Wednesday  30th June

Jean Beauvoir, prolific artist of Plasmatics, Voodoo X, Little Steven and Crown Of Thorns fame is to release his first real solo album in years on Frontiers Records and ulfTone music.
Entitled "Chameleon", Beauvoir could not have found a more fitting title. As diverse as the artist himself, this album features Beauvoir stepping effortlessly over stylistical borders without ever missing a beat. From the opening chords of the Lionel Richie co-write "I wanna know (incl. excerpt of "You")" to the closing lines of "Angel", Beauvoir touches the limits of musical imagination whilst retaining his strongest blessing: writing hooklines that are catchy without losing depth.
After having focused on hard rock material with his own band "Crown Of Thorns", this album brings back the Beauvoir that had worldwide #1 success with the single "Feel The Heat" and the successive album "Drums Along The Mohawk" and that wrote countless hits for artists as diverse as KISS, The Ramones (including the single off the movie "School Of Rock"), N-Sync and many others; this time mixing it with state-of-the-art production and remarkable diversity in the songwriting.
Jean Beauvoir is back with full strength!
"Chameleon" includes the following tracks: I Wanna Know (incl. excerpt from You);
Higher; I Don't Need Ya; Where The River Runs Deep; I Want To Lay Here; Something To Believe In; Even More; Addicted To Us; Dying End; Teenager; Amazing; Angel.
Who knows, maybe "Chameleon" will bring the long-awaited success that peers and fans have been knowing should have happened all along...
Release date is scheduled for August 30th on Frontiers Records worldwide, except for Germany, Austria and Switzerland where the release will be handled via ulfTone Music / Edel.

3 Colours Red

£ Colours Red unleash their new album, entitled 'Union Of Souls' through MightyAtom Records on July 5th. The album contains the following tracks:The Union Of Souls; Repeat To Fade; The World Is Yours; Desensitise; Counterfeit Jesus; Ceasefire; Made In Indonesia; Land Of Debris;  F.C.K.U and Lullaby

Quickies:

Van Halen's Best Of Both Worlds compilation is released in the UK on 19th July through Warner Brothers

AC/DC release re-mastered versions of Ballbreaker & Stiff Upper Lip through Sony Records on July 19th. These are supposedly in digipack format

www.blabbermouth.net is reporting that one-time teen star Brandy is using a sample from the Iron Maiden song 'The Clansman' on her a track from her upcoming album. The track, entitled 'Cool (Thought I'd Be)' samples the bass and guitar lines from the introduction to the Maiden track... I've heard it now got to go listen to the original just to get the damn thing out of my head...
 

Tuesday  29th June

With all of the normal work stuff going on I haven't had any opportunity to upload any album reviews either, even though I have been listening to a whole lot of good new stuff. As a stop gap here a few quick opinions of new albums I have been listening to.

Slipknot: Volume 3 The Subliminal Verses: a good 8/10 this one. I am not the biggest Slipknot fan by any means and I thought Iowa was totally unlistenable, However maybe the side projects the members have been involved with have had a positive effect as Vol 3 is a much more focused and enjoyable experience. In all honesty this record bears more resemblance to the Stone Sour effort than the previous Slipknot inventory and that to my mind is no bad thing.

Velvet Revolver: Contraband: For an album that has been the subject of so much hype and press speculation it just doesn't quite hit the mark for me. There just doesn't seem to be a fully defined style with the band taking bits and pieces from the STP and G'nR without developing anything unique. 5/10

Quireboys: Well Oiled: What else would you expect from the Quireboys but an album drenched in 70's based R'nB grooves and served up with a side order of Jack Daniels. Although not up to the quality of the debut album 'A Bit of What You Fancy'. 'Well Oiled' is a decent enough effort that will appeal to long time fans if not necessarily converting the unsure 6/10

Breed 77: Cultura: Gibraltor rocks!! well it does in the form of Breed 77, Cultura is a fine dose of modern rock music that will appeal to both the classic rock fan and the nu-breed kids in hoodies. Lead-off single 'The River' is simply one of the best tracks I have heard this year. 8/10

