a great summertime album then you won’t go wrongwith this one. Barry McMinn (80/100)

Focus on: LIONVILLE - L ionvi l le (Avenue Of Al l ies)

BAND: L IONVILLEALBUM:LIONVILLEINTERVIEW WITH: STEFANO L IONETTIINTERVIEWED BY : BARRY MCMINN

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Primo Bonali: Hello guys! How are you? It was quitea surprise for me to see that you have a new albumout soon, when your previous album, “The FrozenTears Of An Angel”, has been released just one yearago, and - after that - you also put out a EP, “The ColdEmbrace Of Fear – A Dark Romantic Symphony”! I’mwondering if all of these new songs have been writ-ten in the last year or if you had some material leftfrom the years of your legal battle versus MagicCircle…Alex Staropoli: No, actually they’re basically all new songs.During the past years we wrote something, but – at theend – we have used only bits and pieces of that material,some ideas and some riffs, that we arranged in a new way.So I can say that most of the songs in the albums you’rementioning are brand new songs. But, please, don’t expectanother new album in one year-time, as it will be impossi-ble to make it in such a short time!PB: After leaving the Magic Circle label, you’ve beenasked to join the Nuclear Blast-roster, which I guessit was a very good move for your career. How was theapproach of the label to you, and how your approachto them (after the problems you had with your previ-ous label)? Have Nuclear Blast made some pressureon you somehow? Was a Nuclear Blast-idea to put outthese three releases in such a short frame of time?AS: Being on Nuclear Blast is a dream come true for us.We’ve been in touch with them for some time, then, whenwe closed the deal with Magic Circle, we immediatelyoffered our band to the Nuclear Blast manager and we eas-ily found and agreement. They’re great guys, totally intothe music and we trust them completely. They never putany pressure to us, we’ve always been free to write ourmusic as we want… we feel like being in a big family withthem. And they have a great promotional and distribution-net so we are very happy.PB: What can you tell me about this new album “FromChaos To Eternity”? Any difference with the previousones?AS: The album is very powerful and direct and the guitarsound is loud and “fat”, as this time we’ve mixed the gui-tars really upfront. Luca Turilli did an amazing work on thisalbum, and also our general approach for the new albumhas been more direct, really Metal! We’ve recorded most ofthis album in my personal home-studio, with the exceptionof the drums recorded in Germany and the guitars record-ed in Luca’s personal studio; this way we had the chance todedicate more time to the recording, to the overall soundand to the mixing. And Sascha Paeth – as usual – did thefinal mixing. I’m really happy with the final result!PB: On the new album you keep your tradition to havea couple of songs in italian language: is this veryimportant to you, right? Never thought to try launch-ing an italian single and attempting the italian Popcharts?AS: Yes, you’re right, we like to have some italian songs onour albums. At the beginning we started with songs with amiddle-age feel, if you know what I mean, as I was a bitskeptic about the result of a Metal song in italian language!But, album after album, we tried different ideas, weapproached the lyrics in a different way, and now we havealso a Speed Metal song in italian language on our album!About the idea to launch a single in Italy…. well, no, I don’tthink we’ll never do something like that, we play Metal andMetal is not going into charts in Italy, ha ha!

