First Spin Impressions

[Geoff]

Hail the Villain ~ Population: Declining ; not bad overall, but I probably could just as easily lived without this one. Lead vocals are aggressive and harsh, but most tracks feature a pretty strong chorus. Not much more to say than that. Pretty average modern hard rock / metal with strong choruses.

[Nightrain]

CLOSE QUARTERS - We Believe In Rock and Roll (2011)

Swedish rock and roll band, kinda different than most of Swedish gang that's coming out in the past years. Their sound is like a combination of Hanoi Rocks, Twisted Sisters, and AC/DC. At some point, they can be too generic for the ears, but can't deny that they do have some lovable tracks right up their alley such as 'Just For Tonight', 'Ridin On', 'Only In It For The Chicks', and 'Your War'. Surprisingly probably only 2-3 weaker tracks, the rest are pretty good. Not gonna blow your roof top high but this sounds like an 80% to me.

 

HOLLYWOOD BURNOUTS - s/t EP (2011)

pretty good sleaze/melodic rock, a band from Germany i think, promising 4 tracks with 'Tonight' being their best track and also some killer solos there. 'Roll The Dice' is my second fave song and the ballad 'Show Me Your Love' has that LA Guns ballad vibe to it. Like this one so far and hopefully next year they will have a full-length studio comin' up. Another 80% at the first glance.

[TIM (2)]

HOUSE OF LORDS - Big Money

 

Heard a full run-through of the new disc and it's not bad. Better than the generic "Cartesian Dreams" but still some way from their best IMO. Style-wise it's back to the bombastic sound ("Cartesian.." was more raw and hard-rocking) but they still write way too many fillers. In fact over half of this would frankly be filler material on their best albums, but the odd gem make this probably just about worth getting. "Someday When" is almost worth the entry price alone, it's killer hooky melodic rock, and "Hologram" and "First to Cry" are just pure lush AOR. The album ends very poorly though with a run of turkeys. Overall this is an improvement in sound/style and they're at least back on the right track, even if it's another very patchy release. Even if you don't buy it, make sure you hear "Someday When"...

[Glen]

HOUSE OF LORDS - Big Money

 

Heard a full run-through of the new disc and it's not bad. Better than the generic "Cartesian Dreams" but still some way from their best IMO. Style-wise it's back to the bombastic sound ("Cartesian.." was more raw and hard-rocking) but they still write way too many fillers. In fact over half of this would frankly be filler material on their best albums, but the odd gem make this probably just about worth getting. "Someday When" is almost worth the entry price alone, it's killer hooky melodic rock, and "Hologram" and "First to Cry" are just pure lush AOR. The album ends very poorly though with a run of turkeys. Overall this is an improvement in sound/style and they're at least back on the right track, even if it's another very patchy release. Even if you don't buy it, make sure you hear "Someday When"...

 

SW is on you tube...........

[Jez]

Work Of Art - In Progress

 

Only 3 spins in, but this is a really bloody fab disc (as was seriously hoped for). I played the excellent Toby Hitchcock immediately before this one and even at track 4, this imo is way better. Maybe it does lack a little diversity and the Toto'isms of the debut are still well to the fore, no more so than on 'One Step Away', but it is consistent as hell and kept my attention for the full 50 odd minutes. Whether it's better than the debut, the judge is still out, as that was a very special debut, and it may not come in at numero uno on my end of year list either, but this will probably turn out to be THE best pure AOR disc of the year.

 

Toby Hitchcock - Mercury's Down

 

As with the WOA album, loads of ridiculous hype surrounding this one, but the 4 full tracks I had heard were really strong, so maybe, just maybe, it would live up to expectation. I will say that the coupling of Toby and Erik Martennsson make a bit of a dream team musically, as they have come up with a mightily good disc with some great songs. As with WOA, consistency is the name of the game here, 'This Is The Moment' 'Strong Enough' 'Summernights In Cabo' are excellent and hand on heart, there are NO tunes anywhere near average. All very positive I think you'll agree,So! why oh why is it after 3 or 4 spins am I still feeling a tiny bit underwhelmed?.

