Upcoming 2015 releases

[Nightrain]

Correction stef, it's CHINA SKY and not CHINA

 

i'm interested to hear the new H.E.A.T live, maybe because i haven't seen Erik bringing up Kenny's songs in a proper live recording other than youtube

[Geoff]

China

 

 

From FB:

 

Hey kids! I know it has been quiet on the China Sky page for the last few weeks, but we have been buckling down in anticipation of today's announcement: THE FIRST NEW CHINA SKY ALBUM IN 25 YEARS IS NOW COMPLETE, AND WE ARE PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THAT CHINA SKY HAS SIGNED WITH UK-BASED ESCAPE MUSIC LTD. FOR WORLDWIDE DISTRIBUTION OF DIGITAL DOWNLOADS, AND PHYSICAL MEDIA IN EUROPE AND JAPAN. Tentative release date for the album is January 21

 

China Sky tracklist (in no particular order):

 

One Life

The Road Not Taken

Enemy

I'm A Survivor

You'll Get Yours

The Darkness

I Believe In You

Give It Up

I Wish I Could Fly

You're Not Alone

The Richest Man In The World

Dreams I'll Never See

 

Wow, you'd be pretty happy if you had money on them ever recording a new disc again, 'cause those odds would have been astronomical. From the Fire, China Sky... I guess anyone is a possibility these days! Can't write any of them off. Anyway, that's interesting news. I can't expect too much from this, but I'll give it a hopeful listen.

[Stefan]

Correction stef, it's CHINA SKY and not CHINA

 

i'm interested to hear the new H.E.A.T live, maybe because i haven't seen Erik bringing up Kenny's songs in a proper live recording other than youtube

 

Heh, I was in a hurry so I forgot the Sky bit...

[Stefan]

Stryper

 

 

From FB:

 

It's time - I'm in writing mode for the new @Stryper album. We start pre-production mid January & we begin tracking on 2/1! New album 2015!

[Metal T]

More Michael Sweet/Stryper = Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

[KarpetRydOFunk]

More Michael Sweet/Stryper = Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Said you, and maybe only a handful of others.

[Stefan]

 

 

 

The Toto is gonna be a monster

Is it? Are there samples?

 

You know Jez is the biggest Lukather/Toto fan on the planet, so he assume everything will be top notch...

 

Damn straight. Bar the covers disc, they haven't ever released an even remotely bad album, with some of them up there as the best AOR albums that have ever been released. My expecttions are no different this time, and word around is that this is gonna be a biggie, so my expectations are very very high. Hopefully I am proved right.

 

 

From FB:

 

TOTO XIV is officially done.

We are Mastering today and tomorrow.

Spring 2015 worldwide release !

[Glen]

Im looking forward to that to see what they can achieve this time round....wasnt overly impressed with Falling.......

[Stefan]

Rick Springfield - Stripped Down (February 10th)

 

 

Tracks:

 

I Get Excited
Affair of the Heart
Me & Johnny
Oh Well (Fleetwood Mac cover)
Love is Alright Tonite
Rollin’ & Tumblin’
Honeymoon in Beruit
Don’t Talk to Strangers
Baby Blue
Painted Girl
My Father’s Chair
I’ve Done Everything for You
If Wishes Were Fishes
Love Somebody
Written in Rock
Jessie’s Girl

 

 

 

Last Autumn's Dream - Level Eleven (February/AOR Heaven)

 

 

 

 

Black Star Riders - The Killer Instinct (February)

 

 

Tracks:

 

1. The Killer Instinct
2. Bullet Blues
3. Finest Hour
4. Soldierstown
5. Charlie I Gotta Go
6. Blindsided
7. Through The Motions
8. Sex, Guns & Gasoline
9. Turn In Your Arms
10. You Little Liar

 

 

 

Europe (March/UDR Records)

 

 

From FB:

 

Hi Friends

Well, you always hear it here first. We have finished the recording of our 10th album! Twelve songs were recorded at the the brand new PanGaia studios in Stockholm where we were the very first artist to record. We loved it! The studio is absolutely top of the range and the staff was incredibly helpful. Of course we packed the place full of vintage microphones and "gear" to create an atmosphere on this record and to warm the sound up. Dave Cobb, our producer, really brought something amazing to this album and made us play from heart and soul. He will now mix it in his studio in the US. This record sounds truly enigmatic! what a great vibe! As always we're on a new journey with every record we make and this time we have really gone for it. We can't wait for you guys to hear it! We did film some stuff during the recording and will put something together for you guys in a little while.

