CD-Review: Def Leppard - "Def Leppard"

It's been seven long years since Def Leppard released an album with new songmaterial. "Songs From The Sparkle Lounge" wasn't something longtime fans hoped for. By the end of this month Def Leppard will release their 11th, simply self-titled, album and it is the first one they recorded without having a record deal in the hindquarters. That means no one made the rules beside the guys themselves. If this fact marks a return to the bands roots? Let's find out!

CD-Review: Pleasure Addiction - "Extra Balls"

Beside the guys of Black Rain France isn't really known for bands, that keep the flag of  Hair Metal/Glam-Rock very high. But in 2012 another band, called Pleasure Addiction, showed up and released their debut album "InDependence". I think this album was sadly overlooked by most people, but with the second album "Extra Balls" Pleasure Addiction claim for the attention they deserve.

CD-Review: Bryan Adams - "Get Up"

This October marks the return of some true Rock legends. Not only Def Leppard are back with an  album full of new songs, also Canadian Rock superstar Bryan Adams presents us a new album with completely new material. It took him seven long years to record some new original songs. In the meantime he did also some live shows, a remastered version of his classic "Reckless" and a cover album, but fans had to wait a very long time for something new. And what they get with "Get Up" is not really what they might have expected. I'll tell you why.

CD-Review: Magnus Karlsson's Free Fall - "Kingdom Of Rock"

What have Kiske/Somerville, The Codex, Allen/Lande and Primal Fear in common? They are all projects/bands where guitar-wizard Magnus Karlsson is involved. Especially with the Allen/Lande project he catapulted himself to Metal heaven. Magnus has the ability to write songs that are extremely catchy and anthemic, but still heavy and not cheesy. It's a balance act and he does it very well. But most of all he has a sense for melodies that fit the singers perfectly. So it was no wonder that Magnus presented us his first solo record "Free Fall" with a bunch of guest singers in 2013. Now his second solo outing will be released in November. "Kingdom Of Rock" is an album title, that sounds very over the top, so let's see if this record can do justice to its title.

CD-Review: Hollywood Vampires (Alice Cooper/Johnny Depp/Joe Perry) - "Hollywood Vampires"

I think it was three years ago when shockrock legend Alice Cooper was talking about doing a cover album, a tribute to his "dead friends" like Jimmy Hendrix and John Lennon. Since then there was not much information about it and I thought this album will never happen. Earlier this year it was announced that Cooper wanted to reanimate the Hollywood Vampires, a club of famous rockstars at Sunset Strip from the early 1970's, with none other then Joe Perry from Aerosmith and Hollywood superstar Johnny Depp. So what was meant to be a simple Alice Cooper cover album became much bigger when more Rock'n'Roll legends such as Brian Johnson, Paul McCartney, Slash, Kip Winger and many more joined the "Vampires".

Special: Blu-Ray Review - SCORPIONS "Forever And A Day"

It's been quite a while when I did my latest Blu-Ray review, so I thought it would be cool to do another one. Yesterday I watched the documentary "Forever And A Day", which deals mostly with the farewell tour from Germanys biggest Hard Rock export the Scorpions. The movie was shown in some cinemas in addition to the release of the new album "Return To Forever". If this was a smart move I'll discuss in this review.

CD-Review: Bon Jovi - "Burning Bridges"

It was a huge surprise when the guys of Bon Jovi announced a new album just four weeks ago. But to be honest it isn't that "new", because "Burning Bridges" consists mainly of songs that were originally written for older albums. It's not a collection of demos, because the tracks were recorded a few months ago, so this LP is supposed to be a "fan album" to fill the gap until a brand new record arrives in 2016. It also marks the first record in Bon Jovi history without Richie Sambora on guitars (which makes it to a Jon Bon Jovi solo record in my opinion, but later more on that). The big question is: can this album shine, where its predecessor failed?

CD-Review: Trixter - "Human Era"

American Hard Rockers TRIXTER are one of those bands that were washed away by the Grunge wave in the early 90s. Their self-titled debut was released back in 1990 - not the best time to start with infectious Glam Rock. Nevertheless it gained a huge fanbase and for a moment Trixter were celebrated as the next Rock sensation from New Jersey with hitsingles like "Give It To Me Good" or "One In A Million". But then the music world changed and the second record, which followed in 1992, wasn't that successful anymore. After Twenty years Trixter returned with their third album "New Audio Machine", that showed Trixter back on track and hungry for more. The follow-up "Human Era" will hit the stores on June 5th. Can the band surprise us again?

CD-Review: Nelson - "Peace Out"

It's always stunning how fast time is passing by. Five years ago the Nelson brothers Matthew and Gunnar started their big comeback with their album "Lightning Strikes Twice". So talking about their forthcoming record "Peace Out" you could easily say this is a second comeback. They describe the new effort as "return to the traditional Nelson sound" and "their future classic", so let's see if this is the truth or just PR rubbish.

CD-Review: Halestorm - "Into The Wild Life"

Halestorm are one of those bands who came out of nowhere and became one of the most successful Hard Rock bands of the new generation in a short period of time. It took them just two albums to get good chart positions and a Grammy for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance (song: "Love Bites (So Do I)"). Their latest record "The Strange Case Of ..." was a fantastic well-crafted, modern Hard Rock album that combined straight heaviness with catchy, radio-friendly melodies. This mixture really worked for me and now three years later the follow-up "Into The Wild Life" will hit the stores on April 10th, 2015.

CD-Review: The Poodles - "Devil In The Details"

The Swedish Hard Rockers of THE POODLES are well known for their continuity in the Rock & Metal scene, because they released already six studio records in nine years. That's a huge number. Unfortunately, the songmaterial got weaker and weaker with each new album and everybody who read my review to "Tour De Force" knows that this was my personal low-point in Poodles history. I received a lot of criticism for this review, but it was just my honest opinion. So now, two years later The Poodles released their sixth album "Devil In The Details" and as you can imagine, my expectations weren't that big. 

