CD-Review: Åge Sten Nilsen's Ammunition - "Shanghaied"

Since the Norwegian Glam Rockers of Wig Wam went seperate ways every band memeber is bussy with different stuff. Guitarist Trond Holder joined the band around Jorn Lande and he also formed a new project called "Dracula" with the ex-Masterplan singer. You see, Trond distances himself from his roots. Former Wig Wam vocalist Åge Sten Nilsen is doing things in a more traditional way and formed the band Ammunition. The debut album "Shanghaied" is out now. Can it keep up with the glorious Wig Wam stuff?

Live-Report: GOTTHARD - "Bang!"-Tour 2014 (Berlin, November 3rd 2014)

It's been two years now since I saw the Swiss Hard Rockers of Gotthard live again and I was really excited to see them this year, especially Nic Maeder and his development within the group. So during their "Bang!"-Tour Gotthard visited Berlin on November 3rd and together with their support act Hardcore Superstar they proved once more why they are one of the best live acts in the world.

CD-Review: Dalton - "Pit Stop"

Surprise, surprise! The new wave of 80's Melodic Rock is still rollin' and another band of the "old generation" tries to find a place in the Rock scene again. You've seen that a lot in recent years, while new, young bands like H.e.a.t, Reckless Love, Vega and so on celebrate the good old times with their feel-good music, some 80's chapels see their chance to go with this trend and start a comeback. Sadly many of them can't stand against those bands I mentioned above and I always ask myself: "If a band was laid to rest 25 years ago, what sense does it make to bring them back now?" So here is the next one in line: Swedish Glam Rockers of Dalton disappeared in 1989 and now they are back with a new record called "Pit Stop". Is this album a winner?

CD-Review: Sonata Arctica - "Ecliptica-Revisited: 15th Anniversary Edition"

2014 is going to be THE year for the Finnish Melodic Metal heroes of Sonata Arctica. In March a fantastic new album ("Pariah's Child") was released, a world tour followed and now a re-recorded version of the bands first LP "Ecliptica" hit the stores. I don't know where they have taken the time to record this album, but it is set to be a celebration of the 15th anniversary of their debut.

Special: Blu-Ray Review - ALICE COOPER Raise The Dead - Live From Wacken

I think there are countless Alice Cooper compilations and live-records out there, but just a few of them do justice to the master. The most impressive live document to date is the "Theater Of Death" - show from Hammersmith. Since Alice lets us wait for a new studio album for three years now another live record hit the stores these days: Alice live from Wacken during his Raise The Dead Tour in 2013.

CD-Review: Allen/Lande - "The Great Divide"

In 2005 Frontiers Records united Symphony X singer Russell Allen and ex-Masterplan fronter Jorn Lande for a project that should  become their most important effort on the Metal market: Allen/Lande. Under the leading hand of mastermind Magnus Karlsson they created with "The Battle" one of the best Melodic Metal albums in the last decade and two more strong records followed. Fans demanded a fourth album and they had to wait four long years. Finally "The Great Divide" hit the stores these days and it makes some things very different.

CD-Review: Vega - "Stereo Messiah"

When I first heard of Vega back in 2010 I thought this is just another Frontiers AOR project, but look what they have become: a very good Melodic Rock act, that gave us some amazing songs on two albums and a band that is known for their continuity. You can count on these guys and so it is no wonder that the third effort "Stereo Messiah" has again a bunch of hits to offer.

CD-Review: Billy Idol - "Kings & Queens Of The Underground"

How time flies by - nine years ago Punk legend Billy Idol released his latest record "Devil's Playground" - a fantastic piece of Rock'n'Roll. This record took my heart by storm with its dirty and rough attitude and I couldn't wait for a follow-up, but in all those years my hopes faded away. So you can imagine how excited I was when I heard of a new Billy Idol record and finally "Kings & Queens Of The Underground" found its way into my CD-player. Was it worth the wait?

R&M4U-Classics: Bad City - "Welcome To The Wasteland" (2010)

Today I'd like to show you another album that belongs to my absolute favorites in Rock, which means it is a real classic to me (although it isn't that old). In 2010 a band from Chicago, called Bad City, released their debut "Welcome To The Wasteland" and it is a winner by any means. With their fresh attitude and their pretty cool mixture of 70's, 80's, 90's and modern Rock they created an album that belongs to the best records in the last decade.

Exclusive Interview with LENNA KUURMAA (Moonland, Lenna, ex-Vanilla Ninja)

I think many Rock fans were surprised when Frontiers Records announced a new project, called MOONLAND featuring Lenna Kuurmaa. That girl from the Estonian girl-group Vanilla Ninja? It may sound strange to some Rockers, but if you take a closer look at Vanilla Ninja's music Frontiers decision is not far-fetched. The band was always a very melodic mixture between Pop and Rock and so an AOR record fits Lenna very well. People outside of Europe may not know this charismatic woman. To those of you I just can say: listen and enjoy her beautiful voice without any prejudices. To introduce Lenna to the Melodic Rock / AOR community I did an interview with her. Check out what she had to say about the Moonland record, her carreer in Estonia and of course about Vanilla Ninja!

