Album Of The Year 2013: # 15 - 11

Hey folks,

the time has finally arrived. Today I'll start my most important countdown: my album of the year ranking. As I said before, it was an incredible year and every record on this list deserves it to be mentioned there. But before I start I want to clarify some things - just to ensure that nobody is irritated. There are some albums on a higher position, although I gave them once a lower rating. This is for one reason only: time. If I write a review I can give the album a few spins and I also have to be a bit more objective, but I don't have the time to see if an album really grows on me - and this is something some albums did over the last months. These are the ones, which found their way back into my cd-player again and again. So, while choosing the order of this ranking I haven't paid attention to my reviews. It was more a choice from the heart, if you want so. Please keep that in mind. But if you want to talk about numbers I can promise you one thing: every album, which ended up on that list, has at least a review-score from eight out of ten. All the other records didn't made it.  Enough with the talking - here is the first part from the 15 best albums in 2013!

Song Of The Year 2013: # 05 - 01

Hello folks,

my first ranking comes to an end with this post. These are the five best songs in 2013 for me: a bombastic Metal Opera song, a tough Melodic Rocker, an energetic Power Ballad, a feel-good Party-Anthem and finally a dreamy Symphonic Metal Ballad. What about your favorites???

Song Of The Year 2013: # 10 - 06

Hey folks,

it's getting more and more interesting. Here is the second part of my personal song of the year ranking, covering # 10 to 06!
Please don't forget to tell me, which songs impressed you very much in 2013! :)

Song Of The Year 2013: # 15 - 11

Hey friends,

today I want to start my first countdown of this year. So before I'll show you my album of the year list (the most interesting thing for you, I think) I present you my personal song of the year list, starting with # 15 to 11.
I can tell you one thing: it was very hard for me to select 15 songs from the mass of great records this year. To my surprise many ballads made it in that list. Maybe because I was in that mood - don't really know. Ok, I always loved the big rock ballads from the 80's and I think you'll see that tendency in this list. So, let's get right into it!

Special: The biggest disappointments in 2013!

Hey folks,

it's December, that means it's time to look back at this year. What had 2013 to offer? I would say: many amazing records. But before I give you my album/song of the year countdown I want to start with the disappointments this year. Luckily that aren't so many. Feel free to comment and discuss my list. What do you think? What was your fail in 2013?

Special: Forthcoming Rock & Metal Releases in 2014!

Hey Rock & Metal community,

as I promised, here is my short overview of bands, which are working on new albums right now. Please note that this list is about the bands I'm very excited about. For sure, there will be much more stuff in 2014 from other bands. So, let's get started because it is a LOT ;)

Special: One Year Rock & Metal 4 You!

Hey folks,

don't wonder why there aren't many updates on this Blog at the moment. The thing is, these days there aren't so many releases I'm excited about. To me, all the big ones have been released so far.
Speaking about this year ... yeah it's exactly one year ago when I founded this Blog. Some incredible things happend in that time. This year was packed with tons of amazing music, interesting interviews and fantastic live shows. I already said it in my 100th blog post, but I just can repeat myself: I thank each and every one of you readers, who support Rock & Metal 4 You and keep this site rollin'. I also want to thank all the musicians I worked with and last but not least Denys Jaime from MyGlobalMind for giving me the opportunity to move forward with my hobby.
My question to you all is: what do you like to see on Rock & Metal 4 You? Is there something you hardly miss? Feel free to comment or send me a message via the contact box.

Now I want to take the time to tell you exclusively what's coming up next on R&M4U:
In the next few weeks I will give you a short overview of all important bands, who are working on new albums right now and of course there will be another countdown of my personal "Album Of The Year" and "Song Of The Year" - list, as well as the biggest disappointments in 2013.
Oh and get ready for new live reports of Steel Panther, Freedom Call, Rock Meets Classic (feat. Alice Cooper, Joe Lynn Turner, ...) and Aerosmith! These are the ones I've got my tickets already. This will be fun!

You see, there's much interesting new stuff coming up, so stay tuned and spread the word. Thank you! :)

CD-Review: Angelica - "Thrive"

The Swedish singer Angelica Rylin is the head of the femal-fronted Metal band The Murder Of My Sweet. Many people see this band as some kind of offspring from bands like Nightwisch and Delain. Just three years after the formation of her main band, Angelica decided to release a first solo album and first of all here is a big warning to all fans of The Murder Of My Sweet and the other acts I mentioned above: "Thrive" is not that kind of solo album you would expect from Angelica - it is a totally different genre, a pure AOR album. Let's see if this works.

Special: Blu-Ray Review - EUROPE live at Sweden Rock / 30th Anniversary Show

In 1983 a young band from Sweden got out to conquer the world. Only three years later they should write one of the biggest rock classics of all time: with "The Final Countdown" Europe were at the top of their game. After the big break in 1992 they did the comeback of the year in 2004. But the sound had changed. Today Europe are a more harder rockin' band with lots of bluesy elements (especially on their latest album "Bag Of Bones"). So, this year the guys celebrated and recorded their 30th Anniversary show at one of the biggest Rock festivals: Sweden Rock! A concert, 30 years in the making - let's see if it's so bombastic like it sounds.

Exclusive Interview with Michael Kiske (Unisonic, ex-Helloween, Place Vendome, Avantasia, ...)

When you ask people about the most iconic and most popular singers in Rock & Metal, you'll definitely get to hear his name very often: Michael Kiske! Back in the 80's he coined the genre of Power Metal with his band Helloween. The two Keeper-Records are still classics to many Heavy Metal fans out there and the teenager at the microphone has become a serious singer and songwriter in many ways these days. In promotion of the new Place Vendome album I had the opportunity to talk with Michael about his current activities with this AOR project, his new band Unisonic, the forthcoming Kiske/Somerville album, Avantasia and of course about his very exciting past. Michael Kiske tells his story. Check out what he had to say!

