heavyharmonies

Fappy birthday! No wait, that's something else entirely...

I suck at doing interviews and I hate it. I'm an introvert at heart and the less I have to deal with those icky people thingies, the better. I did formal reviews early on and found it to be a thankless task that had no upside. If you gush then people think you're in bed with labels/bands. If you're overly critical then the labels/bands take you to task or threaten to not send you any more material. You're continuously trying to walk a fine line trying to make everyone happy, and it simply can't be done effectively. More importantly, I've always been of the opinion that so-called "expert reviews" are useless. What makes person A's opinion of a CD any more or less valid than person B's opinion? What is more useful is to gain a wide variety of opinions about a CD from different sources, and thus be able to glean some sort of consensus of opinion. That's why the comment section on the main site is so useful. Both of the above endeavors take a lot of time on an ongoing basis to do well, a commodity I simply don't have a lot of these days. If it's a feature/addition that I can program that in effect runs itself, that I can do, but anything that's high-maintenance or that requires a regular ongoing commitment in order to work is going to be a problem. I don't mean to be critical, and they're good ideas, but I have to work within the realistic constraints that I have. I appreciate the effort that you and Ty and especially Mike make to the site and board, but even those tasks are such that, if you needed to a month or two away, the site wouldn't come to a screeching halt. It's somewhat self-perpetuating, with much of the content user-generated, which was a deliberate choice. Sites like melodicrock, et al., that are structured around daily or weekly news, rumor, releases, etc., require a certain sense of immediacy to be effective. If a few weeks go by without CDs being added here at HH, it's not going to kill the site... the site is based on a wealth of data, not the time sensitivity of that data. Don't have that luxury with a news- or interview-based site. Good thoughts though. -Dan

The new British Melodic Rock sensation VEGA is about to take the scene by storm ! Frontiers Records is pleased to announce the release of VEGA's debut album "Kiss of Life" on December 3rd in Europe. VEGA is a band that formed in may 2009 from the union of former KICK vocalist Nick Workman with the successful and respected song writing partnership of Tom and James Martin (House of Lords, Ted Poley of Danger Danger, Khymera, Sunstorm to name but a few), VEGA is a new band but rest assured they are about to take the Melodic Rock world by storm! Their debut album “Kiss of Life” has been produced by John Greatwood (engineer for Tom Lord Alge of QUEEN fame) and mastered by the one and only Dennis Ward (Pink Cream 69) and features 12 rock songs which mix classic Bon Jovi and Def Leppard, with a pinch of U2 and Journey. "We wear our love of 80’s rock music on our sleeve, but we also have injected our love of modern rock music to it" says Tom Martin. "We aren’t trying to rehash anything: the sound we have achieved is 100% VEGA. We didn’t want to try and guess what people expect and get it wrong. Normally when we write songs we have the control over the lyrics/melodies but this time with Vega we left Nick to this part because we really rate him as a songwriter and he did a fantastic job with this on Kick's albums, so we knew he could make our sound more unique and make it a bit different from the AOR songs we write". Tom and James met Nick 10 years ago when KICK was supporting Thunder on the first of their farewell tours. In the time that followed, the guys had always wanted to work with Nick, and opportunity came when the two brothers and drummer Dan Chantrey met Nick for a second time at a U.K. rock festival. Conversations about movies and music finally moved on to the all important question…..”When are we going to work together?“. The answer ended up being the next day, and VEGA was born. The chemistry between the guys was obvious and two brothers became four! VEGA wrote 25 songs in the coming months and chose the best songs for recording. No expense was spared and a top UK recording studio was booked and in John Greatwood a producer with numerous UK and European top 10 albums and singles was on board! Following recording and mixing in October, Dennis Ward stepped up to the plate to put the final touches to the album, mastering it in his studio in Germany. Get ready to experience the band live! "We do have a couple of gigs confirmed and others that we are waiting on" says singer Nick Workman. "We will support Danny Vaughn at Dudley JB’s on December 10th, the week the album comes out. As we were going to be rehearsed for that it would be silly not to do another gig, so we booked a date at The Yardbird’s the night before to blow out the cobwebs!! It’s going to be a lot of fun to play these songs live" You can expect VEGA to be on many people's best of list of 2010 even if the album will be released almost... out of time ! "Kiss of Life" tracklisting includes: Into The Wild; Kiss Of Life; One Of A Kind; Staring At The Sun; Too Young For Wings; A.N. Other; Headlights; Hearts Of Glass; Stay With Me; Wonderland; What It Takes; S.O.S. - Kiss Of Life (videoclip) The songs “Into The Wild” and “Kiss Of Life” can exclusively be listened in full in streaming on the Frontiers Web radio. Tune in at: www.frontiers.it/webradio Enjoy the "Kiss of Life" videoclip: VEGA: Nick Workman: vocals Tom Martin: guitars James Martin: keyboards Dan Chantrey: drums SAMPLES: http://www.frontiers.it/m/uploads/audios/vega_-_01_-_into_the_wild__.mp3'>http://www.frontiers.it/m/uploads/audios/vega_-_01_-_into_the_wild__.mp3 http://www.frontiers.it/m/uploads/audios/vega_-_03_-_one_of_a_kind__.mp3'>http://www.frontiers.it/m/uploads/audios/vega_-_03_-_one_of_a_kind__.mp3 http://www.frontiers.it/m/uploads/audios/vega_-_09_-_stay_with_me_.mp3'>http://www.frontiers.it/m/uploads/audios/vega_-_09_-_stay_with_me_.mp3 Weblinks: http://www.myspace.com/vegaofficial / http://www.frontiers.it / http://www.myspace.com/frontiersrecords

