Unknown Soldier

I really need to check this band Jaded Heart out with their AOR meets melodic metal, its actually quite hard to find info about them from main music sites.

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Trollheart

Let me know if you want me to hook you up. Two good sites to check are their own (though it's a bloody MySpace effort!) jadedheart.de | Jaded Heart Official Website or the Heavy Harmonies site (good source for AOR, as I'm sure you already know)...

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Trollheart

One step away from greatness


Artiste: Work of Art
Nationality: Swedish
Album: In progress
Year: 2011
Label: Frontiers
Genre: AOR
Tracks:
The rain
Nature of the game
Once again
Never love again
Eye of the storm
Until you believe
The great fall
Call on me
Emelie
Fall down
Castaway
One step away
Chronological position: Second album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Man, I thought Houston were good...!
Best track(s): Until you believe, Never love again, The rain, The great fall
Worst track(s): Castaway, One step away
Comments: Once again we return to the colder climes, and why not, as it seems that apart from being already the spiritual home of death and doom metal, Sweden is fast becoming a real mecca for AOR bands. We've already had the likes of Houston, Karmakanik, Jens Johansson and of course, one of the biggest AOR successes to come out of Scandinavia, Europe. Now add to that Work of Art, who have only had two albums to date but are already making waves in melodic rock and AOR circles with this, their second offering. Reading up on it, I've seen many comments on various websites complaining that it isn't a patch on their debut. If that's true, all I can say is that their first album must be a monster, because this is some of the finest AOR I've heard since, er, Houston's debut, reviewed last week.

However, whereas Houston's self-titled consciously tries to bring back the spirit and feel of the eighties, the heyday of hair metal and AOR --- and succeeds beyond anyone's dreams --- Work of Art appear happy to remain rooted in the present, seeing no need to recapture past glories, especially glories not theirs. That's no slight on Houston, because as I say, what they do they do phenomenally well. But this is a whole different kettle of fish. Everything is there that you would expect from a great AOR album: hooks by the fistful, big chunky keyboard solos, screaming guitars and pitch-perfect close vocal harmonies. The running order of the tracks could have been changed slightly, as my only real niggle --- and it's a small, petty one, but then, I'm a small, petty man --- is that twice, two tracks follow each other that have similar titles, as you'll see from the above tracklisting. Slight lack of imagination there, but it probably isn't down to the band. Still, it could perhaps give the impression they're not trying, or bothered.

Nothing could be further from the truth though. From opener The rain through tracks like Once again, Eye of the storm and The great fall, Work of Art come charging out of the traps, full pelt for the racetrack and they only slow down occasionally for the obligatory ballad --- and when they do by gum is it worth it! Until you believe would have Journey mad with jealousy, though it si a little surprising to find it's the only ballad. However, the energy and enthusiasm Work of Art show should not be confused with any suggestion that they're just running off riffs and solos and belting out songs about “tonight being the night” or “girl you look so fine”. No, these are carefully considered lyrics, as you'll hear if you invest in a listen to this.

The only bad points? Well, some of the lyrics are a little twee (“I'll wait by the end of the rainbow”? Come on guys, you can do better than that!) but then you often have to expect that with AOR, don't you? Also, the last two tracks are definitely the weakest on the album, and unfortunately don't close it as powerfully as it began, or as it should be finished.
Overall impression: Do I dare say it? Yeah, I do: a real work of art!
Intention: Hah! If their debut is better than this, (which I find a little hard to believe) I'm there! And I mean now!

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Unknown Soldier

I'd completely fogotten all about Heavy Harmonies! The site is simply frightning from the amount of bands that it has on there.....now a real geek would go through it band by band

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Anteater

Excellent review mi compadre! While I wouldn't necessarily say that Artwork (WoA's debut) is better than In Progress, its certainly excellent in its own right, particularly if you love Toto's sound circa 1988's The Seventh One.

Agreed about 'Castaway' being the weakest track of the lot, though that isn't saying much: barring some of Strangeways' stuff and the output of The Panic Division over the last couple of years, I haven't heard an AOR record with as much catchy consistency as In Progress in...well, ever. Also, 'One Step Away' has a vaguely Westcoast feel that I like, so I wouldn't say its weak at all. :P

Keep up the great reviewage!

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Trollheart

French symphonic prog metallers (symphonic frog?) do it again!


