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Steve Harris has passed away
Escape Music is sad to hear that Steve Harris, guitarist with legendary UK rockers Shy, has passed away. Steve was a fine guitarist and songwriter and will be sorely missed by all who knew him. Steve has been described in the press as one of the most humble, pleasant people you could wish to meet.
Escape Music is honored to have been involved with Steve and the band, albeit for a short time, and would like to express their sympathy to Steve’s family and friends. We are thinking of them at this very sad time.
Yes – In The Present – Live From Lyon
Frontiers Records proudly announce the latest live release from the most influential and ground-breaking progressive rock ‘n’ roll band in history, Yes. The new album, “In The Present – Live From Lyon”, will be available as a 2CD/DVD package from November 29 in North America and December 2 in Europe.
Recorded in Lyon, France, on December 1st 2009, “In The Present – Live From Lyon” is an outstanding collection of hidden gems and unforgettable classics, with new singer Benoit David breathing new life into each of the evergreen tracks. The package comes with a 55 minute DVD containing excerpts from the live performance, candid interviews and behind the scenes footage. The cover art features an original design by Roger Dean, author of most Yes album covers, including the classics “Fragile”, “Close To The Edge” and “Drama”.
Yes’ powerful compositions influenced a generation of musicians. They have a hugely successful and indelible catalogue of masterpieces. Songs like “Roundabout, a seminal hit which consistently appears on “the best songs of all-time” lists, and the group’s #1 hit “Owner Of A Lonely Heart”, taken from the album “90125”, saw Yes top the UK and US album charts simultaneously.
Yes are the pioneers for the use of synthesizers and sound effects in modern music and produced a multitude of timeless, symphonic rock masterworks; they continued to push the cutting edge of artrock music to their limits, selling over 30 million albums and reaching platinum status multiple times worldwide. Yes’ latest studio album “Fly From Here” – their first in ten years – hit the Top 10 on the rock charts and was declared as their best work since the 70s by Paste Magazine.
“In The Present – Live From Lyon” will be released in a gloss digipak edition. The final track listing includes:
CD1
Siberian Khatru; I’ve Seen All Good People; Tempus Fugit; Onward; Astral Traveller; And You And I; Corkscrew (Acoustic Solo).
CD2
Owner Of A Lonely Heart; Southside Of The Sky; Machine Messiah; Heart Of The Sunrise; Roundabout; Starship Trooper.
DVD
interviews, excerpts from the live show, Roundabout, Machine Messiah (running time approx. 55 minutes)
A trailer of the DVD can be enjoyed following this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1CVUbp562c
Rock It! # 66 (November-December 2011) out now!
The very best German AOR, hard rock & metal magazine
Contents (92 pages, written in German):
Interviews & Stories
Almah | The Answer | Astral Doors | Sebastian Bach | Gary Barden | Brainstorm | Bush | Chickenfoot | Alice Cooper | Dianna Corcoran | D.A.D | Dragonland | Fastway | Fergie Frederiksen | Glyder | Gotthard | Toby Hitchcock | House Of Lords | Iced Earth | Issa | Ivory Tower | Kimball-Jamison | Leningrad Cowboys | Megadeth | Papaslide | Riot | Riotgod | Saracen | Seven | Shy | Subway To Sally | Dudley Taft | Leslie West | Doogie White | Work Of Art
Studio Reports
Iron Savior | Mystic Prophecy | Nightwish
Live Reports
Christmas Metal Festivals | Edguy tour finale | Power Of Metal Tour | Tito & Tarantula
CD - Hear It! Vol. 57
Free 19-track CD featuring songs from Astral Doors | Brainstorm | Riot | House Of Lords | Kimball-Jamison | Shy | Glyder | Gary Barden | Doogie White | Fergie Frederiksen | Dragonland | Ivory Tower | Oz | Almah | Morton | Morifade | Xclaym | Issa | Dianna Corcoran
Plus …
Editorial - News - Reader's Charts - Reviews (albums, books & DVDs) - Tour Dates - Tourtalk, etc.
Next issue (# 67)
December 14, 2011
URL
http://www.rock-it-magazine.de
Street address
Rock It!
Gerald Siebenmorgen
Postfach 14 02 25
40072 Düsseldorf
Deutschland
tel 0211-17 80 30 43
g7morgenatrock-it-magazine.de
Transatlantic – More Never Is Enough
First came the news that Transatlantic had returned with a new studio album. “The Whirlwind” was their best-received album to date. For true fans, though, the more tantalizing prize was the prospect of live shows. Band and fans alike were rewarded with a month-long tour, and an initial live release. But audiences reported seeing cameras and recording gear at other shows. Indeed, the best was yet to come.