I added samples of all of the tracks to the main site a few weeks ago: http://heavyharmonies.com/cgi-bin/glamcd.cgi?BandNum=3698&CDName=The+Showdown -Dan

I think that a lot of people are moving on to other things. The economy sucking certainly doesn't help. I know that I personally don't have anywhere near as much time to work on the site as I used to. Interestingly enough, the traffic to the main site hasn't gone down; just the board itself. So how do we spruce things up? What changes (that wouldn't require a boatload of man hours) do you think would improve the place and/or possibly draw people in? I don't go onto other forums and promote the board here, as that's considered poor etiquette, tantamount to spamming. -Dan

Farve looks asstacular tonight. What a fucked up season it is when the Vikings and Cowboys are at the bottom and the Chiefs and Buccaneers are at the top.

Just added audio samples for all tracks from the following: Allen-Lande - The Showdown Asia - Spirit of the Night Nelson - Lightning Strikes Twice Strangeways - Perfect World The Poodles - No Quarter Unruly Child - Worlds Collide http://www.heavyharmonies.com/cgi-bin/audio.cgi

NELSON celebrate the 20th Anniversary of "(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection” hitting n.1 in Billboard announcing the release of their new album “Lightning Strikes Twice” On September 29th 1991 NELSON reached the height of the US Single charts with their evergreen hit “(Can’t Live Without Your) Love And Affection”. Their music has stood the test of time and now 20 years later Matthew and Gunnar Nelson explore fresh creative territory in the present with their new album, “Lightning Strikes Twice” scheduled for first release in Europe on November 5th, with US and Asian release to follow. Magical melodic songwriting and soaring sibling harmonies continue to ensure that this dynamic duo is still a vital part of the music scene’s future. The new album goes straight back to the absolute brilliance of NELSON’s first album, hence the title and an amazing set of songs that are going to restore the faith in NELSON. “After the Rain” was the debut multi-platinum album by NELSON in the early 1990s. They zoomed to number one with their hit song, "(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection,” which made history landing America’s iconic Nelson family (bandleader Ozzie Nelson, rock legend Rick Nelson, and twins Matthew & Gunnar) into the Guinness Book of World Records as the ONLY family in Entertainment with 3 successive generations of #1 hitmakers. NELSON’s “After the Rain” record and tour became a phenomenon just prior to the rise of grunge. The last major success of the good time rock’n’roll era, NELSON has had (1) Number One, (4) Top Ten, and (5) Top 40 Billboard Hot 100 hit singles, plus (5) #1 MTV videos and has sold over 6.5 million albums worldwide! Nelson has always been synonymous with entertainment in America. Matthew and Gunnar follow Ozzie Nelson’s vision of embracing connecting with people and audiences through all forms of media. They have been doing television-hosting work for VH1 and E! Gunnar is also a standout reality TV star with VH1’s “Celebrity Fit Club”. Plus, Gunnar co-hosted LIFETIME Radio’s nationally syndicated morning show. A&E channel’s Nelson Family “Biography” episode is still one of the top-rated ‘Biography’ installments. Matthew & Gunnar embraced this fascination by creating a touring show to celebrate the TV Nelsons and the amazing career of their legendary father, Ricky, for whom LIFE magazine coined the phrase “Teen idol”. They share video clips & tell stories about their Hollywood family and perform their Pop’s music live to audiences in RICKY NELSON REMEMBERED while separately touring as NELSON. NELSON has been headlining at major rock festivals around the globe celebrating the 20th anniversary of “After the Rain”. Touring in China, the U.K. and of course the U.S. where they have also toured extensively with Peter Frampton and Styx. In October 2010 the band will head to the UK to headline day 2 of the Firefest festival appearing with label mates Jimi Jamison, Lynch Mob, Strangeways, Pretty Maids amongst others. A world tour at the beginning of 2011 will follow. "’Lightning Strikes Twice’ has allowed us creatively, artistically and musically to resolve some unfinished business," Gunnar says. "We’ve had a blast going into the studio writing and performing some of our best songs. Plus, being back on the road with NELSON is living the dream all over again. New fans are discovering our music and original fans have shown incredible support all over the world. It ROCKS!” Matthew adds, “Who could believe we would be doing a NELSON sequel to ‘After the Rain” twenty years later? Gunnar and I feel it’s our best work to date and should live up to its name ‘Lightning Strikes Twice’. We believe NELSON fans will agree with that forecast and hope they feel it’s been worth the long wait.” “Lightning Strikes Twice” tracklisting includes: Call Me; Day By Day; Ready, Willing and Able; How Can I Miss You?; You’re All I Need Tonight; To Get Back To You; When You’re Gone; Take Me There; Come; In It For The Money; Change a Thing; Kickin’ My Heart Around. The first single “You’re All I Need Tonight” and “Call Me” can exclusively be listened in full in streaming on the Frontiers Web radio. Tune in at: http://www.frontiers.it/webradio SAMPLES: http://www.frontiers.it/m/uploads/audios/nelson__-_01_-_call_me.mp3 http://www.frontiers.it/m/uploads/audios/nelson__-_02_-_day_by_day.mp3 http://www.frontiers.it/m/uploads/audios/nelson__-_05_-_you%27re_all_i_need_tonight.mp3 Musicians on “Lightning Strikes Twice” include: Gunnar Nelson: Lead Vocals, Guitars Matthew Nelson: Lead Vocals, Bass With special guest appearances: Gary Corbett: piano, keyboards Brian Burwell: drums David Morgan: piano, background vocals Steve Lukather: guest guitar on “To Get Back To You”

Not only "no", but "HELL NO!" I got vertigo just from watching the fucking thing. 1. Climbing down ladders is more dangerous than climbing up them. How'd you like to climb down from that height? 2. The film doesn't show it, but winds at those heights SUCK. 3. Michigan. January. Tower iced over. Go fix antenna. GO FUCK YOURSELF!

Can you forward one of the emails to me at webmaster@heavyharmonies.com? I haven't seen it. Just to make sure everyone's clear, I do NOT sell or give the email address database from this board or the main site to anyone. Also, it may be spoofed as opposed to being from that actual person. You can set up an email client with anyone's email address in the "From:" slot. That's what spammers do. Very rarely is spam email actually from the email address it claims to be from. -Dan