[Faron]

Work Of Art - In Progress

 

Only 3 spins in, but this is a really bloody fab disc (as was seriously hoped for). I played the excellent Toby Hitchcock immediately before this one and even at track 4, this imo is way better. Maybe it does lack a little diversity and the Toto'isms of the debut are still well to the fore, no more so than on 'One Step Away', but it is consistent as hell and kept my attention for the full 50 odd minutes. Whether it's better than the debut, the judge is still out, as that was a very special debut, and it may not come in at numero uno on my end of year list either, but this will probably turn out to be THE best pure AOR disc of the year.

 

Toby Hitchcock - Mercury's Down

 

As with the WOA album, loads of ridiculous hype surrounding this one, but the 4 full tracks I had heard were really strong, so maybe, just maybe, it would live up to expectation. I will say that the coupling of Toby and Erik Martennsson make a bit of a dream team musically, as they have come up with a mightily good disc with some great songs. As with WOA, consistency is the name of the game here, 'This Is The Moment' 'Strong Enough' 'Summernights In Cabo' are excellent and hand on heart, there are NO tunes anywhere near average. So! why oh why after 3 or 4 spins am I still feeling a tiny bit underwhelmed?.

 

I`ve listened to Mercury`s Down about 5 times so far, sounds good, great vocals and so far quite a lot like W.E.T. (IMO). I`m no expert but the hype is a little bit laughable at times, but each to their own.

[Jez]

HOUSE OF LORDS - Big Money

 

Heard a full run-through of the new disc and it's not bad. Better than the generic "Cartesian Dreams" but still some way from their best IMO. Style-wise it's back to the bombastic sound ("Cartesian.." was more raw and hard-rocking) but they still write way too many fillers. In fact over half of this would frankly be filler material on their best albums, but the odd gem make this probably just about worth getting. "Someday When" is almost worth the entry price alone, it's killer hooky melodic rock, and "Hologram" and "First to Cry" are just pure lush AOR. The album ends very poorly though with a run of turkeys. Overall this is an improvement in sound/style and they're at least back on the right track, even if it's another very patchy release. Even if you don't buy it, make sure you hear "Someday When"...

 

SW is on you tube...........

 

 

That's more bleedin' like it

[Geoff]

Red Line Chemistry ~ 'Dying for a Living' ; solid modern rock CD... just need to be in the mood to listen to this and I wasn't yesterday. There were some good songs towards the end. Not bad if you like the straight up hard rocking side of modern rock.

 

Phone Calls From Home - 'Connected' ; quite nice indeed. Consistent, catchy pop rock with enough guitars to make it worthwhile. I liked everything that happened on the CD. The only problem at the end? I hadn't loved anything I'd heard. All very good, consistent and worthwhile if you dig this stuff - but could have used a really killer song or two.

[TIM (2)]

Work Of Art - In Progress

 

Only 3 spins in, but this is a really bloody fab disc (as was seriously hoped for). I played the excellent Toby Hitchcock immediately before this one and even at track 4, this imo is way better. Maybe it does lack a little diversity and the Toto'isms of the debut are still well to the fore, no more so than on 'One Step Away', but it is consistent as hell and kept my attention for the full 50 odd minutes. Whether it's better than the debut, the judge is still out, as that was a very special debut, and it may not come in at numero uno on my end of year list either, but this will probably turn out to be THE best pure AOR disc of the year.

 

Toby Hitchcock - Mercury's Down

 

As with the WOA album, loads of ridiculous hype surrounding this one, but the 4 full tracks I had heard were really strong, so maybe, just maybe, it would live up to expectation. I will say that the coupling of Toby and Erik Martennsson make a bit of a dream team musically, as they have come up with a mightily good disc with some great songs. As with WOA, consistency is the name of the game here, 'This Is The Moment' 'Strong Enough' 'Summernights In Cabo' are excellent and hand on heart, there are NO tunes anywhere near average. All very positive I think you'll agree,So! why oh why is it after 3 or 4 spins am I still feeling a tiny bit underwhelmed?.

 

I think most people of reasonable taste agree that these two are pretty much head & shoulders above most other releases this year, but which you prefer probably depends on your tastes. I would take a good heavier formulaic melodic rock tune over a lighter westcoast tune most days of the week, so whereas I recognise the quality right throughout WOA I probably prefer the style of Hitchcock's disc. I actually thought the first WOA disc had more AOR tendencies than this new one, which is very light westcoast material for the most part. Both great, both deserving of a lot of hype IMO as in a poor year they stand-out big-time, and frankly I can't take anyone seriously who thinks there have been better albums released in 2011 than one of these two...