“When you’re on tour, sometimes you have the best gigs when the cameras aren’t running”, enthuses Neal Morse (keyboards, vocals). “Such was the case one night in Manchester.” It was the final show of the tour and the band was at their best. One last show to let go and unleash it all. Who knows if they’d ever get to do it again? And while video wasn't rolling, audio was - and when the final echoes faded, the beast had been caged.
But more never is enough. The sold-out Tilburg show was an unforgettable night, the venue always a favourite for DVD recordings. Seven camera operators were there to prove it. “I‘ll never forget it”, Morse confides. “I feel like the Tilburg gig was among the best concerts I‘ve ever played in my whole life.”
The decision to shoot two concerts for commercial release is a rarity. But fans had waited nearly 10 years and the band wasn’t about to let them down. And a year later, they’re true to their word. While the first DVD release was the safer of the two, this one goes all out.
Extras? You didn’t think you’d get away without candid moments, sound check antics, Mike stage-diving, did you? Or the elusive (genuine) encore for an audience that won’t go home? (The band had nothing rehearsed to play, so out came “Return Of The Giant Hogweed” for their first time, ever.) Like we said, definitely not the safe one.
Travel from the last decade of prog to today, and from the backstage to the soundstage. Capturing a thousand timeless moments, “More Never Is Enough” captures musicians and audience uniting to create an electrifying musical experience. Join Transatlantic as they unleash their very best—as you’ve never seen, heard or imagined them.
Tracklist
DVD 1 (Tilburg)
The Whirlwind (full album performance)
DVD 2 (Tilburg)
All Of The Above • We All Need Some Light
Duel With The Devil • Bridge Across Forever
Stranger In Your Soul
Return Of The Giant Hogweed
CD 1 (Manchester)
The Whirlwind (full album performance)
CD 2 (Manchester)
All Of The Above • We All Need Some Light
Duel With The Devil
CD 3 (Manchester)
Bridge Across Forever
Stranger In Your Soul
Line-up
Roine Stolt: electric guitar, vocals
Pete Trewavas: bass, vocals
Neal Morse: keyboards, acoustic guitar, vocals
Mike Portnoy: drums, vocals
Daniel Gildenlöw: keyboards, guitars, vocals and percussion
CD show recorded live at The Academy in Manchester (UK), May 22, 2010
DVD show filmed at the 013 in Tilburg (The Netherlands), May 20, 2010
Distributed by Metal Blade/Sony (NA) and InsideOutMusic/EMI (EU)
Beggars & Thieves – We Are The Brokenhearted
Frontiers Records are excited to announce the release of the anticipated new Beggars & Thieves album, entitled “We Are The Brokenhearted” on December 2 in Europe.
Beggars & Thieves debuted on Atlantic Records in 1990 with their self-titled album, a record that was critically acclaimed with the first single appearing in the top 40 Billboard Magazine Album Rock Charts and being added to rotation on over 100 Parallel One AOR radio stations. The change of musical climate and the advent of grunge halted the band’s rise to stardom when their new label Epic Records decided not to release Beggars & Thieves second studio album, “Look What You Create”, written and produced in collaboration with Jim Vallance (Aerosmith, Bryan Adams, The Scorpions, Heart).
In the late 90s Beggars & Thieves finally independently released “Look What You Create”, followed by “The Grey Album” in 1999, before going into hibernation until 2004 when the founding members - singer Louie Merlino and guitarist Ronnie Mancuso - started to play again in the Sin City All Stars with guitarist Brent Muscat (Faster Pussycat) and drummer Lez Warner (The Cult), opening shows for Tesla, Vince Neil, Ratt, Slaughter and Skid Row. “That and the amazing internet support from the European melodic rock community pretty much set the stage for reforming Beggars”, recalls Ronnie.
Indeed one of the highlights during the last five years was Beggars & Thieves’ participation at Firefest 2010 in Nottingham, UK. “I don’t think we realized that our music meant so much to so many people. It was the first time we played Firefest and everybody was singing the lyrics, it just blew Louie and me away”, continues Mancuso. “Right from the start we had offers to do another album, but it wasn’t until I partnered up with producer/engineer Kevin Churko while he was producing Ozzy, that I knew by combining our studios and his engineering and mixing skills, we could make an album that competed on the level of anything being released at the time”.