Artiste: Adagio
Nationality: French
Album: Sanctus ignis
Year: 2001
Label: SPV
Genre: Symphonic/Progressive Metal
Tracks:
Second sight
The inner road
In nomine...
The stringless violin
Seven lands of sin
Order of Enlil
Sanctus ignis
Panem et circenses
Immigrant song
Chronological position: Debut album
Familiarity: “Underworld”
Interesting factoid: Despite being a French band, Adagio have never had a singer born in France.
Initial impression: Ah yes, there's the band I fell in love with on “Underworld”!
Best track(s): In nomine..., The stringless violin, Seven lands of sin
Worst track(s): None
Comments: The first and really only time prior to this that I encountered French symphonic prog metal band Adagio was via their second album, the stupendous “Underworld”, but this was released before that, being in fact their first album, so I'm interested to see if it shows any signs of the greatness that was to come. It certainly starts off well, and even without keyboard supremo Kevin Codfert, about whom I was so effusive in my praise when I reviewed “Underworld” last year, and who only joined them after this album, the keys are still amazing. Not that surprising really, as they're handled by the rather famous Richard Andersson. Other than that it's mostly the same crew who would go on to record that opus, and this continues (or begins really, as I'm now going backwards in time, as it were) to show the dexterity and enthusiasm of this band, and how tight they are. Harpsichordal touches near the end of the opener show how different Adagio are to the glut of symphonic metal bands out there, how they stand out.

It is however the powerful, passionate vocals of David Readman that make the band; he truly has an amazing set of pipes. Unbelievable to think he would leave after “Underworld”, and be subsequently replaced by two separate singers on two albums, four years apart. There's a suitably French-sounding opening to In nomine..., incorporating Lacrimosa again, and more homage is paid to the shoulders of giants upon whom all musicians since have climbed with a Bach fugue introducing The stringless violin, a pretty intense and complicated piece, in which, as in all of Adagio's music I've heard to date, the part of founder and guitarist Stephan Forte cannot be overstated: the guy is a quiet genius.

This takes us to the longest track, eleven minutes of Seven lands of sin and like all truly great longer songs, it keeps the attention and never drags, so much so that you're quite surprised when you realise it's over already! Great vocal performance by Readman, but the song is mostly carried on the eerie keyboard work, often semi-classical, of Andersson, backed up by the biting guitar of Forte. Order of Enlil, then, is a very welcome instrumental, showcasing (as if they need to be) the various talents of the musicans on this album, though to be honest I'm a little confused at the inclusion of a cover of Zep's Immigrant song. Still, nice to see the guys paying their dues I guess.

I think it may not be an overstatement to say that Adagio's heyday revolved around these two albums. After “Underworld” I believe they got a little heavier and darker, although I have not yet listened to either of the two albums since, so I could be totally wrong; just going on what I've read in reviews and bios. This however, and the album that followed, should really be seen as essential listening for anyone who's into proper, thoughtful progressive metal.
Overall impression: As expected, I'm highly impressed.
Intention: At some point, I must listen to the other two albums, though I have a feeling they may be quite different.

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Trollheart

Dry your tears


Artiste: Lake of Tears
Nationality: Swedish
Album: Headstones
Year: 1995
Label: Black Mark
Genre: Doom/Gothic Metal
Tracks:
A foreign road
Raven land
Dreamdemons
Sweetwater
Life's but a dream
Headstones
Twilight
Burn fire burn
The path of the gods (Upon the highest mountain, part 2)
Chronological position: Second album
Familiarity: “Forever autumn”
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: I don't feel a sense of doom...
Best track(s): Raven land, Headstones, The path of the gods (Upon the highest mountain, part 2)
Worst track(s): Nothing really. All very good.
Comments: Although my only experience of Lake of Tears is through their album “Forever autumn”, on which they take a more relaxed, almost acoustic approach to their music, this is from their earlier period, when they played mostly doom metal, so I'm expecting it to be a lot different. And it is, though I have to admit I expected it to be slower and, well, doomier. But the opening track is fairly uptempo; the vocals are a little harsh, but then you expect that with this sub-genre. Not a bad start though. You can hear touches of the direction they would later explore in songs like Raven land, with its semi-acoustic opening and violins or cellos at the end, and the title track, with its almost country feel, but elsewhere I'm (perhaps naively) surprised to find that the music is quite melodic and listenable, something I just somehow hadn't associated with doom metal, probably erroneously.

Great guitar work on the title track, almost Knopfleresque really, and there's a quite interesting little short instrumental in Life's but a dream: more ambient noises really, with a low synth backing, very progressive metal, and it's only really with Burn fire burn that LoT really kick out the stays and rock along as you might expect a metal band to do. The closer is an epic thirteen-minute track, lending more to the idea that they were moving even now in a more progressive direction. Whether The path of the gods (Upon the highest mountain, part 2) has any direct link to the song of the same name, Upon the highest mountain, which graces their debut, I don't know, but it opens with a really nice flutey sound on the keys and an acoustic guitar line against a spoken vocal, before breaking into a big, heavy, storming power cruncher, bringing the album to a powerful and dramatic end.