War & Peace: The Walls Have Eyes: Jeff Pilson is one talented guy, given the fact that he plays most of the instruments on this album as well as singing. You can here the influence that he had on Dokken on this album and the songs are consistently strong is not exceptional. The lead playing at times is not quite of the highest quality and as a whole it is not as good as the Lynch-Pilson album of last year, but still well worth the investment. 6/10

Avril Lavigne: Under My Skin: This is one very good album and a worthy successor to the phenomenal debut record 'Let Go' It is impressive to see that Lavigne co-writes most of the songs on the cd and you can certainly here the influence of the producers in the shape of Butch Walker, Don Gilmore and Raine Malda. In the case of Butch Walker that is certainly no bad thing. 8/10

Now for something completely different as the saying goes. 'Hell Bent For Leather (Confessions of A Heavy Metal Addict)' by Seb Hunter and published by HarperCollins is an autobiographical journey through the life of 30 something heavy metal fan growing up from his initial forays into the world of metal through AC/DC and Judas Priest through the late eighties and early nineties and the whole haor metal/glam rock movement and then dealing with the sudden seed change wrought by Kurt Curbain and his ilk. The book takes us through Hunter's life in the underground London scene of the time trying to break his band out into the big leagues and deals with the drug and alcohol issues prevalent in the day. Given the fact that I was growing up at the same time, albeit in the North of England, and facing many of the same challenges and situations Hunter deals with, the whole book brings back memories both good and bad and is in equal parts hilarious/sad/poignant and a bloody good read.

If you are a 30 or 40 something rock fan do yourself a favour and give this a read, you will probably see a lot of yourself in the personality Hunter portrays for himself. if you are younger, still give it a read as you will see that the more things change the more they stay the same.

Monday 28th June

Frontiers Records is very proud to present RICHIE KOTZEN new solo album entitled "Get Up"!
Richie is an accomplished guitar player and singer who has played with such multi-platinum selling bands such as POISON (on "Native Tongue" in 1993) and MR.BIG (on the studio releases "Get Over It" and "Actual Size").
As a solo artist he started even earlier with an all-instrumental album for Shrapnel Records in 1989, followed by several other releases, which helped him in creating a reputation as one of the most creative, original and gifted musicians around.
In time, Richie has also explored and developed his vocal abilities and his brand new album "Get Up" is a testament to a mature musician and songwriter.
The new album includes eleven smokin’ hard rock tracks with great emphasis on riveting guitar riffs, hooklines that stick like glue and - of course - amazing solos.
Tracklisting of the Frontiers version is as follows:
Losin' My Mind (click on the song title to hear a sample!); Fantasy (click on the song title to hear a sample!); Remember; Get Up (click on the song title to hear a sample!); So Cold; Such A Shame; Made For Tonight; Still; Never Be The Same; Special; Blame On Me*

Kingdom Come

Two years after the highly acclaimed album "Independent", Lenny Wolf has created a new masterpiece! Taking the formula that made Kingdom Come a household name during the late 1980’s and mixing it with fresh production elements and some of his strongest songwriting to date, "Perpetual" will be a surefire pleasure for new and old Kingdom Come fans alike.
After performing on some of the main summer festivals such as DEEP IMPACT, SWEDEN ROCK FESTIVAL and BANG YOUR HEAD, Kingdom Come will head to Lithuania for two shows in August and will then embark on an extensive headlining trek starting this October.
"I can’t wait to perform the new material on stage" says Wolf, "and I can guarantee you an evening of Kingdom Come that will satisfy your every need".
"Independent" will see the light of day worldwide on Frontiers Records on August the 30th 2004 with the following track listing:
Gotta Move Now; Hang 'Em High (click on the song title to hear a sample!) Crown of Moscow; Time To Realign (click on the song title to hear a sample!); Silhouette Paintings; Whit The Sun In Mind (click on the song title to hear a sample!); King of Nothing; Borrowed Time; Connecting Pain; Watch the Dragon Fly; Inhaling the Silence.
2004 could very well be the year where never selling out nor following cheap trends will pay off for Kingdom Come