Frontiers Records is pleased to announce the release of THE POODLES live package including the “No Quarter” CD and “In The Flesh” DVD on November 5th 2010. Having carved in stone their reputation as prime time entertainers with the release of three acclaimed studio albums and over 350 shows in the entire Europe in the past few years, not counting Gold and Platinum record awards in their home country, THE POODLES close the first chapter of their musical adventure and set their sails for the next step. As a tribute to the first years on the road, THE POODLES offer the fans a live package including a CD and a DVD recorded during the “Clash of the Elements” tour in 2009, which portrays the band in the most natural environment: the live show. “The high points for us as a band is anytime we go on stage”, says guitar player Henrik Bergqvist. “This may sound like somewhat of a cliché but it is no less true. It doesn't matter if we play a crowd of 10.000 people at Graspop or in front of a handful on a rainy November Monday in Copenhagen, those are the moments we relish and live for. We've had so many special moments on stage over the past couple of years that it seems impossible to single even a few of them out. Having said this, some special moments can certainly be seen on the live DVD and heard on the live CD”. “We are very proud of how the live CD and live DVD turned out and we feel that they really shows what the band is like on stage” continues Bergqvist, “being able to watch a DVD of your favourite band is great and there are a few really nice ones out there, but the connection that takes place between the band and the crowd during live shows cannot be formatted to the screen. You can catch a glimpse of it, but to experience a band live will always be different from listening to or viewing a recording of that band. Have a look and see for yourselves, though!” Aptly titled “In The Flesh” the DVD is a real in deep look at the Poodles style of life with in-deep interviews, that present each band member, behind-the stage instant footage and a collection of the promo videoclips shot for the “Clash of the Elements” promotion. In addition, a selection of the band’s classic cuts performed live shows that the Poodles are delivering the goods when the play live. The live cd, soundtrack of the DVD, plus the song “Lullaby For Jimmy” as cd exclusive, shows that behind the look and the words there is a solid band playing great music! Henrik concludes: “The future plans for The Poodles is closely connected to the band's cooperation with Frontiers Records. The band expects to play for an ever expanding audience as a result of it and take the mission of Heavy Metal to virgin lands. We want to see our beloved fans again on the road and make new friends too. The future is bright for us, and that's good because we already wear shades!” The live CD “No Quarter” tracklisting includes: Too Much Of Everything; Caroline; Seven Seas; Metal Will Stand Tall; Like No Tomorrow; One Out Of Ten; Lullaby For Jimmy; Drum Solo; Echoes From The Past; Thunderball; I Rule The Night; Night Of Passion; Flesh & Blood; Line Of Fire. The Live DVD “In The Flesh” table of contents include: Movie: Introduction; Stockholm, Party & Fun; About The Poodles; Metal Standing Tall; The Director & Crew; Being On Top; Jakob; Henrik; Pontus; Kicken; The First Five Rows; Tribute To The Fans; End Credits. Concert: Too Much Of Everything; Caroline; Seven Seas; Metal Will Stand Tall; Like No Tomorrow; One Out Of Ten; Echoes From The Past; Thunderball; I Rule The Night; Night Of Passion; Flesh & Blood; Line Of Fire. Extras: Like No Tomorrow (Video); I Rule The Night (Video); In The Flesh (Video); Warrior (The Movie Trailer); Majestic Film And Metal Warriors The DVD will be released in NTSC Region Free format with Screen 16:9 and Mix in 2.0. There will also be a limited release of a luxury packaging including the live CD “No Quarter” and the DVD “In The Flesh” is a luxury digipak edition. “In The Flesh” trailer can be enjoyed following this link on Youtube: The songs “One Out Of Ten” and “Caroline” can exclusively be listened in full in streaming on the Frontiers Web radio. Tune in at: http://www.frontiers.it/webradio THE POODLES: * Jakob Samuel - vocals * Pontus Egberg - bass * Christian Lundqvist - drums * Henrik Bergqvist - guitars SAMPLES: http://www.frontiers.it/m/uploads/audios/the_poodles_-_05_-_like_no_tomorrow.mp3 http://www.frontiers.it/m/uploads/audios/the_poodles_-_03_-_seven_seas.mp3 http://www.frontiers.it/m/uploads/audios/the_poodles_-_06_-_one_out_of_ten.mp3 http://www.frontiers.it/m/uploads/audios/the_poodles_-_02_-_caroline.mp3

Interesting. I guess there are multiple "exclusive" versions out there. The 2 "exclusive" tracks on iTunes are: 1. Fucked Up Situation 2. Porn Star Dancing (looks to be an extended mix of the Ludacris version) The 2 "exclusive" tracks on the Best Buy CD are: 1. Without You (great ballad!) 2. Still Worth Fighting For

Special Edition CD + DVD version is on sale this week at Best Buy for $9.99. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woRaHKNEs8Y

