WICKED SUBURBS is a new German band and I can easily say they are one of the new sensations hailing from Europe. The band has released a CD titled 'Out now' which features 4 fantastic AOR/Melodic Rocksongs. Opener "By the way…" is a good solid melodic rocker that has some BONFIRE similarities, yet more melodic. Next track "M.E.L." is a lovely midtempo AOR/Melodic Rocker with some great piano-keys and hooklines all over the place. Instrumental this song sounds like SURVIVOR, but vocally it is more in the style of other German AOR bands like STATEMENT, NO CREDIT…

"Last train to Bulawayo" is up next and this is a superb AOR ballad with a fantastic super melodic chorus. The best song is the closing track "Forget" which again features some brilliant piano- keyboards a la SURVIVOR. This final track is a superb AOR tune which sounds a lot like AXE and STRANGEWAYS. This band is a big surprise to me. WICKED SURBURBS is a recommended band if you want to hear a mixture of pure AOR and Melodic Rock. More info can be found on their website at: http://www.wicked-suburbs.de

Rating: 8,5/10

SABER is a very interesting Melodic Rockband out of Maryville, Tennessee, USA who have released a CD titled 'Do or die'. The band has been together since 1986 and this 'Do or die' is their first official CD release. The album was released back in 1997. What sets them apart from other bands, is the fact that both bassplayer Jerry Traxler and guitarist Chuck Utley sings on the CD. And also second guitarist Jeff Finger does lead vocals on one song. So, basically SABER has three lead vocalists, which is quite out of the ordinary. Anyway, musically it is pure 80s good-time guitar oriented melodic rock. The album starts with "Baby don't go", a fantastic catchy classic 80s uptempo melodic rocker with perfect harmonies. The song reminds me a lot of AUTOGRAPH.

Next up are "Little bit of luck" (nice semi melodic rocker) and "Come and get it" (Simple straight-ahead rocker). Then comes the titletrack "Do or die", a wonderful 80s typed Power AOR ballad with some lovely harmonies, this song is right into SAVANNAH, DAMN YANKEES territory. "Tears falling down" follows and is a good uptempo melodic rocker like AUTOGRAPH meets BON JOVI. "Cheating heart" is the first weak song, a 90s influenced rocker. Can't say that about the following track "Go away", one of the highlights of the album. This song is superb early 80s uptempo AOR/Radiorock like 707 with some very impressive lead vocals of guitarist Chuck Utley. "Go away" is definitely my favourite
track on the album.

The remaining three songs are "The 911" simple 80s party MHR a la CRUE), "Back where it all began" (nice semi melodic rockballad) and "Wasted" (uptempo party MHR). SABER is a great Melodic Rockband playing Rock'n'roll how it used to sound. Recommended if you like AUTOGRAPH, DAMN YANKEES, old BON JOVI… More info on SABER can be found at: http://www.mp3.com/saber and e-mail them at: saberrocks@aol.com

Rating: 8/10

The Swedish female fronted AOR band TWO PIECE PUZZLE returns with their 4th CD release and after hearing it, I can conclude that this is the band's best release. It is also their most AOR based, because the 6 songs on 'Stupid' are all high-class female fronted AOR tunes with both influences from the 80s and 90s. TWO PIECE PUZZLE is musically comparable to acts like TONE NORUM (her first two records), BLONDE ON BLONDE, 80s HEART… Opener and titletrack "Stupid" shows that this band needs to reach a larger audience, because it is really a killer AOR song which is also very suitable to play on the
radiostations across Europe.

"Stupid" is a fantastic classic 80s uptempo female fronted AOR rocker a la the first two albums of TONE NORUM. The song has a super melodic sound and features some wonderful keyboards (by Jesper Rosdahl). This is definitely the strongest song of the band so far. Actually it is much better than their previous releases, because the 3 earlier CDs
showed a more melodic poprock which sounded good. But this song really is pure AOR and almost blows away the earlier recordings. Combined with a strong self-production, the band is on the right track.

Next track "Moments" leans towards 90s pop/rock, but still has a wonderful AOR chorus. This semi-ballad is radio-ready if you ask me and with some good backing promotion it could easily turn out to a huge hit. Following track "Never enough" is a great uptempo (80s typed) AOR/Melodic Poprocker with some lovely harmonyvocals. "Live till I die" follows and is a nice semi melodic rockballad. TOTO influences can be heard in the midtempo AOR tune "Still not over you". Closing track is the lovely semi AOR ballad "Love ain't enough".