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UDO - Rev - Raptor (AFM Records)Thirteen tracks, each uniquely individual but definitely classic U.D.O There is no mistaking this sound.The title song, “Rev-Raptor” has awesome guitar work; catchy riffs that the fan will still hear longafter the song ends. Guitarists Igor Gianola and Stefan Kaufmann are responsible for this. Udo’s voiceis stronger than ever and showcases well on this first track leaving the listener wanting more natu-rally. The next track, “Leatherhead” might be the standout among the rest for it has power, but ismelodic, so it will appeal to a wider array of fans than maybe their heavier hitters. Rounding out thisband on bass is Fitty Wienhold who lends that wonderful euphoric sound that makes the fan feel itdeep in their chest when played loud, and it should be played loud! ”Renegade”, “Dr. Death”,“Terrorvision” are also very clearly U.D.O and in an awesome way. “Underworld”, and “I Give As GoodAs I Get” display a cleaner guitar sound in parts, which is a nice diversion from the riff driven musicthat is so wonderfully put together that it is apparent that this band has had time together to makeit all mesh and be U.D.O; the magnificent. Rev-Raptor rocks! Justine Bevan (90/100)RHAPSODY OF FIRE - From Chaos to Eternity (Nuclear Blast)One full-length album and an EP in 2010, and now a brand new album out in a couple of months! The guysof the band definitely have a clear vision of their career, and they don’t want to lose time as they did in thepast, with the years spent on the legal battle versus Magic Circle. Rhapsody Of Fire is back with this “FromChaos To Eternity”, an album that shows a band in great shape, with a special mention for guitar-player LucaTurilli. The album is very direct, heavy and powerful, the production is super (as usual, Sascha Paeth did themixing), and the performance of any musician here is simply perfect. The band started its own style years ago,and their trademark is always there, album after album; so that, anytime I’m listening to their new work, Irecall some musical parts I used to listen, somehow, in their previous ones. But considering that this band isone of the best in the genre (and this album prove it once again), you are never wrong when you buy an albumfrom Rhapsody Of Fire! They used to call themselves “Hollywood Metal” in the past; these new songs can real-ly be described as “Power Metal themes played in the hollywood movie style”! Primo Bonali (88/100)WHITESNAKE - Live At Donington 1990 (Frontiers Records)From one of the most talked about tours in the band's history, comes the Live at Donnington 1990CD/DVD. Although having written the album with David Coverdale, Adrian Vandenberg was absentfrom the recoding of the album due to recovery of an injury, and this brings both him and Vai onstage together. Performing classics such as "Slow and Easy," "Slide it In," "Is this Love," "Here I GoAgain," & "Still of the Night," with then current material such as "Fool for Your Lovin'" recently madepopular again from a re-recording and "Now You're Gone," there is a variety of Whitesnakefavorites, plus you get a solo spot from Vandenberg ("Adagio for Strato") and Vai ("The Audienceis Listening") with Coverdale's hellraising antics on display throughout the show. This DVD with bothstereo and 5.1 sound is as close as it gets to being within the masses of the big time festival, andfor the double CD, the sound quality is also in top sonic quality - exposing a true testament to whata great unit Whitesnake is, in whatever form. Tommy Hash - ytsejam.com (90/100)ELEVENER - Symmetry In Motion (AOR Heaven)Elevener is the story of two Swedish musicians childhood friends Johan Bergquist (vocals, key-boards, bass) and Andreas Brodén (guitar, drums). Parted away to pursue their own career, in2005 they got together again, giving the birth to Elevener; in 2009, Bergquist got together withguitarist Magnus Lindqvist and Elevener 2.0 was born, in late 2010 they started recording thetunes that soon became their new album "Symmetry In Motion". The album is 11 tracks collectionof Melodic Rock / AOR in its pure form, from catchy melodies to roaring guitars. "Symmetry InMotion", has all what to be there to get appreciations. You get rocking tunes and melodic har-monies, and of course the ballad too. Production wise the album is really well balanced and songarrangements let the listeners wanting more from this band. Best tracks for me, the opener “JustAs I Thought”, “ Tearing Me Down” and “For The Times We Share”. A nice release the will appealall Melodic Rock fans around the world. Fabio “Deuce” Mainardi (86/100)KING OF HEARTS - King Of Hearts (Avenue Of Allies)This time it’s the King of Hearts album ‘1989’ which saw the combination of the talents of multi-platinum songwriter, guitarist, producer, engineer Bruce Gaitsch and Tommy Funderburk. Thealbum, like the bands other three albums, were only available in Japan, Sweden and Germany,which is quite a surprise as the album boasted another who’s who star line-up that included KellyKeagy (Night Ranger) on drums and vocals, George Hawkins (Kenny Loggins band) on bass, BillChamplin on keyboards and vocals. Not a bad line-up in anyone’s book you must agree. With astellar line-up like that you can guess that the album is going to be something special and youwouldn’t be wrong, with some real classy songs like ‘Working Man’, ‘In So Many Words’ and therocking ‘Smack Dab’ with Kelly Keagy on vocals, just a spattering of what this album has to offer.This is a must have album for fans of great Melodic Rock and AOR. It’s hard to believe that albumsof this quality seem to get forgotten about, so good on you Avenue of Allies for bringing thesebands back out of the darkness and back into the light. Barry McMinn (87/100)DAVID MARK PEARCE - Strange Ang3ls (AOR Heaven)Nine tracks, in which Dave plays guitar whilst John Payne lends a hand with vocals, are supreme-ly done. The album has a sound that is characteristic of 70’s rock in the Yes kind of vain. “StrangeAng3ls” along with “Eden Is Burning” are heavy on synthesizer and harmonies, as are all of thesongs which create a rich, round sound that is easy to listen to. “To Live Again” and “Save YourPrayers” are the standouts for guitar work and make no mistake this is a “guitar” album.”So FarFrom Heaven”, “Alone I Cry” and “Tell Me Why”, which was previously released, are all greatlyorchestrated, mixed and produced. This certainly comes as no surprise. The true star of thealbum, in addition to the title track of course, is “Every Time It Rains”. The percussion at the onsetis interwoven with guitar and synthesizer. However the guitar work is maddening it’s so good. Thesong is solely instrumental and rightfully so. Making the song “wordy” would only dampen theexperience that is David Mark Pearce! Justine Bevan (88/100)

