Following the release of debut album “When Your Heart Stops Beating”, +44 announce UK tour dates for 2007

In September, former blink-182 members Travis Barker and Mark Hoppus introduced their new band to the UK with their second ever gig, to a sold-out crowd at London’s Astoria. During the following European promo dates it was discovered that Travis had been drumming with a broken arm for 3 weeks, which led to some rescheduling of the first leg of their American tour. Not one to be deterred, Travis has learnt the band’s set drumming with just one arm and the band are already back out on the road.

Tickets go on sale on Friday 1st December for the following dates in February 2007. Album title-track “When Your Heart Stops Beating” will be released as a single at this time

Feb 3rd - London Brixton Academy
Feb 4th - Nottingham Rock City
Feb 5th - Glasgow Academy
Feb 7th - Newcastle Academy
Feb 8th - Manchester Academy
Feb 9th - Southampton Guildhall

British metal stalwarts Saxon play a one off UK show Sheffield City Hall on Friday the January 26th

Bloodstock have released the first details of their plans for both the Open Air & the Indoor Festivals in 2007. Bloodstock Open Air takes place between July 7th & 8th and the first band confirmed for the bill is Korpiklaani, recently seen supporting Dream Evil at Camden Underworld. The indoor festival takes place between 31st August & September 1st with bands already confirmed for the bill including Power Quest, Blitzkrieg & Sinner. More info and new at www.bloodstock.uk.com

Singer/songwriter Russ Ballard has a new studio album available via his website: www.russ-ballard.com The album, entitled 'Book Of Love'  features the following tracks:

It's My Life (Stand In My Shoes) . Crazy World . In The Dark . When You Sleep . Love Works In Strange Ways . Like Father Like Son . Is There Anybody Out There . I'm Just Not Made For This World . Just Like Me . On To The Next . This Is Not A Love Song . The Road Has No Turning . In My Darkest Hour . Book Of Love . In To The Light  and Wonderful World.

Gotthard have just started the recordings for their new album, with a release already scheduled for April 27th, 2007 via Nuclear Blast. They touring activities will start with a club tour through Scandinavia, followed by the summer festivals and a big indoor tour starting October 2007 which will take them on the road for at least 5 months.

Planet Rock Radio have announced details of their Christmas Party to round off 2006 in style. The event takes place at The Carling Academy Islington in London on Tuesday 19th December with special guests Thunder playing an exclusive set and Planet Rock's very own presenters providing some heavy classic rock anthems to kick the season into oblivion. There will also be a chance to win yourself your very own Les Paul, an Epiphone Les Paul Special II electric guitar in ebony to be precise....courtesy of Gibson Guitars.

For details on how you can win one of three hundred pairs of tickets for the show then visit www.planetrock.com

Following up on a story from 28th November, the proposed December UK tour featuring Trashlight Vision & B* Movie Heroes has been cancelled

San Diego wrecking crew As I Lay Dying have confirmed that they will be taking time out from the final stage of the writing process for their, as yet untitled, third album (due for spring release via Metal Blade) to finish their UK tour dates as guests to Bullet For My Valentine which were postponed due to bullet vocalist Matt Tuck being struck down with laryngitis brought on from a throat infection and fatigue.

The rescheduled dates are as follows:

JANUARY 2007

Wednesday 3rd Newcastle Academy
Thursday 4th Manchester Apollo
Friday 5th Birmingham Academy
Sunday 7th Cardiff University
Monday 8th Hammersmith Apollo

Frontiers Records have announced the release of Danny Vaughn's's new album "Traveller" on February 16th 2007

"Traveller is the best album of my career", proudly states Danny Vaughn. And that's quite a challenge if you consider the high calibre of his musical output over the years.

Coming out of nowhere, he became the lead singer of WAYSTED in 1986 and released the band's most highly acclaimed album, "Save Your Prayers". He learned his trade by opening up for IRON MAIDEN in stadiums and arenas around the world. From there, Danny formed the now legendary group, TYKETTO, in 1990 and released "Don't Come Easy", still regarded today as a benchmark in the Melodic Rock genre. Moving from strength to "Strength In Numbers" was a powerful follow up, but even with 150,000 albums sold, 3 videos and countless tours under his belt, the disappointing changes in the music industry in the mid 90's soon led Danny to, unhappily, leave the band.

In 1999 Danny reunited with former TYKETTO companions: Michael Clayton Arbeeny and Jaimie Scott, to release two very well received albums, "Soldiers And Sailors On Riverside" and "Fearless", under the band name VAUGHN. These were Danny's songs, done in his own style and he was writing better than ever.

In 2003, Danny was approached by Frontiers Records with the idea of releasing a project-record more in the classic Melodic Rock vein, using songs from other writers as well as some of his own. Produced by Fabrizio Grossi, the album FROM THE INSIDE was heralded as a major triumph and a return to the style for which Danny is best known.

So, with all of that, and more to his credit, how could he be so confident in the new album, "Traveller"?

