JC_AOR

Only started playing this CD today so maybe too early to form an opinion but I certainly don't hate it. It's heavy but nothing I wouldn't expect from JSS. Track 4 'Break' is an early favourite.

AOR - Return To L.A (March 23)

 

 

 

Frédéric Slama s AOR all star project is back March 23rd with album n° 14th bringing AOR to new heights with the help of legendaries producers Paul Sabu & Tommy Denander. The new AOR album is called "Return To L.A" and features some legendary singers like Jesse Damon (Silent Rage, Kiss), Tommy Funderburk (King Of Hearts, Airplay), Paul Sabu (Only Child, Kidd Glove), Rick Riso, Bob Harris (Axe, Steve Vai), Erika (Yngwie Malmsteen), Sarah & Mélissa Fontaine (Chasing Violets) & many more."Return To L.A" is for fans of the heavier side of AOR in the vein of Survivor, Foreigner, Giant, Journey & Toto. An Aor dream for Melodic Rock lovers ! Not to be missed !

The title of all their albums just blur together, I'm sure they've already used Return to L.A. before.

That 'Orphan' is pretty excellent. Like Jez said, unmistakeably Toto. In fact it sounds really similar to another Toto song but I just can't think of which one. Really like this band and looking forward to the new album.

 

Its not as good as Wrath but I do like it....listening to it once will do nothing, but then I always say this. Some songs are growers.

Loads of people hated Beautiful Mess too but man I loved that album.

For me its good to hear him do something different again - damage control went back to basics to satisfy the regular fans.

I loved Beautiful Mess as well

Yep Beautifull Mess was excellent. I still think 'Our Song' is up there as one of his best songs in the JSS catalogue.

Thanks Geoff, ok so it doesnt look like many wonderful discoveries will come from this but I'll keep looking anyway...there must be a few gems among them. Cheers.

That's quite the list though. Is that all from one download?

 

I have Four Horsemen's debut album "Nobody Said it was Easy." I haven't played it much, but I'll try to give it a good listen so I can tell you what they sound like.

No I haven't downloaded all of that but that list is just some of what is on this site so I thought I would investigate a bit and see if anything is worth listening to. Thanks to Stefan for the Geneva samples. Cheers.

Thanks Stefan ☺

Checking these clips out now. Cheers.

Isn't Briar week sought after? I thought I recall there being a thread here on that band.

Yeah I recall a release by them called Crown of Thorns or something but can't remember if I listened to it.

Sator-Headquake-1992

Little-Angels-Too-Much-Too-Young-1992

Sweet-Cheater - Eatin' ain't Cheatin'

 

Three albums definitely worth checking out, they vary a lot in style though, but are all very good.

Ok cool, thanks Kristian actually I have heard of Sweet Cheater...but can't recall having heard them. And Little Angels I know of too but not this particular release. Will check out Sator. Cheers.

A bit of a random post here but I stumbled across a website that has a bunch of music for download including lots of hard rock / glam etc from the late 80s through to the mid 90s. I won't list the site here (pm me if curious) because I know it's naughty to download but I was just hoping some of the very knowledgeable hard rock fans of that era could tell me if any of these are worth a look at. I compiled this list based upon band names, album covers and year of release only, so for all I know the music could be complete shit but hopefully there are some cool bands among these. This is just a fraction of what is on the site. Im guessing there is probably a lot of mid 90s sell out junk here too but hoping to find a few goodies. Some of these are just band names, others have an album / EP title beside them. Cheers. PS melodicrockoz could you please be among those to reply because you have heard of every band out there and recommend good shit, Geoff too... you are a bit of an encyclopedia of hard rock as well. And everyone else. Please reply now ..."please reply now" wasn't that an old joke from years ago on this forum?

 