CD-Review: Lawless - "Rock Savage"

Let's bring back the 80's! That seems to be the idea of the guys from LAWLESS - a new Hard Rock band from the UK with members of DEMON and PERSIAN RISK. I've to admit I've never heard from Paul Hume (Vocals), Howie G (Lead Guitar), Neil Ogden (Drums) and Josh Williams (Bass) before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Let's see if they can set a sign.

CD-Review: Stryper - "No More Hell To Pay"

After a cover album ("The Covering") in 2011 and a record, which consists only of re-recordings ("The Second Coming") earlier this year, the Christian Metal heroes Stryper are back with completely new song material since their 2009 output "Murder By Pride". I enjoyed this album very much, but their new effort "No More Hell To Pay" shows Stryper from a very different side.

CD-Review: Place Vendome - "Thunder In The Distance"

Since the last ten years Michael Kiske is very active again in the music world. After appearences in Avantasia, Avalon and Unisonic, he decided to do another Place Vendome album. You still remember this project? It's some kind of Pink Cream 69 mixed with AOR in the vein of Toto, Journey and Asia. The previous album "Streets Of Fire" (2009) was a little gem. After four long years, the follow-up "Thunder In The Distance" will hit the stores very soon.

Special: JOHNNY LIMA starts Crowdfunding campaign to finance his new album "My Revolution"!

Singer/Songwriter/Producer JOHNNY LIMA is about to release his new album next year and he needs your help: As you might know he is an Independent artist and has to finance every record and every gig on his own. It is no wonder that Johnny chooses the crowfunding path now, although I'm a bit suspicious when it comes to this topic. But this campaign makes sense: it's just some kind of pre-payment here. You get a Limited Edition of the forthcoming album with 15 tracks on it (instead of 10 - 11 songs). Read Johnny's message here and don't forget to support him. If you like Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe and Bon Jovi, you can contribute this one blindly!

Message from Johnny:

"Hey everyone!! I'm trying to raise some money to help finance the new album so I started a campaign on Indie GoGo. This will be your only chance to get a Limited Edition 15 song CD and may be the only way to get the new album on CD if I can't get a licensing deal with a record company. The official release will only have 10-11 songs on it. So this one is going to be really exclusive and limited and only available through the campaign. Please spread the word!"

http://igg.me/at/johnnylima/x/4944946 

CD-Review: Giulio Garghentini - "Believe"

Until I got the promo of "Believe" I wasn't familiar with the name Giulio Garghentini, although he works since 20 years in the music business. Beside his activities as a vocal teacher he has been part of bands like Mantara and Darkfire (which I also don't know). He also worked for the musical "Jesus Christ Superstar" and since 2007 he's the front man of Dream Company - a Bon Jovi cover band. With "Believe" Giulio offers his first solo album and the promotion lines promise a record packed with 10 (Hard) Rock songs, but while listening to the entire album I experienced a lot of surprises.

CD-Review: Wisdom - "Marching For Liberty"

The Hungarian Power Metal band WISDOM released their third effort "Marching For Liberty" these days and somehow this band passed me by in the last years. The cover artwork impressed me very much this time, so now they have my attention. I was prepared for a journey through a fantasy world. Let's see if it was worth the ride.

CD-Review: Harem Scarem - "Mood Swings II"

The Canadian Rockers HAREM SCAREM belong to the endless list of bands, which were rolled over by the wave of Grunge in the early 90's. Sadly the band hadn't a commercial success, but to genre veterans they are a cult band, especially due to their first two releases. Harem Scarem's second album "Mood Swings" was released in 1993, so it is its 20th birthday. What has "Mood Swings II" to offer?

CD-Review: Sinner - "Touch Of Sin 2"

Mat Sinner has become a true instituition in Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. Beside his activities with Primal Fear, Voodoo Circle or Rock Meets Classic, he partly owes this to his early records with his own band SINNER. Sadly most of these albums are out of stock nowadays and are sold to horrible prices on Ebay. This was reason enough for Mat to re-record some of his best songs from this early days and put it on the new record, called "Touch Of Sin 2".

CD-Review: Hollywood Burnouts - "Kick It Up A Notch!"

The German Hair Spray Rockers from Bavaria are back! After a few line-up changes, Hollywood Burnouts released their second album "Kick It Up A Notch!" these days. Their debut album couldn't impress me much. Due to a bad production and replaceable songwriting without many highlights this band couldn't stand out from the mass of Hair Metal bands. Expectations were low for the new record, but I was totally wrong.

CD-Review: Niva - "Magnitude"

What have Swedish Erotica, Axia or Oxygen in common? They are all bands from Sweden and Tony Niva was part of them. After two solo records he released his third effort "Magnitude" some days ago. It's music from Sweden, so what can we expect? Right, AOR and Melodic Rock with big melodies, tons of hooks and cliches. Here we go!

Exclusive Interview with Mark Sweeney (Wolfpakk)

Just a few days ago the new Wolfpakk album "Cry Wolf" was released. That was reason enough for me to talk to one of the "alpha wolves": Mark Sweeney. Although he is very busy in collecting ideas for the third Wolfpakk album, the Swiss singer/songwriter/producer talks about the new record, his solo activities, critics and much more. Check out what he had to say!

CD-Review: FOX - "Lucifer"

One year ago, former Shakra-singer Mark Fox released the first album with his new band FOX. Since then, many things have changed, because on the new record "Lucifer" Mark comes along with a completely new line-up. All original band members were replaced, due to personal issues. For most bands such a change is a disaster, but for FOX it is a true blessing. Let me tell you why!