Exclusive Interview with DION BAYMAN

The list of independent musicians is long. In the last few years many artists went over to produce and promote their music all alone. One of them is Dion Bayman from Down Under and to be honest nobody else impressed me that much in 2013. With his album "Smoke & Mirrors" Dion showed that a big budget is not necessary to produce a great album. On September 23rd his follow-up "Afterburn" will be released and this one is also an impressive album, which shows that passion is much more important than anything else. With that in mind I talked to Dion to learn how he makes his music sound that good, why he wants to be a solo artist and what it's all about being an independent musician. Find out more in this interview.

CD-Review: Moonland feat. Lenna Kuurmaa - "Moonland"

Does anybody of you guys remember VANILLA NINJA? The four girls form Estonia ruled the radio stations and music tv from 2003 to 2006 in Europe with their pop/rock and in 2005 they were also part of the Eurovision Song Contest. One of these girls was Lenna Kuurmaa. Since 2007 you hardly hear or see something new from her outside Estonia, but now Frontiers Records starts a new project called Moonland with Lenna on vocals. Is her international comback album a winner?

CD-Review: Dion Bayman - "Afterburn"

The Pop/Rock sensation from Down Under is back: Dion Bayman came out of nowhere in 2013 with his album "Smoke & Mirrors", which surprised and impressed me very much back then, so it was easy for Dion to end up in my top list of the best albums last year. Just one year later Mr. Bayman reaches for the stars again with his new record "Afterburn" on September 23rd.

CD-Review: Kissin' Dynamite - "Megalomania"

When it comes to German Metal/Hard Rock acts, Kissin' Dynamite are handled as the big hope in this genre since their very first album, so it's unbelievable that these guys release already their fourth album in September. "Megalomania" is the follow-up to the great "Money, Sex & Power" and has big shoes to fill. The title promises a monster of an album, but what has it really to offer?

CD-Review: Unisonic - "Light Of Dawn"

It's really strange how fast time passes by. It's been two years now since the German "supergroup" Unisonic released their selftitled debut album and to me it doesn't feel like such a long time. Speaking about this one Unisonic had to deal with very mixed reactions from the fanbase and critics. After the single "Unisonic" fans expected singer Michael Kiske to return to his Helloween-roots and at the end of the day this album sounded more like a mixture of Hard Rock and AOR instead of Power Metal. But what about the new album "Light Of Dawn"?

CD-Review: Miss Behaviour - "Double Agent"

Sweden is always good for a surprise. I didn't had the Swedish Melodic Rockers Miss Behaviour on my radar this year. I know their previous record "Last Woman Standing" and had very mixed feelings about it. On the one hand well crafted melodic rock tunes and on the other one just standard fare off the shelf. And now these five guys come along with their new record "Double Agent" on August 29th and one thing is for sure: this album is essential!

CD-Review: NIVA - "Incremental IV"

When it comes to quality AOR music, NIVA was a huge surprise to me in 2013. "Magnitude" was an all-inclusive package for each Melodic Rock fan and just one year later singer and songwriter Tony Niva presents us his follow-up "Incremental IV" on August 29th. You know, I'm always a bit skeptical if music is released in such a short period of time ( take a look at the new Avalaon) and so I didn't know what I should think about the new effort.

CD-Review: Night By Night - "NxN"

The newcomers Night By Night from London are around since 2008 and since that time they were busy with touring (in support of Jettblack, Heaven’s Basement, Alannah Myles, Acey Slade, The Quireboys and so on). So I was wondering why we had to wait so long for the debut album "NxN", because touring without a record is a bit difficult I think. But you know "Good things come to those who wait" and so "NxN" will hit the stores on July 14th. 

R&M4U-Classics: Hardline - "Double Eclipse" (1992)

I think it is time for another "classic": Hardline - "Double Eclipse". In the last two weeks this album rotated very often in my CD-Player again. Hardline are one of those bands, who never got the success they deserved, although well-known musicians were involved in making the debut album. Journey's guitar-player Neal Schon and drummer Deen Castronovo as well as singer Johnny Gioeli (who became the vocalist of Axel Rudi Pell) are responsible for this masterpiece.

Live-Report: RICHIE SAMBORA feat. ORIANTHI live @ Huxley's, Berlin (June 22nd, 2014)

It was around two years ago when I wrote my first live-report to Richie Sambora's "Aftermath Of The Lowdown" show in Berlin. It was the same venue, same people (I've seen lots of people, who attended the show in 2012) and also most of the musicians were the same. So what was different at this evening? First of all of course the appearence of the Australian Rock chick Orianthi, a new setlist and the fact that Richie reached a point in his life where he is absolutely satisfied with himself and with those things he wanted to reach two years ago when he decided to be a solo artist again.

Live-Report: AEROSMITH - The Global Warming Tour (O2 World Berlin, 09.06.2014)

It seems like all those big rock legends love Berlin these days. It's stunning how many great bands played in the capitol of Germany a few days ago. Everything started with Black Sabbath (June 8th). Yesterday (June 10th) the Rolling Stones played their asses off and in just two weeks Bon Jovi guitar-hero Richie Sambora visits the city, too (Live-Report will follow). Yeah and another legend came to town: the "bad boys from Boston", Aersomith, visited Berlin during their Global Warming tour on June 9th, 2014! It was my first Aerosmith show and I waited a very long time to see them live ... up to 12 years.

CD-Review: Night Ranger - "High Road"

Another institution in Rock is about to release a new album these days: the new effort from the American arena-rockers Night Ranger is called "High Road" and singer Jack Blades describes it as the perfect summer feel-good record. Their last album "Somewhere In California" was released three years ago and had everything a Night Ranger fan could ask for.