Out today here in the states. Best Buy has an exclusive version with 2 bonus tracks, on sale this week for $7.99. For Geoff however, assuming he hasn't yet heard (or seen it), the single that's been getting a lot of airplay here is "Porn Star Dancing". Personally, I think it's catchy as heck. Very Nickelbackish at times. The first time I heard it on Octane, I couldn't get the damned chorus out of my head. Very infectious; definitely sticks with you. Two versions. First a rock version with Zakk Wylde: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2Fnet0y9Ts Second, an extended version with Ludacris: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdaKwt5cHEk&feature=channel

1-minute samples of all 293 tracks posted: http://www.heavyharmonies.com/cgi-bin/glamcd.cgi?BandNum=2826&CDName=Jukebox *whew* All sorts of styles represented from hard rock to AOR to westcoast to boy band to pop. -Dan

Added the boxed set to the HH database (boy did THAT take forever to type in). http://www.heavyharmonies.com/cgi-bin/glamcd.cgi?BandNum=2826&CDName=Jukebox One more example of how this was really thrown together without any thought: The DVD contains 2GB of mp3s, containing demos, live stuff, all of their previous CDs, and all their albums that were never released on CD.... but no artwork, liner notes, or lineups for any of those albums, so there's no way to put any context to those albums we've never heard. How tough would it have been to throw a folder with PDFs of artwork scans or Word files with track listings/lineups, SOMETHING. There's 2.3GB of unused space on the DVD, and it would have cost nothing extra just to add that material. Seriously, anything would have been better than nothing, and don't tell me it would have been too expensive, as that would have cost NOTHING to add to the DVD. With just a little bit of thought and effort, this release could have been huge, but right now what's missing is pissing me off. -Dan P.S. There are repeats of songs throughout the CDs. I assume they are alternate or live versions, but haven't had time to listen, and there's nothing that tells you what's what.

Yeah I snagged it when it was on sale at BB for $7.99 the other week. I really dig "Kick in the Teeth".

Which is why, if you read my initial post, I recommended waiting to see what the download/data versions will cost. If those are cheaper, I would recommend those alternatives. -Dan

I am being real. At 1,000 units, replicated silver CDs with color on-disk silk screening, in full-color LP-style jackets are under $1.00 each. At 5,000 units they're like 60 cents each. I have no idea what the production run is, but I'm assuming at least 1,000 units. They're also charging $10 for shipping when Priority Mail is half that. I realize that manufacturing costs are only part of the equation, but for $60 I was expecting more. Pics below. Back of the box is the same as the front. No information at all on the box. Very flimsy cardboard; won't hold up. Same with the "booklet"; very thin paper. -Dan

Got mine today. All I can say is that my recommendation would be to hold off on buying it. If they offer the mp3/single-DVD versions at a lower price, I would go that route. This is easily the skimpiest packaging I have ever seen in a "boxed set" (and I use the term loosely). It's not worth a premium over an electronic version. When they said the CDs would be "replicated in sleeves" I assumed they meant cardboard LP sleeves like you get promos in. Nope. They're just white paper sleeves that you can buy for a nickel apiece. The art on the discs is identical for all CDs, the only difference being the disc number. At the very least they could have put different album covers or band pics on each of the CDs, SOMETHING for a bit of variety. The whole thing feels cheap. I'm sure I'll enjoy listening to all the music, but a bit more effort should have been put into this. The packaging gets a solid "F" in my book. -Dan

Also, coming out on Blu-Ray on October 12: $18.99 at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Dio-Holy-Diver-Dol-Blu-ray/dp/B003YKVGL0/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&tag=heavyharmonies&coliid=I1K5LLNO9D6VS7&colid=JYT071PP10VT

