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Introducing Rockshots Music Management & Promotion Agency
Coming out from the ashes of the underground melodic scene, Rockshots Music Management & Promotion Agency is proud to present Phoenix Rising, a new sensational AOR band from Rome/Italy presenting its first self-titled demo tape. Here you can find 6 songs of high quality AOR – melodic rock reminiscent of the great bands of the genre such as Journey, Giant, Boston and Pride Of Lions just to name a few with a very personal songwriting and taste of writing melodies. Catchy refrains since the very first listening and outstanding sense of melody are the trademarks of these 6 demo tracks.
The Phoenix Rising project was created in 2008 by Titta Tani (ex-DGM, Daemonia, Goblin, Ashent) and Andrea Gentili. The duo worked hard on the new material which can be found on this demo tape but the project was moved aside for a period of time due to personal circumstances and studio engagements. But now the time has come! Today Phoenix Rising is a real and full-time band which with its sound and music wishes to create something fresh and interesting in the AOR/melodic rock scene.
Led by Titta Tani (who also took care of all the lyrics and the drums on the demo) on vocals and background vocals and by the very talented guitar player Andrea Gentili, the band is also made up of Francesco Di Battista on drums, Gilles Boscolo (Ashent) on keyboards and Alessandro Jacobi (Burning Black) on bass. Two of the songs included on this demo tape , “Believe (Feeling Forever)” and “Fade Away” have been written, played and arranged by Andrea Maddalone, the guitar player of the Italian prog legends New Trolls (and well-known session player for many other important acts). After having released this 6-song demo tape, the band is once again in the studio writing new material which will be released pretty soon in a full-length album followed by a tour.
URL: http://www.phoenixrisingband.net
Acid For Blood – Out For Blood
Z Records are extremely proud to announce the signing of supergroup Acid For Blood to a worldwide deal. Featuring the immense talents of Paul Sabu (vocals, guitar), Frankie Banali (drums), Linkan Andersson (guitars) and Martin Karlsson (bass). The band’s debut “Out For Blood” will be released during the summer of 2012.
Z Records had been in long negotiations with the members and are very pleased that the band signed the deal last week. The band’s debut is heavy but melodic and perfect for annoying the neighbours!
AOR – The Colors Of L.A
Frédéric Slama's new AOR CD, entitled “The Colors Of L.A”, will be released on January 27 through AOR Record Boulevard and will include some of the best musicians of the AOR world, like Tommy Denander, Philip Bardowell, David Foster, Steve Lukather, Jerry Hludzik (Dakota), Joey Summer, Christian Tolle, Randy Goodrum, Steve Newman, Joe Pasquale, Michael Thompson, Rick Riso, Bill Champlin, David Diggs, Bruno Levesque, Michael Landau, David Williams, Vinnie Colaiuta and Brandon Fields among many others.
Frédéric Slama is currently producing Chasing Violets’ first CD, entitled “Outside Heaven”, set for release in 2012. The band consists of two sisters, Sarah & Mélissa Fontaine, two talented French singers. The album will feature the most extraordinary list of guests ever seen in a melodic rock album …
Sylvan – Sceneries
Dear friends of Sylvan,
It's finally done: our newest album “Sceneries” is finished. As you probably know, our new album is divided into five long chapters.
The final tracklist is:
Chapter 1: The Fountain Of Glow (14:50)
Chapter 2: Share The World With Me (15:05)
Chapter 3: The Words You Hide (20:10)
Chapter 4: The Waters I Traveled (20:00)
Chapter 5: Farewell To Old Friends (20:33)
The official release date for “Sceneries” January 27, 2012.
Many greetings from Hamburg,
Matthias, Sebastian, Marco, Jan und Volker
Mark Spiro – It’s A Beautiful Life
AOR Heaven’s first release in 2012 will be the new album by American artist Mark Spiro, entitled “It’s A Beautiful Life”. The release date is set for January 27, 2012. The Germany based label has changed its release politics for the new year and will now release only one album per month to be able to put even bigger focus on their priority releases.
Mark Spiro is an iconic American songwriter. He is an established award winning producer, recording artist and accomplished musician, with a career that spans over two decades. Among his many accomplishments are 45 gold and platinum records and six solo albums. His songs and his productions have been represented on records that have sold over 100 million records worldwide.
Born in Seattle, Mark moved to Hollywood where he met Jack White, an extremely successful and acclaimed German producer who was making his impact in the American music market with his productions of Laura Branigan, Stevie Woods, Anne Murray, David Hasselhoff and more. He immediately recognized Mark’s enormous talent and brought him in as his general co-producer. In a span of three years, Jack cut more than 100 of Spiro’s songs on his various American and German artists.
