In order to promote the new compilation album ‘Decades II‘, Newman have released a new promo video for the song ‘One More Night‘.
Newman
Newman To Release Best of Album ‘Decade II’ On September 28
In 1997 Singer, songwriter Steve Newman formed the band Newman and since 1998 have been producing consistently high quality albums filled with hook laden songs and thought provoking lyrics.
On September 21st, 2018 Newman will now release a double CD with 34 of their finest songs on AOR Heaven to celebrate the band’s 20th recording anniversary. Steve Newman says: “So here we are again, oh, but hang on, we’re another 10 years (after the decade I release) down the line on this musical journey. I can’t believe how quickly those years have gone by!! I wanted to keep the concept for this collection the same as the previous release, so once again, I am proud and excited to present to you another double CD re-performed and re-recorded featuring 35 songs from 2007 right through to 2017. 20 years since Newman first released the debut album, and I still get the same excitement and joy from recording and performing music. In the last 10 years the live band has gone from strength to strength and I am now surrounded by a bunch of really good friends who bring these songs to life whenever we play. My drive to write and perform is a selfish quest, however, my inspiration is you, everyone that supports my music, and the wonderful compliments I receive on a daily basis, thank you for your belief, this one is for you.”
Disc 1 features 17 songs from the 2007 album ‘Primitive Soul‘ through ‘The Art Of Balance‘, ‘Under Southern Skies‘, ‘Siren‘, and finally the 2015 album ‘The Elegance Machine‘.
Disc 2 features another 17 songs, some that were written and even recorded, but not included on the final releases, songs that were written for other artists and 2 songs that were originally released as Japanese bonus tracks. There are some songs, as before, that were “works in progress” especially recorded for this release and also another 6 songs from the ‘Aerial‘ sessions.
Soundfiles in advance:
One More Night With You (Edit)
Cd 1:
01 Hero To Zero
02 Heading For Your Heart
03 Ghost In The Night
04 Feel Her Again
05 Stay With Me
06 The Elegance Machine
07 Killing Me
08 Primitive Soul
09 Endless
10 Fire With Fire
11 Scar Of Love
12 15 Minute Revolution
13 She Walks In Silence
14 Under Southern Skies
15 Had Enough
16 Tumble Down
17 For The Man I Am
Cd 2:
01 Breaking The Barrier
02 Girl Found Love
03 Liar
04 One More Night With You
05 Fight No More
06 She’s The Woman
07 Nightmare
08 Angel
09 World Keeps Turning
10 In Too Deep
11 The More I Love
12 Crossed My Heart
13 A Witness To Love’s Decline
14 Does It Feel The Same?
15 Race Of A Lifetime
16 Never Becomes Again
17 My Fantasy
Line up:
Steve Newman (Vocals, Guitar)
Pete Newdeck (Drums)
Shaun Bessant (Guitar, Vocals)
Paul Boyle (Keyboards, Vocals)
Dave Bartlett (Bass, Vocals)
Review: HRH AOR 6 – Day 1
HRH AOR 6 – Day 1 – 08-03-2018
Hafan Y Mor, Pwllheli
Review : Stephen Brophy (SB), Peter Scallan (PS)
Photography : Stephen Brophy
The beginning of March always means the annual trip to North Wales for the HRH AOR Festival, so an excited Rockposer Dot Com Team begins the pilgrimage from Ireland and Scotland at an ungodly hour on a Thursday morning. Sleep and comfort are pretty irrelevant over a Festival weekend, the important things are the music and the people.
The first night of the Festival is a thank you to the VIP ticket holders and features a shortened lineup and just an evening setup on the Main Arena Stage. This year sees four Artists that are familiar to all, taking up the baton this year – Dante Fox, Newman, Eclipse and the legend that is Joe Lynn Turner.
Dante Fox (SB)
To open up any Festival can be a daunting enough task and that’s irrelevant of your level of experience, in many ways you are the test bed for sound and lights Dante Fox took to the stage and looked eager to get everyone smiling and off to a great start. It has to be said that there were some issues with the sound to begin with, certainly too loud with everything becoming a little distorted, but that didn’t seem to stop anyone enjoying the bands set, which is a mix of songs from 2016’s ‘Breathless‘ album, the title track was worth the admission fee on its own, and also including some of the reworkings from last year’s ‘Six String Revolver‘.