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DAVID ROBERTS - The Missing Years (Avenue Of Allies)“The Missing Years” is an excellent mix of AOR, Westcoast and Pop music. Although out of thereleasing side of the business for almost three decades Roberts worked with a lot of renewedartists such as Starship, Bad English, Lee Aaron, Signal and House Of Lords just to name a few.During this period lots of demos and songs ideas were recorded and then came to fruitions on thiscollection, quite like a testament of what this Canadian artist is about. And be sure these are notleft overs but true gems that deserved to be up on a record. The album opens up with a classicAOR track, “Run Back”, followed by two Westcoast tunes, “Misunderstood” and “Gone but not for-gotten”. But to my taste best track comes with “Forbidden Fruit”, a song could have been up ona Bad English CD! Other remarkable moments are given by I Love You So Much It Hurts and “OneSoul”. If you love AOR and westcoast music don’t miss this album, it’s great!

Fabio “Deuce” Mainardi (90/100)NAZARETH - Big Dogz (EarMusic)Another new Nazareth record is always welcome, and after a whopping forty-three years theirhonest, no nonsense hard rock sound holds its allure. It’s a satisfying record because rather thantry to ape young bands in a display of power the band are happy to play to their strengths on aset of songs that for the most part have a groove that sits on the back burner and slowly smoul-ders. The brooding blues of “When Jesus Comes To Save The World Again” is a great example ofthis, as is the thoughtful “Time And Tide”. The stomping “The Toast” and “No Mean Monster” showthey can still rock when they want to and the driving “Sleeptalker” offers a glimpse into Nazareth’svery Scottish psyche. The record finds McCafferty in a philosophical mood, ruminating on life, pol-itics, faith and memories. The band and the record are perhaps best summed up by “Radio” whenMcCafferty sings “Songs that make you think... songs that speak to you...songs that never age”.Yes, indeed and plenty of life in these old dogz yet. Duncan Jamieson (90/100)DAVID ROBERTS – Better Late Than Never (Avenue Of Allies)With his classic “All Dressed Up” album getting a welcome reissue, it’s great to have some new mate-rial from Roberts. The 80s westcoast AOR feel is still there and his voice (which, for the uninitiat-ed, has a touch of Mitch Malloy about it) breathes life into the songs that are produced in that impec-cable west coast manner, with strong piano melodies and tasteful guitar solos. When Roberts sings“Be Gentle With My Heart” you hope whoever it’s addressed to pays heed, as these songs suggestRoberts has had more heartache than a hospital’s cardiac unit. “Best Thing I Never Had”, “BetterLate Than Ever” and “Someone Else’s Song” are timeless AOR-lite tunes. “Eighth Wonder” soundsmore like Toto than Toto do and it’s good to hear his own version of “Before I Go”, which Starshipcovered. “This Is How I Say Goodbye”, with a radical remix, you could imagine as a hit for JustinTimberlake or someone similar. It’s a good westcoast album where you can almost feel the heat ofthe LA sun, and the Westcoast breeze coming out of the grooves. Duncan Jamieson (88/100)GEORGE & G – So Much To Say (Avenue Of Allies)Reissues time... and here we are with an amazing album I really like! Although previouslyreleased, “So Much To Say” was a limited album in only certain parts of the world. Now,Avenue Of Allies has changed all of that with this version… which includes a couple of bonustracks. This gorgeous set of ‘West Coast’ styled songs are the children of one GeorgeGrunwald. George has written & co-written most of what we hear… and has had a hand in theengineering, arranging and production of this record!He has enlisted the talents of many ‘WestCoast’ stars to perform on this disc—resulting in a smooth bright sounding album. “So MuchTo Say” covers almost the whole spectrum of ‘West Coast’ music — great up-tempo expres-sions to the light, airy and syrupy explorations of love to some nice ‘blue-eyed’ soulful expres-sions! George & G-“So Much To Say” — and yes he does! Bruce Atkinson (85/100)DAVID ROBERTS – All