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Midnite City have just released a video for ‘Here Comes The Party‘, taken from the band’s latest album ‘There Goes The Neighbourhood‘.

‘There Goes The Neighbourhood‘ was released on October 19th, 2018 via AOR Heaven.

Track list:

1. Here Comes The Party

2. Give Me Love

3. You Don’t Understand

4. Life Ain’t Like This On The Radio

5. We’re Gonna Make It

6. Tonight You’re All I Need

7. Hard To Get Over

8. Takes One To Know One

9. Heaven’s Falling

10. Gave Up Giving Up

11. Until The End

Line up:

Rob Wylde – Lead Vocals & Guitar

Pete Newdeck – Drums & Backing Vocals

Miles Meakin – Lead Guitar & Backing Vocals

Shawn Charvette – Keyboards & Backing Vocals

Josh ‘Tabbie’ Williams – Bass & Backing Vocals

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2019 brings the release of the third album by British rockers Blood Red Saints.

The album, released through AOR Heaven on February 22nd, 2019, is entitled ‘Pulse‘ and sees the band modernising their sound whilst still retaining the big choruses. Guitarist Lee Revill is the man tasked with mixing and engineering the album as well as co-producing alongside Pete Godfrey.

‘Pulse‘ features 11 tracks all written by Revill/Godfrey and the album has a more contemporary edge, trying to push the boundaries of Melodic Rock. Songs such as ‘Cross To Bear’ and ‘Crash Into Me’, edge into radio friendly territory whilst ‘I’m Your Devil’ has a more raw punky feel. The title track ‘Pulse’ is all about the chant and should be a great live number, ‘Animals’ and ‘Message To God’ being full on rockers.

The band says: “This album is more personal, dealing with life events of the past year but still maintaining a positive stance, everybody brought their best to this recording, no compromises, no excuses, simply the best 11 songs we could write and we are proud of the results, after all, without music and fun, what is there?”

Sound files in advance:

Blood Red Saints – Animals  (Edit)

Blood Red Saints – Cross To Bear (Edit)

Blood Red Saints – Invincible (Edit)

Tracklist:

  1. Believer
  2. Animals
  3. Cross To Bear
  4. Invincible
  5. I’m Your Devil
  6. Crash Into Me
  7. Pulse
  8. Message To God
  9. Warrior
  10. What Have We Become
  11. Bring Me To Life

Official Website

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Mikael Erlandsson is back with his 6th solo album ‘Capricorn Six’. The Swedish singer is a true Aor/melodic rock legend that with his amazing voice which has been one of the best  in this genre for more than 25 years.

Erlandsson had success in Sweden already in 1990 when he was the  frontman in the band N´Gang where he had several hits incl. a Swedish song in the Eurovision Song Contest. The breakthrough in the Rock scene happened in 1993 when he released his first solo album. The album topped that year’s best of melodic rock charts and had an impact all over the world – but especially in Japan. Later on, 4 more solo albums saw the light of day and Erlandsson guested as singer on albums with Phenomena, Radioactive, Salute, Love Under Cover amongst others. During the last fifteen years Mikael also led his own band ‘Last Autumns Dream‘ who released 15 albums and did some touring in Japan, Germany and England.

Now, Mikael Erlandsson is back with a new album filled with songs in his classic style. Musicians on the album are Sayit Dölen (guitar), Pontus Engborg (drums) and Joel Starander (bass). The record was produced by Claes Andreasson and Mikael Erlandsson (Last Autumns Dream, Heartbreak Radio) and mixed and mastered by Martin Kronlund (guest guitar themes on ‘Eye of The Hurricane’ , ‘Break Another Heart’ & ‘I Just Wanna Love You’.

Soundfiles in advance:

Mikael Erlandsson – Break Another Heart (Edit)

Mikael Erlandsson – Eye Of The Hurricane (Edit)

Mikael Erlandsson – Why (Edit)

Tracklist:

1. Eye Of The Hurricane

2. Why

3. Pain

4. Evil

5. Had To Let You Go

6. Break Another Heart

7. Fear The People

8. Ok

9. I Just Wanna Love Ya

10. Alice In Wonderland

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Come Taste the Band (CTTB) is a Norwegian classic hard rock band, founded in 1997 by guitarist Jo Henning Kaasin and singer Vidar Heldal. The early line-up, included bass player Ståle Naas, Eldar Melkvik on keyboards and Frode Flatland on drums. In the early years, CTTB was a Deep Purple tribute band and released two CD`s with Deep Purple songs; ‘A Tribute To Deep Purple‘ in 1999 and ‘Live‘ in 2006. From 1997 to 2007, CTTB played hundreds of concerts in Scandinavia.

In 2007, CTTB were asked by the Norwegian festival, Kartfestivalen, to play a concert with former Deep Purple singer/bass player, Glenn Hughes. This show resulted in a partnership that lasted until 2010, when Hughes founded Black Country Communion with Joe Bonamassa. Glenn Hughes & CTTB did four tours together, playing Deep Purple Mk III and IV classics.