Always a pleasure to watch Tim Manford play, clearly loves what he does and always has a great tone. Another highlight is ‘Firing My Heart‘ which is always a song that picks everything up, and this is a really nice way to start the Festival and Sue, Tim, Alan and Scott as always put in the maximum effort.
Newman (PS)
I missed Dante Fox due to lack of hot water and electricity in my caravan but got there in time for Newman. Considering my AOR connections, I really should know more about these guys but I don’t! They have released 11 albums in 20 years but I have only heard the odd track.
Fronted by guitarist/singer Steve Newman the band were one of the few on the weekend bill I would genuinely tag as AOR. They sounded pretty tight and musically adept but the mix let them down a little. Having heard some stuff before, I know Steve is a pretty good guitarist but he was focusing purely on vocals tonight and they occasionally let the side down, especially on the higher notes which can be difficult to hit if the onstage sound is poor. None the less the crowd certainly enjoyed their set.
Eclipse (SB)
Over the last few years Sweden’s Eclipse have steadily built on a growing reputation as one of the best live bands on the Melodic Rock scene, always brimming with positive energy power and no shortage of talent. Having released one of the top Melodic Rock albums of 2017 in ‘Monumentum‘, a lot of people were interested to see how those new songs would work live.
Right from the moment Erik bounds onto the stage there are no doubts about what’s to come and one of those new tracks ‘Vertigo‘ blasts off getting the crowd into the mood from the start. This evening we are treated to tracks from the last 3 excellent releases and why not, it’s hard to go wrong, but it’s not easy to pick highlights from a set full of highlights, every time you see them something has improved with Eclipse, because they are playing more the interaction with the audience is definitely better.
This is certainly one of the performances of the weekend for me, it’s great to hear the crowd singing along to an epic version of ‘Battlegrounds‘, or the way they place ‘Live Like I’m Dying Every Day‘ to vary the pace and balance things out, but this band are at their very best for me when they are at full pace, ‘Bleed And Scream‘ and ‘Never Look Back‘ fly past all too quickly, but as I scan the crowd as we go along more fists are raised, more people are singing and there is that big of a special feeling, if they continue as they are going Eclipse will be headlining these Festivals soon, as if they needed any more Philip Crusner (Drums) has pumped the guys up even more and added even more fire and passion, this band is brilliant to watch as always.
Joe Lynn Turner (PS)
Joe Lynn Tuner needs no introduction and not surprisingly he drew heavily on his Rainbow days for this AOR set. His band was superb and provide a very early Rainbow/Deep Purple backdrop for Turner to weave his magic. With two songs from ‘Bent of Shape‘ and the hit singles from the other Rainbow albums it was a safe set, with some calling it boring, but not in my opinion.
He also touched on his Malmsteen era but I was disappointed he didn’t do ‘Heaven Tonight‘. However, the highlight for me was the inclusion of ‘Endlessly‘ from his first post-Rainbow album ‘Rescue You‘. It was a genuine moment of AOR bliss for me. Finally, in addition to his own Rainbow career he dedicated a version of ‘Long Live Rock’n’Roll‘ to Ronnie James Dio. While the band eased through the song, it didn’t really work for JLT in my opinion. None the less, a great closing set for the first night.
Great start to the weekend, as always HRH AOR isn’t just about the bands you see on the stage, but also the friends old and new you meet around the venues, and Thursday night you can’t move but to bump into someone, friends or band members, the atmosphere is great and there’s definitely a lot of fun to be had at Hafan Y Mor over this weekend.
Newman – Aerial To Be Released September 22nd
In 1997 Singer, songwriter Steve Newman formed the band Newman and since 1998 has been producing consistently high quality albums filled with hook laden songs and thought provoking lyrics and released 10 studio albums and one best of compilation up to today. The previous release, ‘The Elegance Machine‘, was released in 2015 and the band returned to the road with shows in Europe and their first UK headline tour.
Steve Newman continued to write throughout 2016, songs, of which some have featured on various artists releases, and some which are still to come. It was within this writing process that Newman started to piece together the ideas which would become his latest release, and 11th studio album.