Exclusive Interview with Amanda Somerville (Kiske/Somerville, Avantasia, Trillium)

She has one of the finest female voices in Rock & Metal: Amanda Somerville. The Michigan singer/songwriter/vocal coach is a real workhorse. In the last 15 years she was part of countless projects and background singer on many Metal records from Kamelot, Epica, Avantasia and the list goes on and on. At the moment she is on tour with Rock Meets Classic. That was the perfect time for me to meet her and ask her some questions about the new Kiske/Somerville album, the Metal community, talent shows, Rock Meets Classic and much more. Check out this interview and get a closer look at this talented woman.

Live-Report: Rock Meets Classic 2015 (Leipzig, March 25th, 2015)

Another year, another Rock Meets Classic tour in Europe! In 2014 I attended this show for the first time and everybody, who read my live-report knows that I was totally blown away by this fantastic mixture between Rock hits and Classic arrangements, performed by various Rock legends such as Alice Cooper, Joe Lynn Turner or Uriah Heep. The line-up last year was the best I've ever seen and so I was excited to see who will be part of the show this time around. Yeah, what can I say? The line-up has again many well-known Rock'n'Roll superstars to offer.

CD-Review: Kiske/Somerville - "City Of Heroes"

When the first Kiske/Somerville album was released in 2010 the resonance of fans and press was great , so the question was: will there be a sequel? Everybody was hoping so. In the meantime there was lots of talking. Michael Kiske and producer Mat Sinner told me already in 2013 a new Kiske/Somerville record is on the way and it will be great. But then another two years went by and now "City Of Heroes" will finally hit the stores on April 17th. Can this album keep up to its high expectations?

CD-Review: Wolfpakk - "Rise Of The Animal"

Just two years after their second release the "Wolfpakk" is back. The allstar-project of Michael Voss (Mad Max, ex-Casanova) and Mark Sweeney (ex-Crystal Ball) goes into the third round with "Rise Of The Animal" and the duo Voss/Sweeney managed it again to invite many famous guests to join the wolf pack in a short period of time. So the concept is still the same: we have a huge number of well-known musicians here, who leave their own mark on this album, but is this really enough? Let's find out!

CD-Review: Scorpions - "Return To Forever"

Oh, who we have here? Who would have believed that the legendary Hard Rock band from Germany would release another album? I think the answer is: Everybody! Their 2010 record "Sting In The Tail" was announced as the last Scorpions album together with a farewell tour and I still remember that nobody of my friends believed this. It was so obvious that the chapter "Scorpions" wasn't closed. I mean in the following years they released a live Blu-Ray in 3D, then the "Comeblack" album with cover songs and a MTV Unplugged record. No, it was just a matter of time and this time has finally arrived. Yesterday "Return To Forever" hit the stores. Are the Scorpions still hungry for more or is it just the need of money?

CD-Review: H.e.a.t - "Live In London"

The Melodic Rock sensation from Sweden released a terrific album last year. "Tearing Down The Walls" made it on # 01 of my album of the year list and so I was very excited for the first live album from this fantastic band. If you want to know what makes H.e.a.t so special as a live act, then take a look at my live-report from Berlin, which I did last year. It was a phenomenal performance and the question is can H.e.a.t transport this energy of their shows into your living room?

CD-Review: Issa - "Crossfire"

Norwegian Rock singer Issa Oversveen seems to become more and more the AOR queen of this generation. With her new album "Crossfire" she picks up where acts like Robin Beck, Heart or Roxette stopped in the early 90's. She says that this album is influenced by those musicians and so she has big shoes to fill. Fans of Issa had to wait 4 long years for a follow-up to her second record "Storm", that features new original material. "Can't Stop" was released in 2012 but this one just consisted of cover songs. Was it worth the wait?

CD-Review: Last Autumn's Dream - "Level Eleven"

It's impressive how many albums the Scandinavian band Last Autumn's Dream has produced since their start in 2004. With "Level Eleven" they release their 11th album in eleven years. This is a huge number. Most bands that are around for 20 years now aren't so productive. Now you might ask if this is always a good thing and to be honest although Last Autumn's Dream produced always good albums a certain continuity found its way in recent LAD records. Can "Level Eleven" add something new to the whole thing?

CD-Review: Jorn Lande & Trond Holter present DRACULA - "Swing Of Death"

While Age Sten Nilsen released his new album "Shanghaied" a few weeks ago, former Wig Wam guitarist Trond Holter comes up with his new DRACULA project in the next few days. It features Jorn Lande on vocals and is supposed to be a Rock Opera concept album about the life of Count Vlad the III - or as we call him: Dracula. The story deals with his inner struggles between love and his curse and it combines facts of the historical person with some elements of the Bram Stoker figure.

Special: Forthcoming Rock & Metal Releases in 2015!

Hey folks,

for all of you, who can't wait to see what the new year has to offer I created this list of bands who are currently working on a new album that is supposed to be released in 2015. These are just the records I'm looking forward to. It's not that much like last year, but that was to be expected because many of my favorite bands released their albums this year. But hey, so in 2015 there is more room for some surprises, right? :) Which album is your most wanted record in 2015?

Album Of The Year 2014: # 05 - 01

Hey folks,

we finally made it: these are my personal top five albums of the year and I can tell you one thing: it was very, very hard for me to put these 5 records in a ranking order, because every single one of them impressed me so much this year. In the end every record could have been on number one. Now take a look and don't forget to tell me which 5 albums belong to your favorites! Feel free to write it in the comments below!