All the best

Joey

 

 

 

UFO - A Conspiracy Of Stars (February 23rd)

 

 

 

 

No Rules - Never Give Up (Beginning of 2015)

 

 

 

 

Thunderheart - Night Of The Warrior (February 2nd/Killer Metal Records)

 

 

Tracklist:

 

1. New horizons
2. Show them our fire
3. Night of the warriors
4. Thunderheart
5. Concrete jungle
6. Killing your fears
7. Rules of a lie
8. Bulletproof
9. I´ll always be there for you
10. Rise or fall

[Geoff]

For the most part, who, who and who? But of the ones I do know, shame about the Springfield acoustic disc. I couldn't imagine anything I'd want to hear less. Oh, except maybe the new Europe album starring John Norum - once a great guitarist, now the world's shittest guitarist, still stuck in 1997. I'd love one day to see Kee Marcello in the band photo for Europe. Not saying it would fix all their problems, as their songs are still shit, but his presence could only ever help things.

[Stefan]

Tony Mills - Over My Dead Body

 

 

Tracklist:

 

Time Won't Wait
4 In The Morning
28 Flights
We Should Be On By Now
No Love Lost
La Mort
Gate 21
Bitter Suite
Northern Star
Free Spirits

 

 

 

LEAH - Kings & Queens (January 30th)

 

 

From FB:

 

Presenting...
LEAH's 2nd full-length album, entitled KINGS & QUEENS

“Kings & Queens," the highly anticipated new album from LEAH, is sure to be loved by fans of symphonic metal and female fronted rock. This album is powerful, beautiful and often dances on the edge of progressive. Most of all it’s hard not to be drawn into and enchanted by LEAH's diverse vocals.

Featuring musicians such as Timo Somers and Sander Zoer of DELAIN, and Barend Courbois of Blind Guardian and Vengeance, this 14-track masterpiece emerges as the heaviest of all her releases. Dabbling in worldly Celtic, middle eastern, and New-Age flavors, while lyrically laced with epic imagery of dystopias, fallen empires, spiritual warfare, love and destiny, this album proves to be very promising and is expected to be received by fans and critics as one of the top symphonic metal albums of the year.

"Kings & Queens" will be released on January 30th in Europe and February 3rd in North America and everywhere else.

[AlphaMale]

For the most part, who, who and who? But of the ones I do know, shame about the Springfield acoustic disc. I couldn't imagine anything I'd want to hear less. Oh, except maybe the new Europe album starring John Norum - once a great guitarist, now the world's shittest guitarist, still stuck in 1997. I'd love one day to see Kee Marcello in the band photo for Europe. Not saying it would fix all their problems, as their songs are still shit, but his presence could only ever help things.

 

And Tempest says "We really went for it this time!".

 

Which means it could possibly be even worse than Riches To Rags.

[AlphaMale]

And I totally agree about Norum. What a waste of talent. He played really shitty on that one Dokken disc also. Same fucking horrible tone.

[Geoff]

 

For the most part, who, who and who? But of the ones I do know, shame about the Springfield acoustic disc. I couldn't imagine anything I'd want to hear less. Oh, except maybe the new Europe album starring John Norum - once a great guitarist, now the world's shittest guitarist, still stuck in 1997. I'd love one day to see Kee Marcello in the band photo for Europe. Not saying it would fix all their problems, as their songs are still shit, but his presence could only ever help things.

 

And Tempest says "We really went for it this time!".

 

Which means it could possibly be even worse than Riches To Rags.

 

 

I assume by 'really went for it,' he probably means Norum played more down tuned than ever.

[Glen]

And I totally agree about Norum. What a waste of talent. He played really shitty on that one Dokken disc also. Same fucking horrible tone.

 

are you talking about Up From The Ashes?

 

Surely not.....the playing on that is awesome.

[Glen]

 

My interests were/are -

 

CARE OF NIGHT

CHINA SKY

DAN REED NETWORK

DESTINE

ECLIPSE

HALESTORM

H.E.A.T.

HINDER [curious about the new singer, but not holding out hope]

NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA

POLEY, TED

REVOLUTION SAINTS

SOTO

STRYPER

TOTO [always curious, but again no real high hopes]

TRIXTER [not really a fan, but might be interesting]

WIGELIUS

just bumping my own personal list for purely personal selfish reasons ;-)

 

thanks for all the updates guys.....looking like a pretty good year to come :-)

[Geoff]

 

And I totally agree about Norum. What a waste of talent. He played really shitty on that one Dokken disc also. Same fucking horrible tone.

 

are you talking about Up From The Ashes?

 

Surely not.....the playing on that is awesome.

 

 

I'd say he'd be referring to 'Long Way Home.' Honestly can't remember the album, but I do think the guitar was not good on that one.

[The Rocker]

 

And I totally agree about Norum. What a waste of talent. He played really shitty on that one Dokken disc also. Same fucking horrible tone.

 

are you talking about Up From The Ashes?

 

Surely not.....the playing on that is awesome.

 

I assume not, he played on Dokken- Long Way Home (2002)

[Glen]

 

 

And I totally agree about Norum. What a waste of talent. He played really shitty on that one Dokken disc also. Same fucking horrible tone.