MTM News:

Pulse Sign To MTM

The PULSE mainman VINCE O'REGAN came to prominence playing in MAGNUM vocalist BOB CATLEY’S solo band, playing on all tours since 2000 & the highly acclaimed “When Empires Burn” album. One of the most striking elements of the PULSE material is the superb vocalist SIMON ABBOTTS. Following the release of the debut album, the band quickly set the standard on the live circuit with appearances opening for COMPANY OF SNAKES, TOBY JEPSON (LITTLE ANGELS) and appearing at the prestigious GODS OF AOR festivals in both 2001 and 2002. The new album “Worlds Apart” produced by VINCE O'REGAN sees the band adapt a stronger guitar feel, with the silky vocals of SIMON ABBOTTS and memorable keyboard lines which mkes the album so memorable. Joining VINCE & SIMON in the studio for the new album are ANDY MILLS on bass and SCOTT BARROW on drums. “Worlds Apart” is a classic slice of pure british AOR in the vein of vigilante era MAGNUM, HEARTLAND, ATLANTIC, and early DARE. The new album is expected for a September release.
 

Tommy Denander is working on a new RADIOACTIVE album:

Tommy Denander is back in the studio working on a follow up album to “Yeah” which received enthusiastic feedback. The POWERPLAY magazine stated among others: "The album is full of great songs bristling with an impressive wealth of ideas, haunting melodies, passionate vocals by the world-class guest singers, and Tommy Denander's extra-ordinary guitar playing. No matter how hard I struggle, it's impossible to give any of the 12 songs a negative review. ... Go and listen for yourself!" On the new album you can expect classy AOR songs and as usual Tommy managed to get some big names as guest musicians: Steve Lukather, Neal Schon, Fergie Frederiksen, Bobby Kimball, Jim Peterik, Yngwie Malmsteen, Tony Franklin, Reb Beach, Michael Landau, Michael Thompson.
The album is scheduled for early 2005.
 

Cathedral

To coincide with the release of The Serpents Gold (the official best of/rarities recently released on Earache records) and as a warm up to the bands forthcoming appearance at Wacken 2004; Cathedral have announced the following three UK shows;
Thurs 29 July; Birkenhead – Hotel California
Fri 30 July; Coventry – The Jailhouse
Sat 31 July; London – The Underworld
These shows will feature the return of long time bassist Leo Smee to the stage.
In other related news, the band is currently working on material for their eighth album. This will be the bands debut for the Nuclear Blast label, set for an early 2005 release. The proposed album has a current working title of ‘Seeds of Decay’. Some working song titles include; ‘Oro the Manslayer’, ‘Corpsecycle’, ‘Sabbadaius Sabbattum’, ‘Eripmav Moon’, ‘This Body Thy Tomb’, ‘Everything Is Dying’ and ‘Upon Azraels Wings’. The album will once more feature the epic cover art of long term Cathedral artist, Dave Patchett.

Adam Bomb

New York's Adam Bomb has signed a deal with Z Records for the release of a new album during late August 2004.
Adam Bomb has released 7 albums incl his cult debut "Fatal Attraction" which was released by Geffen Records during 1984. The debut featured an all star line up including Jimmy Crespo [Aerosmith] and Cliff Williams [AC/DC]but despite MTV coverage and rave reviews the album failed to achieve the status it truly deserved. Adam continued to work with such artistes as Mike Monroe and Billy Idol whilst releasing an array of respected solo albums.