Dressed Up (Avenue Of Allies)David Roberts is no stranger to the music business. After this release David was better knownfor his songwriting abilities and he took a break from being a recording artist. Record labelAvenue of Allies is now rereleasing All Dressed Up and has been remastered, and will be a lim-ited edition. The album opens with “All In The Name Of Love” which has a definite 80’s, catchy,hook driven, kind of feel. This is very reminiscent of Loverboy, or REO Speedwagon. “TooGood To Last” takes one on a journey that might well be with Hall and Oates. This is far frominsulting because David is a masterful songwriter and it is not out of the realm of possibilitiesthat any of the aforementioned acts might have made a good decision to cover one of thesegems. “Someone Like You” is heavy on the keys as are most of the songs. The album has atrue flow to it that feels comfortable in its own skin. “Wrong Side of The Tracks” has a greatrhythmic quality, while “Never Gonna Let You Go” has a great groove. Clean vocals are con-sistent throughout. All Dressed Up is a great listen! Justine Bevan 88/100ALYSON AVENUE – Changes (Avenue Of Allies)“Changes” brings forth the talents of sultry lead vocalist Arabella Vitancher first full length record-ing with the group. ‘Changes’ also features original vocalist Anette Olzon guesting on several num-bers along with Arabella. The group as a whole have dug deeper in their collective Creative cupboardand offer up eleven finely crafted musical Works that will move you. Now, there have been manycomparisons of this group to ‘Nightwish’, especially since Anette is now part of them… and the com-parisons will undoubtedly continue. However, ‘Alyson Avenue, although a forceful group, presenttheir music in a much lighter vein than their compatriots. If I may be so bold… ’Alyson Avenue’ aremore accessible…that is to say, they are more easily connected. Rich and commanding, but not asforeboding. Each creative work on this album is luxuriantly textured, expansive and airy. There aresome real nice surprises too! “Changes” is all of its title, an album full of changes: the music, theperformances, and the ‘feel’. A walk down ‘Alyson Avenue’ will bring you in to a invigorating andbeautiful state! Don’t be afraid of the changes!! Bruce Atkinson (80/100)

Focus on: SYMPHONY X - Iconoclast (Nuclear Blast)A new album from the Prog Metal legend and another one that will definitelyplease any fan of the band and of the genre. Musically, the album is reallyheavy, the guitar-playing of Romeo is really incredible (I can say, better thanever!), the vocals of Russell Allen are simply shining and astonishing, and theband looks so brilliant. The overall feeling of the work is quite dark, being aconcept album based on the “machines vs. humanity” theme, so you need sometime and some plays to really “enter” into the album. Especially ‘cause the firstsong is 10 minutes long, really epic and heavy, so it’s not something for thecasual listeners! All in all, a great album in the genre, enriched by a top-notchproduction and stellar musical performances. Let’s wait and see how DreamTheater will answer to this opus; definitely it will not be easy…

Primo Bonali (90/100)

Question: You have a new albumready to be released; let’s startfrom the title, “Iconoclast”. Whatabout the themes you’re develop-ing on the album, and is it a con-cept album?Answer: Well, with every CD we try todo something a little different. Likewith Paradise Lost, we went with a‘good vs. evil’ / heaven and hell type oftheme. The music also reflected that; aheavier, darker sound – the orchestralparts a bit more ominous – and theriffs were more aggressive. With thenew CD, we decided on a more“mechanical” type of sound. “Man vs.Machine” was the basic idea and,again, the music and lyrics wouldreflect that. Q: Musicalwise, the album is verystrong – as usual! – technicallyperfect and on a level that most ofthe actual bands never dare toreach. That said, I think that theoverall vibe on the whole album isquite dark and the sound is quiteheavy, sometimes aggressive. Hasbeen this your idea from the begin-ning or the songwriting came outthis way spontaneously?