Without any doubts, this is the best effort of TWO PIECE PUZZLE. Together with the other Swedish band ALYSON AVENUE, TWO PIECE PUZZLE is right on top of the Female Fronted AOR scene. Pretty soon an interview with both bands. For now, check out TWO PIECE PUZZLE at: http://www.tpp.nu and e-mail them at: jespero@mac.com

Rating: 8,5/10

Timothy Lewis is the new AOR sensation from Orlando in the US. He has come from nowhere and totally astounds the listener with his creamy music which results in an inspirational collection of awesome AOR and hard rock songs like the pure "Hold U 2night", "Given So Much" the gloriously catchy "Haley" which reminds me of HUGO's "A Tear In LA" and many a STORM track, is about Tim and Lana's daughter, the STEVE PERRY and PROCUL HAREM melodies are very evident and magnificent on "I Surrender" a song written about Lana, Tim's wife, almost towards the end of "I Surrender" Tim let's out a huge blast goldness his voice is filled with emotion and he carries the song as if it were STEVE PERRY himself singing it, a lovely texture, the notes this guy hits are simply unbelievable!!

The JOURNEY sounding "Young Dream", is also huge, "That's How Love Goes" leans towards DON HENLEY and the excellent cover of JOURNEY's own "Feelin' That Way" which cleverly adds the intro of JOURNEY's "Anytime" into the mix which works beautifully and will astound you all,this is sure to gain Tim much respect, and a well deserved record deal. Watch this space!!! And if your interested in checking out Tim's
wonderful music then simply email him at Lanalew@aol.com By Friday an interview with Timothy.

Rating: 10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)

PRISONER is a Swedish AOR band who is making their debut on the English Melodic Hardrock label Z RECORDS. Multi- instrumentalist and all-round session musician Tommy Denander is one of the members of PRISONER, so this CD is a guarantee for some high-quality music. The AOR on 'Blind' is very similar to both the old and later recordings of the English AOR heroes FM. This is partly due to the fact that the two singers on the PRISONER CD (Geir Ronning and Pierre Wensberg) both sound like a cross between FM singer Steve Overland and GLENN HUGHES.

The only member of PRISONER I haven't mentioned yet is Ricky Delin, the keyboardist and songwriter of the band. There are 10 songs on the CD and the production from Tommy and Ricky is crystal clear. In other words, this is a great record, because also the songs are
very catchy. Opener "Blind" features some great harmonies, the song itself is a bit groovy melodic rock like the last couple of FM albums. Next up is the fantastic classic 80s AOR tune "Don't wanna waste another minute", yes we're right into pure AOR territory! Just listen to the wonderful huge harmonies during the superb AOR chorus, this is classic FM (first two albums) all the way!

The rest of the CD is not as cheerful and classic 80s AOR as this song, but still is quite an enjoyable album to listen to from time to time. Besides the already mentioned songs, my other favourites of the CD are "Italian girl" (very catchy harmonies), "Give my heart a home" (very impressive pure AOR and "Liar" (uptempo AOR/Melodic Rocker). Fans of FM will
very much like this PRISONER CD, but of course I can also recommend it to every fan of well-produced AOR/Melodic Rock, because this PRISONER has released a quality album.

Rating: 8,5/10

'On the run' is the third CD of the Danish band PUSH. The first two were very good melodic hardrock albums, but it was so close to WHITE LION, some people described it as a copycat. Nevertheless, they rocked very melodic and very good. And also this new album sounds very good and the WHITE LION similarity can not be heard on every song anymore. Especially if you listen to the start, because opener "On the run" is a very fast uptempo melodic heavy rocker which has nothing to do with WHITE LION.

Actually I am happy when the band is again moving into WHITE LION territory on the next track "Waitin' in line". This song shows PUSH at their very best, because this is a classy 80s cheesy uptempo melodic rocker with a wonderful sound. Next up is "Too late", a happy melodic rocker like a cross between BRYAN ADAMS (circa 'Wake up…') and DEF
LEPPARD (circa 'Adrenalize'). Actually these influences can also be heard throughout the rest of the CD.

But still I have to admit I think the best songs of PUSH are the WHITE LION typed melodic rockers such as "One reason" and "Believe in love". "Believe in love" is one of my favourite songs on the album, because this is prime-time classy 80s cheerful melodic rock. I
can easily recommend this CD to anyone into Melodic Rock a la WHITE LION, DEF LEPPARD…

Rating: 8/10

Following on from 1998's excellent "ELECTRIC" album, "SONIC DYNAMITE" flows in power melodic metal mayhem,. as usual PC69 stick to their guns and blast out - uhum, sticks of Sonic Dynamite, their success has been down to sticking to their roots and making music for themselves, and here the band are truly magnificent, in fact this is probably PC69's best album yet.

