FM

Wed
29
Mar

THE FLOOD – Hear Us Out (Album Review, 2023)

information persons: 
content: 
94%
Label: 
Escape Music
Artist: 
Score: 
94
Categories: 
Reviews

Surely this is the heaviest project I have heard Heatland/The Distance vocalist Chris Ousey front to date?

Some furious drumming from Saxon’s Nigel Glockler and the heaviest guitar work I’ve heard from FM’s Jim Kirkpatrick leads the sonic assault. Add in Bass supremo Billy Sheehan, who delivers his trademark sound and keys from former FM man Didge Digital and you get a truly accomplished lineup at work.

With the material all composed together by Chris Ousey and Jim Kirkpatrick, this is a true band project. The only way to have a natural mixing of minds and styles, is to have those involved write their own material and that’s exactly what you get here.

Fans of Ousey’s unique writing style will see the usual rewards come with repeated listens. He’s never been someone to make hooks and melodies obvious or over the top – instead he embeds them within the songs and choruses. And as usual, patience brings them all to the fore.

The opening ‘Dangerous Dawn’ and ‘The Devil He Don’t Care’ showcase the hard rocking approach, while ‘Can I Call It Home’ is a classic Ousey style heartfelt ballad.

The sheer pace of the album is almost unrelenting. It has that The Distance meets Mr. Big vibe, just with added punch.

This is nothing short of essential for fans of Ousey and FM – a glorious slice of high energy British melodic hard rock.

 
Wed
29
Mar

FIRST LIGHT – Gravity (Album Review, 2023)

information persons: 
content: 
90%
Label: 
Indie
Artist: 
Score: 
90
Categories: 
Reviews

A delightful debut EP of classic AOR here. The British lads FIRST LIGHT is a musical partnership between Dave Hardman (Guitar) and Carl Sharples (Bass), two lifelong friends and lovers of all things Melodic Rock. They are joined on the 7 tracks by New York City based vocalist Warren Passaro, himself of the Journey vein of singers plus FM’s keyboardist Didge Digital and drummer Andy Jakeman.

The production may be an indie – but they’ve done a great job getting it to the level they have and the mix is balanced and even.

Classic 80s influenced AOR and melodic rock is the order of the day, but I’m pleased to say the lads have a sound distinct enough to call their own. The mostly uptempo release features some very fine lead vocals and most importantly, some really catchy songs on hand.

Take ‘Revolution’ for instance – there’s an instant hook if you’ve ever heard one. The opening track ‘Gravity’ is just as good. But all songs have hooks and memorable melodies.

I’m hearing some early House Of Shakira here, plus FM, Journey and the like. Very pleasant listening all-round. Available on digital and a limited-edition CD.

 
Wed
10
Apr

LONERIDER - Attitude (Review)

information persons: 
content: 
90%
Label: 
Escape Music
Artist: 
Score: 
90
Friday, April 26, 2019
Categories: 
Reviews
 
LONERIDER is an exquisitely recorded album, with performances to match. FM frontman Steve Overland re-joins his Shadowman partner guitarist Steve Morris (Heartland/Ian Gillan) and a rhythm section comprised of legendary drummer Simon Kirke and Tyketto bassist Chris Childs.
 
Every note on this album sounds planned, executed and placed perfectly in place. Its quite a diverse musical tapestry, with a bluesy rock base branching into AOR, earthy midwestern rock, a couple of tunes that could almost be described as southern rock. And there’s a couple of pretty lush ballads to flesh out a very interesting record.
 
The songs, while diverse and multi-genre spanning are all rock songs at heart and I can’t pick a filler amongst them all. It’s especially rewarding to hear Steve Overland in a fresh setting that doesn’t automatically mirror FM, Overland or Shadowman – which is obviously this album’s closest relative, musically speaking.
 
Steve Overland sounds flawless as usual and its great to hear Steve Morris delivering some sublime guitar riffs and divine solos.

If you’re a fan of all of the above – there’s no questioning the quality of this record.