Best to hear it from the man himself: "After several meetings with Frontiers, we all agreed that my next album had to be not only a classic melodic sound, but also a step forward, and it had to be very special. By this time, I had done a couple of years of touring with an all English band, which featured a twin guitar attack, and much heavier sound than I had been known for before. This was well received by audiences all over the UK and Europe, so I had the task of working on songs that reflected that new, live attitude. The band, Tony Marshall (CONTAGIOUS) and Pat Heath (BRAVE NEW WORLD) on guitars, Steve McKenna (TEN) on bass and Lee Morris (PARADISE LOST) on drums, took up the challenge of not only recreating our on stage fire, but recording an album with a very layered and full production. So many of these songs allowed me, as singer, writer and producer to try a lot of ideas that I always had in mind and the result is a monster! While a ll the elements of my usual song writing style are there, there is much less of a reliance on acoustic instruments than on previous albums. Yes, there are still a couple of acoustic songs (it wouldn't be me without them) but, the number of fast paced rockers is much higher than I have done before. I can't wait to play these songs live as they are born to be performed on stage! Clocking in at an hour long, it has a little bit of everything that has come before, and some brand new ideas all in one package. It takes you from place to place, from mood to mood, seamlessly, and we are all extremely excited to have our fans hear it."

"Traveller" is set for release on February 16th 2007 on Frontiers Records with a Japanese release to happen on King Records.

The final track listing for 'Traveller' is as follows:

Miracle Days; Badlands Rain; Traveller; Restless Blood; That's What She Says; The Touch of Your Hand; Lifted; The Warrior's Way; The Measure of a Man; Think of Me In The Fall; Death of The Tiger and Better By Far.

Veteran hardcore punks GBH are heading out on the road in December with selected dates around the UK, in addition to a quick  trek to Italy.

With three of the original quartet still delivering their unique brand of sardonic thrash-punk after twenty six years and still going strong, what better Christmas present could you give to the punk in your life than a ticket to see the midlands based foursome at one of the following shows:

3rd December - Glasgow Carling Academy
21st December - London Islington Carling Academy
22nd December - Newcastle Carling Academy
23rd December - Birmingham Carling Academy

HardRockHouse will of course be bringing you a full review of the Newcastle show

Swedish Powerhouse IMPIOUS has finished recordings for their forthcoming new album “Holy Murder Masquerade“!

“The album was mainly recorded at my own “Studio Deadline””, comments guitarist Valle Adzic. “Only drums were recorded at Studio Mega. Simply because when it was time for recording the drums, my studio wasn’t quite finished.”
The new album is different to it´s predecessor. “We had one goal: To make the songs more simple and memorable. We wanted more songs that people can easily sing along with on concerts. When we were done with the album, we realized we had a little bit more melodies than before, and the average tempo was a bit slower. But it still sounds like Impious… just a little bit more Impious than before.”

“Holy Murder Masquerade” is a concept album, a real bloody one indeed. “We hired this Italian guy Andrea Cavaletto who does horror comics for a living. The whole booklet is made like a comic book, with the lyrics inserted in those speech balloons just like in an ordinary comic book. We also hired professional voice actors to bring life to the characters. The story is about this guy, Trent, who is a true servant of God. At least according to his own sick mind. He’s soon to complete his work and the listener/reader gets to follow him as he arrives at his final destination. There are a lot of deaths, violence, blood, etc... It’s a brutal story indeed.”
“I actually came up with the comic idea after reading a review where it said the music was very good, but not original. That got me thinking… I didn’t want to change our music, so what was there more to change? Well, the lyrical part! And from that moment everything just came to me. Why not make a concept album where the listener can follow the whole story both sonically, lyrically and even visually?? So we did! It took us thousands and thousands hours of work, but we did it! This way you get a whole new experience, and you definitely miss out on very much if you just download the album on the internet.”

“When we recorded the title track “Holy Murder Masquerade” we felt that the song needed some screaming vocals. So we contacted long time friend Thomas Backelin from Lord Belial, and he was happy to do it.”

The cover for Holy Murder Masquerade was produced by Justin Kamerer who work in the past has included bands like Slayer, Slipknot, Mudvayne and Black Sabbath. The final track listing for the album, which is released through Metal Blade on January 29th is as follows:

The Confession, Bound To Bleed (For A Sacred Need), T.P.S., Bloodcraft, Holy Murder Masquerade, Death On Floor 44, Slaughtertown Report, Three Of One, Everlasting Punishment, Purified By Fire and Dark Closure

New Jersey quintet Senses Fail are set to follow up their triumphant Taste Of Chaos stint with a new single and a headline tour across the UK in Feb 2007.

'Can't Be Saved' (taken from the smash 'Still Searching' album) will be released on Vagrant Records to coincide with the UK trek.

Dates are:
Feb 6 Glasgow, King Tuts
Feb 7 Manchester, Academy 3
Feb 8 Birmingham, Academy 2
Feb 9 Cardiff, Barfly
Feb 10 London, Carling Islington Academy

Support comes from The Sleeping.

Following on from the success of 2005’s debut album ‘Tilting at Windmills’ (Diablo Music / Pinnacle) Oxford quartet Dive Dive are about to unleash yet another highly impressive slice of British Punkrock in the shape of ‘The Revenge of the Mechanical Dog’. Originally spawned from John Peel favourites Dustball (doing an impressive five sessions for the radio veteran) Dive Dive splice elements of early Idelwild, Sex Pistols and Buzzcocks among others to create something rather special and original.