The intro to the album called "Passage To Hope" which is a short accoustic guitar intro played very tastefully and reminds me of Neal Schon's "31-91" from HARDLINE's "Double Eclipse" record, the music then kicks into pace with "Seas Of Madness", this is such a heavy song, and like most of the albums songs it's like a mixture of YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, TNT, DOKKEN, TALISMAN, MANOWAR, JUDAS PRIEST, AXEL RUDI PELL, BALANCE OF POWER, IMPELLITTERI, ROYAL HUNT with touches of VICIOUS RUMOURS, you can forget that former frontman Andi Derris was ever involved with PC69 as David Readman voice is powerful enough to take PC69 to the next level, Alfred Koffler churns out some fiery guitar work, this is a magnificent song!!

"Followed B y The Moon" is pure melodic rock, the chorus, guitars all fit into place and you will be singing along like an idiot, the album rocks up again for "Speed Of Light","Waiting For The Dawn" and the title track all of which remind me of OZZY
OSBOURNE with some tasty ZAKK WYLDE inspired licks from Alfred who is the star of this album. Next up is "The Spirit", this is a moody song and David's vocals are similar to Goran Edman,

"Let The Thunder Reside" is very WHITESNAKE "Slip Of The Tounge" era, with a touch of DAVID LEE ROTH's "Good Times" mainly due to Alfred's similar VAI like style. "Lost In Illusions" is slightly more progressive and heavy reminding me of AXEL RUDI PELL, and "Face An Angel" and "Shattered Prophecy" are both excellent hard rocking songs in the style of MR.BIG, TNT, DOKKEN, OZZY, RACER X etc, with great chorus' and axe work, and possibly the albums best tracks, "Spread Your Wings" is another moody piece, very atmospheric and touching, a great song. Overall this really shows that PC69 mean buisness and I really hope this album gains them more fans and respect. The band have now been releasing records for a remarkable eleven years, which is a triumphant in itself and goes to show that PC69 are still one of the top bands around today, you can't argue with this record, it's totally huge!! roll on the tour...RECOMMENDED. Love the cover artwork.

Rating: 9,5/10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)

Let the good times rock, DUDES are a new Australian rock band, they play cheesy sleezy rock n roll and write lyrics about girls, surfing, Californian beaches, driving, etc.. it's all good summertime fun, and it's bands like these who are keeping the scene alive and kicking, it may be cheesy and it may have been done before, but who gives a damn when the songs are fun and enjoyable party anthems that you will either love or hate, for me it lies somewhere in the middle, and these guys can play along with the best of them.

The songs are a mixture of GUNS N' ROSES, POISON, SLAUGHTER, SHARK ISLAND, DAMN YANKEES, WRATHCHILD, BABYLON A.D., VAN HALEN (Sammy Hagar era), tracks like "Sky Surfin'", "Living On The Beach", "Goodtime", "Summer USA", are all fun with perhaps "Living On The Beach" and the instrumental "Highway" being the best among the pack. This is a nice album if you want something to loosen up to, DUDES as a whole a pretty cool musicians and as the story goes, had this been released in the eighties then they may have had a hit album. In the words of "Bill And Ted" PARTY ON DUDES!!! Email: dudes@bigpond.com

Rating: 7,5/10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)

2ND OPINION REVIEW

At last!!!, the long awated follow up to the excellent "Shaken Not Stirred" album, and WOW, PUSH seem to have come full circle with "On The Run", the band sound pure and fresh, the production is world class, the eleven new songs on offer show maturity in the band, this has been very professionally put together.

The sound of WHITE LION is like a tag around Push's neck, but hey can Martie Peters help it if he sounds identical to Mike Tramp? I don't think so, this guy is genuine, Next the BON JOVI comparisments, sure the albums is riddled with them, but when the music is this good, those factors can be over looked, as Push are really rocking with the "On The Run".

I'd prefer to say that this album reminds me of SHY TIGER, IF ONLY, SHY and BIG GUNS, tracks to look out for are the excellent "Jokerman", "Never Too Old", and the bone crunching spunkiness of "Too Late", this song is pure hard rock, with some great vocal melodies from Martie, is that pure Mike Tramp or what? A great song and one to get the kids going crazy live. No Push album is without it's ballads, the top ones this time are "Miracles" and "One Reason", "One Reason" is such a great song, full of deep emotion, here Martie sounds like BRYAN ADAMS, actually the song reminds me of Bryan's "Please Forgive Me" smash hit, and if this song was released as a single and pushed to the right people, then Push too, would find themselves a home in the upper reaches of the charts, that is, if it was 1988. Never the less this is a great album. Recommended.

Rating: 9,5/10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)