 

are you talking about Up From The Ashes?

 

Surely not.....the playing on that is awesome.

I assume not, he played on Dokken- Long Way Home (2002)

He played on the solo album as well, which is awesome imo. As good as any main Dokken release.

[The Rocker]

 

 

 

And I totally agree about Norum. What a waste of talent. He played really shitty on that one Dokken disc also. Same fucking horrible tone.

are you talking about Up From The Ashes?

 

Surely not.....the playing on that is awesome.

I assume not, he played on Dokken- Long Way Home (2002)

He played on the solo album as well, which is awesome imo. As good as any main Dokken release.

 

Yes, I agree. That is why I assume he is talking about the 2002 album.

[Nightrain]

The EUROPE's new album is guaranteed to be awful as long as Norum is on board lol

why oh why, but even Kee Marcello can't help this band, if you've heard his latest solo, it's pretty average and uninteresting as well

 

and it's funny after a fantastic year, 2015 is probably gonna be the worst year of the decade for MHR

I hope ECLIPSE and WIGELIUS can save the day, and where's BAD HABIT, EDEN'S CURSE, JOURNEY, THE MAGNIFICENT, TREAT, VAIN, TNT, TERRA NOVA, RATT ? They need to wake up and release some monsters

[KarpetRydOFunk]

The EUROPE's new album is guaranteed to be awful as long as Norum is on board lol

why oh why, but even Kee Marcello can't help this band, if you've heard his latest solo, it's pretty average and uninteresting as well

 

and it's funny after a fantastic year, 2015 is probably gonna be the worst year of the decade for MHR

I hope ECLIPSE and WIGELIUS can save the day, and where's BAD HABIT, EDEN'S CURSE, JOURNEY, THE MAGNIFICENT, TREAT, VAIN, TNT, TERRA NOVA, RATT ? They need to wake up and release some monsters

 

Treat is done. They unfortunately called it a day after releasing Coup de Grace.

[Metal T]

FWIW,when i saw Norum w/ Dokken in early 2002 he kicked ass on guitar.He was replaced by DeRosso a few months later because i think he hurt his hand or something like that.The first 2 tunes on Long Way Home were solid the rest is sub-par...

[Geoff]

The EUROPE's new album is guaranteed to be awful as long as Norum is on board lol

why oh why, but even Kee Marcello can't help this band, if you've heard his latest solo, it's pretty average and uninteresting as well

 

and it's funny after a fantastic year, 2015 is probably gonna be the worst year of the decade for MHR

I hope ECLIPSE and WIGELIUS can save the day, and where's BAD HABIT, EDEN'S CURSE, JOURNEY, THE MAGNIFICENT, TREAT, VAIN, TNT, TERRA NOVA, RATT ? They need to wake up and release some monsters

 

Kee Marchello's last album was actually better than I expected. A few unexpected good hooks on that one. But I agree - his song writing skills won't exactly save the day. As a guitarist he only sounds a shadow of how he did on 'Prisoners...' but it's more about getting Norum out of there and getting a guitarist in who isn't hellbent on sounding like shit.

 

I still consider Tempest a good song writer and vocalist, although he has not written a good song in over a decade. But I wonder how much of that is just to cater for his awful guitarist?

 

You know what I'd love to hear - Tempest get sucked into one of these De Rosso projects. A pure melodic hard rock album, with Tempest on vocals. De Rosso or Martensson - someone who could make him sound good again.

[The Rocker]

 

The EUROPE's new album is guaranteed to be awful as long as Norum is on board lol

why oh why, but even Kee Marcello can't help this band, if you've heard his latest solo, it's pretty average and uninteresting as well

 

and it's funny after a fantastic year, 2015 is probably gonna be the worst year of the decade for MHR

I hope ECLIPSE and WIGELIUS can save the day, and where's BAD HABIT, EDEN'S CURSE, JOURNEY, THE MAGNIFICENT, TREAT, VAIN, TNT, TERRA NOVA, RATT ? They need to wake up and release some monsters

 

Kee Marchello's last album was actually better than I expected. A few unexpected good hooks on that one. But I agree - his song writing skills won't exactly save the day. As a guitarist he only sounds a shadow of how he did on 'Prisoners...' but it's more about getting Norum out of there and getting a guitarist in who isn't hellbent on sounding like shit.

 

I still consider Tempest a good song writer and vocalist, although he has not written a good song in over a decade. But I wonder how much of that is just to cater for his awful guitarist?

 

You know what I'd love to hear - Tempest get sucked into one of these De Rosso projects. A pure melodic hard rock album, with Tempest on vocals. De Rosso or Martensson - someone who could make him sound good again.

 

I agree, and agree with the Tempest thing also. Something like First Signal with Hess would be awesome for Tempest!