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LARRY TAGG | Rover | (Psychoactive, 1997)

Come Back, Marie / Chain Letter / Hand In Hand / Drive Away / Don't Say You Want To Be My Friend / If You Make Your Train / The Turnaround / We Go Way Back / Next Big Thing / After This Love Is Gone / You Make Me Hate My Morning Coffee / What Will Survive

In 1995 he released his very first solo-album "With A Skeleton Crew". An album filled with very nice melodic pop music, in some parts with a hi-tech feeling.
His new album, more or less, follows the same formula. "Rover" is perhaps a bit more mellow and the hi-tech intentions are excluded, which I think is for the better.
On the other hand there's no really rocking song like "1/2 Yes, 1/2 No", which perhaps might be missing?
Nevertheless, this is a very strong release and mentioning any particular tracks seems a bit unnecessary. But of course, "After This Love Is Gone" (previously recorded by Eddie Money in '95 and Bryan Duncan in '97) is one true mid- paced ballad that will melt anyone.
Larry Tagg convinces once again and if you're into some poppier stuff this is one CD you should not miss.

Review by: Stefan

TALK OF THE TOWN | Reach For The Sky | (AOR-Heaven, 1998)

Top Of The Mountain / Late For Love / Take Me High / Love Touch / Broken Promises / Reach For The Sky / You Hide Your Love / Strange Love / Waiting / Come On Closer / Bad Attitude

A decade after their debut, which featured the Swedish hit "Free Like An Eagle", Talk Of The Town returns with a collection of demos that was meant to be a 2nd record. The material was recorded between March and September 1992.
Besides original vocalist Thomas Wikström, Conny Lind (Amaze Me) and a guy named Totten handles leadvocal duties.
Compared with their harmless, but quite nice debut this one's a bit rougher and actually funkier, worst moment of the record is when rapper "Swing" makes entrance in the titletrack.
I still think the mainstream sound of songs like "Broken Promises", "You Hide Your Love" and "Waiting" suits them the best.

Review by: Stefan

T'BELL | Replay | (AOR Heaven, 2000)

Do Ya / Send Her A Letter / Illusions Of Love / Refugee / Always Pretending / I Wanna Remember / Foolish Love / Lies In Disguise / Postman / Take Me Tonite / Night After Night / It's Only Love

Thank God the music is better than the ugly cover/artwork. In fact it was a while since I was so happy playing a recent release. This is pure AOR s l a s h Westcoast! Yes, PURE! This is filled with joyful, light blue stuff that's a dream for someone like yours truly. Influnces easily traced on this album are Jay Graydon (Airplay), Toto and Chicago.
The sounds of the glory days of the 80s are present throughout the entire record. "Illusions Of Love", "Night After Night" and "It's Only Love" are 3 stupendous moments of the albums total 12 songs that all ranges from good to great.
Though they have great songs the album tends to become a bit repetetive in the middle. This album could also have been lifted a bit higher if they have managed to get away from that somewhat low budget sounding production.
Still, they have better songs than most within this genre today so get your copy asap and crank it up!

Review by: Stefan

TEER | Teer | (Frontiers Records, 2000)

Heaven's Not Enough / Sadie / Romeo / Man of the World / Vampire's Lullaby / Tell Me It's Over / Monday Mourning / Heart on A String / Beggin' / Pride

Here we have the debut cd from a young group of newcomers to the scene that go by the name TEER. This will surely appeal to fans who can't get enough of the late 80's early 90's arena rock bands. Two bands that come to mind for comparisons are: Firehouse and Dokken. Ralph Santolla (Millenium) produced this cd and did a decent job.
This cd is mixed into three different styles. First we have the heavier Dokken sound in songs like: "Romeo", "Vampire's Lullaby" and "Pride." Secondly, there's quite a few songs that remind me of the rockers on the first Firehouse cd: "Heavens Not Enough", "Sadie" (this song is catchy as anything - my favourite on the disc) and "Tell Me It's Over." The third style is of course the ballads "Man of the World" and "Monday Mourning."
They even do a cool (but short) bluesy intro on the rocker "Beggin" which I quite enjoy. Overall, it's a decent debut and I think their next cd will be even better. It's a great start - but they do have room for improvement in places.