In support of the album Adam Bomb undertakes a comprehensive Uk tour in September & October. The confirmed dates are as follows:

Machine Head

Machine Head return to the UK for a tour in November/December. The dates so far confirmed are:

Southampton Guildhall November 23
Bristol Academy November 24
Glasgow Barrowlands November 27
Nottingham Rock City December 1

It is likely that more dates will be added so keep checking back for details

Rat:Daddy

Up and coming UK band Rat:Daddy undertake a series of UK dates in July and August. The band's biog states that they are "A Bit of Glam, A Bit of Sleaze, A Bit of Punk, A LOT of ROCK!!! " So if this sounds good to you then check the band out at:

Tues 6th July - The Shed, Leicester - With The Rockitts
Thurs 8th July - Snooty Fox, Wakefield
Fri 9th July - Dr Drakes, Aberdeen - With Radio Lucifer
Sat 17th July -The Well, Luton - With The Bastards
Sun 18th July - The Archer, Newcastle
Fri 23rd July - Reckless Engineer, Bristol
Sat 25th July - Eastleigh Festival
Thurs 29th July - The Standard, Walthamstow, London
Fri 30th July - Riffs Bar, Swindon
Sun Aug 1st - Joiners Arms, Southampton
Sat 14th August - Railway Inn, Winchester

Further details, sample sound clips etc can be found at www.ratdaddy.co.uk

Charts

The UK rock charts have been updated for W/C 26th June and can be viewed here

Tuesday 15th June

Frontiers Records announces the worldwide release of a new PRIDE OF LIONS single entitled "Black Ribbons (Voices Of The World)" on August 30th 2004.
The song represents the band’s fitting tribute to the terrorist attacks happened in Madrid on March the 11th 2004 which caused 190 innocent victims. Enjoy a 90 sec. mp3 sample (click on the song title to hear a 1.30 minutes sample) : Black Ribbons
Songwriter Jim Peterik says: "The song Black Ribbons is our heartfelt tribute to the people of Spain who just endured such an immense national tragedy on March 11th, 2004. The song just poured out of me when I saw the news on CNN - the senseless loss of lives, the mourning families and a country in shock.
The black ribbons that the people were wearing and displaying in windows seems to be a fitting symbol of this day. Hopefully Pride Of Lions will help remind everyone in the pride we all take in our freedom and safety in this world.
"Voices Of The World, rise today in prayer"- and pray that better days will come and that this humble music can make some sort of difference in this confusing world".
Part of the profits of this release will be donated to the Spanish Association of the Victims of Terrorism.
The single will also include two previously unreleased Pride of Lions live recordings of "Gone" and of the Survivor classic "I Can’t Hold Back".

Danny Vaughn

Frontiers Records is pleased to present the new cover artwork of the highly anticipated return from DANNY VAUGHN singer of TYKETTO and VAUGHN to Melodic Rock in the studio project called FROM THE INSIDE. Release date for this amazing album has now been scheduled for August 30th 2004 on Frontiers Records.

Saxon

Long-running British heavy metallers SAXON have set "Lionheart" as the title of their new album, due on September 20 through SPV Records. Taking care of all drumming duties on the CD is Jörg Michael (STRATOVARIUS), who will also join the group on their upcoming tour, according to Germany's Rock Hard magazine. Previous SAXON skinsman Fritz Randow has reportedly left the band in order to concentrate on other projects and may rejoin the group at some point in the future.
 

Papa Roach

Papa Roach are to issue their third album in September entitled 'Getting Away With Murder'. The album has been produced by Howard Benson. The band have currently lined up a series of summer US dates, however at this time there is no news on any forthcominh UK shows. More details can be found at www.paparoach.com

Dio

According to www.metaluk.com the release of the new Dio album, 'Master Of The Moon' has been pushed back from July to September. The follow-up to 2002's "Killing the Dragon" features lyrics that are are "cynical" and "political", with the music being a mixture of up-tempo and doomy tracks, according to frontman Ronnie James Dio. Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "The Man Who Would Be King", "Living A Lie" and "The End of the World". "Master of the Moon" will be released by SPV in Europe.