Despite my misgivings, I really liked this album and it hasn't discouraged me from checking out other releases from this band, who are fast becoming my introduction to the world of doom metal, a journey I had not really wanted to or looked forward to embarking upon, but which now looks like it may not be half as disappointing as I had originally imagined.
Overall impression: Damn fine album: really getting to like these guys!
Intention: Listen to more of their work.

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Another German Power Metal band bites the dust before its time


Artiste: Metalium
Nationality: German
Album: Incubus --- Chapter Seven
Year: 2008
Label: Massacre
Genre: Power Metal
Tracks:
Trust (intro)
Resurrection
Gates
Incubus
Take me higher
Never die
At Armageddon
Sanity
Meet your maker
Hellfire
Chronological position: Seventh album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Good, strong melodic power metal with a clear sense of Bruce's boys in the music.
Best track(s): Incubus, Never die, Resurrection, Take me higher
Worst track(s): Nothing stands out as bad, or below par really.
Comments: A powerful opening to an album that takes its place among its six predecessors and indeed its one descendant, each of which are labelled as a chapter in the career of German power metal band Metalium, but each titled differently. Sadly now no more, Metalium released their last album in 2009 and decided to call it a day two years later. From what I hear here (hear hear!) it's something of a tragedy they did, but at least they left a decent legacy of recorded output behind them before they departed. This is not to suggest that they were any that much different from other German, or indeed, just power metal bands, but then, what band is? But if that's your bag then you will not be disappointed with at least this album, the only of theirs I've ever heard.

Vocalist Henning Basse does a very passable imitation of Bruce Dickinson, while guitarists Mathias Lange and Tolo Grimalt set about creating their own sound modelled on the twin Maiden guitar attack. Basse even does a version of the “air-raid siren” trick on Resurrection, then goes all Black Sabbath on the grindy and quite excellent title track, and as the album goes along it shows quite a bit of diversity --- within the subgenre Metalium operate in --- with tracks like Take me higher appealing to the more melody-conscious, while Never die is a full-on heads-down fretfest in which Grimalt and Lange ply their trade with consummate ease.

Basse again exercises his Dickinson-inspired scream on Meet your maker and the album actually closes on something of a cruncher in Hellfire. Good stuff.


Overall impression: A sad loss to the Power Metal fraternity. Rust in peace, Metalium! Semper something.
Intention: May backtrack and check out chapters 1-6. And then 8. Maybe.

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The greatest female vocalist nobody knows delivers once again. Does anyone, apart from me, care?


Artiste: Judie Tzuke
Nationality: British (English)
Album: Queen secret keeper
Year: 2001
Label: Big Moon
Genre: Rock
Tracks:
Don't look behind you
The one that got away
Do you
123
Drive
Indian giver
On days like these
All of me
One minute
Little diva
Breathless
Lion
Chronological position: Twelfth album
Familiarity: Everything! “Welcome to the cruise”, “Sportscar”, “I am the phoenix”, “Ritmo”, “Road noise”, “Turning stones”, “The cat is out”, “Wonderland”, “Left hand talking”, “Shoot the moon”, “Under the angels”
Interesting factoid: Judie's family is originally from Poland, where their name was indeed Tzuke but they changed it when they came to England, taking the name Myers. When she took up a career in music, Judie decided to switch her name back to the family one, and became Judie Tzuke. Hey, it attracts more attention than Judie Myers, don't you think?
Initial impression: Ah, there's my girl! Damn but I've missed ya!
Best track(s): Don't look behind you, 123, Drive, Indian giver, One minute, Lion
Worst track(s): I would say none, but let's be honest, I'm not crazy about Breathless: sounds way too much like Sade to me!
Comments: I've been a big fan of Judie Tzuke ever since I heard Stay with me till dawn on the radio, and went out to buy the album, not expecting a lot and, though I wasn't blown away by “Welcome to the cruise” (which is, in fact, her debut, released way back in 1979: how's that for a too-early peak in your career?) I liked it enough to invest in her other albums, each with its own flaws but truly endearing, and over the years I've seen her release good albums, the odd below-par and once or twice a really stunning one. I've seldom if ever been disappointed with her output though, and this, her twelfth (count 'em: twelve!) album and the third on her own Big Moon label, looks like being another winner.

In truth, it's been years since I listened to one of Judie's records, that being 1996's “Under the angels”, which was just prior to meeting and interviewing her at a small gig here in Dublin --- one of the highights of my sad little life! --- which you can read here Judie Tzuke: Angel over Dublin, if you're so inclined, but her later output hasn't exactly been conveyor-belt-productive, with only two albums released since that one. However, quantity does not equal quality, and if Judie prefers to take a few years between records to get it right, then I say more power to her. This begins with, interestingly, a laidback ballad, a bold move, but somehow it just seems right, and you instantly warm to the album as it goes along, so that by the time you realise this is pretty much going to be the tempo the album hits, you've already experienced the smooth dance/trip-hop of 123, the soft, easy, Sade-like soul of Drive and the frankly amazing Indian giver, and it really doesn't matter that much that this is not going to be an album that ever truly rocks out. If I had to compare it to anything, I would choose Chris Rea's “King of the beach”: it just has the same laidback, lazy, summer style and feeling I get from that album. This is, mostly, an album to kick back and relax to.

