Fallen Angel (Edit)

Midnight Lovers (Edit)

No Mercy (Edit)

Album number two by Finnish AOR/melodic outfit WAKE THE NATIONS is an early contestant for album of the year in the melodic/AOR genre. “Heartrock“ is full of great hooks, has got a both powerful and clear production and with frontman Krister Stenbom a fine vocalist bringing the songs to life. The duet “Flames“ sticks even out a bit because the female voice adds an interesting flavor to the overall sound. Check out especially “Tattooed Girl“, “Fallen Angel“ and “Something In Your Eyes“. These examples of effective songwriting will do nothing but take you by storm. If you are a fan of the likes of H.E.A.T., ECLIPSE or ONE DESIRE, this is your choice!

MARTIN STARK

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGJX0D_1x7o

A mixture of melodic metal and sleaze rock from Finland. The third effort of the Finnish outfit feat. TAROT keyboarder Janne Tolsa is full of great hooks and a great portion of edgy rock which can be heard not only in the rough vocals taking you by storm. At times sounding like a light version of THUNDERSTONE or STRATOVARIUS but always very catchy. LAZY BONEZ know how to rock. Lots of guitars, lots of keyboards and more importantly, a lot of fun. “Kiss Of The Night“ is an early highlight of the year.

MARTIN STARK

watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sb6afb2FLk

“Nightwalker“ is seventies hard rock through and through. The Swedish classic Rock outfit around new frontman Johan Fahlberg (JADED HEART) could be the next big thing. Foremost the bluesy and dark “Death Laughs At You“ gets you immediately. The rough “Cockroach“  or the heavily blues-infused “Never Again“ are highlights, too. At the end of the day,  a strong record capturing the listener and letting the limits of time and place vanish.

MARTIN STARK

listen:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Q18NSmlijg

This live double CD was recorded in their hometown of Birmingham, with Avantasia’s Tobias Samett reprising his duet with Bob Catley on ‘Lost On The Road To Eternity’. Also adding backing vocals at various stages throughout the night were Lee Small (Lionheart/Shy/Phenomena). The set list is a good mix of newer songs and Magnum classics such as ‘The Spirit’ and the finale ‘When The World Comes Down’. Bob Catley’s voice may sound a little huskier at times, notably on ‘All England’s Eyes’, however he still puts the emotion into his singing and you can imagine him doing his hand movements throughout the gig! Keyboards player Rick Benton is firmly established now, adapting the keys parts on the epic ‘Don’t Wake The Lion’.

watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbhBpZGFcEs

The new album from the iconic British hard rock outfit, released as the band enter their third decade, is a collection of radically reworked versions of songs from throughout their extensive catalogue. This album will raise eyebrows, hackles and heartbeats in equal measure. ‘Please Remain Seated’ is the sound of a band taking a strange journey into their own music, but also distilling thirty years of playing together in order to create something truly compelling, taking in flavours of rock, blues, jazz and soul along the way. Over the years Thunder have proven that they are one of the UK’s finest ever Rock bands time and time again, and ‘Please Remain Seated’ should silence any remaining doubters.

watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4efyXwSoqs

The second studio album from Derby’s The Struts. It’s bigger, more glam and sounds better than ever. An insanely catchy album, don’t plan on listening to anything but The Struts for a while after cueing this up! The Struts are like a cross between T. Rex, Queen, The Night Flight Orchestra and The Rolling Stones. Luke Spiller has this natural showmanship that is impossible to compare to anyone but Freddy Mercury. The songs they produce have a rock and roll swagger with a larger than life dynamic. The combination is stunningly enjoyable from start to finish, if this record doesn’t put a smile on your face, I doubt that anything will. Glam Rock is back with a bang and there are new kings in town.