It's hard to believe that it's been nine years since the scum of the universe committed those horrific acts of barbarism committed in the name of Allah. And no, I'm not ready to forgive or "be tolerant". I still want an eye for an eye, not only for those that lost their lives, but for all those personally affected by the losses. And please don't get me started on the mosque at Ground Zero. It's an insult and a slap in the face to every American. Every time I think of the liberals wanting to allow this it makes me ill. There are some things that are just unforgivable. Could we put political correctness and multiculturalism away for just one second? There are some things that are just plain wrong. Period. What was I doing nine years ago? The morning this atrocity happened, I was actually asleep. I had flown into Indianapolis at 1am the night before and driven home, this after spending the weekend in Burbank, CA at Ultrasound 2001, a music event put on by our very own Manicego. A weekend of hard rock and metal, only to be followed up by this. I remember that quite a few of the folks had stayed a few extra days to vacation, and ended up being stranded for more than a week due to the airlines shutting down. I woke up at about 10am, turned on the TV, and said "Holy shit!" It took me a few minuted to figure out just what was going on. I ended up being glued to the TV for several days after that as America tried to figure out what had just been done to us. When I first saw TV footage, the 2 towers were still standing, no one knew what had actually happened, either in NYC or at the Pentagon, or in Pennsylvania. The next several hours were chilling. I think entirely too many politicians and policy makers have forgotten what happened that day, the visceral gutwrench that occurred. It shouldn't be taken lightly. Here's a snapshot of culture from the morning of Sep. 11 that I've saved for all these years, a recording of the Howard Stern show from that morning as the events unfolded. It starts off innocuously, discussion of Danny Almonte, an interview with Kid Rock and Pam Anderson, discussion of Howard's love life... and then all hell broke loose. Howard Stern Show From 9/11/01. It's 2 hours and 38 minutes long. The first realization of the attacks occurs starting at about 15:30. The unintentional foreshadowing is chilling, even to this day. It's clear they didn't realize the extent of things as it was occurring. Never forget.

Old ones, but I LOLed.

Resurrecting this dead thread to see what modern rock singles/airplay are floating people's boats. Ones I like as of late: Skillet - Hero Papa Roach - Kick in the Teeth 10 years - Shoot It Out