In their short history Dive Dive have played over 300 shows, toured with the likes of Funeral For A Friend, The Ordinary Boys and Franz Ferdinand and been joined onstage by members of Radiohead. The band are now set to storm the UK with Frank Turner (ex-Million Dead) in support of their second album you can catch them at the following venues:

Wed 24-Jan-07 – Leeds, Josephs Well
Sun 28-Jan-07 – Nottingham, Social
Wed 7-Feb-07 – Cambridge, The Loft
Sun 11-Feb-07 – York, Fibbers
Mon 12-Feb-07 – Birmingham, Bar Academy
Tue 13-Feb-07 – London, Borderline


‘The Revenge of the Mechanical Dog’ is release on January 22nd on Land Speed Records and the track listing includes:

Let The Blind Lead The Blind, The Game, Cuts And Bruises, Seven Of Eight, Maybe I'm OK, Holding Back The Broken Door, Take It, It's Yours, Talentless Fucks, Clarence Boddiker, Perfectly Pathetic, This Ain't Jetplane and Idiot Parade

London Riff monsters End of Level Boss (featuring ex Hangnail member and current Firebird Bassist Harry Armstrong. Also Sloth Guitar player Roland Scriver) will be playing two shows on these shores in December. The details are as follows.

Friday 1st December. End of Level Boss + Skypilot + Haietta. Fibber Magees, Parnell Street Dublin. Doors 9.00PM, €3.00

Saturday 2nd December. End of Level Boss + Skypilot + Libidoswitch. Katy Dalys, Ormeau Avenue, Belfast. Doors 3.30pm, Admission £4.

NYC rock 'n' rollers Trashlight Vision (led by Murderdolls' Acey Slade) return to the UK for the second time this year in support of their critically acclaimed debut album 'Alibis & Ammunition'. Having toured Europe earlier this year with the Backyard Babies, the band will return this month and December with their own headline tour. Joining the band will be Worcester rockers B* Movie Heroes ­ who's debut album for Undergroove 'Calibrate' has been getting rave reviews everywhere! The full dates for the tour are as follows:

November
29- Jilly¹s Rock World Manchester
December
1 - Mean Fiddler, ROCK (18+) London*
2 - Wolverhampton, Generation
3 - Wrexham, Central Station
4 - Sheffield, Corporation
6 - Edinburgh, Subway
7 - Hull, Adelphi
8 - Nottingham, Junction 7
9 - Dundee - Doghouse
10 - Dumfries - The Venue
11 - Glasgow, Cathouse
12 ­ Aberdeen Cafe Drummond*
13 - London, Barfly (14+)
14 - Southampton, Joiners
* - TLV only not BMH

Cornerstone (with ex Rainbow singer Doogie White and ex Royal Hunt bass player Steen Mogensen) will release their new album "Two Tales Of One Tomorrow" on 23rd February 2007 through Massacre Records

Dec. 26 - Rock City - Nottingham, UK
Dec. 27 - Shepherd's Bush Empire - London, UK
Dec. 28 - Corporation - Sheffield, UK
Dec. 29 - Academy - Newcastle, UK
Dec. 30 - Garage - Glasgow, UK

UK hard rock heroes Bullet for my Valentine have unfortunately been forced to cancel the remaining dates on their current sold out UK tour as well as a string of US dates that followed throughout December. With a heavy heart, singer and front man Matt Tuck has had to take a break due to laryngitis brought on from a throat infection and fatigue

Matt Tuck:
"To everyone that was coming to our shows this week, we are so, so sorry about this. I feel so bad that I'm letting you guys down, we were looking forward to this tour as much as you were cos these are the biggest shows we've ever done. The truth is I just don't have the power in my voice that I need to put on the kind of blindin' show you expect to see and hear from Bullet. I promise you these dates would not have been pulled it wasn't for a damn good reason, and unfortunately for you guys, and us, the docs are telling me to take it easy and rest up. We are NOT cancelling these shows but just postponing them. We will also be back in Edinburgh to do a full show for you guys to make up for the gig we played on Monday that we had to cut short. I promise you we WILL be back - see the website for all the re-scheduled dates. Thanks for your all your messages of support, they really mean a lot to me. See you in January, Matt."

As Matt says above, all of the UK dates have however been rescheduled to January, apart from Brighton, where refunds for the show will be available from the point of purchase. The band did everything it could do reschedule this show as well but there was unfortunately just no venue availability. They will return to Brighton later in 2007

Re-scheduled UK dates are:
Wed 3 Jan - Newcastle Academy
Thursday 4 Jan - Manchester Apollo
Fri 5 Jan - Birmingham Academy
Sun 7 Jan - Cardiff University
Mon 8 Jan - Hammersmith Apollo
 

Incubus, who release their latest Brendan O'Brien produced album 'Light Grenades' on Nov 27th have lined up a UK tour in March/April next year. The dates so far confirmed are:

Feb 18th - Sheffield Corporation
Feb 19th - Newcastle Carling academy
Feb 20th - Manchester Musicbox
Feb 21st - Southampton Joiners
Feb 22nd - London Camden Underworld

Lion Music will issue two albums in December, these are:

Patrick Carlsson - Melodic Travel & Satyrian's Tne Dark Gift EP

Settler’s Pleasure, Battlefield, Kristiina’s Song, Caribbean Uptempo, Gate to Heaven, Liberty City, Luxian Minor, Archipelago Blues, Night Vision, The Great A, Hip ‘n Melodic, Desederia, Happy Quarter, Naboo, Spanish Vaganza and  Silence

The release of the internationally acclaimed “Eternitas” album saw Satyrian gain a solid fan base. Now to round out the year the band have put together a special EP entitled “The Dark Gift” which shows a different side to the classy Gothic metal exploits of the debut, with “The Dark Gift” presenting another face of the band.