Tour Dates

Clawfinger play London Garage on 24th September

Hurricane Party, who recently supported Queensryche at London Astoria, play London Metro Club on 3rd July

Nightwish, who recently released their new album 'Once' have two confirmed UK shows at Nottingham Rock City on July 14th and London Astoria on 16th July

Zodiac Mindwarp plays London Underworld on July 24th

Charts

The new UK Rock single and album charts for W/C 13th June have been uploaded and can be viewed here

On a note of interest the new Velvet Revolver album 'Contraband' that was released on 7th June does not appear in the rock charts, however it has charted at Number 11 in the main album charts and therefore shares a top twenty position with Guns and Roses greatest hits album.

Wednesday 9th June

According to TotalRock.com Slayer and Slipknot are to tour the UK together later in the year. At present the confirmed dates for what is being dubbed 'The Unholy Alliance Tour' are as follows: 

Glasgow SECC October 3
Birmingham NIA 5
Manchester MEN Arena 6
Cardiff International Arena 8
London Hammersmith Apollo 9

Blink 182 Tour Dates

Blink 182 have confirmed a series of UK dates for December. The confirmed shows are as follows:

Birmingham NEC November 30
Newcastle Metro Radio Arena December 2
Manchester MEN Arena 3
London Wembley Arena 5
Cardiff International Arena 7
Nottingham Arena 8

Maiden To Tour In 2005?

According to www.maidenfans.com Iron Maiden are likely to undertake a summer festival tour once more in 2005. The text of the full post is shown below:

"On the latest Air Show that Bruce co-hosted on BBC Scotland, the Maiden frontman did confirm that Maiden would be touring in the summer 2005 !
Since he said that he would meet the other Maiden boys in the summer, it would mean that the tour would again be a festival one, since there was no mention of writing sessions prior to that.
Speaking about the album that had won the BBC Scotland Air Show poll, Dickinson also put to rest once and for all the myth that the famous actor Vincent Price was behind the intro voice of the 'Number of the Beast' song.
Maiden apparently asked him to voice it, but he declined to do it for anything less that £25000. Having heard of someone reading ghost stories in the Capitol Radio station, they got him to put on a Vincent Price-style voice. He was a thespian and had no interest in Iron Maiden whatsoever. The result is history. "

Nick Oliveri

Former Queens Of The Stone Age bassist Nick Oliveri releases a solo acoustic album entitled 'All Is Forgotten' through Duna Records on July 5th.

The LP features Oliveri's acoustic songs which fans have been treated to on his recent one-man unplugged tours of the US and Europe.
He said: "It was a hard record to make. I never made an acoustic record before. Some of it is just me and an acoustic [guitar] recorded live in the studio, just singing and playing. But I added a lot of other guitars and other stuff, acoustic bass. There's no drums or anything like that."
The album will feature 21 tracks on CD format, while a 15-track vinyl will also come out. Songs set to feature on 'All Is Forgotten' include 'Brown Pussy', 'One More Time In Hell', 'Demolition Day', 'Paper Thin' and 'All That I've Got' - a track Oliveri originally wrote for the next QOTSA record.

Monday 7th June

Majestic Records have released the artwork for the upcoming album from Waysted due on September 7th.  The album, which sees Pete Way reunited with vocalist Fin and guitarist Paul Chapman will be called 'Back From The Dead'

AntiProduct

AntiProduct have just released the following email to the fans detailing upcoming gigs and plans for a new single

'Hey there,

Time for another AntiProduct news round-up.  The band head to Holland on 5th June for two shows (including the Musicon Festival, Den Haag) before returning to the UK for a full tour with Trashlight Vision, Acey Slade's (Murderdolls) new band.  A few solo headline gigs and festival appearances are also in the pipeline - see below for details.

A brand new single is planned for release in July/August, and we want you to help us choose the A-side. There's a poll on the news page of the website where you can place your vote:

http://www.antiproduct.com/news.php

We have a pretty good idea of the song selection, but want to see if everyone agrees.

