Rock Blog #59: Recent 2nd hand finds and Lockhart

 After a couple of ”full-sized” reviews, I’ll go back to the blog-styled ramblings, if you don’t mind.

Lately I haven’t been listening to new albums that much, so let’s check out some older stuff I’ve discovered or re-descovered.

The other day I found a vinyl copy of ROXANNE’s first album for a couple of euros, so I thought I’d buy it, even though I already have it on CD. Well, apparently I don’t have it, so for the time being, this vinyl will stay in my collection. The album was released in 1988 on Scotti Bros Records and I had my first copy of it soon after its’ release. It’s a good album, melodic hard rock somewhat in the early Tesla vein, but with their own stamp all over it. 

Apparently the band has regrouped a few years ago, and have released two albums in 2018 and 2023. I’ve got to check those out! Favourite songs: ”Coming For You”, ”Over You”, ”Stay With Me” and their cover of ”Play That Funky Music”.

STAN MEISSNER is a Canadian songwriter, who has written several hit songs, but has only released 3 solo albums and one ”project album” with Peter Fredette. That particular album, ”Power Of The Night” by METROPOLIS prompted me to take a look at Stan’s solo career and put together a playlist. Now that it’s done, I will have to say that the Metropolis album is my favourite, thanks to Peter Fredette’s stronger vocals. 9 songs made it to my playlist, with ”Wild And Blue” and the title track as the ultimate highlights. Out of Stan’s solo albums, my vote would go to the last one, ”Undertow”. The other two, ”Windows To Light” and ”Dangerous Games” are pretty good albums too, but they have more weaker tracks. 

”First Stop” by SHELTER is a recent find from Vinted. The first stop was also the last stop for this early eighties AOR band, and I must admit that I hadn’t even heard of them before. The big Rock Candy sticker combined to  a 3 EUR price tag aroused my interest, and it turned out to be a fairly good purchase. Similar to the likes of Foreigner, Touch and Journey, this album had the sound made for the radio of the era, but the record label dropped the ball and it received very little support. The best song for me is the opener ”On The Line”, a Survivor’ish stomper with a great chorus.

I’m no URIAH HEEP expert, but I know that some of their 80’s material isn’t held in high regard by their fans. As I have a strange fascination with ”sellout albums”, when I came across ”Equator” (1985) for a reasonable price, I instantly picked it up. Stylewise, this is very much an eighties’ album, with Uriah Heep trying hard to move with the times. In a way, this album reminds me strongly of ”Storyteller’s Night”, Magnum’s successful attempt to do the same. The difference being that ”Equator” doesn’t have the songs to match and the production is somehow overbearing. To the ”for sale” bin… I think the ”The Ultimate Collection” that I have from the band will be enough for me. It doesn’t have a single song from this album though.

I’ll throw in something from this year too: LOCKHART are a Canadian group and with ”City Pulse” (RRRr) they attempted to create the ultimate tribute to 80ies AOR, using vintage sounds and real instruments. Even their videos embrace the 80’s aesthetics, looking like they were filmed on VHS! Sure enough, they ”City Pulse” sounds like it could have been recorded in 1987 and they have some solid melodic rock tracks on the album, ”Can’t Shake It” and ”No Chance In Heaven” being my top picks. What they lack is a great vocalist - most of the bands of the era had very good singers. Devon Kerr does have a pleasant voice which sounds pretty good when he’s staying within his range, but his limitations become very obvious when the band covers Michael Bolton’s ”You Wouldn’t Know Love”. It’s one of my favourite songs of all time, pure AOR perfection, but while quite faithful to the original, the Lockhart version is just bland, I’m sorry to say. But still, I like the concept of keeping it real and retro!

 

KISSIN' DYNAMITE: "Kissin' Dynamite"

Dynamite Records 2026

Rating RRRRr

Rating by Kimmo Toivonen

Just a a couple of months after seeing Kissin' Dynamite live at Malmö Melodic and being blown away, vocalist Hannes Braun announced his departure from the band. This self-titled album is his "farewell album", although he's planning on continuing behind the scenes as a songwriter and in other roles, just not performing. The band has a huge challenge in finding a suitable replacement, as Hannes was pretty much the face and the voice of Kissin' Dynamite. We'll see whether they bring in someone famous or a new face - my money's on the first option.

This album contains 6 new songs and 7 re-recorded versions of songs from the band's first two albums. The opening track is the first single "Glory Days", a nostalgic, anthemic song with a massive chorus. For an outsider, the band has been living their "glory days" during the last few years with chart-topping albums and sold-out arenas, but in this song Hannes is looking back at the early days, when the days were more care-free and easy. "I Salute You" is a salute to the band's fans and features Saltatio Mortis, a German medieval metal group and bagpipes. It's anthemic for sure, but for me it's just okay. 

I thought "Heartattack" was one of the new songs, as I didn't remember it from "Steel Of Swabia". I kind of wonder why, because the chorus is annoying as hell! I dug up the original version and sure enough, the 2026 version sound bigger and more powerful and Hannes doesn't sound like a teenager, but still... not one of my favourite songs of theirs, quite the opposite. 