Applehead-Meaning-1992

Bad-Applz-Bad-Applz-1990

Bangkok-Shock

Big-City-Make-Your-Mark-1993

Blak-No-Bed-Of-Roses-1992

Borderline

Bradford-Youth-Gang

Briar-Too-Young-1985

Buster-Rogue-Buster-Rogue-1994

Chainsaw-Jane-Jane-Is-A-Four-Letter-Word-1992

Cryer-Cryer-1991

Dead-Ballerinas-Dead-Ballerinas-1989

Ded-Chaplin-Ded-Chaplin-1St-1990

Ded-Chaplin-Final-Revolution-1992

Ded-Chaplin-Rock-The-Nation-1991

Degree-Xiii-Demo-1994

Dirty-Dealin

Dubeel-Dubiel

Duq-N-Cover-Incoming-1992

D-Z-Stanz-Brimstone-And-Fire-1994

Engine

Euphoria-Jack-1989

Fifi-La-Rou-Lick-And-A-Promise-1990

Freak-House

Geneva-Temptation-1988

Goat-Medication-Time-1991

Grand-Vision-Honor-And-Glory-1988

Guttersluts-Beg-Borrow-And-Steal-1995

Hat-Trikk-Hat-Trikk-1997

Haze-And-Shuffle-Get-Your-Haze-1993

Hollyrock-Legalize-Freedom-1987

Ivory-Tower-Usa

Jamie-Laritz-Jamie-Laritz-1990

Juicy-Lucy

Jump-Dreamin-1987

Kid-Sin

Knights-Reign-Knights-Reign-1994

Landslide-1

Leggesy-Leggesy-1987

Lions-Share-Ghost-Town-Queen-1988

Little-Angels-Too-Much-Too-Young-1992

Mad-Atchu-Liquor-Cure-1993

Madhouse-Everything-Kills-1990

Mark-Hafer-Wanna-Get-High-1998

Minaton-One-Day-In-Paradise-1995

Nations

Otokogumi-5-2-1992

Otokogumi-Im-Waiting-4-You-1991

Otokogumi-Otokogumi-1988

Paralyce-She-Loves-Another-Man-1987

Pata

Poobah-Switch-On-1989

Priority-Priority-1990

Priority-Undercover-1989

Rattlin-Bones

Remo-Calling-Out-For-You-1987

Rich-Rags-Psycho-Deadheads-From-Outer-Space-1993

Riff

Ritmo-Tribale

Rozy-Coyote

Sand-Rubies-Sand-Rubies-1993

Sator-Headquake-1992

Savino-Destiny-1995

Scam-Luiz-Heading-For-The-Dream-1992

Secret-Shelter-Beyond-The-Mirror-1996

Section-Eight-Bad-Girl-1988

Seven-Skys

Shame

Sister-Midnight-Satellite-City-1990

Sly-Boots-3-Of-A-Kind-1991

Smart-Ass

S-O-S-Es-Wird-Viel-Passiern-1996

Sp-Science-Project-1990

Steelover-Unreleased-Albums-1986

Street-Kidz-Out-Of-The-Ruins-1994

Striker-Usa

Sudden-Thunder

Sweet-Cheater

Sx-Sx-1990

Syrenade

Tender-Fury-Garden-Of-Evil-1989

Terra-Flames-Of-Passion-1987

The-Four-Horsemen-The-Four-Horsemen-1989

Theode-Scott-Love-Game-1989

Theode-Scott-Wedding-In-The-Sky-1993

The-Outrage-Dirty-Fantasies-1993

The-Outsiders-Skin-1990

The-Shake-Smash-And-Grab-1993

Trace

Traxter-Rock-N-Race-1991

Veralin-On-The-Run-1993

Virgin-Blue

Watchmen-Generation-1989

Whatever-Sugarbuzz-1996

White-Friday-Lord-Of-Revival-1987

Wild-Ones-Writing-On-The-Wall-1991

Xx-Badboy

 

 

 

So out of curiosity, did anyone have a top 10 or 20 modern rock albums from 2014? I don't separate my lists anymore, but if I go through with a filter, here's what my top 20 would look like, fyi:

 

1. Michael Paynter - Weary Stars ; great disc as noted in my end of year review. Mellow in places, but excellent.

2. Badger - Time Will Tell ; probably the surprise of the year, as also covered in my end of year review.

3. Dorydrive - Here's To You ; almost a re-issue of sorts as most the best songs from this were on 'Calling all angels' a few years ago, but they still sound good.

4. 5 Seconds Of Summer - 5 Seconds Of Summer ; along with their 2 EPs released in 2014, these guys actually held the honour of having the most songs on my 'Very Best Of 2014' MP3 disc, with a grand total of 6 gems. If my 10 favourite songs on the 3 different discs were on one album, it would have been my favourite of the year.

5. Framing Hanley - The Sum Of Who We Are ; very solid disc ; arguably their best yet. Right in line with what fans of the band would hope for, I dare say.

6. The Relapse Symphony - Shadows ; takes a few songs to get going, but I do like this one.

7. James Durbin - Celebrate ; also spoken about a lot on the forum by myself, but a very good album with a handful of outright gems.

8. You Me At Six - Cavalier Youth ; this one would rank in the top 5 of most played albums in 2014 for me. Just keeps getting better with every listen. I like this band's entire discography, and this does not disappoint. If anything, better than I expected.

9. Let It Happen - Cause & Effect ; 3 amazing songs on this and otherwise it's pretty good.

10. The Amity Affliction - Let The Ocean Take Me ; an acquired taste, almost mixing pop choruses with very heavy, screaming verses. I saw these guys live once and have been hooked ever since. I just like it.

 

11. We Are The In Crowd - Weird Kids ; good catchy "pop punk" album. I do like these guys.

12. McBusted - McBusted ; patchy, with some real rubbish on here... but also some stupidly catchy stuff too. It's a guilty pleasure, but not bad.