 
Fri
22
Feb

LONERIDER Arrive on Escape Music With 'Attitude' April 26

Artist: 
Friday, April 26, 2019
Categories: 
News Feed
Lonerider - Attitude
Release date: 26th April, 2019 
Catalogue No CD: ESM329
 
Band is:
Steve Overland: All vocals (FM / Shadowman / Solo artist)
Simon Kirke: Drums  (Free / Bad Company)
Steve Morris: All Guitars and keyboards  (Ian Gillan / Heartland)
Chris Childs: Bass (Thunder / Tyketto)
Brian J Anthony: Acoustic Guitars, mandolin and percussions (Steve Walsh / Overland)
 
Track List:
1- My Imagination 3:19 / 2- Lonerider 3:38 / 3- Hard Heart to Break 4:12 / 4- Fast Train 3:57 / 5- Wanted Man 4:32 / 6- Yesterday Heroes 4:02 / 7- Angel without Wings 3:39 / 8- Rock ‘N Roll Dreamer 5:00 / 9- One in A Million 3:33 / 10- Gimme Your Love 3:46 / 11- Rhythm of Life 3:32 / 12- Heart & Soul 3:59
 
Double LP with 4 Bonus Tracks LP ONLY:
 
When Love Leaves Town 6:32 
Have A Little Faith 4:01
Rock ‘N Roll Dreamer Acoustic version 5:00
Yesterday Heroes Acoustic version 4:02
 
Produced by Lonerider
Executive Producer: Khalil Turk 
Mixed and Mastered by Brian J Anthony
 
All songs by Steve Overland/Steve Morris
Recorded at: The Vale Studio, Worcestershire, UK by Chris D’Adda 
The Tremolo Studio, Silverdale, Stoke on Trent, UK by Dan Roley and by Brian J Anthony, USA
 
Every once in a while a new recording comes along with a line-up that makes your spine tingle, and here it is; “Attitude” by Lonerider. Not only does this quintet feature Steve Overland (FM, Solo, Shadowman), Steve Morris (Heartland, Shadowman) and Chris Childs (Thunder) but legendary drummer Simon Kirke of Free and Bad Company fame. With Brain J Anthony finishing the line-up we have a real force to be reckoned with. What are we to expect from this group of musicians? If you like Bad Company then this is going to be a treat for you. We have the feel of that classic Bad Company that we know and love, yet the songs are modern, fresh and vibrant. Simon has a drumming style that is unmistakeable and this shines through on all of the tracks (and an extra four on the LP version!). 
 
There is a buzz surrounding the release already and the feedback is looking very promising indeed, this has surely got to be a stand out releases for 2019.
 
 
 
Thu
14
Jun

GROUNDBREAKER Break Ground With STEVE OVERLAND & ROBERT SALL

Artist: 
Friday, September 14, 2018
Categories: 
News Feed
 
Frontiers Music Srl is pleased to announce the release of new project featuring singer Steve Overland of FM and Robert Säll of Work of Art & W.E.T. under the moniker GROUNDBREAKER.
The self-titled debut will be released on September 14th. First single and video, "Over My Shoulder” available now!
 
The album is simply everything that a melodic rock fan could hope for: soaring hooklines, magnificent melodies, amazing musical performances, and in Overland, a stunning vocalist. Mixing the British and Swedish melodic rock/AOR styles, Groundbreaker is truly the best of both worlds and surely destined to be one of the highlights of the year in an already stellar year for melodic rock!
 
GROUNDBREAKER came about when a conversation between Frontiers’ President Serafino Perugino and Overland revealed that the latter was eager to collaborate with new and exciting musicians from the European melodic rock scene. The idea was immediately brought up to involve Robert Sall of Work of Art and use Alessandro Del Vecchio’s production abilities. Overland loved the initial material that was submitted and consequently, they all started to work on songs. The process was very smooth and the final result was so good that everyone thought that the name “GROUNDBREAKER” was the right way to describe the power and the vibe of the music.
 
"I’m the main composer for about half of the songs, but Ale and Steve wrote a lot as well,” tells Robert Sall. “I had to write songs with Steve´s voice in mind and that was new, but very inspiring to me. But for any fan of FM or Work of Art, I think they will be very familiar with the sound of this record!”
 