VEGA Frontiers Records is pleased to announce the signing of VEGA, a very exciting new Melodic Rock band from the UK, featuring former KICK vocalist Nick Workman and the successful and respected songwriting partnership of Tom and James Martin (House of Lords, Ted Poley of Danger Danger, Khymera, Sunstorm to name but a few), together with drummer Dan Chantrey. VEGA are set to bring back the reputation of British Melodic Rock music with a strongly original sound approach that while obviously influenced by the genre’s greatest names (from Bon Jovi, to Def Leppard and Journey) adds a strong personal element that will definitely bring the band to the attention of a very wide audience. The band’s debut album “Kiss Of Life” has been recorded under the direction of producer John Greatwood (engineer for Tom Lord-Alge of QUEEN fame), with the band selecting a total of 12 songs out of a total of 25 written for the purpose. Dennis Ward (Pink Cream 69) stepped up to the plate to put the final touches to the album, mastering it in his studio in Germany. The band has also recently finished the shooting of the first video for the album title track, which will be launched as first single in the fall. Singer Nick Workman commented: “We are pleased and excited to be signed to Frontiers Records. We are very proud of this album and believe that it brings new vibe to the rock scene whilst maintaining the roots of all of the bands that have inspired us over the years!” Frontiers plans to release the debut album “Kiss of Life” later this year with more details to follow later. VEGA will be out on the road in the new year taking their music to the Rock fans live on stage! Weblink: http://www.myspace.com/vegaofficial RALF SCHEEPERS / PRIMAL FEAR Swedish guitarist Magnus Karlsson (PRIMAL FEAR, STARBREAKER, LAST TRIBE) has finished laying down his parts for the forthcoming solo album from Ralf Scheepers of German power metallers PRIMAL FEAR. According to a posting on the PRIMAL FEAR web site, "Magnus delivered his guitar parts on some songs of the album and did a killer job as always. Just some more lead guitars are missing by some other great players and we're ready to mix the album after the forthcoming [PRIMAL FEAR] European tour!" As previously reported, powerhouse American vocalist Tim "Ripper" Owens (HAIL!, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, BEYOND FEAR, JUDAS PRIEST, ICED EARTH) will make a guest appearance on Scheepers' forthcoming CD. Owens will be heard dueting with Scheepers in the track "Remission Of Sin". Other guest musicians expected to appear on the album include Swedish multi-instrumentalist Snowy Shaw (DIMMU BORGIR, THERION, DREAM EVIL, KING DIAMOND, MERCYFUL FATE) on drums, Sander Gommans (AFTER FOREVER, HDK) on guitar and PRIMAL FEAR's Mat Sinner playing bass on the entire LP and producing. A photo shoot with Alex Kuehr for the CD's cover took place in early July in Germany. In a recent interview with the "Metalzone" radio show (web site) with Kostas Purevil Kyriakakis and Helena Mihailidou, Scheepers revealed that his upcoming solo album will include a remake of his song "Saints Of Rock" from Scheepers' pre-PRIMAL FEAR band TYRAN PACE and a cover version of "Before The Dawn' from JUDAS PRIEST. "'Saints Of Rock' is gonna be, of course, a little bit more modern than it was [when the original version was recorded] in 1986," he explained. "I mean, right now we have much more possibilities to make songs sound a little bit more modern, starting with the drum sound and the bass sounds — having a much more distorted sound." He added, "I think 'Before The Dawn' pretty much