13. Dead By April - Let The World Know ; like Amaranthe, these guys have basically just recorded the same album again, but let's not kid ourselves. It's a damn freakin' good album to keep re-recording, imo! lol, it's good stuff.

14. Seventh Day Slumber - We Are The Broken ; go Jesus! But yeah, it's actually a pretty good disc, surprisingly.

15. We Set Signals - Polaris ; a very late entry at the band end of the year. Not sure it's better than all those below it - time will tell, but it's good one. Good mix of heaviness, screams and melody. I diggit.

16. The Used - Imaginary Enemy ; reliable as always - another good disc from a very consistent band.

17. Highway Saints - Highway Saints ; In all honesty, with backing / harmony vocals, this thing would have sky-rocketed up my list, honestly probably even encroaching on my top 10. Great songs, but severely missing something more than just the lead vocals.

18. Yellowcard - Lift A Sail ; excellent return to form from these guys after they pottered through a few discs since the magnificent 'Paper Walls.' It's a new sounding band, with a much more mellow, atmospheric sound - I guess almost like Safetysuit more than what you expect from Yellowcard. But thank goodness, it works very well.

19. Disciple - Attack ; a very good disc and probably only this far down the list because of the stupid lyrics. It's good modern rock, but the God message is stronger than most their recent previous discs and really puts a downer on the whole thing. Shame; could have been good with better lyrics.

20. Fahran - Chasing Hours ; a very well played disc, with some great moments. Good album.

 

And some other interesting names and where they ranked;

 

23. Melody Fall - The Shape Of Pop Punk To Come

27. Kadwatha - The World Of Hypocrisy

29. In This Moment - Black Widow

32. Ryan Star - Angels & Animals

33. Otherwise - Peace At All Costs

34. Flyleaf - Between The Stars

36. Tokio Hotel - Kings Of Suburbia

41. Colton Dixon - Anchor

44. Jason Lancaster - Jason Lancaster (ex Mayday Parade & Go Radio vocalist)

 

2014 was probably my least active year both here on the forum and with listening to new bands so unfortunately I missed a lot of these.

 

However I did love both 5SOS and We Are the In Crowd...both catchy as hell. I'm doing my best to keep up with some more of the new releases in 2015. Hey Geoff didn't Yellowcard release some kind of Paper Walls remake or acoustic thingy last year or am I just dreaming that?

I thought both albums were pretty enjoyable, can't recall which I liked better but think from memory the first has better songs and the second a better production? Looking forward to hearing more from these guys. Sad to say but I only recently learnt who David Hungate is, through promo for the new Toto album. He's a bit of a legend apparently?

Really good stuff. Checking these out for the first time...have to track down the album for sure. Cheers for the recommendation guys!

 

 

I can rarely afford to buy new CDs, so second hand shops/sites, etc. are a God-send as far as I'm concerned.

And that's how it probably is for most of us. Good luck to the guys who can easily afford to buy new CDs at will and support every artist they desire. I'm sure we all wish we could, but it's definitely not possible for me, so I do the best I can with the cash I have at my disposal... which is not much at all, haha!

I agree 100%. I don't think there is anything wrong with buying and selling CDs on sites such as eBay; and like others have said, how does this differ from used CD stores, buying used vinyl or any other kind of used media with copyrights. Dan makes a good point too that buying and selling 2nd hand CDs on eBay has been going on for a long time and did not coincide with more recent declines in sales of new CDs.

 

Personally if it wasn't for 2nd hand media I wouldn't be involved in this music scene at all. I simply can not afford to buy more than a handful of new CDs every year, those days of splurging on CDs ended when I got married and starred a family.

 

So I say go ahead, buy and sell as many CDs as you want on eBay. I don't believe it is harming the artists because the alternative for many is not hearing the music at all.

Maybe they will become one of those obscure cult bands...20 years from now people will be asking around for copies of the elusive blakk boobz demos.

Cool, very nice find Stefan. So these guys are not the new band who just released "We're Back", also from Sweden? Two separate bands?

Yeah excellent songs but the album kind of sounds over the top as far as production goes and tends to sound a little poor as a result. Great band and I love all their albums but something is definitely aniss with the sound here....

Only played it once so far and would have to say that it falls a bit short of my expectations. Not bad by any means but the songs probably weren't as memorable as those on their early albums. Still a good album and I'm sure it will grow on me over time.

Can't go wrong with ACDC.

Good stuff, will check this band out for sure.

Sounding heavier than I was expecting. I love Soto and just about everything he has been involved in but I do hope this album has some ballads too.

Sounding pretty good, will check out some more samples.

Excellent single, looking forward to hearing the full album.

Excellent album, excellent band, bring on album #4.

Yeah good stuff, one to look forward to. I liked Three Lions though it was a little samey at times. I really like the vocals here and musically sounds great too.