"Night Is Calling" is one of the new ones, and an instant hit for me, the kind of melodic dynamite the band has been delivering lately. Amaranthe is guest starring on "Out In The Rain", another "Steel Of Swabia" remake. Again I had to check out the original, and I must say I prefer the new version. The original didn't make it to my "Best Of KD" playlist, but this will. The same goes for "Love Me Hate Me", originally from their second album "Addicted To Metal", the new version sounds massive! I enjoy the "campfire version" of "Lie For Me" (from "Steel...") much more than original, the acoustic guitar work is excellent and the song somehow oozes warmth. The original was a bit gloomy.

The new song "I'll Be" has been one of my favourite songs of the last few weeks. It may be made of tried and tested elements, but it still sounds fresh and exciting. Lyrically it could be interpreted as Hannes' pledge to his band mates - "Don't surrender, I'll follow your path, You know that I got your back.. I'll be the one that you can count on, I won't let you down, I am there for you".

"Steel Of Swabia" 2026 with Primal Fear and Dragonforce members guesting is another worthy update, as is "Against The World", which benefits of Hannes' matured vocals and the updated production. "Nothing Breaks Like A Heart" is a good new song, but maybe just "an album track" rather than a potential hit. "Only The Good Die Young" is again a Steel Of Swabia remake, and just like the others, I think it sounds better.

The final song "Good In Goodbye" is a very poignant song to end this album. This Bon Jovi-sounding ballad is a heartfelt letter to the rest of the band and the band's fans. I can imagine Hannes having a hard time singing this at the last concerts, there's so much emotion in it.

I am not sure whether this "half new, half old" album was the best way to say farewell. Of course I would have preferred an album of all-new songs and maybe a full remake of the first album as a bonus, but probably that wasn't an economically viable solution. Especially now when the album came out on the band's own label for the first time.

PAUL LAINE: "The Long Road Back"

Frontiers 2026

Rating RRRRr

Rating by Kimmo Toivonen

Back in 1989, Bruce Fairbairn produced an album called "Stick It In Your Ear" for a young Canadian artist Paul Laine. It was released in April 1990 and while it didn't make Laine the new Bon Jovi, the album left a lasting impression on many hard rock fans. Laine went on to become Danger Danger lead vocalist and to many other projects such as Darkhorse, Shugaazer and The Defiants. Lately he's fronted Trooper, a Canadian rock institution. 

"The Long Road Back" is his third solo album, 30 years after the second one. Was it worth the wait - most definitely! If you liked his first album or The Defiants, this is an album you can buy without hearing a note. Not that you'd have to, thanks to all the streaming services. This album sounds like a natural successor to "Stick It In Your Ear", except for the lyrics, which are loaded with nostalgia and reminiscing about the days gone by and old flames. Musically these songs are not that far from what The Defiants have released, ranging from very 80's sounding, Bon Joviesque material to slightly more modern sounding melodic rock. 

"Love Me Or Leave Me" was the first song released from the album, and it's an uptempo track with a great chorus, very much in the Danger Danger vein. "Don't Let Me Go Tonite" has a strong New Jersey vibe and Paul isn't hiding his admiration for Springsteen and Bon Jovi. Then it's time for a midtempo song, a semi-ballad if you will. "Someday" could have been a great Danger Danger song, maybe it originates from those years, but it's a damn fine song as a Paul Laine one anyway. "Come Back To Me" sounds like a cousin of "Don't Let Me Go Tonite", a nice song but not quite as captivating as "Don't...". Then it's time for my favourite song of the album, "Save Me Saturday Night". It's one of the songs that doesn't have that nostalgic vibe, instead it's a celebration of, well, saturday night. The chorus is just enormous and the song has a great groove. It might owe a little to certain Bon Jovi anthems, but since they aren't doing this sort of music anymore, I don't mind.

"Her Name Is Trouble" and "Heaven And Earth Collide" bring this album closer to 2026 musically, even though I had no problem being somewhere in the past. "...Trouble" is a potential modern rock hit, while "Heaven..." Is a very stylish balladic track. "Bad Habit" is another contemporary sounding rocker, reminding me of Nickelback. "Kiss Me California" sounds like a Desmond Child / Diane Warren ballad from the early nineties, something that Aerosmith could have ruled the airwaves with back then. "The Ones That Got Away" takes us back to the New Jersey vibes of the first few tracks, nostalgia and Bon Jovi.

Tere's no denying the Jovi influence on the closing track, the big ballad "Now That You Don't Love Me Anymore", which might be my favourite of the slow songs on this album. They're all good though, so I'll continue debating with myself. You don't have to, you can go and check out this album and just enjoy yourself!