Angeline were formed in Sweden in 1987 and having taken a hiatus somewhere down the line the band reformed in 2010, since then they have released three studio albums, the latest being “Shadowlands”. The band seem to have taken a good deal of influence from such heavyweights as Bon Jovi, Def Leppard and Europe and you can hear this throughout the album, especially on tracks like “Live Life”, which is reminiscent of the softer side of the first two bands, or “Higher Than Love” and “Better Than The Real Thing”, both of which remind me of the rockier heyday of Bon Jovi’s past. In 2018 it is great to know that bands that have been around for over three decades can still produce albums like “Shadowlands”.

watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8-N9x87da4

Wild America, a new band on the Kivel Records label, made their debut recently with "Gasoline", an unapologetic nod to the late ‘80s arena rock sound. Wild America’s sound seems most influenced by that post-glam, pre-grunge period where American hard rock was still catchy and hook-heavy, but didn’t rely on image or songs about T&A quite as much. Fun without being embarrassing, in other words. Think Tora Tora (it’s hard to see the words “Wild America” and not think Tora Tora, after all), Tangier and even Tyketto. That’s not a bad sound to draw influence from at all. On the more recent side, Wild America isn’t too far removed from the likes of Tango Down, Outloud and The Defiants, so get a copy asap !

listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UId3hs7zjNk

Singer Peter Sundell has graced a number of highly revered albums over the years. His work with Promotion, Grand Illusion, Decoy and C.O.P. has made AOR fans all over the world drewl, in awe over his high pitched and powerful voice. While a new C.O.P. album is underway he offers  us his first solo album "Now" to fill this gap. "Now" sees Peter Sundell paying tribute to some classic tunes from the likes of AIRPLAY, SURVIVOR, L.A. COWBOYS, HUGHES & THRALL, BILLY JOEL, VANDENBERG, ASIA, KANSAS, THE TUBES, TREVOR RABIN & DAVID ROBERTS. Treated with the typically GRAND ILLUSION / C.O.P. touch by his long time fellow Olaf Trampe and his brother Christian this is by no means your ordinary cover album, "Now" has indeed some really magic moments. Strictly limited and numbered edition of 500 copies only !

listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2jp9phwrps

Titled ‘Last Parade’ (after one of the unreleased tracks), the special limited-edition package is set to pay tribute to one of the great songwriters of this genre. Brett tragically and suddenly passed away in July 2013, just one month prior to the release of his latest album "Straight Jacket Vacation"".  "Last Parade" is a box set of 6 CDs full of unreleased and previously never released material. Some of the older unreleased material will rival the classic ‘Nevertheless’ album for melodic rock brilliance. Fans of all eras will in fact, be blown away I’m sure. Vol. 1 contains the discs 1-3 out of the box set. "The Early Demos" (CD 1), "Album Cuts" (CD 2, different versions) and "Person To Person" (CD 3, Complete Recordings).

watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QACZaFzEj0

Titled ‘Last Parade’ (after one of the unreleased tracks), the special limited-edition package is set to pay tribute to one of the great songwriters of this genre. Brett tragically and suddenly passed away in July 2013, just one month prior to the release of his latest album "Straight Jacket Vacation"".  "Last Parade" is a box set of 6 CDs full of unreleased and previously never released material. Some of the older unreleased material will rival the classic ‘Nevertheless’ album for melodic rock brilliance. Fans of all eras will in fact, be blown away I’m sure. Vol. 2 contains the discs 4-6 out of the box set. "The Unreleased Archives" Vol1,2 and 3". Seperated into the AOR anthems, more anthems and the midwestern moods.

watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSndppheG34

She is one of the finest Canadian Rock singers, she fronted for 36 years celebrated melodic rockers Headpins recording 3 albums, and she did backing vocals of countless '80s records. In August 2016 Darby performed the last gig with Headpins and from this date she's now under her own monicker. The "Flying Solo" stuff is a compilation of songs recorded by Darby Mills during the '80s / early '90s, released under the 'Darby Mills And The Unsung Heroes' moniker, long time out of print. All the material has been digitally remastered for the first time, and it sounds million bucks. Easily among the best female fronted AOR ever recorded, all the songs on this CD are fantastic and simply utterly essential for really every AOR lover !

listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twSnnbE6rPg