A: At first, the basic song ideas andriffs were somewhat similar to thesound of Paradise Lost, but it wasn’tuntil the “mechanical” idea came intofocus that the music took a differentdirection. Once that ‘sound’ was estab-lished, everything flowed from there.Q: Is this new album reflectingwhat Symphony X are now, andwhat Symphony X-musicians lis-ten to these days? Any names ofbands that impressed you lately?A: Every CD is what we are, at least atthat point in time. Some of the musicon the new CD is reminiscent of musicon previous discs and some is quitenew sounding – but it is still always usas a band. We all listen to differentstyles of music, and all have differentinfluences, but they all find their wayinto or music, one way or another. Wealways try to make each album differ-ent, some more progressive, somemore symphonic, some more metal,but that is what keeps things interest-ing. I think now, though, we are reallyfocused more on the ‘song’ as a whole.We spend a lot of time crafting eachsong and making it the best it can be.Q: Any plans for tour in the

spring/summer?A: We are currently on tour in the US,and we will be going over to SouthAmerica next month. The CD will bereleased in June, and over the remain-der of the summer, we will be puttingtogether a new show and getting asetlist ready with a lot of the newmaterial. The Iconoclast tour will startsometime in the fall, I think now weare looking at late September/October, starting in Europe.Q: Anything to add?A: A big thanks to the fans, for beingpatient with us in waiting for the newCD. It always takes us a bit longer thatwe anticipate with the production ofthese albums, but we really put every-thing into it. With ‘Iconoclast’, therewas more music written than any CDwe’ve done before, the reason for thedouble disc! Even though thewriting/recording process was goingsmooth and at a good pace, we felt likethings were taking unusually longerthat we predicted… until I timed theamount of music we had, which wasabout 85 minutes or so! So thanksagain to all our fans and I hope theyreally enjoy the new music!

BAND: SYMPHONY XALBUM:ICONOCLASTINTERVIEW WITH: MICHAEL ROMEOINTERVIEWED BY : PRIMO BONALI

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When you here the names of Joseph Williams and Peter Friestedt you know that there a qualityslice of AOR not too far away, but when the pair are linked on one album, the world of AOR isset for a whole new level of greatness. And that’s exactly what the pair have put together withtheir new album simply entitled ‘Williams / Friestedt’. Like I said this is pure AOR that doesn’tstray from that path one iota, no hidden shocks, no fillers all killer slices of Americana AOR. Fromthe opener ‘Swear Your Love’ right to the closer ‘Letter To God’, there is no deviation from thatgentle Melodic path. Williams has never sounded better and the soar away guitar work ofFriestedt is second to none, along with a list of who’s who from the world of AOR and Melodicrock, which includes former CHICAGO singer Bill Champlin, Tommy Denander, John "JR"Robinson, Randy Goodrum and Bill Cantos. Tracks of note have to be ‘Stay With Me’, ‘SayGoodbye’ and ‘Where To Touch You’. These are just a few of my favourites off an album that willgo down a storm with the fans of TOTO, Chicago, Kansas and the like. Barry McMinn (90/100)

Focus on: WILLIAMS / FRIESTEDT - Williams / Friestedt (AOR Heaven)

Question: What made you twofinally get together on a com-plete album?Answer: We worked together onmy LA Project records and touredtogether a couple of times here inScandinavia, during that first runwe decided to cut a whole recordand join forces!Q: The album boasts an all-star line-up of artists, how didyou get the other guysinvolved in the album?A: Over the years they've becomefriends and while being in LA Itracked rhythm & backgroundparts with John JR Robinson , BillCantos, Bill Champlin and RandyGoodrum ! Q: The album is pure goldAOR, with both your back-grounds was it going to go anyother way? Did you ever toywith a different direction? A: This is what we were aimingfor and I'm very proud of theresult, some of the finest songsI've ever written is featured onthis album.Q: You’ve worked together onnumerous occasions over the