Rock Blog #58: Kamelot, Amberian Dawn, Sha-Boom, Turn

KAMELOT may have released one of their best albums. "Dark Asylum" (RRRRr) sees them going for a more melodic, hook-driven approach and vocalist Tommy Karevik positively shines on each of the songs. There was a time when Kamelot were a bit too progressive and didn't really do that much for me, but I kept on believing... and that faith has been rewarded with an album full of catchy, melodic metal songs. It's not like they've started to write simple pop songs, these songs are theatrical, intricate and multi-layered, but contain some of the finest melodies I've heard from them. "Ashen World", "Dark Asylum", "One Last Masquerade" and "Godlike Alchemy" are already Kamelot Klassics in my books, and "Ivy, My Dear" is one of their finest ballads. The other balladic track "Beneath The Moon (Tunglið) is a strange one: it is short, lullaby-like song in Icelandic with lead vocals by Rannveig Sif Sigurðardóttir and Sólveig Sara Leupold.  

Apart from the two ladies mentioned, the album features several guest vocalists sharing singing duties with Karevik: Tobias Sammet ("One Last Masquerade"), Ignacia Fernández ("Ashen World" and "Sanctuary") and Clémentine Delauney ("Sanctuary"). Lea-Sophie Fischer plays the violin on "Beneath The Moon".

This is a concept album, set in RavenHill Asylum, but the songs work as individual pieces as well. To be honest, I haven't really tried to get into the story, I have just enjoyed the athmosphere and the songs.

AMBERIAN DAWN have returned with a new singer Nicole Willerton and their first new original songs since "Looking For You" in 2020. Yes, they released an album in 2022 but it was an Abba tribute.  It seems that a whole album of Abba ended a chapter in their story, as that particular influence has been pushed aside and "Temptation's Gates" (RRRr) is heavier and more aggressive than their last few albums. Double bass drums galore and there's even some growling...

Since I jumped on the AD ship in 2017 when they released "Darkness Of Eternity", their first album with a strong "Abba Metal" vibe, I have had trouble getting into their updated sound. It's not because of the new singer - Nicole sounds very different to Capri but I like her voice too. It's the songs - at first I thought they've gone too metal, but little by little I started to find those "missing" melodies. There are still bits and pieces of Björn & Benny's legacy in there after all, and Tuomas Seppälä's melodic sensibility is intact. A quick look at the credits shows that Nicole has taken a strong role in the band, she has co-written all the songs and taken care of the lyrics.

The standout tracks for me are the first two ("Temptation's Gates" and "The Vision Of Dreaming") and the bombastic closing track "Phantasmagoria". And I just realized that Nicole sounds a bit like Kim Wilde fronting a metal band! 

SHA-BOOM released a couple of fun, poppy hard rock albums back in the day, and were really popular in their home country Sweden and Norway. In 2012 vocalist Dag Finn resurrected the band and released a rather good "The Race Is On" album, but that resurrected proved to be short-lived. Now he's back for another try, with an old fan helping him out. That fan is called Erik Mårtensson of Eclipse. 

Despite the 30something years in between, "Another Nail In The Coffin" (RRRR) sounds like a natural successor to the early Sha-Boom albums. Finn and Mårtensson have really managed to re-create the care-free, lighthearted vibe of "R.O.C.K.", with original member Peo Thyrén co-writing four of the tracks. Virtually all of the songs have big sing-along choruses, the kind that should work very well live. There are some moments where you can tell that Mårtensson has been involved, but these songs do not sound like Eclipse, they sound like Sha-Boom.

TURN from Germany sent us an old-school package - a CD and an accompanying letter which was actually in Finnish! Full points for the effort and investment, knowing how expensive it's to send anything via mail these days... things were very different back in 2001, when we reviewed the band's previous album "Turn Back Time". I had to go and search the archives for that review, but I did find it - I believe it was Bandi who was very impressed by the band, the name of the writer has been eaten by the cybermoths or something. Anyway, now, just 25 years later, bassist Pete Bonfert has put together a new line-up and they're giving it another go with a new album "Come Alive" (RRRr). The one name in the line-up that I recognized is Swedish guitarist Oscar Bromwall, who you might know from Fans Of The Dark, Code Red and Palace. On vocals there's Mario Mosca from Italy and on keys Fab Jablonski from Portugal, so this new version of Turn is an international band.

Having not heard the band's older material (as far as I remember), I'll take these songs as they are... I can't really hear Bandi's comparisons to Foreigner and Journey anymore, Pete and his new guys have gone for a more hard rocking sound, although still decidedly melodic. Maybe the band's German origins are influencing me, but I'm hearing Craaft, Bonfire, Kissin' Dynamite in these songs - not too shabby, right? You can add some Van Hagar type of summertime hard rock sound to the mix as well. The thing that holds me back from liking this more is the vocalist - Mario Mosca certainly has enough range but I feel he's somehow over-the-top and wailing a bit too much for my taste. When he doesn't overdo it, he actually sounds very good, check out "Save Your Heart" for example.

I noticed that couple of songs sounded very familiar, and indeed they were: "Matter Of The Heart" was previously recorded by Bonnie Tyler for The Wraith soundtrack and the U.S. band Wild Horses. A good cover choice, not something that has been done by a million other bands. The other one was "About Love", a song by Mitch Malloy.