THE END MACHINE are back with their sophomore album, "Phase2", which follows on the heels of their well-received and successful self-titled debut album released in 2018. THE END MACHINE features former classic lineup DOKKEN members George Lynch and Jeff Pilson with the awesome singer Robert Mason (WARRANT, LYNCH MOB) on lead vocals. Classic DOKKEN drummer Mick Brown handled drums on the first album, but is now retired, so in his place behind the drum kit is none other than his brother Steve Brown.
The new record builds on the great bluesy hard rock music of the debut, but sees the band move more towards the classic DOKKEN sound and the result is a 2.0 reboot of a killer music machine!
"Phase2" is available on CD/Ltd. Ed. Color LP/Digital. Limited Edition Crystal vinyl is available exclusively from the Frontiers' U.S. and EU webstores. Limited Edition Red vinyl is available exclusively for the U.S. market and will be available through all physical retailers there. Limited Edition White vinyl is available exclusively for the EU market and will be available through all physical retailers there.
Line-up:
Robert Mason - lead and background vocals
George Lynch - guitar
Jeff Pilson - bass, keyboards, and background vocals
Steve Brown - drums and background vocals
Today's tune "Crack The Sky" taken from the new album "Phase2", enjoy!
"Faithfully" is a song by American rock band JOURNEY, and the second single from their album "Frontiers". It peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, giving the band their second consecutive top-twenty hit from "Frontiers". Despite featuring no chorus, it has gone on to become one of the band's most recognizable hits and has enjoyed lasting popularity. In a Classic Rock article, "Faithfully" was called the greatest power ballad ever recorded.
The song was written by Journey keyboard player Jonathan Cain. He began writing the song with only the lyrics "highway run into the midnight sun" on a paper napkin while on a tour bus headed to Saratoga Springs, New York. The next day, he completed the song in full in only a half-hour. Cain connected the song's quick genesis to his Christian faith: "I'd never had a song come to me so quickly it was anointed, supernatural." Neal Schon also commented on the song's inception: "(Cain) told me he got the melody out of a dream. I wish something like that would happen to me." Cain finished composing the song on a backstage grand piano at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, where the band performed it for the first time. According to the liner notes in JOURNEY's "Time3" compilation, Cain paid tribute to road manager Pat Morrow and stage manager Benny Collins when he wrote "we all need the clowns to make us smile." He characterized the song as a "road song," remarking, "You know I'm being a good dog out here — don't worry about it."
The song describes the relationship of a "music man" with his lover. The difficulties of raising and maintaining a family and staying faithful while touring are brought up. However, he suggests that he gets the "joy of rediscovering" her, and insists "I'm forever yours... Faithfully." Cain wrote this song about the difficulty of being a married man as well as a touring musician. Soon after the song's release, he and his wife divorced. Like "Rosanna" by Toto, "Faithfully" contains lyrics delivered by the lead singer but written by another member of the band, which led many fans to believe Steve Perry wrote the song about a particular woman.
Enjoy today's tune where the music video featured a then-unique "life on tour" theme parallel to the song's lyrics, showing the band's performances in different venues and their travels around the USA. Steve Perry can be seen shaving his short-lived but talked-about moustache in the video. This video utilized footage from the documentary video Journey: Frontiers and Beyond narrated by John Facenda, voice of NFL Films, shortly before his death in 1984. The concept of the "road video" was later utilized with several other bands and artists, including BON JOVI, GUNS N' ROSES, GENESIS, MÖTLEY CRÜE, POISON and Richard Marx.
ONE DESIRE is a melodic rock band from Finland, formed in 2012 when drummer Ossi Sivula started gathering musicians and friends for his new project. A couple years of writing songs, making demos with different musicians and friends went by with an aim to create music that could change the world. Various musicians came and went along the way, but in 2014 they met Jimmy Westerlund. Jimmy has several platinum and gold albums to his credit as a producer, guitarist, and songwriter. Jimmy had just moved back to Finland after a stint in Los Angeles. The band hired him to produce some songs, and after recording three songs with a new musical direction, they managed to attract the attention of Serafino Perugino, owner and head of A&R at Frontiers Music.