“The Dark Gift” EP gives an alternative look for the fans to the music of Satyrian and also breaks musical borders with its remixes made by TmV from the Finnish gothic and Electro band “Shade Factory” and by Roman Schoensee of “The Dreamside”, as well as Satyrian’s own Jan Yrlund during the last six months. Satyrian guitarist Jan Yrlund describes the EP as “ an add on to the Eternitas album” which will delight gothic fans with its new remixes.

“The Dark Gift” is presented as a limited edition digi-pack package with stunning artwork with the following track listing:

Invictus (Master of Fate ReMix), The Dark Gift (The Lygophilia ReMix), Eternitas (Infinite Synthesis), Fall From Grace (The Fallen Remix), The Dark Gift (TimV Fused Radio Edit), No Tears, No Embrace (The Satyr’s Cave Club Remix), Ewigkeit (Ikuisuus Chill Out ReMix) and The Dark Gift.

What happens with two of today's most successful classic rockers join forces to create an album of songs that have been a source of inspiration for their respective multi-Platinum careers?

The result is "Influence", the sophomore album by SHAW / BLADES --led by STYX/DAMN YANKEES guitarist/vocalist Tommy Shaw and NIGHT RANGER / DAMN YANKEES bassist/vocalist Jack Blades -- which is set for release February 16, 2007 in Europe on Frontiers Records. The self-produced album was mixed by Noel Golden (Matchbox Twenty, Willie Nelson) and Great White keyboardist/guitarist Michael Lardie.

"Influence" is the duo's first album since their recently re-released 1995 debut, "Hallucination". Like the debut--and unlike their history-carving decades as icons in the more hard-rock minded Styx, Night Ranger and Damn Yankees--the latest release is rooted in acoustic guitar and organic production, harvesting a decade of musical influences into 11 tracks (on which Blades and Shaw played all the music except for drums and the occasional keyboards). With classics from the '60s and '70s including the Mamas and the Papas' "California Dreamin'," Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" and Steely Dan's "Dirty Work," "Influence" offers a track-by-track chronology of the musical era that helped define nowadays rock music.

Whether the songs are delivered in faithful tribute, as is the case with Simon & Garfunkel's epic masterpiece "Sounds Of Silence," or given a modern rock transfusion, as in the duo's 1966 folk anthem "I Am A Rock," the results are the same, sparkling like a beacon illuminating the mainstream roots of rock and roll's formative years.

"I cringe at the thought of Paul Simon hearing our stuff," laughs Blades, only half-jokingly. "I honor his spirit so much, and I'm such a huge fan. As far as I'm concerned, they invented the word genius to go along with him, and we just wanted to make sure that we did their songs justice. Tommy and I have that special symbiotic relationship that doesn't come along a lot. Simon & Garfunkel also had it, we have a reverence to it, and it was something that we just wanted to dig into."

"As writers, we're like two old friends who finish each other's sentences," adds Shaw. "We became best friends as a result of the music and the experiences we've had because of it."

But "Influence" isn't about the experiences of SHAW / BLADES, it's about the inspiration that helped create the experiences. "This album has been years in the making," continues the Styx/Damn Yankees guitarist. "The recording process didn't take years, but the concept had been looming in our conversations for a long time. We'd always sit around with a couple of guitars and play songs we both knew from or younger days, spontaneous harmonizing and all that, and we slowly eased into the idea of making this record."

One of the most prolific duos in the history of hard rock, Shaw and Blades have sold more than 50 million albums amongst their three bands, scored 12 Top 10 singles on the Billboard "Hot 100" chart, debuted 16 albums in the Billboard "Top 200" albums chart, and share joint songwriting credits for the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, Aerosmith, Cher and Alice Cooper.

Even so, "Influence" offered the pair an invigorating musical freedom. "With Shaw / Blades," offers Blades, "we're able to take liberties that our respective bands couldn't do. We need to be Styx-sounding, we need to fit in that Night Ranger world, and we even need to think about Damn Yankees, so that's what's fun about Shaw / Blades--we get to be our alter-egos when we want to be, yet we can truly be ourselves. We grew up singing harmonies and songs with massive vocals, so it's a wonderful thing to have that freedom here. This was a complete labor of love."

"You can always tell a brilliant song, whether it was written 30 years ago or yesterday," says Blades. "Every song we picked is identifiable in its own right, and they're all immediately recognizable. What does that tell you? That the songs are the stars. That's what we wanted to do on this record, we wanted the songs to be the stars. I think that's what we accomplished."

The complete track listing is as follows:
Summer Breeze, Time Of The Season, Your Move, I Am A Rock , Lucky Man, Sounds Of Silence, California Dreamin' , On A Carousel, Dirty Work, For What It's Worth and Dance With Me

SHAW / BLADES "Influence" will be released in Europe on February 16th 2007 with release in Japan scheduled on King Records.

Steve Harris' daughter Lauren Harris and her band have been added to Maiden's European Tour for all dates from and including Den Bosch Holland on Nov 26 through to the two nights at Earls Court, London Dec 22 and 23.