years so did this album comeeasy because you knew eachothers strengths, and wouldyou do it all again? A: We recorded most of therecord here in Stockholm asJoseph's studio in LA has beendown for a while and it was alsonice to be able to work togetheron final lead and backgroundvocals! We had so much fun doingthis record and I would do it againin a second!Q: If you could take Williams /Friestedt on the road and thelogistics were right would youput a band together and do it?A: That would be fantastic and ifthe record do well I think it mighthappen!Q: Joseph will be returning tofront TOTO on the stage in2011, are you looking forwardto it?A: Yeah, I saw them last summerand the line up is very strong, theband sounds better than ever!!!Q: You’ve been involved in themusic business for a whilenow, how do you think thingshave changed over the years

both good and bad?A: I think some things are fantas-tic with this new interactivemedia thing happening throughfacebook, twitter and myspace! Atthe same time it is really sad withall the record stores closing downand the download problems!Q: Do you have any advice forany young bands hoping tomake it big in today’s musicindustry?A: Go for what your heart tellsyou, there's so much out therethat the only way you will getheard is if you are honest aboutwhat you do!Q: Where do Williams andFriestedt go from here, whatplans both individually andtogether can we look forwardto in the not too distantfuture? A: It's been a blast working onthis record and we are reallyproud of the work, as you allknow Joe is busy with Toto thissummer/fall but after that I hopewe'll get together to do someshows again!

BAND: WILLIAMS / FRIESTEDTALBUM:WILLIAMS / FRIESTEDTINTERVIEW WITH: PETER FRIESTEDTINTERVIEWED BY : BARRY MCMINN

Question: Hi guys! You've beenworking on this new record forseven years or so. Would yourecap the events behind it?Answer: Wow, it's such a long story!Back 7 years ago, BnB members, atthat point, had all gone their seper-ate ways and were spread all overthe map, yet we were always suchgood friends and really consideredeach other as "family", so we neverhad let that "flame" of our bandextinguish. We were always in goodtouch with each other and had onoccasion played a few reunion showshere and there on the west coast.Tommy Thayer, living in L.A., hadjoined KISS as their lead guitarist;Pete Holmes, also in L.A., was drum-ming with several known artistsincluding Michael Schenker, IanGillan, etc..; Patrick Young hadmoved back to Portland, Oregon(where we're all originally from),and had joined Don Dokken brieflyas the bass player for one of Don'ssolo albums. Myself, I had movedfrom L.A. to Portland where I hadstarted a family and started produc-ing and engineering music at Apache

Recording Studios, which I ownedand operated. Jaime briefly movedto Portland in 2004 when first hadthe idea of making a BnB CD at mystudio. As soon as we started writingsongs and recording it was puremagic! We were always a 2 guitarorientated band, so then the addi-tion of Shawn Sonnenshein wasbrought in and he fit in beautifully!Things were moving along actuallyquite quickly when Jaime was calledin to replace Janie Lane of Warrantas their vocalist. So thus putting ourrecord on hold. While he touredextensively with Warrant for a fewyears (including doing an album withthem) I was forced to close down mystudio and Jaime ended up makingL.A. his home once again. So a fewmore years down the road, Warrantdecided to try bringing Janie back totheir band, so Jaime was free onceagain to concentrate on BnB. Me andhim then tried to figure out how toget the BnB recording back goingagain... so I guess the reason for allthis detail on the chain of events isto just let people know we were'nttaking all this time in the studio, we

are actually quite quick once we arein there! So basically FrontiersRecords stepped in and got us upand running so we could finish thedamn thing! Then of course decidingon all the final details of any cdcame into play and now it's finallyhere!! Hell Yeah!!!Q: When you listened back to theearly stuff for "Hell yeah", did itstill sound fresh, or did you haveto rework it in any way?A: Nothing sounded old or unfresh tous, probably because we were neverreally trying to "modernize" oursound in the first place... it's justtimeless Black 'N Blue!!Q: The album has a really heavy,uncompromised and powerfulsound, which is fantastic. Do youthink this is the best way tomake your songs?A: Wow, since I recorded it, ThankYou!! Yeah, I think me and the restof the band always like thingssounding as big as possible...espe-cially if the song calls for it..we didtry to keep things raw and possibleto play live. I think that's importantto us.