is a [straight] cover — [there's] just a little more orchestral things going on, I have more strings in the song compared to the JUDAS PRIEST [original]. Back then there wasn't much strings going on. I think they even have a piano [in the original version], which I don't have. I have strings and I have this atmosphere stuff going on. Vocal-wise, I just added a harmony at the last bridge before last chorus, I added a harmony which is not on the original, but that's the basic difference." In a June 2010 interview with Metal Assault, Scheepers stated about the musical direction of his forthcoming solo CD, "It's more diverse [than PRIMAL FEAR], you can say." He added, "In the beginning I had those ballads that we couldn't use for PRIMAL FEAR because they might be too mellow, but now we've started to write together on it. Basically, it's my ideas on it, but I have a great team, with Mat and Magnus and some other members — Sander [Gommans], the ex-AFTER FOREVER guitarist, helped me a lot. It's a good variety — from the hardest to the softest tones." PRIMAL FEAR recently released a new live DVD, "16.6 - All Over The World" (recorded in various locations between September and November 2009), and a live CD, aptly titled "Live In The USA". The brand new Primal Fear European tour is about to kick off: 18.09.2010 POL - Warsaw - Progresja 19.09.2010 CZ - Pardubice - Zluty Pes Pardubice 21.09.2010 D - Aschaffenburg - Colossaal 22.09.2010 D - Munich - Backstage 23.09.2010 D - Cologne - Underground 25.09.2010 IT - Bari Modugno - Demode 26.09.2010 IT - Rome - Black Out 28.09.2010 AUT - Woergl - Komma 29.09.2010 D - Nuernberg - Hirsch 30.09.2010 D - Osnabrueck - Lagerhalle 01.10.2010 D - Burglengenfeld - VA Zentrum 02.10.2010 D - Bad Arolsen - Outback 04.10.2010 SWE - Vaesteras - Sigurdsgatan2 05.10.2010 SWE - Stockholm - Gotokolare 06.10.2010 SWE - Gothenburg - Sticky Fingers 08.10.2010 FIN - Tampere - Sputnik 09.10.2010 FIN - Helsinki - Dantes Highlight 11.10.2009 D - Hamburg - New Headbangers Ballroom 12.10.2010 FRA - Paris - La Scene Bastille 13.10.2010 FRA - Lyon - Marche Gare 14.10.2010 FRA - Mulhouse - Noumatrouf 15.10.2010 D - Speyer - Halle 101 04.12.2010 BEL - Kuuren – Hippodrom KISKE - SOMERVILLE Underdawg Promotion has arranged the following Club Parties in Germany to celebrate the release of the highly anticipated KISKE – SOMERVILLE album. 23.9 Ochsenfurt @ Postkeller 23.9 Ludenscheid @ Alte Druckerei 24.9 Uster (CH) @ Rock City 24.9 Ludwigsburg @ Rock Fabirk (Michael Kiske and Amanda Somerville will make a special personal appearance in this party!) 25.9 Darmstadt @ Steinbruch Theater During the parties the album and videoclips will be played in full and some free copies of the album will be raffled. MIND KEY MIND KEY have recently announced the addition of the new drummer Mirkko De Maio to the line-up. The band issued the following statement: “We are very pleased with Mirkko. We think he’s 100% the right man for us. His musical background, his experience (although he's really young) and his incredible energy and taste in playing make him the perfect fit for MK”. Mind Key looks forward to present the new guy on stage and to continue the evolving musical path started with the recent release of the band’s second album “Pulse for a Graveheart”. You can have an introduction to Mirkko at www.mirkkodemaio.com In the meantime, Mind Key have redesigned their with a new layout and a RSS Feed feature to follow every news about the band. Check it out at www.mindkey.it Last but not least, the band started the songwriting for the third album which the guys hope to release by the end of 2011.