Finally, we have a special feature on the progress of Simon Gonk's foot, which was broken after the recent Exeter Cavern show with Electric Eel Shock. Check out the very latest on the site:

http://www.antiproduct.com/features/gonkfoot.shtml

Despite the Gonk being out of action, upcoming tour commitments will be fulfilled thanks to stand-in drummer Gaf The Awesome, landlord at the band's rehearsal studio, who happens to be a great drummer!

TOUR DATES
See the website for the latest ticket information:

5th June - Musicon Festival, Den Haag, Holland
12th June - De Piek, Vlissegen, Holland

* With Trashlight Vision:

1st July - Stourbridge Rock Cafe *
2nd July - Newcastle Arena Foyer *
3rd July - Blackburn, King George's Hall *
6th July - London Underworld *
7th July - Bristol, The Fleece *
8th July - Newport TJ's (AntiProduct Solo Headline Show)
10th July - Cleethorpes Winter Gardens *
11th July - Leeds Met. University *

23rd July - Wickerman Festival, Dumfries, Scotland
25th July - Edinburgh, Music Box
30th July - Stockton Free Festival (Headline Slot)
1st August - London Astoria (w/Twisted Sister)
25th August - Scarborough, Sound Wave Festival'
 

Van Halen

The reunited Van Halen, with Sammy Hagar, release their new complilation album, entitled 'Best Of Both Worlds' on July 19th. The album will be a two disc set and is set to include the following tracks.

Eruption, Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love, When It's Love, Finish What Ya Started, You Really Got Me, Feels So Good, Jamie's Cryin', Black and Blue, Runnin' With the Devil, Poundcake, Beautiful Girls, Runaround, Dance the Night Away, Right Now, And the Cradle Will Rock..., Top of the World, Everybody Wants Some!!, Can't Stop Lovin' You, Unchained, Not Enough, Dancing in the Street, It's About Time (NEW!), Learning To See (NEW!), Up For Breakfast (NEW!), (Oh) Pretty Woman, Hot For Teacher, Jump, Panama, I'll Wait, Why Can't This Be Love, Dreams, Best of Both Worlds, Love Walks In, Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love (Live), Jump (Live), Panama (Live)

Megadeth

TotalRock.com are reporting that Megadeth have a title for their new lbum, due for release through Sanctuary in mid-September. It's to be called 'The System Has Failed'. The album features Mega founder Dave Mustaine, plus bassist Jimmy Sloas and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, plus a guest appearance by original 'Deth guitarist Chris Poland. In related news the band release remixed and remastered versions of seven of their back catalogue albums on August 8th. The albums in questions are ‘Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying’, ‘So Far, So Good…So What’, ‘Rust In Peace’, ‘Countdown To Extinction’, ‘Youthanasia’, ‘Cryptic Writings’ and ‘Risk’.
 

Creed Split Up

In an announcement on their website Creed have announced that they will be disbanding. The full press release is shown below:

'One of the most successful songwriting partnerships and groups in the history of the music business disbands after nearly a decade together.
New York --- After nearly a decade together, Creed has decided to disband. During their 8 years and 3 albums together (My Own Prison, Human Clay, Weathered) Creed achieved countless Rock & Roll milestones and sold over 30 million albums worldwide. With their unprecedented success at radio and their captivating live shows, Creed became one of the most successful acts to rule the charts over the past ten years.
Creed songwriter/ guitarist Mark Tremonti has decided to join forces with Creed drummer Scott Phillips, original Creed bassist Brian Marshall and former Mayfield Four singer/ songwriter Myles Kennedy. The new band, named Alter Bridge, will release their debut album on Wind-up Records on August 10th of this year. Expect a promotional acoustic tour of radio stations later this Summer, followed by a worldwide tour to begin in late August or early September.
Creed songwriter / singer Scott Stapp has been busy in the studio writing and recording over the past several months. His first post-Creed recording will be featured on an album coming on August 31st via Wind-up Records that will pool together superstar talent, as they individually offer compositions inspired by the film The Passion of the Christ. Simultaneously to tracking his contributions to the Passion title, Stapp will continue to work with producer 7 Aurelius, and has joined forces with Canadian rockers The Tea Party to work on his solo debut.
On the dissolution of Creed, Tremonti commented, "It's kind of sad to end a chapter of your life, but it's also exciting to be starting a new one. We'll always be proud of the music we made with Creed, but Alter Bridge gives me the opportunity to start over with a different perspective and a more evolved direction. This band begins and ends with the love of the music." Phillips continues, "Creed was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but I'm really excited to be starting over as well. The most significant things that we are taking from the Creed experience are the lessons that we learned. We truly believe that the decisions we've made for our future are the right ones. After writing and rehearsing the new material, we are confident that we've made the right choices."
Stapp shared, "Creed was one of the most amazing journeys through music and friendship I am blessed to say I was a part of. I made memories I can never replace! I just want to thank the fans who supported us and became a part of the Creed experience. We could not have accomplished anything without you!(fans)."
Also in 2004, Wind-up Records will be releasing a Creed Greatest Hits compilation. Details will be made available as plans for the album take shape.'
 

Site Updates

The Rock Charts section has been updated with the new charts for w/c 6th June are now on line and can be viewed here

There are loads of new albums around at the minute that I have bought but not yet had a chance to review due to time pressure. If anyone would like to submit a review of any recent albums then please do so via the email button at the top of the page and I will post it up.

Thursday 3rd June

HIM To Tour The UK

To follow up their appearance at this year's Download Festival, Finnish band HIM bring their brand of dark, romantic rock to the UK for a full tour in October this year. The band play 10 shows starting in Exeter on 14th October. Tickets go on sale from Friday 4th June

14th Oct EXETER University
15th Oct CARDIFF University
16th Oct PORTSMOUTH Guildhall
17th Oct CAMBRIDGE Corn Exchange
19th Oct NORWICH UEA
20th Oct WOLVERHAMPTON Civic Hall
21st Oct LIVERPOOL Uni (The Academy)
25th Oct NEWCASTLE Northumbria Uni
26th Oct LEEDS University
27th Oct MANCHESTER Carling Apollo
31st Oct HAMMERSMITH Carling Apollo

Magnum

As well as releasing their new studio album, entitled 'Brand New Morning' on August 30th and hitting the road for a series of UK shows in September & October. Magnum also will release an album entitled 'The River Sessions' though River Records on July 28th. The album was recorded at Glasgow Mayfair on 28th May 1985 and will contain the following tracklisting: 'Before First Light / The Spirit / All England’s Eyes / The Lights Burned Out / Endless Love / How Far Jerusalem / On A Story Tellers Night / The Prize / Les Morts Dansant / Just Like An Arrow / Two Hearts / Soldier Of The Line / Changes / Kingdom Of Madness / Sacred Hour / The Last Dance'

Tuesday 1st June

Thanks to everyone who has mailed me whilst I have been offline. I will get round to replying to everyone as time permits.

In the meantime here's the first update for a while:

Danny Vaughn

Frontiers Records is particularly proud to announce all details of the upcoming studio project featuring DANNY VAUGHN from TYKETTO on all lead vocals, called FROM THE INSIDE.

This brand new studio project came from the idea of bringing back Danny to the melodic rock sounds that launched the Nashville-based singer into the stardom, that is to say Tyketto's first album "Don't Come Easy

"In many ways, it's the most melodic rock album I've done in a long time", says Danny, also adding "There are definitely some unusual things on it and some opportunities for me to try new things as a singer. Listening back to it finished, I think we took some interesting chances but still made one of the most AOR recordings that I have done in a long time

The album took just a few months from its inception to be completed. Danny started the vocals during January 2004 on the sound basis prepared by producer Fabrizio Grossi (Vertigo, House of Lords, Over The Edge) in Los Angeles.