[Kim_Hp]

I think most people of reasonable taste agree that these two are pretty much head & shoulders above most other releases this year, but which you prefer probably depends on your tastes. I would take a good heavier formulaic melodic rock tune over a lighter westcoast tune most days of the week, so whereas I recognise the quality right throughout WOA I probably prefer the style of Hitchcock's disc. I actually thought the first WOA disc had more AOR tendencies than this new one, which is very light westcoast material for the most part. Both great, both deserving of a lot of hype IMO as in a poor year they stand-out big-time, and frankly I can't take anyone seriously who thinks there have been better albums released in 2011 than one of these two...

 

Haha, Tim, I must lack reasonable taste then.

 

WOA doesn't stand out in a poor year, but blend in rather well. Boring disc. Hitchcock is a bit better, but still too much filler IMO. To each their own

[TIM (2)]

I think most people of reasonable taste agree that these two are pretty much head & shoulders above most other releases this year, but which you prefer probably depends on your tastes. I would take a good heavier formulaic melodic rock tune over a lighter westcoast tune most days of the week, so whereas I recognise the quality right throughout WOA I probably prefer the style of Hitchcock's disc. I actually thought the first WOA disc had more AOR tendencies than this new one, which is very light westcoast material for the most part. Both great, both deserving of a lot of hype IMO as in a poor year they stand-out big-time, and frankly I can't take anyone seriously who thinks there have been better albums released in 2011 than one of these two...

 

Haha, Tim, I must lack reasonable taste then.

 

WOA doesn't stand out in a poor year, but blend in rather well. Boring disc. Hitchcock is a bit better, but still too much filler IMO. To each their own

 

Well fair enough if you don't rate them as highly, but what has been better? Nothing in the AOR field comes close, and sure there's been good stuff like Night Ranger etc but I'm not blown-away by anything else....

[Kim_Hp]

I think most people of reasonable taste agree that these two are pretty much head & shoulders above most other releases this year, but which you prefer probably depends on your tastes. I would take a good heavier formulaic melodic rock tune over a lighter westcoast tune most days of the week, so whereas I recognise the quality right throughout WOA I probably prefer the style of Hitchcock's disc. I actually thought the first WOA disc had more AOR tendencies than this new one, which is very light westcoast material for the most part. Both great, both deserving of a lot of hype IMO as in a poor year they stand-out big-time, and frankly I can't take anyone seriously who thinks there have been better albums released in 2011 than one of these two...

 

Haha, Tim, I must lack reasonable taste then.

 

WOA doesn't stand out in a poor year, but blend in rather well. Boring disc. Hitchcock is a bit better, but still too much filler IMO. To each their own

 

Well fair enough if you don't rate them as highly, but what has been better? Nothing in the AOR field comes close, and sure there's been good stuff like Night Ranger etc but I'm not blown-away by anything else....

 

Airrace is still my favorite 2011 AOR album and it blows away WOA and Toby Hitchcock. Robin Beck, Night Ranger and Journey are other goodies as well. But I agree there hasn't been much to get excited about AOR-wise this year.

[Glen]

I think most people of reasonable taste agree that these two are pretty much head & shoulders above most other releases this year, but which you prefer probably depends on your tastes. I would take a good heavier formulaic melodic rock tune over a lighter westcoast tune most days of the week, so whereas I recognise the quality right throughout WOA I probably prefer the style of Hitchcock's disc. I actually thought the first WOA disc had more AOR tendencies than this new one, which is very light westcoast material for the most part. Both great, both deserving of a lot of hype IMO as in a poor year they stand-out big-time, and frankly I can't take anyone seriously who thinks there have been better albums released in 2011 than one of these two...

 

Haha, Tim, I must lack reasonable taste then.

 

WOA doesn't stand out in a poor year, but blend in rather well. Boring disc. Hitchcock is a bit better, but still too much filler IMO. To each their own

 

Well fair enough if you don't rate them as highly, but what has been better? Nothing in the AOR field comes close, and sure there's been good stuff like Night Ranger etc but I'm not blown-away by anything else....