It was at this time that Mark met German writer/producer Harold Faltermeyer, best known for his song “Axel F” from the film “Beverly Hills Cop” and the theme from “Top Gun”. Faltermeyer was a huge fan of Mark’s writing and production skills and asked Mark to write a song for the new film, “Top Gun”. Mark wrote the incredible “Mighty Wings” (recorded by Cheap Trick), a film song classic. Developing a reputation in the film industry, Mark wrote songs for such films as “True Romance” (“In Dreams” recorded by John Waite), “Selena” (“Only Love” recorded by Selena) and “Music From Another Room” (“Day After Day” recorded by Julian Lennon). Mark’s songs have also been featured in several television series such as One Tree Hill, Marker and Fame.
He is most recognized as one of the leading melodic rock songwriters in the United States, with songs recorded by such classic artists as Heart, Cheap Trick, Giant, Bad English, John Waite, Kansas, REO Speedwagon, Winger, Mike Reno (Loverboy) and Julian Lennon. In addition he has written for multiplatinum country artist Lila McCann and Latin artists Luis Miguel and Emmanuel. Although he is best known for his melodic rock style, it is evident that Mark Spiro has the ability and talent to write for any style and genre of music.
It was in Germany that Mark recorded and released his first solo album, “In Stereo”, in 1986. Mark was signed to Interscope Records by Jimmy Iovine, as a solo artist, shortly thereafter. Mark’s second solo album, “Care Of My Soul”, was released in Japan, Australia and in Scandinavia in 1994; a unique pop/rock album with Mark's special trademark of haunting melodies, creatively imaginative lyrics and outstanding vocals. 1996 saw the release of “Now Is Then, Then Is Now” on Westcoast Records, which was a perfect melodic rock record that received unanimous acclaim in the European rock press for being one of the absolute finest releases of that year. Mark Spiro's next two albums, “Devotion” and “The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of”, were released on the German label MTM Music. His most recent albums are “King Of Crows” (2003) and “Mighty Blue Ocean” (2005).
With the release of his new album “It’s A Beautiful Life”, it is evident that Mark epitomizes the best in American songwriting, production and with his intoxicating vocals, Mark Spiro proves that he has only just begun.
Fastball Music sign Jaded Heart
After having released three albums through Frontiers Records, Jaded Heart have now found a new home with the German label Fastball Music. The band will release its 11th studio album in May 2012.
A brand-new Dokken album next spring
Frontiers Records are excited to announce the signing of Dokken for the worldwide release of their forthcoming studio album in the spring of 2012.
The co-operation between Frontiers and Dokken started with the release of the band’s CD “Lightning Strikes Again” album in 2007, that marked a return to the band’s signature style with melodic hooklines and blazing guitar riffs that epitomized the band’s sound on such records as “Tooth & Nail”, “Under Lock And Key”, “Back For The Attack” and “Dysfunctional”.
“So far we have written 10 songs in only 8 weeks”, says singer Don Dokken. “Usually we spend a year or more on our music. I can't explain why this time it came so fast, it just happened. So far the music is very up-tempo and heavy, of course we know our fans like the classic Dokken sound and this is where our new music is headed. It’s been a band of brothers doing what we love : music”.
Dokken plan to finish their new recording by the end of February and go out on the road in June. “In a perfect world we would like to release the new album before the summer and then play the festivals in Europe. Then hopefully we can jump on a package tour in the US”, tells Don Dokken. “We want to give everyone a great CD that will keep all music fans rocking during these troubled times.”
Dokken consists of Don Dokken on lead vocals, Jon Levin on guitar, Sean McNabb on bass and Mick Brown on drums.
URL: http://www.dokken.net
Beyond The Bridge – The Old Man And The Spirit
Frontiers Records are pleased to announce the signing of Beyond The Bridge, a new progressive metal band from Germany, for the release of their debut album “The Old Man And The Spirit” on January 20, 2012 in Europe and January 24 in North America.
“The Old Man And The Spirit” is an ambitious concept album dealing with the polarity of human sensuousness and superhuman awareness. Two main characters interpret the music on this theatrical and challenging record: The Spirit, who is the personification of all wisdom and awareness that is unachievable to mankind but that lacks of the ability to feel, and her opponent the Old Man, a bon vivant who has lived through all highs and lows of human sensations. These two characters are interpreted by the two band singers: the female Dilenya Mar and the male Herbie Langhans.