BAND: BLACK ‘N BLUEALBUM:HELL YEAH!INTERVIEW WITH: JEFF WARNERINTERVIEWED BY : V ITALE NOCERINO

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In 2011 the band return with the album ‘Hell Yeah’, which originally started life back in 03 butdue to James involvement with Warrant and some wrangling with their former label, thealbum is now finally set for release. Once again the names of Jamie St James, Jef “Woop”Warner (guitar) and Patrick Young (bass), along with Pete Holmes (drums) and ShawnSonnenschein (guitars), are bringing back the sleaze driven hard rock to bruise the very soulof the world of rock in true Black n Blue style.This is old school no doubt about it, with thedown right dirty riffs filling the album and James at his vocal best, this is the band we knewthat made the world sit up and take notice back in 84. With great rock anthems like the open-er ‘Monkey’, the riff spewn ‘Candy’, the sleazy driven title track ‘Hell Yeah’, all of which willmake you dust off your Air Guitar. There is even a little tongue and cheek with ‘Jamie’s GotThe Beer’ and even a gentle rocker in ‘Fools Bleed’. All in all a great come back album andone for fans of great hard rock no matter what genre you’re in to. Barry McMinn (85/100)

Focus on: BLACK ‘N BLUE - Hell Yeah! (Frontiers Records)

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Focus on: DEF LEPPARD - Mirror Bal l (Front iers Records)Well, it is Party Time! The first Live presentation of Def Leppard’s in concert performanc-es — and about time too! “Mirror Ball” – a collection of Def Leppard’s greatest ‘on stage’moments… culled from their 2009-2010 tours. A highly energised and powerful 2-cd setthat will keep you rocking long after the final encore. This, the group’s first release onFrontiers Records—“Mirror Ball” is packaged with a DVD featuring some behind-the-scenes tour footage and select live performances. Everything is here that has made DefLeppard the premier Rock outfit out of the wild of the great United Kingdom. Lovingly compiled and presented — the boys are even giving us a few surprises! Withthe inclusion of three brand new creations — “Mirror Ball” has become a ‘Crystal Ball’ inwhich we can peer in and hear the future according to the Lep’s. Def Leppard, “MirrorBall” – now you can re-live that thrilling concert anytime you want to!

Bruce Atkinson (96/100)

BAND: DEF LEPPARDALBUM:

MIRROR BALLINTERVIEW WITH: PHIL COLLENINTERVIEWED BY : BRUCE ATKINSON

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Question: Def Leppard are backfrom a brief hiatus withMirrorball, the band’s first offi-cial live release. Why wait untilnow to put out a live offering?Answer: We actually didn’t get thetime up until now. It’s always beenalbum-tour - album - tour, andbelieve it or not, this was the firstreal break we’ve had in thirty years.You get off tour, and it’s prettymuch straight into recording anoth-er album. So it never really seemedvalid or the right time, but now it’sabsolutely perfect. We had a yearoff, and we record every show, sowe were able to gather all the stuffup and there you go–choose thebest stuff.Q: The album actually features afew new studio songs as well.How does this new materialcompare to the band’s pastwork?A: You know, it’s really interesting.When you put any band’s greatesthits on, even if the stuff was record-ed in a span of two decades or evenlonger, you can still tell that it’s thesame band. So I think they soundobviously Def Leppard; they soundvery much like classic Def Leppard,whatever that is, or whatever thatmay be. (LAUGHS) But you know,you listen to it for like ten secondsand you go, “Oh yeah, that’s DefLeppard.”Q: In addition to Def Leppard,you’ve been busy with Man Razetoo. How has it been pullingdouble-duty between both proj-ects?A: It’s great! It’s such a completelydifferent thing. With Def Leppard,like I said, it obviously sounds likeDef Leppard. We’ve been at it foryears, and it is what it is. If youstray too far off of that, then peopleget upset, you know? They don’treally like you to change at all, soyou have to be really careful to keepa common thread with Def Leppardstuff. With Man Raze, it’s the com-plete opposite. You can have funwith it and experiment with it, andwe do. It’s a lot of harder-edgestuff, lyrically and certainly sound-wise. It’s got a definite, differentsonic thing about it. Some of itsounds like punk, some of it soundslike hard rock, some of it soundslike dub reggae–it’s all over theplace, so it’s so much fun.Q: The band just put out thetheme song for the movie I,Superbiker. How did that comeabout?A: This guy Mark Stoper, who’sbeen a real champion of the band, isa friend of Paul Cook’s from London.He makes TV shows and films andactually has done a bunch of promovideos for Man Raze. He’s alwaysreally believed in us. He said, “I’m