 

Airrace is still my favorite 2011 AOR album and it blows away WOA and Toby Hitchcock. Robin Beck, Night Ranger and Journey are other goodies as well. But I agree there hasn't been much to get excited about AOR-wise this year.

 

2011 has been great IMO.....when I look at my current top 20 its pretty awesome. I can honestly say that all those albums are keepers and will be played to death in the coming months/years.

 

And that's with loads of potentially great discs to come...like Grand Design, Reckless Love, Steel Panther, Strangeways, White Widdow, Dream Theater, Jamison/Kimball, The Magnificent...hell even ISSA might come up with a decent album this time ;-))

 

But just to summerise, WoA and TH are head and shoulders above any other release this year and are up there with the best releases this millenium IMO.

 

Cheers

[Jez]

I think most people of reasonable taste agree that these two are pretty much head & shoulders above most other releases this year, but which you prefer probably depends on your tastes. I would take a good heavier formulaic melodic rock tune over a lighter westcoast tune most days of the week, so whereas I recognise the quality right throughout WOA I probably prefer the style of Hitchcock's disc. I actually thought the first WOA disc had more AOR tendencies than this new one, which is very light westcoast material for the most part. Both great, both deserving of a lot of hype IMO as in a poor year they stand-out big-time, and frankly I can't take anyone seriously who thinks there have been better albums released in 2011 than one of these two...

 

Haha, Tim, I must lack reasonable taste then.

 

WOA doesn't stand out in a poor year, but blend in rather well. Boring disc. Hitchcock is a bit better, but still too much filler IMO. To each their own

 

Well fair enough if you don't rate them as highly, but what has been better? Nothing in the AOR field comes close, and sure there's been good stuff like Night Ranger etc but I'm not blown-away by anything else....

 

Airrace is still my favorite 2011 AOR album and it blows away WOA and Toby Hitchcock. Robin Beck, Night Ranger and Journey are other goodies as well. But I agree there hasn't been much to get excited about AOR-wise this year.

 

2011 has been great IMO.....when I look at my current top 20 its pretty awesome. I can honestly say that all those albums are keepers and will be played to death in the coming months/years.

 

And that's with loads of potentially great discs to come...like Grand Design, Reckless Love, Steel Panther, Strangeways, White Widdow, Dream Theater, Jamison/Kimball, The Magnificent...hell even ISSA might come up with a decent album this time ;-))

 

But just to summerise, WoA and TH are head and shoulders above any other release this year and are up there with the best releases this millenium IMO.

 

Cheers

 

Work Of Art and Hitchcock are definitely up there, but I still prefer the Lovex disc over both of them. All of them are top quality and will probably feature highly in most peoples top 20's, so completely pointless arguing which one is the better, as personal taste will decide that.

[TIM (2)]

I think most people of reasonable taste agree that these two are pretty much head & shoulders above most other releases this year, but which you prefer probably depends on your tastes. I would take a good heavier formulaic melodic rock tune over a lighter westcoast tune most days of the week, so whereas I recognise the quality right throughout WOA I probably prefer the style of Hitchcock's disc. I actually thought the first WOA disc had more AOR tendencies than this new one, which is very light westcoast material for the most part. Both great, both deserving of a lot of hype IMO as in a poor year they stand-out big-time, and frankly I can't take anyone seriously who thinks there have been better albums released in 2011 than one of these two...

 

Haha, Tim, I must lack reasonable taste then.

 

WOA doesn't stand out in a poor year, but blend in rather well. Boring disc. Hitchcock is a bit better, but still too much filler IMO. To each their own

 

Well fair enough if you don't rate them as highly, but what has been better? Nothing in the AOR field comes close, and sure there's been good stuff like Night Ranger etc but I'm not blown-away by anything else....

 

Airrace is still my favorite 2011 AOR album and it blows away WOA and Toby Hitchcock. Robin Beck, Night Ranger and Journey are other goodies as well. But I agree there hasn't been much to get excited about AOR-wise this year.

 

2011 has been great IMO.....when I look at my current top 20 its pretty awesome. I can honestly say that all those albums are keepers and will be played to death in the coming months/years.