Review by: Rob

TEN | The Robe | (Now & Then / MTM Music, 1997)

The Robe / Bright On The Blade / Standing On The Edge Of Time / Virtual Reality / Arcadia / Battlelines / You're In My Heart / Fly Like An Eagle / Ten Fathoms Deep / Someday

This band begins to get on my nerves, UK's Ten. They have now managed to come up with three albums, in two years, that more or less sounds exactly the same. And that's not all.
The structure of each individual song seems to be the same all the time.
Another part of their "concept", for you who haven't heard them yet, is Gary Hughes whispering vocal style and Vinny Burns', these days, monotony guitar-riffing.
In reality it's not so much worse (?) than on the debut, but I can't accept three albums in a row that sounds almost exactly the same.
Favourites on this one are the two songs where Vinny Burns gets songwriting credits: "Standing On The Edge Of Time" & "Someday".
The winds of change have to blow a breeze through the band and hopefully some changes will be done for the future.

Review by: Stefan

TEN | Spellbound | (Frontiers Records, 1999)

March Of The Argonauts (Instrumental) / Fear The Force / Inside The Pyramid Of Light / Spellbound / We Rule The Night / Remembrance For The Brave / (Instrumental) / Red / The Alchemist / Wonderland / Eclipse / The Phantom / Till The End Of Time

Gary Hughes and his mates in Ten are now here with their 4th effort, in my opinion by far their worst and in all reality just pure crap… Harsh words you'd think, but they're not.
The few ounces of melodic originality and class they still had left are now all but gone. Didn't thought that they would end up like this, but now they have become the boring hardrock band they in moments before already were. What else to comment? Well, Gary Hughes hasn't yet become a vocalist of any range and he still rips off others material. Previously he has "borrowed" from bands like Bad English, Journey, Bon Jovi and Stage Dolls. This time it's Whitesnakes's "Still Of The Night" which gets its run in the quite horrifying titletrack.
This does not spellbound me.

Review by: Stefan

THINK OUT LOUD | Shelf Life | (MTM Music, 1997)

Castles On Quicksand / Way Beyond My Reach / Don't Throw It Away / From Where I Stand / Answer To The Why / Moonlight On Water / Just Like That / Let's Talk About Love / I'll Find My Way Again / Calm Before The Storm / Dancing On A High Wire / Invisible Man / Invisible Man (Remix)

This is the second effort from the duo Peter Beckett & Steve Kipner.
That this is more of a collection of demos can be heard as a real thread binding the songs together is missing. Also the programming sounds a bit dry in places.
Nevertheless, this CD has a popish westcoast sound throughout the whole record. The most up-tempo song on the CD is opener "Castles On Quicksand". "Calm Before The Storm" is another favourite with its sentimental theme.
The low-keyed "Invisible Man" rounds off the album in a very relaxed way.
A collection of songs, but a great one!

Review by: Stefan

THRILLS | 3 | (Rewind Records, 2000)

Running Away / The Feeling's Gone / Best Of Everything / Let Me Love You / You'll Be Back / Too Many First Times / Falling Out Of Love / Give It A Chance / Make It Easy / It's Too Late

This record (as well as the Stonebolt release) has been out a while but due to circumstances hasn't been reviewed up until now. Anyway, in this day and age it is very uncommon to hear an album like this. But on the other hand this was recorded back in 1983, which is obvious judging by the way the songs are structured and the sound of the production. But oh my goodness, this is fabulous despite its flaws. If you were like me, raised on bands like Spys, Trillion, Preview, et al then this is an essential album. It is pompous, melodic and darned good all the way through with highlights such as "The Feeling's Gone", "Too Many First Times" and "Falling Out Of Love". It is, quite frankly, a mystery why this wasn't released in the first place but on the other hand it is not the first time label politics have stopped a release. Thankfully the Rewind Records-label (a division of Song Haus Music Group) has the guts to release it now, and as they say, it is better late than never. Thrilling!

Review by: Larry

TNT | Transistor | (Spitfire Records, 1999)

Just Like God / Wide Awake / No Such Thing / Crashing Down / Fantasia Espanola / Because I Love You / The Hole You're Inn / Mousetrap / Into Pieces / Under My Pillow / No Guarantees

I would like start off by saying I really like the new direction that this band has taken! While a lot of the songs are firmly planted in the nineties style, they still have a lot of character to them!

"Just Like God" is the modern sounding TNT and Tony Harnell does some experimenting with his style of singing. At times he reminds me of Raine Maida from Canadian band Our Lady Peace! "Wide Awake" will make the TNT fans of old very happy. It's an incredibly melodic number with a bombastic chorus you will fall in love with on the first listen. "No Such Thing" is a nice cross between the first two tracks. "Crashing Down" is heavy and modern, not to mention one of my favorites on the disc! "Fantasia Espanola" is the first track to slow things down which sounds like Tony's other projects Morning Wood and Westworld. "Because I Love You" is very melodic and Tony sounds great on this track. "The Hole Your Inn" is the first track that I find myself not liking, just boring and it has a more darker sound to it. "Mousetrap" starts off sounding like a classic rock song and is much better than the last song. "Into Pieces" is one of the more experimental tracks and it fits in well with the rest of the material. "Under My Pillow" is a much needed slower number - at first I didn't like the song - but it grows on you after a few listens. The punk song "No Guarantees" ends the album and is one of the heavier tracks on the cd. Good song though!