“The idea for the album was to make a classic AOR album and I think between Robert, Alessandro, Pete Alpenborg and myself, we came up with a great collection of songs,” adds Overland. "I think this is some of the best material I've worked on in a while and all of the musicians on the record are fantastic, not only as players, but to work with. I knew of Robert's writing talents on the Work of Art records, but it really turned out to be a great collaboration and I'm so proud of the results! My personal favourite song on the record is "Will It Make You Love Me.” We’ve shot a video for it and I think it's truly a future classic!"
 
 
If you like, no LOVE melodic rock, then this is simply a must hear album!
 
GROUNDBREAKER Tracklisting includes
Over My Shoulder
Will It Make You Love Me
Eighteen Til I Die
Only Time Will Tell
Tonight
Standing Up For Love
Something Worth Fighting For
The Sound Of A Broken Heart
The First Time
The Days Of Our Life
The Way It Goes
 
GROUNDBREAKER:
Steve Overland - Vocals
Robert Sall - Guitars
Nalley Pahlsson - Bass
Herman Furin - Drums
With Alessandro Del Vecchio - Keyboards
 
Produced by Alessandro Del Vecchio
 
Photo credit: Richard Manley
 

 

 
Mon
22
Jan

FM Go Nuclear On New 'Atomic Generation' Album

Artist: 
Friday, March 30, 2018
Categories: 
News Feed
 
The mighty FM will release their new album ATOMIC GENERATION on 30 March 2018 via Frontiers Music Srl. 
 
FM's eleventh studio album, ATOMIC GENERATION features eleven new tracks and was recorded at Coal House Studios in Staffordshire and West3 Productions, London, engineered by Scott Ralph and mixed by Jeff Knowler. 
 
"I think this is the most mature and complete FM album we've made." Steve Overland
 
Tracklisting:
Black Magic
Too Much Of A Good Thing
Killed By Love
In It For The Money
Golden Days
Playing Tricks On me
Make The Best Of What You Got
Follow Your Heart
Do You Love Me Enough
Stronger
Love Is The Law
 
Signed copies of ATOMIC GENERATION are available to pre-order now at: http://www.fmofficial.com/fmofficial/preorder-atomic-generation.html.
 
ATOMIC GENERATION is also available to pre-order from Frontiers, Amazon, iTunes etc. here: http://radi.al/AtomicGeneration
 
FM kick-off the touring year with a set at Giants of Rock in Minehead 26 January. In April a short run of UK dates precede a return to Milan, Italy for Frontiers Rock Festival. FM are also looking forward to their first-ever live show in the U.S. on 6 May, headlining Melodic Rock Fest 5 in Chicago. The following month they will also headline the sister festival Melodic Rock Fest Scandinavia in Malmo.  Full details on the FM Live page at fmofficial.com.
 
 
Tue
21
Mar

SHADOWMAN Expose 'Secrets And Lies' May 19

Artist: 
Friday, May 19, 2017
Categories: 
News Feed
 
Escape Music will release the brand new SHADOWMAN album on May 19.
 
 
Steve Overland (FM) -­ Lead Vocals
Steve Morris (Heartland) ­- Guitars & Keyboards
Chris Childs (Thunder) ­- Bass
Harry James (Thunder) -­ Drums
 
Special guest on keyboards: Didge Digital
 
Produced by: Steve Morris and Steve Overland
Mixed and Mastered by: Martin Kronlund
Executive Producer: Khalil Turk for Escape Music Ltd.
 
Track List: 1- Gravity 4:34 / 2-Automatic 4:19 / 3- Put It All On Love 4:45 / 4-Contagious 3:26 / 5-Broken Bones 3:53/ 6-Best Things In Life 4:09 / 7-Face The Night 4:23 / 8-No Smoke Without Fire 4:09 / 9-Good Times, Bad Times 2:58 / 10-Be True To yourself 4:21 / 11-Secrets And Lies 3:57 / 12-Stand Up And Be Counted 3:26
 
It has been almost 14 years since the debut album by Shadowman was released ('Land of the Living' ESM098). The album was warmly received by all who had a penchant for good old British melodic hard rock. As you would expect Shadowman had elements of both Heartland and FM deeply embedded in its grooves, yet it was highly original and was often touted as the best British melodic release of 2004.
 