The operatic and cinematic setting of the album was put together by the band’s two masterminds: guitar player Peter Degenfeld and the classically trained ivory tinkler Christopher Tarnow. “From the beginning it was our intention to do an album presenting one big piece of music”, tells Degenfeld. “One of the very first things that came about were the two characters together with the basic content of the story. Basically before the notes were written, we knew what each song had to sound and feel like and what the lyrics had to say. With these restrictions we started the songwriting process. In the end writing songs under these self-imposed limits turned out to be just great”.
While “The Old Man And The Spirit” is undoubtedly a demanding musical statement, Beyond The Bridge are determined to make their steps to bring their music on tour. “We put a lot of effort into the goal of creating the studio sound on stage and we have already rearranged some parts to make them more suitable for live performances”, explains Degenfeld.
Beyond The Bridge’s line-up is rounded off by bass player Dominik Stotzem, Fabian Maier on drums and Simon Oberender on keyboards and guitar. Simon also took care of the album production at the famed Gate Studios (owned by producer Sascha Paeth, who mastered the album).
While at first listen the album will easily appeal to the progressive rock & metal audience, thanks to the virtuosity displayed in the playing and the compositional design, the album can easily be enjoyed by all who are looking for songs that can excite the listeners. “The music is touching. It will even touch you in a different way each time you listen to the album”, concludes Peter Degenfeld. “The lyrics are inspiring and ambiguous. This encourages to dig deeper into the spiritual journey of The Old Man”.
URL: http://www.beyondthebridge.net
Fireworks # 48 (November/December 2011) out now!
Together with “Classic Rock Presents: AOR”, this is one of the best melodic rock mags on the planet, edited by Bruce Mee and designed by James Gaden. 96 pages in full colour, written in English. Highly recommended!
Contents
Lindsey Buckingham | Fiona | Def Leppard | Wolfpakk | 3 Doors Down | Subsignal | Badmouth | Brainstorm | Sacred Heart | Mitch Malloy | Grand Design | Yes | Issa | Syndicate | Quo Fest 2011 | Gus G | Static In The Stars | Shy | Saracen | Serpentine | Queensrÿche | Phil Soussan | Consortium Project V | Furyon | Newman | Chickenfoot | Alice Cooper | Candice Night | Carl Palmer | Edguy | Dream Aria | Derek Sherinian
Other stuff
Album Reviews – Reissues – Multimedia – Books – Firin' On All Six! (concert reviews) – The Music Is Out There (Nicky Baldrian’s column) – The Melodic Rock Labels (Steamhammer) – Retrospective: Shadow King
URL
http://www.rocktopia.net
Street address
Fireworks Magazine
10 Dunnock Close
Offerton, Stockport
SK2 5XD United Kingdom
E-mail
fireworks.mag(at)ntlworld.com
Dario Mollo/Tony Martin – The Third Cage
Frontiers Records are pleased to announce the release of the long-awaited new Mollo/Martin album, entitled “The Third Cage” on January 20, 2012 in Europe and January 24 in North America.
Dario Mollo and Tony Martin first got together when the Italian guitar player/producer and composer needed the right singer after they put together a new set of songs in the late 90s. The former Black Sabbath singer came about on a suggestion from producer Kit Woolven (UFO, Thin Lizzy) with whom Dario Mollo had been working during his Crossbones years. Tony Martin wrote lyrics and melodies for the amazing tracks that Dario had already assembled and thus The Cage was born.
The first album, released independently in 1999, gained a great success among the hard rock fans and the critics and Dario finally started to make himself a reputation over the international markets. This debut was later followed by an equally acclaimed second album in 2002. Mollo has been very busy since then, releasing one more album with the Voodoo Hill project with Glenn Hughes. He then toured Europe with Graham Bonnet and Don Airey. After Don became a permanent Deep Purple member, Dario and Graham Bonnet put up Elektric Zoo, touring Europe again, performing songs from Rainbow, Alcatrazz, Voodoo Hill and The Cage. In 2008 Dario released an album with the more alt-rock Italian band Noize Machine, before getting again to work on a new set of hard rocking songs for a new record with Tony Martin.
“As usual we are 50/50 partners”, explains Mollo. “I write all the music and Tony then contributes with the melodies and lyrics. We also try together different structures of the tracks and we rearrange them to better fit the vocal parts. Then I go ahead and take care of the entire production of the album, tracking, mixing and mastering.”
The songwriting, the sound and the video production of this new project are absolutely stunning and show the great skills that Mollo has developed in the past few years. All hard rock lovers should simply not miss this record which bravely melts several influences in a cutting edge release. “There are much better songs, performances and production on this album, plus we will finally bring this project live out there: we have a lot of great songs to perform to our loyal fans, we look forward to meet them”, concludes Dario Mollo.
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Album Reviews 