 

And that's with loads of potentially great discs to come...like Grand Design, Reckless Love, Steel Panther, Strangeways, White Widdow, Dream Theater, Jamison/Kimball, The Magnificent...hell even ISSA might come up with a decent album this time ;-))

 

But just to summerise, WoA and TH are head and shoulders above any other release this year and are up there with the best releases this millenium IMO.

 

Cheers

 

Work Of Art and Hitchcock are definitely up there, but I still prefer the Lovex disc over both of them. All of them are top quality and will probably feature highly in most peoples top 20's, so completely pointless arguing which one is the better, as personal taste will decide that.

 

I've seen a porn film called Lovex, but never heard of a band with that name? Is it some glam/sleaze thing?

[Jez]

Xorigin - State Of The Art

 

A real shame that this has been released at the same time as the super hyped Work Of Art and Toby Hitchcock discs, as I fear that it may get completely overlooked with the constant glowing reviews of both of those. That would be a real shame, as there are some real belters on here, and at it's best, it's nearly as good songwise as both of those releases. It's not as super slick as WOA, although I will say in it's favour that it is more varied stylewise, with loads of up tempo stuff, some more Westcoast AOR and even a couple of good ballads aswell. All this pays off handsomely on tracks like the belting opener 'Can't Keep Running' (one of the best opening tracks I've heard this year so far), 'Crying For You' and 'In The Blink Of An Eye'. Special mention too to the excellent Vocalist Johanne Stole (who reminds me of a cross between Joseph Williams and Peter Cetera in places) and some cracking Guitar and Keyboard work too. DO NOT IGNORE THIS DISC.

[Jez]

I think most people of reasonable taste agree that these two are pretty much head & shoulders above most other releases this year, but which you prefer probably depends on your tastes. I would take a good heavier formulaic melodic rock tune over a lighter westcoast tune most days of the week, so whereas I recognise the quality right throughout WOA I probably prefer the style of Hitchcock's disc. I actually thought the first WOA disc had more AOR tendencies than this new one, which is very light westcoast material for the most part. Both great, both deserving of a lot of hype IMO as in a poor year they stand-out big-time, and frankly I can't take anyone seriously who thinks there have been better albums released in 2011 than one of these two...

 

Haha, Tim, I must lack reasonable taste then.

 

WOA doesn't stand out in a poor year, but blend in rather well. Boring disc. Hitchcock is a bit better, but still too much filler IMO. To each their own

 

Well fair enough if you don't rate them as highly, but what has been better? Nothing in the AOR field comes close, and sure there's been good stuff like Night Ranger etc but I'm not blown-away by anything else....

 

Airrace is still my favorite 2011 AOR album and it blows away WOA and Toby Hitchcock. Robin Beck, Night Ranger and Journey are other goodies as well. But I agree there hasn't been much to get excited about AOR-wise this year.

 

2011 has been great IMO.....when I look at my current top 20 its pretty awesome. I can honestly say that all those albums are keepers and will be played to death in the coming months/years.

 

And that's with loads of potentially great discs to come...like Grand Design, Reckless Love, Steel Panther, Strangeways, White Widdow, Dream Theater, Jamison/Kimball, The Magnificent...hell even ISSA might come up with a decent album this time ;-))

 

But just to summerise, WoA and TH are head and shoulders above any other release this year and are up there with the best releases this millenium IMO.

 

Cheers

 

Work Of Art and Hitchcock are definitely up there, but I still prefer the Lovex disc over both of them. All of them are top quality and will probably feature highly in most peoples top 20's, so completely pointless arguing which one is the better, as personal taste will decide that.

 

I've seen a porn film called Lovex, but never heard of a band with that name? Is it some glam/sleaze thing?

 

No mate, super dooper modern melodic Rock from Finland with some huge choruses all over the place. All three of their discs are great, but the new one 'Watch Out!' is utterly fabulous.

[TIM (2)]

I think most people of reasonable taste agree that these two are pretty much head & shoulders above most other releases this year, but which you prefer probably depends on your tastes. I would take a good heavier formulaic melodic rock tune over a lighter westcoast tune most days of the week, so whereas I recognise the quality right throughout WOA I probably prefer the style of Hitchcock's disc. I actually thought the first WOA disc had more AOR tendencies than this new one, which is very light westcoast material for the most part. Both great, both deserving of a lot of hype IMO as in a poor year they stand-out big-time, and frankly I can't take anyone seriously who thinks there have been better albums released in 2011 than one of these two...

