Captain Cowardly

They're classing it as a Tribute To CJ Snare, although I think it was already in the diary.

I mean as a functioning, creative, recording band, they're done anyway and have been for 20 years. But I was surprised to see they are still going on as early as this weekend, with the guy off of American Idol, who's been filling in for CJ since his last surgery. I think because they are just a pretty faceless heritage act nowadays, they will continue doing the state fairs, pubs & clubs circuit they've been doing, and many people will be none the wiser...

Besides the fact the singer can barely pronounce half those words? That it's shit. What the fuck is a guilty moon? A well renowned British novelist came up with "sweaty skin and hot lips, a moment of sex and you" over and over? What do they write for their day job, soft porn for middle-aged Mum's to read before school pick up?

Yep, he'll make an amazing living doing world tours of Sweden :-D He's got a young child and had a serious health set back, I think he's hoping that his YouTube gig will pay off. Plus, didn't he quit H.E.A.T to move away from being a frontman and launch a music consultation business in South Africa or something?! Then he got sick, so i'm guessing that fell at the first hurdle?

I know everything is happening too fast Without reason, without thinking 'bout the consequences. You're my secret desire, you know you are No one has to know. I can't wait, I want you once again Before this guilty moon fades away Just this once I feel your touch, I can hear you Just this once Sweaty skin and hot lips over me Words and breath, A moment made of sex and you. Secretly just this once I know we are walking on the wrong way But instinct now is stronger and it kills our consciousness Don't talk to anyone about our secret. No one has to know. I can't wait, I want you once again Before this guilty moon fades away Just this once I feel your touch, I can hear you Just this once Sweaty skin and hot lips over me Words and breath, A moment made of sex and you. Secretly just this once Feeling your touch and your lips, Tasting every part of you, With no remorse under a guilty moon - I can't wait I can't wait, I want you once again Before this guilty moon fades away Just this once I feel your touch, I can hear you Just this once Sweaty skin and hot lips over me Words and breath, A moment made of sex and you. Secretly just this once, Your lips just this once, Whispering words and your breath Just this once. They should ask that British novelist for their money back...

No they left Vega full time to run a vegan food stall. James Martin is Issa's husband, so it's natural that they work together. As it's not a full time touring and recording act, it's easy to do from home, whilst still making a living with their full time job.

In the last 18 months, Girish & The Chronicles, Steel Bars - A Tribute to Michael Bolton, Circus of Rock, Joel Hoekstra's 13, The End Machine. Within the last few years he also fronted Firstborne alongside GATC. Pretty impressive for someone who can't sing :-D

I'm not recommending THOSE singers for Skid Row, i'm saying they've done great things with the bands they have joined and it's given them a career boost they otherwise wouldn't have had. I love(d) Mitch Malloy (he seems like a bit of a prick from his social media), but the difference in Great White with Brett vs Mitch is night and day. He has so much more energy, he actually looks like he wants to be there, they are playing to larger and larger crowds again (they seemed to be state fair fodder with Mitch) and he sounds like a young Jack Russell. Skid Row NEED that, especially after Erik. I refuse to believe that Erik is the only young singer that sounds like a young Seb Bach on the planet. And it beats Girish Pradham or Dino Jelusick who are on every fucking album these days, being shoe-horned in to yet another band, as one of those is just fucking terrible... and it's not Dino

I like the tone of his voice, but the heavy accent and the complete made-up bullshit google translate lyrics, kill it. Is that Michele Luppi on keys for the video?

Real sad news. R.I.P Mark Spiro

I can't see where either of them go from here to be honest. Erik made Skid Row sound the best that their target audience could have hoped for in about 30 years, and as much as people like to make out that Erik is young and a star and doesn't need a washed up old band, blah blah blah, that was the highest profile gig he's had outside of Sweden in 15 years. I can't see him getting another opportunity with a bigger band for the exact reason's he's just quit this one. The money is in touring, and if his health will prevent him doing that, who's going to take a punt on him again? I think he'll have a solo album, probably modern pop-rock to have one last aim for the charts, but he'll likely focus more on YouTube covers and various video's across social media to try and monetize that. Which is a shame, as his voice on his own material is great, but his YouTube covers are usually way over-the-top and kind of grating, and also, kind of pointless because they tend to just be karaoke versions rather than making the song his own. Skid Row should look for another Brett Carlisle (Great White) or Parker Lee (Molly Hatchet) or Jason Colombini (Starz), a young, American hidden talent with a love for the 80's rock scene, so the travel isn't an issue and it's still injecting new blood into the band, and won't come with the baggage or ego of someone who's already had a taste of fame before them...