Danny contributed to the project with 3 brand new of his tracks and another 2 co-written with Grossi. "My favourite", continues Danny, "is a song written by the producer, Fabrizio and myself, called "Nothing At All

The recording and the mix have been completed during April 2004 when Danny flew to LA to shoot a video for the song "Nothing At All

The album caught immediately the interest of the prestigious Japanese label Marquee / Avalon who signed the project immediately when heard it and coordinated with Frontiers a release for late August 2004.

Nexx

The highly rated Spanish band has started the recordings of the demos for their second album. Some of the potential songs for the album have already been showcased live, including "Praying for a life", "Hey Dad (I'm not used to)" or "Again", and it seems, from the excellent public reaction, that the band is going in the right direction.

The next NEXX show will be in BARCELONA, Saturday June 5th, with Hardreams and Blowzy, in Mephisto venue at 20:30 h. Tickets in advance at 8 euros (10 euros at the door of the venue).

Frontiers Records Update

Frontiers Records is pleased to announce the details of the release of Italian prog-metal hopefuls MIND KEY with their debut album "Journey Of A Rough Diamond".
Mind Key is a band based around the talents of founding members Dario de Cicco (keyboards) and Emanuele Colella (guitars) who put up the band back in 1999, with the task to form a unit capable to recreate the elements of the sound of such symphonic metal bands as Symphony X, Elegy, Dream Theater and Royal Hunt with major emphasis on melodies and a more song oriented approach.
After several line-up changes and a demo which received excellent responses from the Italian specialized rock and metal press, the band was signed by Frontiers Records back in 2003 and went to the studio to record the debut album "Journey Of a Rough Diamond".The band's line-up now includes also: Lele Castaldo on bass, Marco Basile on vocals and Andrea Stipa on drums.
 

"Journey Of a Rough Diamond" includes the following tracks: Secret Dreams,  Love Remains The Same, Deep Inside; Memory Calling; Lord Of The Flies; World Of Illusion; Without Rain; Waiting For The Answer.
The band will exclusively showcase the songs from the new CD at the Magna Grecia Metal Festival in Napoli, Italy on June 25th 2004 where they will support Vision Divine and Marshall.
Worldwide release date of Mind Key's "Joruney Of a Rough Diamond" has been set for July 12th on Frontiers Records.


Hardline

Singer Johnny Gioeli was kind enough to send an update about his current activities.
Firstly Johnny has now an officially dedicated website called that featuring a full biography, discography, news, pictures and trivia. There is also a forum where the fans can meet and discuss the various items related to Hardline and the singer's career.
Johnny is also saying about Hardline III, the album currently in the works: "The record has a working title of "Just Add Water" ...It will have an even closer sound to the Hardline I album... power ballads... killer melody... my best work yet! I feel excited like a hooker on 5th Avenue...".
Tracking of the album is set to commence during the summertime with delivery expected later in the fall.


Madmen & Sinners

Frontiers Records is pleased to announce to have reached an agreement for the license in the USA of the Tim Donahue's "Madmen & Sinners" featuring James La Brie album through Cleopatra Music Group. This will allow all US music fans to purchase the latest progressive metal piece with a domestic price. More details on the release date as soon as they become available.

Lana Lane

Frontiers Records is proud to announce LANA LANE's newest live release, "Return to Japan", a double CD release over 2 hours in length that chronicles the vocalist's last four Japanese tours from 1998 to 2002.
Disc One contains full band performances from the concerts at Club Citta (2002) and Club Quattro (1999) and Disc Two contains acoustic duo performances of Lana Lane and Erik Norlander recorded in Japan from 1998 - 2002 along with remastered full band versions of Lana's renditions of the classics "In the Court of the Crimson King" and "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" from Club Quattro in 1999.
"Return to Japan" includes a full color 20-page booklet with extensive liner notes by producer Erik Norlander and great live photos from the Japanese tours. While they do not have identical track listings, "Return to Japan" is the CD companion to the new Lana Lane DVD, "Storybook: Tales from Europe and Japan".