But, at this point, the band desperately needed a great singer. After trying out some different options, Jimmy suggested his longtime friend Andre Linman from the band STRUM UND DRANG. They were friends since way back and SuD had decided to go on hiatus the year before. Andre got together for a couple of sessions with the guys and after writing a couple new songs together, the style and sound that was about to become ONE DESIRE. Ossi and Andre asked Jimmy to join the band in 2016 and this is the album that was born from that collaboration. Also, not long after this happened, the very talented Jonas Kuhlberg (Paul Di´Anno, Cain´s Offering, MyGrain) was brought on and he became the last link in the chain.
After Jimmy brought in the song “Hurt”, the band felt that they had taken it to the next level. Andre wrote the beautiful ballad, “This Is Where The Heartbreak Begins” and at that time, ONE DESIRE started to find the right direction for Ossis' rocker, “Do You Believe”. Finally, in mid-2016, the band felt they finally were musically locked in and had the material to make an album that they could honestly stand behind and love beyond a doubt. 2017 will be a fantastic year as the journey of ONE DESIRE just begins!
ONE DESIRE featuring André Linman on vocals and guitar, Jonas Kuhlberg on bass, Jimmy Westerlund on guitars & Ossi Sivula on drums. Melodic rock
Today's tune "Hurt" taken from the self titled debut album, enjoy!
What do you get when you match a Brit from London who loves American AOR with an American from California who grew up on British Prog? DUKES OF THE ORIENT is the masterful pairing of vocalist John Payne (ex-ASIA, GPS) with keyboardist Erik Norlander (LAST IN LINE, LANA LANE) who now present their eponymous debut album, ten years in the making. Payne’s powerful arena-seasoned vocals carry soaring melodies and lush harmonies over the sea of classic synthesizers and keyboards artfully painted with Norlander’s signature sonic palette.
The two are backed by a world-renown ensemble of top musicians including Jeff Kollman, Guthrie Govan, Moni Scaria and Bruce Bouillet on guitar and Jay Schellen on drums. Payne provides bass guitar and additional lead and rhythm guitar parts to complete the audiophile production. The album was mixed on a traditional analog console to preserve and enhance the natural depth, clarity and soul of the tracks with great care taken to avoid over-compression, extreme equalization and distortion.
DUKES OF THE ORIENT has its origins in 2007 as “ASIA Featuring John Payne,” a band that continued on after ASIA keyboardist, Geoff Downes, left to re-form the original 1982 lineup. Payne recruited Norlander to join Guthrie Govan and Jay Schellen for tour dates in the US and initial recordings, some of which endured to appear on the DUKES OF THE ORIENT album here. Govan left the band to form THE ARISTOCRATS and was replaced by guitarist Bruce Bouillet followed by Jeff Kollman and Moni Scaria. The final lineup resulted in the track, “Seasons Will Change,” released as a video in 2013 and also now appears on the DUKES OF THE ORIENT album. Following the death of original ASIA vocalist, John Wetton, in early 2017, Payne and Norlander decided that these recordings should give birth to a new band, both out of respect for Wetton and for clarity with the Downes-led “ASIA”.
DUKES OF THE ORIENT releases their eponymous debut album with stunning cover art by Rodney Matthews on February 23, 2018 with select tour dates to follow.
Hailing from Finland, the six piece fierce death metal OMNIUM GATHERUM climbs up on the throne with their latest release "Grey Havens". OMNIUM GATHERUM visit Tune Of The Day for the first time almost two years ago with their last album "Beyond", an album that took me by storm and got the fine distinction "Record Of The Week", now they are here again and I fall down on knees and clap my hands. "Grey Havens" is like a tea bag that dissolves in water, everything just comes out little by little, what a lovely album this is.
Melodic death metal with breathtaking catchy melodies and progressive originality that kicks ass. Although the band mainly follows the path of melodic death metal genre, especially the later albums, has strong influences from progressive death metal sub-genre, approach to death metal recalls the work of Sweden's DARK TRANQUILITY and IN FLAMES, both purveyors of the so-called Gothenburg Sound.
You need this album!
Today's tune "Frontiers" is taken from this week's Record of the Week "Grey Heavens", Century Media Records/Lifeforce Records, 2016.
Today, we'll throw in a classic, we jump back to 1984!