The resulting new album, “We Are The Brokenhearted”, promises to firmly position the band on the map for all hard rock fans worldwide. In Merlino’s words: “We wanted to make a Pink Floyd ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ or a U2 ‘Joshua Tree’ and that is a huge commitment. I’m not saying we achieved it. But that was the level of passion and effort that was put into making ‘We Are The Brokenhearted’. I think the new songs show our potential to be a truly classic band and we both feel strongly that this is the best work we have ever done. We just hope people get the chance and take the time to really listen and absorb this as an album. This is an album designed to be listened to as a whole entity, not in shuffle mode on an iPod”. “We Are The Brokenhearted” proves that great music is timeless. It’s as fresh as it is familiar. Merlino continues: “This isn’t just some guys trying to have a little fun reliving the past. We got a good ten years left, we aren’t messing around, we are deadly serious. We want to compete with the big boys.” And with the quality of this album they just might get their chance!
URL: http://www.beggarsnthieves.com
Royal Hunt – Show Me How To Live
Frontiers Records are pleased to announce the release of Royal Hunt’s 11th studio album, entitled “Show Me How To Live” on December 2 in Europe.
Royal Hunt have been recently rejoined by DC Cooper, the American singer who marked the two most successful releases of the band in the 90s, “Moving Target” and the concept album “Paradox”. “We started chatting on Skype from time to time and that’s how the idea of doing a mini tour came about”, tells Royal Hunt founder, songwriter and keyboard player André Andersen. “After playing some shows we realized that the chemistry was still there and we decided to continue, recording a new album first.” And you can certainly hear the results on “Show Me How To Live”. The new material is described as highly melodic with rich, lush arrangements and stellar production. This will certainly please the fans of neoclassical, yet progressive music. Andersen continues: “The new songs are continuing right from where we left it in the first place, so far it sounds great. It will have some qualities of our previous albums ‘Moving Target’ and ‘Paradox’, but you can certainly expect some cool updates and new twists!”
As a companion to the new album release, Frontiers Records will also release - on the same day - a double DVD entitled “Future Coming From The Past”. This double package serves as a celebration of the return of singer DC Cooper to the line-up and makes finally widely available two very rare items which were only released in Japan back in the day.
The first DVD is entitled “1996” and was recorded live in Japan just after the release of the band’s “Moving Target” album. “1996” is an excellent summary of Royal Hunt’s career up to that point. The band offers a great mix of songs from their first three studio albums. The band was in top form for this show, with DC leading the way.
The second DVD, “Paradox - Closing The Chapter” was recorded in 1998 and marked the end of the original DC Cooper era for Royal Hunt. It is essentially a complete live performance of the band’s amazing studio album “Paradox”, their most successful album to date. It is a very solid performance and DC delivers the goods, while the band’s playing is superb. To complete the package is a 50 minute documentary which shares stories of life in a rock band.
Book review: “Judas Priest – British Steel” (Neil Daniels)
Following “Rainbow – Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll” (written by Jerry Bloom), this is the second CD sized book in a series on landmark albums, published by Wymer Publishing.
While most fans of the band would probably choose “Painkiller” as Judas Priest’s best studio album ever, I would go for the Tom Allom produced “British Steel” (1980), just like author Neil Daniels. It was their 6th studio album and contained such classics as “Breaking The Law” and “Living After Midnight”.
Having written two books on this heavy metal institute in the past, it can’t be denied that Mr Daniels knows these pioneers in the genre inside out. Following the contents, a foreword by Ron Thal (guitarist of GNR) and an introduction by the author himself, the book(let) begins with a 9-page history of the band, covering the period before the release of “British Steel”. The next ten pages are filled with ‘the making’ of the album, followed by a chapter that is called “The Tour & The Aftermath” (9 pages). The next 2 pages are dedicated to the artwork of the album, before we’re treated to a track by track analysis of 5 pages. “30th Anniversary: the legacy of British Steel” (5 pages) and “Rock scribes on British Steel” (5 pages) are the final two chapters. What then follows (from page 46 onward) are a selected discography, a chronology of the year 1980, tour dates and a bibliography.
I read the book in about 90 minutes, which proves that it makes an interesting read. Priced £ 4.99 it’s probably not that cheap, but I suppose that the fans of the band will be happy with it anyhow.
Contact Neil Daniels ( http://www.neildaniels.com ) or Wymer Publishing ( http://www.wymerpublishing.co.uk ) if you want to find out more about this small book.
AOR Heaven’s November releases
AOR Heaven will release new albums by FATE and ALFONZETTI on November 25, 2011.
FATE - Ghosts From The Past
FATE was formed in late '84 in Copenhagen, Denmark by Hank Sherman who left Mercyful Fate and got together with Jeff "Lox" Limbo (a.k.a. Jens Meiner), Bob Lance (a.k.a. Bjarne Holm) and Pete Steiner (a.k.a. Peter Steincke). During the 80s, the band was one of the leading forces of the Scandi rock genre and released classic albums such as “Fate” (1985), “A Matter Of Attitude” (1986), “Cruisin’ For A Bruisin’” (1988) and “Scratch’n Sniff” (1990) and went permanently on the road – both as headliner and as support to Pretty Maids and Yngwie Malmsteen among others. Over the years, FATE went through a couple of line-up changes and remained active until 1993.