 

Haha, Tim, I must lack reasonable taste then.

 

WOA doesn't stand out in a poor year, but blend in rather well. Boring disc. Hitchcock is a bit better, but still too much filler IMO. To each their own

 

Well fair enough if you don't rate them as highly, but what has been better? Nothing in the AOR field comes close, and sure there's been good stuff like Night Ranger etc but I'm not blown-away by anything else....

 

Airrace is still my favorite 2011 AOR album and it blows away WOA and Toby Hitchcock. Robin Beck, Night Ranger and Journey are other goodies as well. But I agree there hasn't been much to get excited about AOR-wise this year.

 

2011 has been great IMO.....when I look at my current top 20 its pretty awesome. I can honestly say that all those albums are keepers and will be played to death in the coming months/years.

 

And that's with loads of potentially great discs to come...like Grand Design, Reckless Love, Steel Panther, Strangeways, White Widdow, Dream Theater, Jamison/Kimball, The Magnificent...hell even ISSA might come up with a decent album this time ;-))

 

But just to summerise, WoA and TH are head and shoulders above any other release this year and are up there with the best releases this millenium IMO.

 

Cheers

 

Work Of Art and Hitchcock are definitely up there, but I still prefer the Lovex disc over both of them. All of them are top quality and will probably feature highly in most peoples top 20's, so completely pointless arguing which one is the better, as personal taste will decide that.

 

I've seen a porn film called Lovex, but never heard of a band with that name? Is it some glam/sleaze thing?

 

No mate, super dooper modern melodic Rock from Finland with some huge choruses all over the place. All three of their discs are great, but the new one 'Watch Out!' is utterly fabulous.

 

Is it like The Poodles and that kinda stuff?

[Jez]

I think most people of reasonable taste agree that these two are pretty much head & shoulders above most other releases this year, but which you prefer probably depends on your tastes. I would take a good heavier formulaic melodic rock tune over a lighter westcoast tune most days of the week, so whereas I recognise the quality right throughout WOA I probably prefer the style of Hitchcock's disc. I actually thought the first WOA disc had more AOR tendencies than this new one, which is very light westcoast material for the most part. Both great, both deserving of a lot of hype IMO as in a poor year they stand-out big-time, and frankly I can't take anyone seriously who thinks there have been better albums released in 2011 than one of these two...

 

Haha, Tim, I must lack reasonable taste then.

 

WOA doesn't stand out in a poor year, but blend in rather well. Boring disc. Hitchcock is a bit better, but still too much filler IMO. To each their own

 

Well fair enough if you don't rate them as highly, but what has been better? Nothing in the AOR field comes close, and sure there's been good stuff like Night Ranger etc but I'm not blown-away by anything else....

 

Airrace is still my favorite 2011 AOR album and it blows away WOA and Toby Hitchcock. Robin Beck, Night Ranger and Journey are other goodies as well. But I agree there hasn't been much to get excited about AOR-wise this year.

 

2011 has been great IMO.....when I look at my current top 20 its pretty awesome. I can honestly say that all those albums are keepers and will be played to death in the coming months/years.

 

And that's with loads of potentially great discs to come...like Grand Design, Reckless Love, Steel Panther, Strangeways, White Widdow, Dream Theater, Jamison/Kimball, The Magnificent...hell even ISSA might come up with a decent album this time ;-))

 

But just to summerise, WoA and TH are head and shoulders above any other release this year and are up there with the best releases this millenium IMO.

 

Cheers

 

Work Of Art and Hitchcock are definitely up there, but I still prefer the Lovex disc over both of them. All of them are top quality and will probably feature highly in most peoples top 20's, so completely pointless arguing which one is the better, as personal taste will decide that.

 

I've seen a porn film called Lovex, but never heard of a band with that name? Is it some glam/sleaze thing?

 

No mate, super dooper modern melodic Rock from Finland with some huge choruses all over the place. All three of their discs are great, but the new one 'Watch Out!' is utterly fabulous.

 

Is it like The Poodles and that kinda stuff?

 

 

Way way better than The Poodles. Here is the thread Stef started on them, which has a few snippets. Seriously a killer disc.