In 2011, Come Taste the Band teamed up with former Deep Purple/Rainbow-singer, Joe Lynn Turner. JLT & CTTB toured Scandinavia, doing both Rainbow and Deep Purple material. Together they hit the road between 2012 to 2014. During days of, Turner, guitarist Jo Henning Kaasin and bassplayer Ståle Naas wrote and started recording two brand new songs, Tied Down and Don`t Let Me Bleed. Both songs ended up on the new CTTB album, ‘Reignition‘.

2014 also saw CTTB doing two concerts with former Rainbow singers, Doogie White and Graham Bonnet + Norwegian singer, JORN Lande. Come Taste the Band have changed the line-up several times during the years,  with only leader and guitarist, Jo Henning Kaasin, singer Vidar Heldal and bass player Ståle Naas staying constant in the band.

In 2017 celebrating 20 years, CTTB played two big sold out shows with former Whitesnake guitarist, Bernie Marsden and Doogie White (Rainbow/Michael Schenker). After those concerts Doogie White and Jo Henning Kaasin started to write new material.

CTTB landed a record deal with AOR Heaven in November 2017 and recorded seven songs with Doogie White as the singer. Those songs were recorded at Juke Joint Studio, Notodden and Stable Studio, Oslo – Norway. The band now is joined by Swedish musicans, Birger Löfman on drums and Svenne Jansson on organ/keyboards. The album was produced by Halvor Halvorsen/Jo Henning Kaasin & CTTB, with Leif Johansen (Phenomena/21 Guns/A-ha) helping out with engineering. Njål Frode Lie mixed and mastered the album.

The album ‘Reignition‘ includes 9 classic hard rock tracks, played mostly live in the studio and with lots of improvisations. Doogie White is singin on 7 tracks and Joe Lynn Turner on 2 tracks.

Tracklist:

1.Not That Kind Of Man

2.Under Your Skin

3.Slave For Your Love

4.Black Rose

5.Tied Down

6.Don`t Let Me Bleed

7.Fools In The Night

8.Cradle To Grave

9.So Long Old Friend

Soundfiles in advance:

Black Rose (Edit)

Not That Kind Of Man (Edit)

Under Your Skin (Edit)

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Review: Frontline – The State Of Rock

AOR Heaven (April 2018)

Reviewer: Grant Foster

Originally released in 1994 (jeez, that makes me feel old!), this re-release/remastering/getting it back out there, comes complete with two bonus tracks that were only available previously on the Japanese release of this album.

Frontline hailed from Germany and are definitely of the AOR/Melodic Rock persuasion. Unfortunately, even a remastering job can’t hide the fact that what’s on offer here sounds dated.  It can hardly be described as a ground breaker of an album and you kind of wonder why it was reissued at all? But maybe that’s just the cynic in me, as apparently, these guys were ‘big in Japan.’

There are highlights – ‘Heaven Knows’ has a tough guitar riff and melodic keyboard interplay, strong vocals and a chorus to remember.

An AOR album demands a strong power ballad and ‘Another Love’ is that tune. ‘Heaven Can’t Wait’ is your muscular rock anthem and is upbeat, positive and would of probably have made a good lead track back in the day.

Surprisingly, both bonus tracks also shine. ‘I’m Falling’ has a Nelson type vibe with acoustic guitars and some top backing vocals. ‘Alone’ although very melodic, doesn’t lack bite and has a nice melody line.

Bottom line is, if you love this kind of genre, I’m sure it will be a welcome addition to your collection. Personally,I’d love the band to reform and go and re-record this with more of an organic sound, as it could bring out a lot of the qualities that the original recording and production didn’t highlight.

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Review: White Widdow – Victory

AOR Heaven (October 19th 2018)

Reviewer: Stephen Brophy

White Widdow return with a new album ‘Victory‘ out on the AOR Heaven label and the follow up to 2016’s ‘Silhouette‘, the Aussie melodic rockers are becoming more prolific as the years pass and that’s no bad thing. Brothers Xavier and Jules are once again heading affairs alongside the excellent Enzo who’s guitar work all over this album is up to the usual exemplary standard. With the now super solid backdrop of Ben (bass) and Gavin (drums) we get a unit that works so smoothly together, it’s great to see and hear.

The musical style here is very much AOR/Melodic Rock, and they are damn good at crafting quality classic rock songs, always full of melodies and hooks, and as you’d expect really strong soaring guitar solos and at times really punchy keyboards, just take a listen to ‘America‘ pops right up and attempts to raise your arms in the air.

Having listened to the album a lot over the last few weeks some of my first impressions now seem quite wide of the mark, and that’s something that worries me in the modern age, how many albums get passed on if a song doesn’t immediately bowl you over, living with music in your head and heart for a while is always a good idea, and this is another one worth allowing to sink in.