doing this documentary movie onsuper bike racing. Just four guyscompeting and we need a themesong.” So that’s really how the songcame about, and we wrote the songto order. It’s really high-octane andhas all the crashes, so we wrote thesong based on that and actuallyincluded some of the phases thatthe racing bikers use and every-thing, so that was really fun. I’venever done anything like thatbefore, so it was a blast.Q: Is the song going to beincluded on the Man Raze albumas well?A: Yes, it is, but a different mix of it.So, yes, for sure. We’re mixing allthe stuff right now. Q: From a songwriting stand-point, what is it like working ona Man Raze record versus DefLeppard?A: You can go a lot deeper, lyrical-ly, with Man Raze stuff: politically,spiritually, anything. With DefLeppard, like I said, there arerestraints. You can’t go too far outof the box, otherwise you might losepeople or it doesn’t really sound likeDef Leppard. We had actually donean album called Slang in the ’90s,and we kind of went left field onthat and it was great fun, reallycool, but no one got it. No one gotit. They just wanted to hear “PourSome Sugar On Me” and stuff likethat. So really, when you’re tryingto write stuff that has a bit moredepth to it, you almost have to dis-guise it, which makes it hard. As asongwriter, it’s kind of nice to justbe able to flow with it and not havethose restrictions. Like I said, it’s sodifferent for me, writing for bothbands as well. It’s great. It’s so per-fect as an artist because I really getto experience and express myself inmany different ways. It’s a lot of fun, and also being aguitar player in one band and asinger and guitar player in another,that’s totally different. Somethingon this Man Raze album that I wasshocked about is that a lot of vocalswere one take, and actually a lot ofthe album was one-take stuff. Itjust had a flow about it that was,again, very different from a DefLeppard album, where we actuallyare very particular. It’s really cooldoing both, because I get to experi-ence both sides of it.Q: After so many years perform-ing how do you keep the passionand freshness going?A: I do have natural energy withthis, I will say I am obsessed withmusic but it is a healthy one. Myparents highly encouraged me. Iremember growing up and seeingthis guitar that I wanted. My mumtold me that I could have it if Ilearnt to play, she taught me the 3

riffs that you get with all songs, andin the end she bought me the gui-tar. When we are on the road trav-elling that can make or break theband because the sugar rush of per-forming & touring but then we getthe lows of getting from one placeto another.Q: Is there anybody present orpast tense that you would'veloved to work with?A: Well, I'm fascinated by the wholeJimmy Hendrix thing. Pioneering,and just the whole thing. Itwould've been great to have beenaround, in the late '60s and actual-ly been in the studio with him,because that must've beenabsolutely mind blowing. I mean,listening to it now, you go, yeah, wejust accept it for what it is, whatev-er, but at the time, it must've beencompletely freaking people out. Thewhole guitar playing thing. I was a Hendrix fan. I was more ofa Stones guy than a Beetles guy aswell. It's got a bit more raw, and abit more rock and roll to it, and thatwas my thing. But yeah, JimiHendrix would've been great. StevieWonder, in the early-- the mid-70sI guess. Truly one of the greatsaround.Q: Are there bands that you'dlove to hit the road with?A: Yeah, funny enough, we just didtwo tours with Styx. And back in theday, we'd have said, "In a millionyears, you couldn't have put uswith, say, Styx." We've done aJourney tour; it was HUGE. I mean, the first show we did, therewere 25,000 people. I mean, theycouldn't get anymore people inthere. That went so well, that theStyx thing came up, and they wereTHE nicest band that we've everworked with. And they're just gen-tlemen, I can't say enough goodthings about them, they're brilliant.So we had a great time, and thenwe toured with them again. And itworked; whether or not people likedStyx, they'd go to the show andthey'd leave, and they'd go, "Wow,those guys are GREAT!" And again,they don't do "Babe," they don't do"Mr. Roboto," they do all the otherstuff they wrote that's cool. So whenever you go on tour, there'sa list of bands available for touring,and we're getting names thrown outthere for summer, and you'd love areally young, hip, trendy band, buta lot of the times it just doesn'twork out that way, and sometimeseven that pairing doesn't work.Wasn't our experience with Styxand Journey, and to a lesser extentForeigner last year, and REOSpeedwagon, we love those guys aswell. So that worked, so who knows.