Two years later in 2006 and the eagerly awaited follow up 'Different Angles' (ESM 127) became an important album for this quartet that also includes both Harry James and Chris Childs of Thunder. The unmistakable guitar trademark sound of Steve Morris and the vocals of Steve Overland will always shine through at a very early stage. Somehow they make their music sound effortless, and as we all very well know Steve Overland has a remarkable vocal range. His vocal range suits the classic melodic rock genre and he has a very bluesy side to his talent. His four solo releases on Escape Music are all fine examples of his work.
 
Shadowman are a band that is all about great rock music who will win you over with charm. Quality rock music is so hard to find these days and it is reassuring to know that it hasn't lost its way. 'Ghost in the Mirror' (ESM179), the band's third release in 2008 is an extension of the band's already established sound and the 2011 release 'Watching Over You' helped nurture the band's identity even further.
 
Another six years on and we are presented with the band’s fifth studio release, and it’s certainly been worth the wait. “Gravity” is a marvellous opener which shows fresh ideas and superb musicianship, and this pretty much paves the way for the rest of the album. Along the way we have Steve Morris and his ever present guitar prowess, and Steve Overland just effortlessly gives us brilliant vocal performances throughout. The solid rhythm of Thunder men Chris Childs and Harry James are faultless, and with classic touches from original FM keyboards player Didge Digital we are in for a real treat.
 
Discography: Land of the Living (2004), Different Angles (2006), Ghost in the Mirror (2008), Watching Over you (2011), Nowhere Bound (2017)
 
 

 

 
Mon
09
Jan

Escape Open Air Rock Festival Makes Its Debut

Categories: 
Tour News
 
If Hardrock of the 70s is combined with the melodic rock of the 80s and you add the upcoming bands of a surprisingly active scene of these days - you are probably at the Escape Open Air, the new address for some awesome live music in a variety from Classic- & Melodicrock. Placed at one of Germany's most beatiful open-air-locations, the festival-proof Wasserburg Rosslau near Dessau in the midst of Germany, you get international Top-Acts and interesting newcomer bands for a festival, that will fans will get enthusiastic about. A Festival from fans for fans!“
 
Tickets are already available with a special "Early-Bird-Offer" for 55,-- € until February 28th at the festival FB-site: https://www.facebook.com/EscapeOpenAir/app/184241495009535/
 
For those who want some special VIP-treatment, a limited number of 75 VIP tickets are available only directly from the festival organizers. And this is what you get, if you decide to have a limited VIP-Ticket incl. hotel:
 
4*- quality at the nh Hotel Dessau in the centre of the "City Of Bauhaus". You not only find comfortable accomodation but also a special package with various extras (Weekend-Ticket with entrance for exclusive VIP-Area, special VIP-Festival-Shirt, Lanyard, Shuttle Service, daily meal, some drinks, festival programme a.m.m.). Interested in a VIP-Package? Please use FB-Messenger or send a mail to ppo.tickets@yahoo.de.“
 
The price for the VIP-Ticket is 150,-- €, these are the actual prizes for the hotel (only available with an VIP-package):
 
  *   2 nights single room - 189,-- €
  *   3 nights single room - 279,-- €
  *   2 nights double room - 239,-- €
  *   3 nights double room - 329,-- €
 
Day 1: Friday, 08.09.2017
 
Band / Start / End / Time
 
Bonesetter (GER) 17:15 18:00 45"
Violet Janine (SWE) 18:20 19:10 50"
House Of Shakira (SWE) 19:30 20:20b50"
Blood Red Saints (GB) 20:40 21:30 50''
Martin Turner's WA (GB) 21:50 23:20 90"
HEADLINER TBA
 
Day 2: Saturday, 09.09.2017
 
inUtero (GER) 13:15 14:00 45"
RebelHot (I) 14:20 15:05 45"
Jorge Salan Band (ESP) 15:25 16:15 50"
Palace (SWE) 16:35 17:25 50"
Bigfoot (GB) 17:45 18:35 50''
F***ing Furys (Yngwie Tribute)(SWE) 18:55 19:55 60"
Praying Mantis (GB) 20:15 21:15 60"
FM (GB) 21:35 23:00 85"
Joe Lynn Turner (USA) 23:20 00:50 90"
 
 

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