I heard this release was going to be a return to their old sound! I'd have to say I TOTALLY disagree with that statement. If you don't like the modern sounding TNT, well you still have the next cd from Tony Harnell's side project WESTWORLD to look forward to. If you like some of the "Firefly" release - you should really check this one out!

Review by: Rob

TOUCH | I & II The Complete Works | (Frontiers Records, 1998)

TOUCH I: Don't You Know What Love Is? / When The Spirit Moves You / Love Don't Fail Me / Black Star / There's A Light / So High / Last Chance For Love / Yes (You Need To Rock 'N Roll) / Listen Can You Feel It? / My Life Depends On You - Bonus tracks : Take It Back / Feels Like Love / Can't Keep From Cryin' / Don't You Know What Love Is (Live)
TOUCH II: Just One Step / Far Enough / Too Much In Love / Beg Me / Let Me Love You / Frozen On A Wire / Never In Love / Between The Lines / You're Not A Child Anymore / Is It Really Me? Bonus tracks: Anything For Rock'n'Roll / Tonight / Just Take A Beat Of My Heart / Look At What You Got / I Found Someone

Touch released their debut in 1980 and was actually the very first act to enter the stage of Castle Donington's Monsters Of Rock the same year! The band (actual fragments of the band American Tears) featured among others Mark Mangold and Craig Brooks (Stun Leer).
Their debut album is a much belowed album among many, especially among older fans of this genre. I am myself not as hot on it as some others tend to be. Sure, there are plenty of indispensable material on offer, but it also tends to sound a bit dated these days. Still it's a legacy too good to be missed. The "new" stuff on this particular release is of course the second, up-until-now unreleased album, aptly called "II", and 9 bonustracks! A feast for every pomp-lover for sure, and a showcase of a time gone by. Why it never was released in the first place is a mystery to me, but thankfully it's here for all lovers of AOR to enjoy. It's crammed with great material such as "Far Enough", "Let Me Love You" and "You're Not A Child Anymore", just to name a few. As for the bonus tracks, two were already released on MFN's re-issue of the debut, but what's more interesting are the bonustracks on Disc 2. "Tonight" (also said to turn up on the forthcoming Mystic Healer album) and "I Found Someone" (which Laura Branigan and Cher also has recorded) are just right out brilliant! Not to be missed. Great!

Review by: Larry

TOWER CITY | All Or Nothing | (MTM Music, 1998)

Hot Water / Hungry / Fire With Fire / In These Arms / Two Sides Of Love / All Or Nothing / No Regrets / Another Brother / I Won't Surrender / Rush / Stockholm / I Just Wanna Be The One

Two years ago they blew us away with their AOR-smashing debut "A Little Bit Of Fire". Could they ever present another record with such top fuel AOR? Well, both yes and no.
Song wise there's some truly great songs, especially on the first half of the record. "Hot Water", "Fire With Fire" (the same song as Steelhouse Lane does), "I Won't Surrender" (this one also appears on the Steelhouse Lane CD), "Two Sides Of Love" (yet another tune co-worked with Mike Slamer) and the totally amazing title track. The latter is comparable to the title track from the debut, as it is as infectious with a big hookladen chorus.
Then there are a couple of tunes with a quite different mood than the rest. The funky adventures in "Another Brother" (out as "Vein In Vain" on the "Colorvine"-record) and "Rush" is not of my liking for this band.
Now over to this records main problem - the production. The sound quality varies from good to right out crappy. Just listen to the fabulous title track and you'll notice it has a "clear" demo/cassette sound. What a shame.
This might be the last Tower City record, but I hope and prey they'll pick up the "AOR-pen" again for more magic moments - they're too talented to not do it.

Review by: Stefan

TWO FIRES | Ignition | (Frontiers Records, 2002)

Ignition / Somewhere Far Away / More Than A Mystery / You're Bringing Me Down / I'm Falling / I See Red / This Night / The Man I Want To Be / I Will Remember You / What The Whole World Needs To Know

The first TWO FIRES album had a handful of really good and catchy songs, but somehow they failed to really ignite (pun intended!) the AOR-world and didn't manage to live up to expectations being in the shadow of THE STORM.
This new one is quite frankly really weak. The production sounds rushed. The songs really average, second-rate material and Kevin Chalfant's voice sound strained at times. This actually reminds me of an unfinished demo and should never have been released in this form. Ever.

Review by: Larry