‘Aerial‘ now features 12 tracks that return to the huge chorus’s, maintaining the high quality production values that have been prevalent over the last albums. But this record, above all, is all about the songs, you could say it’s an unashamed AOR/Melodic Rock record and follows that rule across all 12 songs to give the listener a very consistent album. Once again Steve Newman has teamed up with Rob McEwen (drummer for the last nine Newman albums), the album also features long time friend Mark Thompson-Smith lending his vocals to ‘Fear Of Flying’ and ‘Two Sides’. Finally the mastering was taken care of by none other than Harry Hess (Harem Scarem) at H Bomb Mastering.
‘Aerial‘ will be released on September 22nd, 2017 on AOR Heaven.
Soundclips:
Newman – Can’t Stop Loving You (Edit)
Newman – Don’t Wake The Lion (Edit)
Newman – Life To Remember (Edit)
Track listing:
01. Fear Of Flying
02. Don’t Wake The Lion
03. Can’t Stop Loving You
04. Life To Remember
05. High Tonight (Aerial)
06. Vertigo (Leap Of Faith)
07. Two Sides
08. I Am Your Man
09. Always Strangers
10. Nothing Left
11. Still Bleeding
12. You Don’t Know Me
Review: Newman – The Elegance Machine
Newman – The Elegance Machine
AOR Heaven (2015)
Reviewer – Stephen Brophy
Newman have been for me one of the best AOR bands to come out of the UK, Steve Newman not only has a great voice but has had to ability to create some really excellent albums over the last seventeen years and although it has taken some time to click with me The Elegance Machine is another in the sequence although it is maybe not in the same vein as previous albums and has a slightly harder edge and a more serious subject matter generally than say Siren which was maybe a little brighter, this isn’t saying that it’s a bad thing, just that it’s a little different. But there is plenty of variation here, Steve has not been afraid to approach a subject that many artists would give a wide berth in domestic abuse, and I for one commend him for it. The flip side being the album ending on a beautiful haunting ballad in ‘Scars‘, which is just wonderful, simple in approach, just Steve and his piano/keyboard, there’s emotion dripping out of this one from the off and the more you listen to it the more it sinks in and tugs at something. As with everything else on the album the sound is clean and crisp, nothing less than you’d expect from these veterans.
On first listen honestly the album didn’t hit me, it took a few listens, but once the songs began to resonate it has just gotten better and better the longer I have lived with it, some of the guitar playing is excellent but for me it’s the keyboards on this album that are the real hero, they bring some of the most vital parts of songs to life and elevate them higher. There really are some excellent songs on this album, it’s not a huge surprise, and I really should have known better as it took me a couple of listens to get into Siren too.
Outside of ‘Scars‘ the standouts on this album are ‘The Suit‘ which has Geoff Wootton on backing vocals (he also adds his considerable talents to ‘One Good Reason‘ and ‘Halo‘) and is a great lead off track, as everywhere else on the album Steve sounds terrific, definitely loosing nothing at all vocally as they years pass by, ‘One Good Reason‘ which is a really upbeat track and will no doubt sound huge live, “Send Us Salvation” again has a booming chorus and the excellent ‘She Walks In Silence‘ which is the track that previously mentioned deals with the horrific topic of domestic abuse in not only the physical, but the mental aspect of the victim waiting for the inevitable, it’s a great piece of work and again even with the heavy subject matter the guitar and keyboard work just lift this track again. Oddly the only track that doesn’t really do anything for me is ‘Prayer For Apollo‘, not that it’s a bad song or anything, just doesn’t seem to grab me at all, that aside we have an album with twelve well crafted and balanced songs that sound great, with additional backing vocals by the excellent Mark Thompson Smith on ‘Illuminate‘, ‘Send Us Salvation‘ and ‘Pretender Surrender‘ helping to make the chorus huge on these tracks. Drums on this album have once again been taken care of by Rob McEwen and are of his usual high standard, particularly on the rousing ‘Illuminate‘.
Should you not be familiar with Newman’s work to date, this is a great place to start, The Elegance Machine has again been a really strong grower for me, and that is usually the sign of an album that will keep coming back to my playlist, then work your way backwards, Mr. Newman has created a hugely impressive catalog of AOR/Melodic Rock standards that deserve to be heard by a large audience. Should you get the chance to catch the band live do take it as they are excellent.
