TONY LEWIS is probably best known as the voice and bassist for The Outfield. Along with guitarist John Spinks, the two took the '80s by storm with their infectious songs including “Your Love,” “All the Love,” and “Say it isn’t So.” After Spinks’s untimely passing in 2014, Tony took a four-year hiatus from music but was eventually inspired to begin work on his first ever solo album: "Out of the Darkness". Well... Tony Lewis did it here... "Out of the Darkness" sounds more 'The Outfield' than The Outfield last studio albums. Unexpected to me to listen again The Outfield-related new music, Tony Lewis's solo debut album is a pure delight. True Eighties melodic stuff with the sound / feel of that era perfectly nailed by Lewis.

watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j8grxHo7uA

San Francisco, California-based melodic rock band Dallas – the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Bryan Dallas (aka Brian Hiner) has finally their first full album on offer. After a 5 track EP in 2012 incl. their signature song "Bring The Light" things got quiet at the Dallas camp, but anyway - here we go ! With a sound not far away from certain MTM releases like BIG BAD WOLF, LOUD & CLEAR or RESTLESS you'll get a full dose of big-time Melodic Rock with the coolness from the 80s Glam/Melodic Hardrocksound and the catchiness of the AOR/Melodic Rock. FIREHOUSE meets DEF LEPPARD choruses with BON JOVI’s ‘Slippery When Wet’ in mind is what this album sounds like. Surely not original, but catchier as sin - so who cares !!

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

Tracing its inception to the early eighties when founded by American guitarist Troy Thompson and brother and New Zealand based vocalist Dale Thompson, Bride announced in 2013 what was to be its fourteenth and final studio album in "Incorruptible".  That, however, proved a misnomer in that much to the delight of the hard music community the acclaimed Christian metal and hard rock veterans returned out of retirement and prove in "Snake Eyes" that they not have lost a step musically and that plenty of gas remains in the proverbial creative tank. On "Snake Eyes", Bride leaves little doubt as to how it not so much has captured a "Snakes…" something like a mix of Skid Row 'Slave To The Grind' era, Guardian and a touch of Stryper.

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

Skull were the brain child of guitarist Bob Kulick, brother of Bruce and his credits include playing with Paul Stanley's solo band, WASP, Meatloaf, Balance and many other projects. Also in the band were drummer Bobby Rock (Nitro, VVI, Nelson and a pile of others), bassist Kjell Benner and vocalist Dennis St. James (Vinnie Vincent Invasion). This album came out in 1991 a year that saw grunge knocking out hard rock bands like this one and many others. A real pity, cause "No Bones About It" contained a great mix of melodic hard rock tunes like Dokken / Whitesnake paired with some classy AOR tracks. This digitally remastered re-issue contains indeed 25 bonus tracks incl. an early version of this album.

listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgm4JcqY_Dc

In 1991, Bob Kulick formed the hard rock group, Skull, releasing the sole album, “No Bones About It”. This 37 track, 2CD set represents a “what could have been” second Skull album. It includes 14 previously unreleased original studio tracks making up an entire “lost” album’s worth of Skull material, plus an abundance of demos dating back to the earliest stages of the band’s recording history. What can be considered one of the strongest collections of “lost” songs unearthed in recent times, this release is not to be missed for fans of Skull’s debut album “No Bones About It” or for enthusiasts of KISS’s records of the late 70s and 80s. Digitally remastered, first time ever on CD.

This was indeed a real supergroup containing a cooperation between the two masters of symphony (Randy Jackson of Zebra and Billy Greer of Kansas) on one hand and the two masters of melody (Terry Brock of Strangeways and Mark Mangold of Touch and Drive, She Said among others) on the other hand. The band produced a phenomenal, critically acclaimed album with diverse styles, a mixture of the sounds of all their styles, with scathing musicianship, huge walls of vocals, and strong symphonic overtones. The follow up "The Second Coming" (2004) saw the addition of a 2nd guitarist (John Bivona of TSO fame) and pretty much the same style as the debut. Digitally remastered and each album with 1 bonus track ea. 

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

“Steelfactory“ exactly offers the kind of stuff you would expect as an U.D.O. fan. The master of German heavy metal puts out strong albums for years. Although compared to “Decadent“ (2015), there are a few more mid tempo tracks this time but when it comes to quality and sound, the former ACCEPT frontier is really hard to beat. Check out the mighty “Blood On Fire“ and “Bite Of Evil“. The production level is pretty high in the “Steelfactory“ for sure.

MARTIN STARK

watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Xksm1X7UHM

German power metal outfit MOB RULES have always delivered. The North German band should have a way better standing because they were constantly able to develop their songwriting and sound. It’s epic metal with a huge production and powerful riffing. For the most part a blend of IRON MAIDEN, AVANTASIA and GAMMA RAY. The beast is back! You need proof? Alright! Listen to “Shores Ahead“.

MARTIN STARK

watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Amq3C5-IcNA

DORO, the undisputed metal queen of Germany, surprises fans with a double album these days, her first ever. 25 new tracks in total including a duet (“If I Can’t Have You - No One Will“) with AMON AMARTH frontman Johan Hegg as well as the song “Living Life To The Fullest“ dedicated to Lemmy. Of course, given the number of tracks, there are a few filler tracks but in general “Forever United, Forever Warriors“ will more than please every single DORO fan out there.

MARTIN STARK

watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kLxaI7ac14

Long due debut of the international melodic metal outfit based in Germany is a fine piece of music. “Never Say Never“ rocks heavy at times (“Everything“) but is mostly melodic rock (“Penthouse Floor“ or “Crying In The Rain“) which fits the band well. Most of all, vocalist Zoran Sandorov aka Mister Sanders is a real surprise. You can actually feel the eighties being very much alive throughout this record. Well done!

MARTIN STARK

watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJzrWY1dFRo

GREAT LEAP SKYWARD, formerly known as KNIGHTMARE, provides a great portion of progressive metal with a twist of atmosphere. At times similar to the (more melodic) stuff from DEVIN TOWNSEND. The Australians show some unique elements and are able to rock like hell (“I Am The Black Matriarch“) but on the other hand they can sound almost fragile (“Singularity“). A very interesting record. Rather unusual, but really good.

MARTIN STARK

watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9Np_gOwjeI

As usual, Australian band THE RADIO SUN is pretty busy. Therefore it’s no surprise that the follow-up to “Unstoppable“ (2017) is already finished, the fifth record in five years. No real runaways in terms of songwriting to either side - good or bad - alongside a strong production by Paul Laine (THE DEFIANTS) are the cornerstones of this record. The first single “Hold OnTight“ represents the album pretty well.

MARTIN STARK

watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9w4h8OPp_E

A beautiful double-decker of Southern German hard rockers DARK SKY sees the light of day right now. A gig that took place in Rottweil/Germany plus a good handful of new studio tracks are included. One of them is a great cover of the PIA ZADORA song “When The Rain Begins To Fall“. The gig was a home-coming show which can be seen and heard through out every single note. This output will mark a great and well-deserved step forward for the band.

MARTIN STARK

watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enII1TF7Hmo