Says manager Rod Smallwood; ' Lauren supported Maiden in Japan on our first two Euro shows in Denmark and went down extremely well with those audiences so we all thought why not put her on the other shows too as an addition to the bill. Nearly all the shows are already sold out and as all the halls are standing on the floor and fans like to get in position at the barriers early this would be great for those fans to be entertained during the period before the show would usually start, so it’s a bit extra for those fans. Lauren will play for about 25 min each night prior to Trivium. This will not change the current running times of our shows or the sets played by Iron Maiden and Trivium - its an added bonus to the existing bill'

Kick added another Exclusive song to the Downloads section of their website at www.kickuk.co.uk . The song is Wake Me Up When It's Over which was the "extra" song for the Up Close and personal CD single. The song is available for free download.

Biffy Clyro, The Bronx, Chicago pop-punkers the Audition and Californian goth-metal crew I Am Ghost team up for the 2007 Kerrang Tour, taking in the following dates in January

11th January - Belfast Mandela Hall
12th January - Dublin Ambassador
14th January - Cardiff University
15th January - Bristol Academy
16th January - Nottingham Rock City
18th January - Southampton Guildhall
19th January - Norwich UEA
20th January - Manchester Academy
22nd January - Newcastle Academy
23rd January - Glasgow Barrowlands
24th January - Liverpool Academy
26th January - Birmingham Academy
27th January - London Astoria

Legendary Milton Keynes fivepiece Capdown crashland back into the nation’s record racks in early 2007 with their first album release for many light years. ‘Wind-Up Toys’, their third long player, features twelve brand new tracks including recent download-only single ‘Home Is Where The Start Is’ and December’s comeback release ‘Keeping Up Appearances’.

With the close knit line-up of Jake (vox / sax), Boob (bass), Keith (guitar/vox) and Tim (drums) now augmented by newcomer Eddie (keyboards / samples) ‘Wind-Up Toys’ completes one heck of a raucous Capdown return to the limelight. Incessant touring with A, Big Reel Fish, Bad Religion and Less Than Jake had spread the heroically underground word far and wide over the past six years until happily, the 2006 Carling Festival proved that Capdown remain as enervating a live draw as ever with the biggest crowd for the Lock-Up stage on the Saturday afternoon at Reading.

Even more happily, fresh album tracks ‘No Matter What’ and ‘Blood, Sweat And Fears’ still retain the authentic ska sparkle which has sustained Capdown through thick, thin and even thinner. Yet with Hundred Reasons’ guitarist Larry Hibbitt at the production desk there is also a new hard rock muscularity to the Capdown sound with crunching riffs bouncing off rabble-rousing melodies to mosh-mashing effect on ‘Terms & Conditions Apply’ and the rather angry title track. Consider that ‘Thrash Tuesday’ is one minute 22 seconds of manic thrashing, manic shouting and – yes – manic feedback and it becomes apparent that Capdown are far from the cusp of calming down.

The full track listing for Wind Up Toys is as follows:

Truly Dead, Blood, Sweat And Fears, Wind Up Toys, Terms And Conditions Apply, Surviving The Death Of A Genre, No Matter What, Thrash Tuesday, Generation Next, Keeping Up Appearances, Strictly Business, Community Service and Home Is Where The Start Is.

In the meantime you can catch Capdown live as part of the Kerrang Most Wanted Tour on the following dates:

Nov 26th -  Birmingham Barfly
Nov 27th - London Camden Barfly
Nov 28th - Cardiff Barfly
Nov 29th - York Barfly
Nov 30th - Glasgow Barfly
Dec 1st - Aberdeen Moshulu
Dec 2nd - Edinburgh Exchange
Dec 3rd - Liverpool Barfly

Frontiers Records have announced the signing Pink Cream 69 to its roster of artists !

Pink Cream 69 are a legendary German Melodic Hard Rock outfit who released nine studio albums from 1989. Consisting of David Readman (vocals), Alfred Koffler (guitar), Dennis Ward (bass), Kosta Zafiriou (drums), the band recently added to the line-up a new guitarist, Uwe Reitenauer, who was already part of the band's live shows since 2003. His unique style and the possibilities of dual lead and rhythm guitars will enrich the songwriting and recordings as much as they did the live shows in the last 3 years.

The band is currently working on the follow up of the successful 2004 release "Thunderdome". The record has the working title of "In10sity" with reference to the fact that this is PC 69's tenth regular studio album.

"The new song material is definitely more powerful with the two guitars attack, but still keeping the trademark of catchy melodies and strong choruses", says drummer Kosta Zafiriou. Fans of melodic Hard Rock can expect a mixture of the strongest elements in the PC69 style, combined with a state-of-the-art production by Dennis Ward.

The new album is scheduled to be released in march 2007. Stay tuned for more details !

Joe Lynn Turner

Former Deep Purple and Rainbow singer Joe Lynn Turner is busy writing and recording the up and coming studio album. The direction will be again in the Melodic Hard Rock vein that characterized the latest studio effort "The Usual Suspects". Release date is not yet scheduled but Frontiers Records hopes to release it before the summer 2007.