 

http://heavyharmonies.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=26845

[KarpetRydOFunk]

I think most people of reasonable taste agree that these two are pretty much head & shoulders above most other releases this year, but which you prefer probably depends on your tastes. I would take a good heavier formulaic melodic rock tune over a lighter westcoast tune most days of the week, so whereas I recognise the quality right throughout WOA I probably prefer the style of Hitchcock's disc. I actually thought the first WOA disc had more AOR tendencies than this new one, which is very light westcoast material for the most part. Both great, both deserving of a lot of hype IMO as in a poor year they stand-out big-time, and frankly I can't take anyone seriously who thinks there have been better albums released in 2011 than one of these two...

 

Haha, Tim, I must lack reasonable taste then.

 

WOA doesn't stand out in a poor year, but blend in rather well. Boring disc. Hitchcock is a bit better, but still too much filler IMO. To each their own

 

Well fair enough if you don't rate them as highly, but what has been better? Nothing in the AOR field comes close, and sure there's been good stuff like Night Ranger etc but I'm not blown-away by anything else....

 

Airrace is still my favorite 2011 AOR album and it blows away WOA and Toby Hitchcock. Robin Beck, Night Ranger and Journey are other goodies as well. But I agree there hasn't been much to get excited about AOR-wise this year.

 

2011 has been great IMO.....when I look at my current top 20 its pretty awesome. I can honestly say that all those albums are keepers and will be played to death in the coming months/years.

 

And that's with loads of potentially great discs to come...like Grand Design, Reckless Love, Steel Panther, Strangeways, White Widdow, Dream Theater, Jamison/Kimball, The Magnificent...hell even ISSA might come up with a decent album this time ;-))

 

But just to summerise, WoA and TH are head and shoulders above any other release this year and are up there with the best releases this millenium IMO.

 

Cheers

 

Work Of Art and Hitchcock are definitely up there, but I still prefer the Lovex disc over both of them. All of them are top quality and will probably feature highly in most peoples top 20's, so completely pointless arguing which one is the better, as personal taste will decide that.

 

I've seen a porn film called Lovex, but never heard of a band with that name? Is it some glam/sleaze thing?

 

No mate, super dooper modern melodic Rock from Finland with some huge choruses all over the place. All three of their discs are great, but the new one 'Watch Out!' is utterly fabulous.

 

Is it like The Poodles and that kinda stuff?

 

 

Way way better than The Poodles. Here is the thread Stef started on them, which has a few snippets. Seriously a killer disc.

 

http://heavyharmonies.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=26845

 

Ooh, them's fightin' words, Jezzy!

 

But, seriously, Tim, how have you never heard of Lovex?! Excellent Modern Melodic Hard Rock! They're not too similar to The Poodles. They have a much more Modern sound, and even a Poppiness to them, but very Melodic. "Watch Out!" is a fantastic album. You really need to give it a listen, soon.

[Doksdad]

Diamond Lane - World Without Heroes (2011)

 

a gem slipped by my very eyes, another overlook awesome indie, combining sleaze, 80s hooks, and modern metal edge, think of Avenged Sevenfold, Guns N' Roses, and Hardcore Superstar in one bowl. 10 songs, first five is better than the second half, with 'All Rebels Welcome', 'City of Sin', 'Sundress City', and 'Never Going Home' being the winner. The guitar parts, especially on some solos, are very close to Slash style. Great album, probably I'll rate this a solid 85% comfortably, let's see if this will go further than that, but can't deny the quality of this album!

Backed. Very good disc IMO!

[Doksdad]

HOLLYWOOD BURNOUTS - s/t EP (2011)

pretty good sleaze/melodic rock, a band from Germany i think, promising 4 tracks with 'Tonight' being their best track and also some killer solos there. 'Roll The Dice' is my second fave song and the ballad 'Show Me Your Love' has that LA Guns ballad vibe to it. Like this one so far and hopefully next year they will have a full-length studio comin' up. Another 80% at the first glance.

Promise is the key word here. I really like the four tracks. Can't wait to hear more from the band! Encouraging EP!

[Nightrain]

Way way better than The Poodles. Here is the thread Stef started on them, which has a few snippets. Seriously a killer disc.

 

http://heavyharmonies.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=26845

 

hm my opinion is a bit different with Jez here.