The second chapter was opened when the Danish five-piece started to play live again in 2005. The release of the album “V” (2006), some more touring and yet more line-up changes followed. “Ghost From The Past” now is their sixth studio album in total and the first to feature singer Dagfinn Joensen on vocals, Danish guitar hero Torben Enevoldsen on the six string, Peter Steincke on bass, Jens Berglid on drums and Mikkel Henderson on keyboards. The CD was produced by Fate and Thomas Pedersen at various studios in Denmark and mastered by Torben Lysholm. With this album, FATE is truly back!
URL: http://www.fatetheband.com
ALFONZETTI - Here Comes The Night
Born and raised in Stockholm, Matti Alfonzetti began his musical career in his early teens playing bass in the local hard rock band Heavy Waters. Later on, he was a member of the bands Bam Bam Boys, Water Front, Jagged Edge, Skintrade and Boxer.
In 2000 Alfonzetti’s first solo album “Ready” saw the light of day – followed, two years later, by the album “Machine”. Following this Matti started getting into songwriting & producing and had success producing and writing for bands such as The Poodles among others. One new project emerged in 2007, “Road To Ruin”, including drummer Tomas Broman and Sampo Axelsson and Lars Chriss of Lion’s Share. “Road To Ruin” came out the same year on Metal Heaven.
Now, Alfonzetti’s third solo album is ready. Titled “Here Comes The Night”, it is Alfonzetti’s return to the music and vocal style of first solo album “Ready” with an up to date production. This time Matti collaborated with drummer/producer Daniel Flores and the album includes guests such as Marcus Jidell (Evergrey) and Emil Fredholm (Plankton). The CD was recorded at Sound vs Science Studios and Atomic Rooster Studios, Stockholm. All songs were written and produced by Matti Alfonzetti and mixed and co-produced by Daniel Flores.
Eternal Flight – D.r.e.a.m.s
Aware of the importance of a third album release by a band, Eternal Flight, one of France’s leading power/ prog metal acts from the Haute-Savoie took time to care its new offering to propose a special and clashing album.
Founded by skilled singer Gérard Fois in the year 2001 after the split of his band Dream Child with whom he had recorded two albums, the new songs are certainly the most effective and creative proposed until now.
The Frenchman also played bass, keys and acoustic guitars, wrote all the songs and was at the production helm on this new release which shows a wider broad of styles and influences incorporated to their melodic metal. To make this album, “Diminished Reality, Elegies and Mysteries” (‘D.r.e.a.m.s’ for the close friends) even more special, distinguished guests agreed enthusiastically to take part in this work. It is at first the Brazilian drummer Ricardo Confessori (Angra, Shaman) who after listening to demos was ready for this adventure and played on (almost) all the album and by marking the rhythm section with his style. For certain solos, worldclass guitarists Mark McGee (ex-Vicious Rumors), Chris Caffery (Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Savatage) from the USA and Rob Love Magnusson (Dynazty) from Sweden were acquired.
The band line-up as it is now is completed by Julien Racine (drums), Adrien Zoni (bass) and Chris Gojon (guitars) who all brilliantly played on the intro and the cover tribute to the great Ronnie James Dio, “Night People”.
With “D.r.e.a.m.s”, EF hail towards real international recognition after two noticed and positively welcomed albums released worldwide. This record is available as digi pack.
A free download from Stampede
UK hard rockers Stampede are giving away a free download of their newly recorded studio track “Shadows Of The Night’ on Facebook. URL: http://www.facebook.com/stampederock
Stampede have recently been in the studio recording a special remake of the track, which was an old favourite and always a mainstay of their live set. The track is now available to download for free exclusively from the band’s official Facebook page and will be available for a limited time only.
The band announce news of the free download just as they kick off a series of live dates with US rockers Y&T, in support of their new album “A Sudden Impulse”, released in May this year on Rock Candy Records. Although originally recorded live, both for a BBC In Concert session and at Reading Rock Festival in 1982 for the live Official Bootleg album, up until now Stampede had never recorded a studio version of the song.
“We wanted to do something to say a big thank you to our fans and to all the people that have supported us this year with the release of our new album”, states vocalist Reuben Archer. “’Shadows Of The Night’ has always been a real favourite of ours so we thought it would be great to do a studio version to give to our fans”.
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Album Reviews 