Fair Warning

Fair Warning have recently completed their first Japanese tour in 6 years with successful concerts in Hiroshima, Nagoya, Osaka and Tokyo. The band was overwhelmed with the warm acceptance from the cheerful fans. FAIR WARNING also performed on their return to Europe a cool show at the Firefest in Nottingham on October 28th. This was the band's first ever performance in the UK and was greeted with a great success. The band is also currently planning more shows for early 2007 and is looking for promoters in European countries.

Fair Warning's successful come-back album "Brother's Keeper", released on August 25th is gathering excellent responses from critics and fans and is now also downloadable via I-tunes and Napster European shops, E-music UK, Musicload and Virgin France.

Robin Beck

The amazing AOR singer ROBIN BECK has recently revealed her plans for the upcoming start of the work for her new solo album. Here's her message for the fans:

"For the last few months I've been flying around Europe enjoying my renewed success. My lucky stars that so many loyal fans of Melodic Rock have stood by me through the years! I am totally committed to giving them the strongest and most passionate album of my life. I have received so many requests over the years for me to do more of my own songwriting and that is exactly what I'm doing.

Now, I am back home and putting together my next CD. It will be produced by James Christian and myself. All you House of Lords fans will be happy to learn that I will be benefiting from the great musicians from the HOUSE OF LORDS for this CD. I am a Lucky Girl. What luck to be married to lead singer of the greatest band on earth! James, Jimi Bell, Chris Pelcer and I have been busy busy writing and I must say we are coming up with what will amount to be a great record. Get ready to Rock. Get ready to shiver through my eyes and through my heart!"

Ramos

Josh Ramos (Hardline, The Storm) is busy writing and recording his forthcoming album, following the successful release of his debut "Living In The Light". Here are a few pictures that shows him together with drummer-maestro John Macaluso (TNT, Riot, Starbreaker etc), who, together with Don Chaffin on vocals and Eric Ragno on keyboards completes the recording lineup. Release date is foreseen for Spring 07.

Florida’s Poison The Well will release VERSIONS, their first record in over 3 years on April 3rd. After selling hundreds of thousands of records on Trustkill and Atlantic, the band has made the move to Ferret Music. The band are currently holed up in a barn in Sweden recording what they are calling their most pissed off and beautiful collection of songs ever. Once they are done, they will hit the road to tour the world, like they have done in the past couple years with Warped Tour, Strhess Tour and Deftones.

Harem Scarem's “Human Nature”, street date: 12.01.2006  The band exploded onto the music scene in 1991 with their self-titled debut album, HAREM SCAREM. The first album spawned several singles and videos which proceeded to take Canada by storm. The release of their second album, “Mood Swings“, brought even more acclaim from fans and critics alike. To mark the return of Harem Scarem, the band released “Weight Of The World“ in the spring of 2002. Around this time, the band had been made aware that some copies of their original demo CD were being sold on eBay for an exorbitant sum (one disc went for almost $1000.00). In light of this, they decided to finally authorize a legitimate release of those early demo recordings. Thus was born “The Early Years“. August 2003 saw the release of “Higher“. This album was a natural follow-up to “Weight Of The World“ - a solid mix of modern and melodic rock, that fans have come to expect from the band. In 2005 the band released “Overload“ to mixed reviews from the melodic rock world and soon after the band set out to make a record for their fans. Now, January 12, 2007 the wait is over “ Human Nature “ hits the stores around the world. “ This record really takes us back to what HAREM SCAREM was all about in the beginning, big vocals and lots of melodic songs. “ Early reviews of “Human Nature“ have confirmed the bands claims that this is one the best HAREM SCAREM records ever. After selling over 1 million records worldwide there seems to be no end in sight for Harem Scarem.

British doomsters Orange Goblin join forces with Solace for a UK tour in May 2007.  The gigs currently confirmed are as follows:

May 11th - London CamdenUnderworld
May 12th - Southampton Joiners
May 13th - Bristol Bierkeller
May 14th - Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach
May 15th - Nottingham Old Angel
May 16th - Manchester Jabez Clegg
May 17th - Newcastle Trillians
May 18th - Glasgow Classic Grand
May 19th - Edinburgh The Exchange

In other Orange Goblin news the band have inked a deal with Sanctuary Records for the release of their next album, tentatively scheduled to be released in May to coincide with the tour.

German metallers Domain, who only recently released their 20th anniversary album 'Stardawn', have parted company with vocalist and bassist Carsten Schulz & Jochen Mayer, reportedly "by their own request". However Domain have wasted no time in announcing replacements for the two departing members, bringing in former Firewind/Avalon frontman Chity Somapala on vocals and Steve Wussown to handle bass duties. The new line up make their debut bow at the End Of Days Festival in Pratteln, Switzerland on December 30th.

Not content with having just finished a run of UK dates, Aussie retro-rockers Jet have already planned a return to these shores for a series of dates in March next year. The shows currently confirmed are:

Mar 3rd - Glasgow Academy
Mar 4th - Manchester Apollo
Mar 7th - London Hammersmoth Apollo
Mar 9th - Newport Centre
Mar 10th - Portsmouth Guildhall
Mar 12th - Plymouth Pavillions
Mar 13th - Wolverhampton Civic

The Wildside Festival takes place tomorrow, November 18th, in Nottingham, rock legends VAIN and TIGERTAILZ will be taking over the MG Ballroom in Nottingham alongside the cream of the UK rock talent such as Kid Ego, Red Star Rebels, Rattlesnake Remedy and more for the inaugural WILDSIDE FESTIVAL! Tickets are still sale now online and full details (location, line up, travel, accommodation, etc) can be found at http://wildsidefestival.com  so get them quick whilst you can!