Ably supported as ever by Mike Paxman on guitar and husband Paul Muggleton on keys, Judie's voice is seldom if ever strained, but still has the power of many of her peers, and yet she is virtually unknown beyond that one hit single. Criminal. At some point I will address this in my journal, but for now I can only urge you to avail yourself of some of the amazing music Judie has put out over the last thirty-odd years and immerse yourself in her talent, and maybe like me you'll then begin to wonder why people say “Judie who?”
Overall impression: Why isn't this woman better known and appreciated than she is? God. Damn. It.
Intention: Hey, I'm a faithful fan, and will remain one forever.

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Trollheart

End of the (Telegraph) Road
(The low rating is not just based on the album being bad: it's not, not that bad. But the fact that it was the last ever Dire Straits album should have seen these guys pull out all the stops, and for me this just comes across as ordinary, okay, nothing special. Damp squib on which to end a fairly glittering career...)

Artiste: Dire Straits
Nationality: British (English)
Album: On every street
Year: 1991
Label: Vertigo
Genre: Rock
Tracks:
Calling Elvis
On every street
When it comes to you
Fade to black
The bug
You and your friend
Hevay fuel
Iron hand
Ticket to Heaven
My parties
Planet of New Orleans
How long
Chronological position: Sixth (and final) album
Familiarity: “Dire Straits”, “Communique”, “Making movies”, “Love over gold”, “Alchemy”, “Brothers in arms”
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Starts well, encouraging but tinged with feelings of sadness.
Best track(s): Calling Elvis, Fade to black, You and your friend, Heavy fuel, Planet of New Orleans
Worst track(s): My panties --- sorry, parties!
Comments: Never reviewed an album before that was intended to be the swansong of a band, and in fairness, if any album should have fulfilled that role it was 1985's classic “Brothers in arms”, which brought Dire Straits back into the mainstream and afforded them their biggest success for years, while also re-establishing them as a serious rock band. This is in fact the only DS album I have never even heard once; in fact, for a long time I assumed BiA to be their last, or certainly most recent album, and when I saw this I thought it was yet another of those interminable greatest hits packages that tend to follow bands around like a bad smell.

Does it set the final seal on a career that spans thirteen years, but seems to have lasted a whole lot longer? One of the most famous, and often reviled, rock acts, you'd probably have to go far before you'd get someone who wouldn't know at least the name of one Dire Straits song if asked. Their fans don't stride proudly down the streets wearing t-shirts with their names on, but it seems everyone knows them, whether they love, hate or ignore them. The album starts off well, with a song that somehow puts me in mind of Nick Cave's work on “Murder ballads”, while the title track, much more sedate and bleak, has a lot of James Taylor in it, quite folky in a downbeat way, though it does pick up nicely towards the end.

There are of course some nice blues numbers, which adequately show off Mark Knopfler's deserved reputation as a guitarist, such as Fade to black and You and your friend, and they sit nicely alongside uptempo rockers like Heavy fuel and The bug. We kind of get Telegraph Road part II in Iron hand, and there's Hawaiian style melody in Ticket to Heaven, but generally I'm finding this a weak album. While not actually bad, I can't see it standing up beside such giants as “Brothers in arms” and “Love over gold”, and as an album to bow out on, I really think the guys could have pulled out the stops a lot more. The overall feeling I'm getting from this is a sense of weariness, of wanting it all to be over. That's not to say that there's not energy on the album --- there are some very rocky tracks --- but overall it feels really like a winding-down, a grateful release rather than a last triumphant punch of the air before one of the most polarising bands on the planet take their final bow: there will be no encores, and although that's sad, I feel in a way it's strangely appropriate. Perhaps things had run their course --- it's no secret Knopfler was champing at the bit to take off on his solo career --- but I just feel they have not put into their final album anything like the committment, passion and enthusiasm they did on previous. Sure, we all knew the party was over, but there was no reason we couldn't have had one last blowout, was there?

Ah well, time to grab my coat and step out blinking into the early morning sunlight in search of a taxi.
Overall impression: Quite bland; it has its moments but generally something of a letdown and really more a preview of Mark Knopfler's solo output than a decent ending to a decent band.
Intention: Nothing left I can do! I've now heard all their albums, though in honesty I'd have preferred to have stopped at “Brothers in arms”.

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