The quality really dropped off with him. We went from everything being lifted from old Jim Peterik and Martin Brothers demo's and new material by Erik Martesson (who was patchy himself) to Alessandro for, what, 13 years? On EVERYTHING. And it was all terrible. Great keyboard player. I don't need to hear him write, sing or produce anything else for as long as I live. He won't be missed.

It was Bryan Wolski I was thinking of. Victor played in Mitch Malloy's band at Firefest.

Can't wait. There's nothing about these guy's that I don't like. And now Steve Newman is the in-house guy for AOR BLVD Records, it's an even more exciting prospect.

I'm being hopeful. The last album was horrible, whereas Dark Eyes and Eternity were back to the AOR style of the debut.

This is pretty cool. Wasn't Victor Broden in Mitch Malloy's band, and did he also play with Blue Tears on their last album, or am I thinking of someone else? The vocals aren't horrendous, but this would have been really elevated with a young singer that could belt it out in a more distinctive way. Find their own Perry, Gramm, Delp, Cronin, Jamison, etc...

I saw the name, thought the exact same thing about a prostitute's customer, figured it was a band that had no idea about the English language, and so expected some cheesey AOR with a heavy accent and non-sensical lyrics that are liberally borrowed from every 80's AOR cliche (aka The Del Vecchio songbook) and decided to give it a wide berth. Was I wrong?

I'll have to do some research...

Burn are back (again!) but with another new line-up and now a longer version of their name... They are now called The Global Burn Theory and their new frontman is George Stackhouse (Out Of Time, Hades Game, The Curators). Good voice! New single, "Wan Chai Hunting Girl" here:

Apparently Lenny retired after the last Kingdom Come album, which was what 2013? I'm sure James said he lived on a house boat and spent his time doing paintings! Can't imagine he'd want to get back involved with whatever the ensuing mess is likely to be. Keith St. John alluded to "communications between the band that he was made aware of that made it clear he couldn't continue" and JB Franks has been slating Keith in the comments on the Kingdom Come page. However, it seems Danny Stag, JB Franks and Rick Stieir intend to continue with a new vocalist and drummer. Michael White is really the only guy that could pull it off vocally anywhere like Lenny, and Dion Murdock who replaced Kottak is still based in the USA as a drummer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. So if that rumoured new album was ever to appear, both of these guys could bring the gods as musicians and writers.

Also, the album was released in 1994... that wasn't 35 years ago.

Still gigging, and recorded a duet on one of David A Saylor's albums shortly before he passed away, so still very much around. I have next to no interest in this. They were a one off, with probably one of my favourite AOR albums in my collection, so this completely new band 30 years on using the name holds very, very little interest. Fair enough if they were an active band who's members changed over-time in order to keep the band active, but they were never active. This feels like Escape have entered Frontiers territory. Just use the name to maximise the sales within a niche audience. At least with Escape, it won;t all be written and produced by Del Vecchio!

I enjoyed the first 2 singles, but this Robin McAuley one is dreadful... I like Robin McAuley, so it's a shame for something he's on to be such a miss.

I could cope with the song without the video. Who thought that was a good idea?! Typical American patriotic clap-trap, but it's a pleasant enough song if it was just buried on an album of similar 80's sounding cheese rock anthems. Still a better toupee than Doogie White's... but it looks like one of Neil Diamond's left-overs.

Phil X has been doing some interviews, where he's said this was written and recorded as a band, as they felt their last few albums were missing the spark of a live band and weren't very guitar centered. He said the new album they've turned up the guitars and he's been writing alot with Jon to make it more guitar focussed. So, we'll see... Either way,, i'm not sure how they'll salvage Jon's voice... the last album where his vocals sounded halfway decent was Burning Bridges.