If you're claim to be a sleaze rocker, glammy, glitter punk, whatever you simply can't miss -

* VAIN and TIGERTAILZ on the same bill together for the first time ever!
* The best sleaze/hard rock bands the UK currently has to offer from the 'next Motley Crue' Kid Ego, to 70s rock Aerosmith/Led Zeppelin inspired Rattlesnake Remedy, to the feral destruction of the Appetite For Destruction inspired Red Star Rebels, the heads down no-nonsense glam-punk of Sweet Seduction, the hi-octane rock 'n' roll of New Generation Superstars and the stadium rock/AOR stylings or Rollin' Thunder - we truly believe we've put together a bill that will please all hard-rockers and sleazesters!
* The biggest Wildside Club night EVER after Vain have finished - anyone who's been to the legendary clubnights will not want to miss the opportunity to party into the night with all the bands!
* DJ's throughout the day
* 'The Glam Market' - Stalls and traders selling everything from hard to find CDs, rare vinyl, tattoos, clothing, accessories and more!
Wildside is the UK's only independent glam/sleaze festival in the UK - come witness history in the making.

DOORS open at 4pm and the running times for the festival are as follows:

Rollin' Thunder 4.30pm
New Generation Superstars 5.20pm
Sweet Seduction 6.00pm
Red Star Rebels 6.40pm
Rattlesnake Remedy 7.30pm
Kid Ego 8.20pm
Tigertailz 9.30pm
Vain 11.05pm
Wildside Clubnight 12.40am

Idol completed a European Festival tour in the summer, during which he performed in several Eastern European territories for the first time ever and went down a storm.  In Serbia where Idol headlined the third day of the prestigious Exit Festival, which featured artists including Franz Ferdinand, Morrisey and Dizzee Rascal – the organisers said “the biggest audience was on the third day to see Idol.  Billy Idol is the biggest star of Exit 06 festival,” Exit News (online) reported. “… he has the biggest number of hits, even though the rest of the artists are big names too…he is Billy f***ing Idol!  ”Billy also headlined Guilfest before heading back to the US leg of his tour.   His Devil’s Playground album - the first for 12 years - received rave reviews in 2005.  Idol has sold in excess of 20 Million albums worldwide over the past 4 decades and is currently in LA writing material for his next studio album. 

MTM have revealed the cover artwork for the forthcoming SINNER album "Mask Of Sanity"

Since the mid-80s, the band SINNER belongs to the big names of hard & heavy scene. SINNER went back to their roots and will satisfy fans of all their creative periods. Compared to the “Execution“ album, “Mask Of Sanity“ is more melodic and features dozens of guitar harmonies in the tradition of handmade and honest rock!

In the glory 80s and with classics such as “Touch Of Sin”, “Comin’ Out Fighting”, “Bottom Line” and “Judgement Day“, SINNER became one German’s leading rock bands alongside ACCEPT and HELLOWEEN and toured with MR. BIG, SAVATAGE, DIO and DEEP PUR-PLE. The albums “The Nature Of Evil” and “The End of Sanctuary” even hit the German charts!

On the new album “MASK OF SANITY”, produced by Mat Sinner himself and engineered by Achim Köhler, the band presents itself with guitarist Tom Naumann and keyboard player Frank Rössler. Former PRIMAL FEAR drummer Klaus Sperling, who has already joined SINNER on tours and festivals, is now a fixed member of the line up – accompanied by TRACEELORDS guitarist Christof Leim. In addition, the album features guest appearances by Andy B. Franck (Brainstorm), Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear) and Martin Grimm (Mystic Prophecy).

The new album impresses by Tom Naumann’s fantastic guitar work and Mat Sinner’s pounding bass and his expressive voice. Fresh sound, full force – “MASK OF SANITY” – the new album by SINNER. Out on January 19th, 2007!

The first pressing will appear in a ltd.ed. with two bonus tracks: a videoclip was shot for the song “Diary Of Evil” written by Mat Sinner together with Roy Z and the THIN LIZZY cover version “Baby Please Don’t Go”.

Final tracklist:
The Other Side, Diary Of Evil, Badlands, Black, Thunder Roar, The Sign, Revenge, Under The Gun, Cant Stand The Heat, No Return, Last Man Standing, Baby Please Don’t Go and Diary Of Evil (Bonus Video Track)

The release date is scheduled for January 19th, 2007.

NORWAY is "Rising Up >From The Ashes" in January:

MTM have announced the signing of US AOR band NORWAY!

NORWAY, a rock band from New Jersey, was formed in 1986 by four local club musicians. “Night Dreams”, the band’s first output, became a surprise smash hit in Europe’s and Japan’s AOR and Melodic Hard Rock scene. It was a top "CD of the Year" by rock magazines worldwide.

Because of the variety of musical influences and the band members’ experience in cover bands, Night Dreams show-cased a diverse style that drew comparisons to bands such as Bon Jovi, Foreigner, Journey, Bonfire, Scorpions, Night Ranger and many more, while instilling an own signature songwriting style and sound on each song.

Due to the success of "Night Dreams" the band recorded their label debut "Arrival", which was released in March 2000.