 

The Poodles is more of a melodic rock with a slight traditional heavy metal edge while Lovex is more poppier and with that typical Finnish love metal stuff touch (just like HIM), so comparing that two is not very apple to apple, but I honestly think Poodles is better especially with that awesome 'Performocracy' disc and , but 'Watch Out!' is also top notch disc so it's another must-buy disc for me as well

 

(the Poodles' previous release, 'Clash of The Elements' also much better than Lovex's prior release, 'Pretend or Surrender', not to mention that Jakob Samuel's vocal is better, if that also counts )

[Geoff]

Way way better than The Poodles. Here is the thread Stef started on them, which has a few snippets. Seriously a killer disc.

 

http://heavyharmonies.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=26845

 

hm my opinion is a bit different with Jez here.

 

The Poodles is more of a melodic rock with a slight traditional heavy metal edge while Lovex is more poppier and with that typical Finnish love metal stuff touch (just like HIM), so comparing that two is not very apple to apple, but I honestly think Poodles is better especially with that awesome 'Performocracy' disc and , but 'Watch Out!' is also top notch disc so it's another must-buy disc for me as well

 

(the Poodles' previous release, 'Clash of The Elements' also much better than Lovex's prior release, 'Pretend or Surrender', not to mention that Jakob Samuel's vocal is better, if that also counts )

Not sure who I prefer overall, but if this year has anything to do with it it's Lovex by a mile. I've rated Lovex about 85% to sit in 4th spot whilst The Poodles album is currently sitting in 17th spot with a 75%. And yeah, Tim, you'll dig the new Lovex disc a lot.

 

A few first spins:

 

Hawthorne Heights - 'Hate' ; good solid extended EP from these guys. The voice still makes them sound more cheesy than they need too, but this one might finally show a bit of advancement in song-writing ability. Some good stuff on here. Nice.

 

Edguy - 'Age of the joker' ; 3 fillers, an album full of songs that are way too long and don't need to be that long, therefore frustrating the f*ck out of me... but, most the songs are pretty damn good, long or not. Good handsome effort.

 

Xorigin - 'State of the art' ; I agree with the other chaps saying this might get overshadowed by some due to it's release date - but not me. This is a very strong melodic rock disc. There are a few fillers, and no it's not on par with Hitchcock or WOA, but it's still a damn good CD. Some very nice keyboard driven melodic rock on this one.

 

Chasing Magic - s/t ; yeah, not bad at all. Some good strong melodic rock songs on this one too. Won't set the world alight, but it's a good 'un. I like it.

 

Kids in Glass Houses - 'In gold blood' ; like I said elsewhere, when I saw this one was released (had no idea it'd be so soon) I gave birth to children. The last album came from nowhere to surprise the balls off me last year. The new one shows glimpses of the glory that was the last CD ('Diamond Days' is one of the best songs of 2011, no doubt) but overall it's certainly not as strong as it's predecessor. You can tell in the opening song that things are different, when they lead into the chorus with a solid verse and excellent pre-chorus, followed by a lethally bad chorus. Opposite of what was happening on the last disc. The album does come good towards the end and it might still rate pretty well, but I am disappointed.

 

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - 'Am I the enemy' ; there may be an equally produced album to this in 2011, but not a better one. Soundwise this is utterly immaculate, and thankfully they back it up with some very strong songs too. It's not going to be the best album of the year or anything, but it sounds like it might be considerably better than their last album. A good listen, this was.

 

Since October - 'This is my heart' ; not sure how I missed these guys, but they could not sound more like Disciple if they tried. And for that, this is a pretty good album. A little slow and nu-metalish at times, but mostly it's a pretty good CD.

 

Since October - 'Life, scars, apologies' ; And same here. Better than the last CD, still sound identical to Disciple... and it's another good CD. If you like Disciple, these guys are well worth checking out.

[zacharyamelie]

My two fav songs of the year so far are from Lovex and The Poodles.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3klAEgIuOA&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL37E853E225F02505

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS4-mvXyxBw

 

 

Right now I think Crash My World is edging out Bring Back The Night. I also agree with Jez, the new Lovex is better than the new Poodles, with that being said, the Poodles is probably my favorite new band of the past 5/6 years, with already 4 great studio releases under their belts.