1984 was a year that I spent every single penny I earned on records. What a year 1984 was, albums like "Perfect Strangers" with DEEP PURPLE that got shit loads of play time back in the days. "Heaven's on Fire" with KISS & "Jump" with VAN HALEN was on the radio and at the disco. JUDAS PRIEST release the heavy smoker "Defenders of the Faith" that got me into a wish for a leather jacket that I never got, as it was to hard for a kid to wear :/ and METALLICAs "Ride the Lightning", the two records that my friends and I played air guitar to. MARILLION releases "Fugazi" an album that I bought several years later, It was to odd for my taste back then. Other albums that I think I got during this time was "Thunder Seven" with TRIUMPH, "Out of the Cellar" with RATT, "Slide It In" with WHITESNAKE, "In Rock we trust" with Y&T, "Love at First Sting" with SCORPIONS, "Powerslave" with IRON MAIDEN, "The Warning" with QUEENSRYCHE, "Last In Line" with DIO, "Stay Hungry" with TWISTED SISTER and "Condition Critical" with QUIET RIOT. Another odd but interesting record that found it's way to my home was the selftitled album with W.A.S.P. , this was the scariest album that I had at that time.
Anyway, there was certainly more of good records that I found during this year. However, none of the above, is what I had in mind this time. But a little more unusual bird like the Seattle rock band Q5 and the record "Steel the Light". I know many will say WHAT?
"Steel the Light"is an remarkable album. It contains nine fabulous songs over 37 minutes, which end before you even realize it. The album opens up with a real blaster "Missing In Action", heavy, thrashy and melodic with excellent riffs from Floyd Rose and Rick Pierce. The vocals from Jonathan K. is fabulous, high range and incredibly accurate. Already here the band sets the standards on what to expect. The second song ''Lonely Lady'' is a melodic tune of very catchy galloping riffs. The third track is the title track, the album Opus with a guitar riffs that you will get u goose bumps. The solo is epic and your cheek will fall to the ground like a mountain cliff that loses it's grip and falls down. The album just continues on the same line "Pull The Trigger" with its smart guitar riffs and solos working together with a high range vocals. "Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady" is more old school rocker from the 70's but with the 80's metal with a very high standard, so easy, so good. "In the Night" slows down the tempo, here does the vocals got a more mid range with finger flick on a blues rock base. "Come and Gone" is the album ballad, a heartbreaking tune with guitars that dig deep in you and vocals that almost puts your eyes in tears. The two final tunes "Rock On" and "Teenage Runaway" turns up the tempo and ends the record with the banner at the top!
To summarise "Steel the light" is a album that YOU absolutely need this in your collection, period!
Q5 was formed in 1983 by members of two popular Seattle bands: vocalist Jonathan K and guitarist (famous guitar tremolo inventor) Floyd Rose from THE C.O.R.E. and Rick Pierce (guitar), Evan Sheeley (bass) and Gary Thompson (drums) from TKO. Q5 released its first album, "Steel The Light", in 1984, receiving immediate critical acclaim, and landing them tours with TWISTED SISTER, Y&T and LITA FORD. The success of "Steel The Light" led them to eventually sign with Polygram/Squawk for their 1985 sophomore release "When The Mirror Cracks", but due to personal differences, the original lineup dissolved shortly after this release.
In 2014, Q5 was asked to perform at Sweden Rock Festival, a performance that the band had agreed would be a "one-off" show, but at the completion of the performance, it was obvious that this was not an ending, but merely a beginning. Upon returning to Seattle, the band secured drummer Jeffrey McCormack (formerly of HEIR APPARENT, FIFTH ANGEL) again, and guitar virtuoso Dennis Turner to complete the lineup. Reformed Seattle rockers Q5 have inked a deal with Frontiers and a new album will see the light next year, can't wait.
Bands
such as GREAT WHITE, WOLF, OCTOBER 31 and many others have covered
songs from the album, and fans are writing from all corners of the
globe, eagerly anticipating the next chapter in the Q5 story... That
chapter begins NOW!
The innovative guitarist Floyd Rose is otherwise best known for being the inventor of the locking tremelo system, the now indispensable device that ensures the guitar stays in tune even after the heaviest of tremelo use.
This double locking system was notable for its
ability to stay in tune despite repeated use and wide variations in
pitch. His design was later recognized on Guitar World 's "10 Most
Earth Shaking Guitar Innovations."
Todays tune "Steel The Light" is as a
"classic" and a "must-have in any metalhead's collection."
Listen to "Q5 - Steel The Light" on Spotify