Of the ten here the highlights are undoubtedly the single ‘Second Hand Heart‘ which is just a cracking song, the title track ‘Victory‘ that opens affairs is another and  magic of ‘Danced In The Moonlight‘ which for me has a bit of a Rick Springfield into, as everywhere else Xavier’s keyboards are such an integral part of the music, and it’s the same with all of the instruments here, everything gets warmly wrapped around each other, and all for the greater good of the sound, this song is just beautiful five minutes and forty seconds of pure class.

Perhaps initially I thought more fast paced tracks in the mix here somewhere would add a little something, but no, the mix is great and this is another really good album from White Widdow, the band are as solid as ever, Jules is sounding great and the songs once again are very well written and put together, there is a maturity covering this one and it should go down well in all corners.  Another one to get stuck into in what seems to be a strong end to a strong year for Melodic Rock.

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Review: Midnite City –There Goes The Neighbourhood

AOR Heaven (October 19th 2018)

Reviewer: Stephen Brophy

There is a reality here that I still can’t quite get my head around, Midnite City have only been on the Melodic scene for a little over a year, the debut Album launch took place in Nottingham last October and it was one of the best Melodic Rock releases of 2017, and here we stand 12 months later and they have rapidly built up a very loyal following, this reviewer included, but that’s all down to the quality of the songs released to date. This band are certainly not going to rest on their laurels and album number two is an absolute cracker.

The musical style here is very much melodic hard rock, there’s a massive 80’s feel to it but it also has a modern feel, and just like its predecessor the backing vocals throughout are outstanding, it’s not just that they are there it’s where they are brought in and how good they are that makes the difference. Musically the guys are top notch, fluid beautiful guitar from Miles all the way through, Shawn’s keyboards that enhance the overall sound, such a rock solid backline of Pete (Drums) and Josh (Bass), the band has elevated the great work they produced on the first album and taken it to the next level.

Having listened to the album a lot over the last few weeks it has been difficult to swap to other music on my players, and it still demands more listening. Of the eleven tracks you just get the feeling that they were put together to bring out a different emotion, it’s not all party music, but still pretty upbeat throughout.

Any album you listen to and more tracks push their way to the front of your mind when listening, is one worth holding onto as it’s going to keep getting better and this is one, right now I can’t stop listening to. ‘Heaven’s Falling‘, just wow, what a wonderful song, and in many ways it epitomises this band, Midnite City are not a nostalgic look back on 80’s Hair Metal bands, they are a living beating modern band with a hard rock engine and so much freshness about what they are doing. The closer ‘Until The End‘ is another with a bit of everything in it, ‘Tonight You’re All I Need‘ has also been hitting the spot, love the keyboards, subtle but prominent, love it.

This album grabbed me straight away and hasn’t let go, part of that was because of the first single ‘Give Me Love‘ which really is my favourite song of the year so far, so catchy and full of life, definitely made to be sung at the top of your lungs at a gig, just a cracking song. But it’s not just a couple of stand out tracks here, this is an album you can sit and enjoy listening to in it’s entirety, if you are a melodic rock fan this one should really be right up your street, great balance, production, songs just a wonderful package. The guys have done it again, without a doubt a contender for Melodic Rock Album of the year, for those lucky enough to be attending the Album Launch at the Rockingham Aftershow Party on the 19th, have an amazing time, it’s a brilliant album.

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Following on from their explosive self-titled debut album last year, Midnite City return all guns blazing on 19th of October 2018 via AOR Heaven with their sophomore release ‘There Goes The Neighbourhhood‘ – eleven tracks of fist pumping, high energy, feel-good, hair metal of the highest order!

The lush melodies, huge choruses and gargantuan hooks found on their debut album are all here in abundance alongside some true modern day glam anthems, fun commercial party rock, moody mid-paced hard rockers and heart wrenching power ballads big enough to light up an entire arena.

As with the first album, the winning formula has remained – all songs have been written by Rob Wylde, whilst Pete Newdeck has once again taken control of production, engineering and mixing duties.  With ‘There Goes The Neighbourhhood‘ the band has literally stepped everything up several notches to unbridled, head splitting proportions. The guitars are big, the drums are huge, there are walls and walls of harmonies and more synths than you’d find this side of a classic Bon Jovi album. In a nutshell, this album has everything but the kitchen sink!

With shows all over the UK and Europe in 2017/ 2018, Midnite City‘s sound is tighter than ever before.

So if you long for a band that still look, sound and perform like those long lost million selling forgotten bands of the late 80’s/ early 90’s, Midnite City and ‘There Goes The Neighbourhhood’ is the album for you.

Soundfiles in advance:

Here Comes The Party (Edit)

Life Ain’t Like This On The RAdio (Edit)

You Don’t Understand Me (Edit)

 

Don’t forget to catch Midnite City tearing it up live all over the UK, Europe and beyond in their own inimitable, arena rock style in 2018/ 2019…

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