On the new album "Rising Up >From The Ashes", classic rock songs like "American Girl", the amazing ballad "Only One I Need" and stunning new stuff such as "Anything At All" and "Save Me" portend great things to come for the band. The record never lets up and features songs in the vein of Rainbow, Journey and Firehouse plus a 7 ½ minute Def Leppard / Led Zeppelin’esque rock epic called “Haunted”.

Appropriately titled “Rising Up From The Ashes” - NORWAY has finally risen again.

Final tracklist:
Save Me, Anything At All, Only One I Need, American Girl, The Power of Gold, Since You’ve Been Gone, Tell Me (is that the way that it is), Won’t Let You Down and Haunted

The release date is scheduled for January 19th, 2007.

After much debate it appears, according to the official press release from Kennedy Street, the promoters of Journey's forthcoming UK tour, that the vocalist position for the dates will be filled by Jeff Scott Soto. The full press release is shown below:

With a career spanning over 30 years and album sales in excess of 75 million worldwide, Journey is the twenty-ninth best selling music group of all time! Journey is just finishing up a six month tour of North America with Def Leppard. The tour was hugely successful. The band is now poised to take the UK by storm. The 2007 tour sees founding members, Neal Schon (Guitar) and Ross Valory (Bass) performing with long time member Jonathan Cain (Keyboards), Deen Castronovo (Drums) and Jeff Scott Soto (lead vocals).

The 2007 Tour will include the band’s signature hits as well as tracks from Journey’s latest studio release, Generations,  which is available now on Frontiers Records

Journey March 2007 UK Tour Dates:

CREDIT CARD HOTLINE: 0870 444 5556 & 0870 735 5000 (subject to booking fee)

Mar 1st - Sheffield City Hall
Mar 2nd - Newcastle City Hall
Mar 3rd - Glasgow Clyde Auditorium
Mar 5th - Nottingham Royal Concert Hall
Mar 6th - Manchester Carling Apollo
Mar 7th - Manchester Carling Apollo
Mar 9th - Cardiff International Arena
Mar 10Tth - Bournemouth International Centre
Mar 13th - Birmingham NIA Academy
Mar 14th - London Hammersmith Apollo
Mar 15th - Newcastle City Hall

Escape Music have announced the release of Code's much anticipated album title "The Enemy Within" . Code, who feature the multi talented musician and producer Anders Rydholm on Bass, Guitars and Keyboards (ex Grand Illusion), as well as  lead vocalist Sherwood Ball, (Jay Graydon, Gumbo, Guitar god tours/gigs with Albert Lee, Steve Morse, Steve Lukather & Edward Van Halen), guitarist Ola af Trampe (ex Grand Illusion) and a very special guest on drums, no other than Gregg Bissonette (David Lee Roth, Steve Vai, Steve Lukather, Joe Satriani, Toto, Gino Vannelli, Counting Crows) 'The Enemy Within' is scheduled to be released on 21st January 2007.

The full track listing of 'The Enemy Within' is as follows:

The Enemy Within . Sign Up For Love . Home Away From Home . In The Shadows . How Do We Stay In Love . My Time . Lucky Town . Alive . Uninvited Guest . Change The World . Flying High . Sworn To Silence.

The Haunted, who released their latest album, 'Dead Eye' through Century Media on October 30th have lined up an extensive UK tour for February 2007 in support of the album. The full list of dates currently confirmed for the Swedish thrasher is as follows:

Feb 3rd - London Mean Fiddler
Feb 4th - Bristol Academy 2,
Feb 5th - Birmingham Academy 2
Feb 6th - Dublin Voodoo Lounge
Feb 7th - Liverpool Academy 2
Feb 8th - Nottingham Rock City
Feb 9th - Glasgow Cat House
Feb 10th - Manchester Hop & Grape
Feb 11th - Leeds Cockpit
Feb 12th - Norwich Waterfront

Eagles Of Death Metal head over the UK for a string of dates in the new years. Shows currently confirmed are:

Jan 23rd - Bristol Anson Rooms
Jan 25th - Oxford Zodiac
Mar 1st - Birmingham Carling Academy
Mar 3rd - Manchester University
Mar 4th - Leeds Metropolitan University
Mar 5th - Glasgow ABC
Mar 7th - Newcastle University

Ian Anderson brings the first Acoustic Jethro Tull Tour to the UK for 11 dates in March 2007. The band will include long time Tull guitarist Martin Barre as well as special integrated guest violinist Anna Phoebe.

Ian Anderson says. “My role in life was always to be an acoustic musician but for the last 38 years, I have had some very noisy friends! This will be the first time we’ve actually done a really Acoustic Jethro Tull Tour. Over a third of our catalogue of recorded material is acoustic or contains sections of acoustic music and the shows will feature a number of these tracks including Fat Man, Dun Ringill and Skating Away On The Thin Ice Of The New Day. We have also re-arranged some of our more rock-oriented songs like Aqualung, Locomotive Breath and My God. So the concerts will contain a varied selection of old and new music.”

Violinist Anna Phoebe will join the band for many classic Tull tracks as well as some Ian Anderson/Tull material not previously performed in the UK. She will NOT be the opening act but will play some tracks from her new album "Gypsy" with Jethro Tull. The acoustic tour first goes to The Netherlands and Scandinavia at the end of November.