jeudi 5 mars 2009

OUT APRIL 17, 2009

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THE TROPHY

"The Gift Of Life"
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Release date : 17/04/2009
Catalogue number : FR CD 410
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01 The Gift Of Life 4:20
02 When The Nightmares Wake Me Up 4:33
03 Get The Cup 3:26
04 Justice 3:50
05 Rescue Me 4:40
06 Can't Get Out Of My Head 4:12
07 The Shades Of Grey 4:09
08 Gloomy Days 3:30
09 Liar 4:27
10 The Way 3:52
11 On These Wings 3:09
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Michael Bormann - vocals
Todd Wolf – guitars, bass, programming
Marco Grasshof - keyboards
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German guitarist Todd Wolf started his music career in the mid 90’s playing with bands such as Bedlam and Timezone, before forming Human Fortress, a Power Metal band that has released three studio albums to date.
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Since late 2006, Todd has been working on a more melodic and radio-friendly style and his aim was to develop the more melodic side of his songs with the intent of creating something new: cool songs with very catchy hook lines and groove-laden drums.
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He started to search for suitable musicians, the biggest task being to find the right singer who could breathe life into the melodies and music that he had been writing for the past two years. He finally chose Michael Bormann, a singer who virtually needs no introduction to the Melodic Rock and Hard Rock community, for his vocals as a member of Jaded Heart and Bonfire.
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Michael immediately shared Todd’s visions and joined the band and keyboard player Marco Grasshof brought his expertise to the song writing and recording sessions. Bormann’s distinctive vocals added the polish and turned great songs into real jewels.
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Todd and Michael worked with loops, down-tuned guitar riffs and keyboard effects; the result is an interesting cocktail of Melodic Rock with many influences, while remaining very contemporary in arrangement and style.
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The final result, THE TROPHY’s debut album entitled “The Gift of Life” is an outstanding example of how perseverance and talent can build an outstanding slice of Rock.
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SUNSTORM

"House Of Dreams"
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Release date : 17/04/2009
Catalogue number : FR CD 409
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01 Divided 4:38
02 Don't Give Up 4:49
03 The Spirit Inside 4:02
04 I Found Love 4:00
05 Say You Will 4:34
06 Gutters Of Gold 4:39
07 Save A Place In Your Heart 4:14
08 Forever Now 4:16
09 Tears On The Pages 4:36
10 House Of Dreams 4:51
11 Walk On 4:35
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Joe Lynn Turner – vocals
Dennis Ward – bass, background vocals
Uwe Reitenauer, Thorsten Koehne – guitars
Chris Schmidt - drums
Gunter Werno - keyboards.
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The first album from the SUNSTORM project saw the light of day in 2006, when former RAINBOW, MALMSTEEN, DEEP PURPLE singer Joe Lynn Turner accepted the idea proposed to him by Frontiers Records President Serafino Perugino, that was to blow the dust off some awesome songs that he wrote for the aborted follow up album to his debut “Rescue You” during the 80’s. SUNSTORM’S debut turned out to be one of the most successful straight-ahead Melodic Rock releases of 2006. Several numbers were supplied by Jim Peterik (ex Survivor, Pride of Lions) and the album was rounded off with classic tracks picked by Joe and Serafino. The stunning production, courtesy of PINK CREAM 69’s studio wizard Dennis Ward was hailed as one of the highlights and a key factor for the success of the album.
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It was a natural choice, when a second album was put into production, to ask Dennis to be part of the project. He played bass and sung background and was joined by Uwe Reitenauer and Thorsten Koehne on guitars, Chris Schmidt on drums and Gunter Werno on keyboards. Once again Joe Lynn Turner dug deep in the archives and found some classy Melodic Rock gems. In particular, “I Found Love”, “Forever Now” and “Save a Place in Your Heart” (where another AOR cult-hero Paul Sabu appears among the writing credits), while Serafino asked Joe to finally release “his” version of the amazing ballad “Walk On”, that Turner co-wrote with Desmond Child (KISS; BON JOVI etc) for the Jimmy Barnes album “Freight Train Heart” from 1987.
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Additionally, Jim Peterik was called to offer his talents to the project once again, thus “Tears on the Pages” (a Jon Lind and Russ Ballard co-written tune), “Say You Will” and “Gutters of Gold” entered the track selection. The remaining songs were written by brothers Tom and James Martin (HOUSE OF LORDS, KHYMERA) who were able to capture the spirit and quality of songs expected for the SUNSTORM project.
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SUNSTORM “House of Dreams” is a true AOR masterpiece; a real must for all JLT lovers and a stunning release for all Melodic Rock fans.
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HARDLINE

"Leaving The End Open"

Release date : 17/04/2009
Catalogue number : FR CD 405


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01 Voices 4:31
02 Falling Free 4:41
03 Start Again 5:29
04 Pieces Of Puzzles 3:55
05 Bittersweet 5:22
06 She Sleeps In Madness 4:57
07 In This Moment 3:20
08 Give In To This Love 4:07
09 Before This 3:52
10 Hole In My Head 5:35
11 Leaving The End Open 5:46
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Johnny Gioeli - vocals
Josh Ramos – guitars
Michael T. Ross – keyboards
Jamie Brown - bass
Atma Anur - drums
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Hardline was formed when brothers Johnny (vocals) and Joey (guitar) Gioeli, originally from the band Brunette, teamed up with Journey/Bad English guitarist Neal Schon. The original plan was for Neal to produce Hardline, but as he was having so much fun that he decided to join the band as soon as he left Bad English for the tensions that arose with John Waite.
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They immediately added established musicians Todd Jensen (David Lee Roth, Alice Cooper) on bass and Deen Castronovo (also coming from Bad English) on drums to the mix and the result was magnificent. They went on to record their debut album “Double Eclipse” for MCA in 1992 and then went on the tour circuit with such heavy hitters as Van Halen and Mr. Big.
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The first single from “Double Eclipse” was the song "Hot Cherie". While never popular in the mainstream, various radio stations worldwide started to play it and Hardline's fanbase started to grow. They released a video to MTV, but did not get much airplay.
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By that time grunge and alternative had already taken over and melodic rock was being pushed aside. Tension among band members, the record company and perhaps certain egos, got in the way of an immediate follow-up album, despite the band having written more than enough material.
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While Neal re-started his adventure with Journey in 1995 (again together with Deen Castronovo), Johnny stepped out of the music business eventually to return as Axel Rudi Pell’s singer in 1998 on the album “Oceans Of Time”. But years later Johnny and his brother Joey were ready to give it another go with Hardline after the call of Frontiers Records, and with an all new line-up they produced the awesome return album “II” in 2002 with Josh Ramos (of The Storm and Two Fires fame) taking Neal Schon’s place on lead guitar.
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Hailed by critics and fans alike as a top return, the band returned on stage headlining the GODS Festival in Bradford in June 2002 before Johnny and Josh started to work on new songs in 2006. With a renewed line-up now featuring Johnny Gioeli on vocals and Josh Ramos on all guitars, with Michael T. Ross on keyboards, Jamie Brown on bass and Atma Anur on drums,
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Hardline are now back from where they have left off with a killer new album chock full of killer guitar riffs, amazing hooklines and heartfelt ballad sealed with Gioeli’s incredible vocals and the band’s instrumental prowess.
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