Newman To Release ‘The Elegance Machine’ At End Of August
In 1997 singer / songwriter Steve Newman formed the band Newman and since 1998 have been producing consistently high quality albums filled with hook laden songs and thought provoking lyrics. The now, hard to find self-titled album was followed up in 1999 by the awesome ‘One Step Closer‘ album. Continuing the high standard came ‘Dance In The Fire‘ and then ‘Sign Of The Modern Times‘ in 2000, and 2003 respectfully. Fans and critics alike began to realize they were dealing with an artist that would evolve and mature with them. The year 2006 saw the release of ‘Heaven Knows‘, and once again proved beyond all doubt that Newman were becoming one of the top purveyors of Melodic Rock in the UK. Later in 2006 Steve Newman broke away from his former label to form Chrome Dome, an independent label set up for the purpose of continuing to release the Newman product. Any doubts about the quality or consistency were cast aside when in 2007 ‘Primitive Soul‘ was released to great acclaim. This was followed in 2008 by ‘Decade‘ a double album celebrating 10 years of Newman. However, not wanting to take the usual route of a “hits” album this was packaged with a second CD containing another 14 unreleased songs which ended up being so well received it was reviewed as a new studio album. ‘Decade‘ may have been a great way for a band to sign off and call it a day, however, not only was this not even considered, the focus went into producing the next stage of the bands career.
In 2010 ‘The Art Of Balance‘ was released to huge acclaim from critics and fans. The band followed this up with a string of successful live dates including Cambridge Rock Festival, Firefest Festival, and a UK Tour supporting John Waite. All this was achieved in the face of huge emotional strain after Steve suffered losing both his parents that year. In fact, as the writing progressed onto the following recording ‘Under Southern Skies‘ this AOR Heaven release ended up being a very personal and reflective album for Steve.
All this time, the live band, with the addition of Pete Newdeck on Drums, joining Steve (Vocals, Guitar), Shaun Bessant (Guitar, Vocals), Paul Boyle (Keyboards, Vocals), Dave Bartlett (Bass, Vocals) were gaining momentum, culminating in shows in Greece, Spain, Germany, and the US.
2014 saw the re-recording and release of the acclaimed first album as a Limited Edition, This coincided with a successful UK tour with Vega.
Now, the legacy continues with the brand new release ‘The Elegance Machine‘, the culmination of songs written over the past two years and an album that once again encompasses what Newman stand for.
Once again Steve has teamed up with Rob McEwen (drummer for the last 8 Newman albums), and has also brought in the talents of Geoff Wootton backing vocals on “The Suit”, “One Good Reason” “Halo”, and Mark Thompson-Smith (Praying Mantis, Big Life) backing vocals on “Illuminate”, “Send Us Salvation” and “Pretender Surrender”.
Produced By Steve Newman; All songs written by Steve Newman except: ‘Halo’ written by Steve Newman and Paul Boyle.
Tracklist:
1. The Suit (Skyscraper)
2. The Elegance Machine
3. Don’t Stay Lonely
4. Illuminate
5. Confess
6. Halo
7. Prayer For Apollo
8. She Walks In Silence
9. One Good Reason
10. Pretender Surrender
11. Send Us Salvation
12. Scars
Soundfiles in advance:
Newman – Don’t Stay Lonely (Edit)
Newman – One Good Reason (Edit)
Newman – The Elegance Machine (Edit)
Line-up on this album:
Steve Newman: Vocals, Guitar, and Keyboards
Rob McEwen: Drums & Percussion
Geoff Wootton: Backing Vocals on “The Suit (Skyscraper)”, “One Good Reason” and “Halo”
Mark Thompson-Smith: Backing Vocals on “Illuminate”, “Send Us Salvation” and “Pretender Surrender”
Halloween……
Oh boy it’s Halloween time!! 
And have I got a show lined up for you guys. Kicking off with a great cover from Brother Firetribe.
3-Play is courtesy of The Brimstone Days, Maxxwell & All I Know. 2 From 1 is great new music from Brazilian rockers Nympho.
Then we’ve a whole load of Halloween themed music from Ozzy Osbourne, Newman, Danger Danger, John Parr, Human Temple, Bad English, Rush & Arena.
Tune in: On KRMW Saturdays at 6pm ET/11pm BST. On Pirate Radio KQLZ Saturdays at 4pm PDT /12pm BST, Sundays at 1pm PDT / 9pm BST. On Kansas City Online Radio KCOR at 8am CDT / 2pm BST. On Wednesdays on BeRock Online Radio at 8pm BST
