Pianist Peter Kater has orchestrated a gentle, introspective series of ambient chamber works dedicated to the four elements: Earth, Water, Fire, and Air. Each CD is distinctive, with Water living up to its title by being the most free-flowing of them all. Using long, pensive pauses and melodies that elongate over time, the music borders on classical–often echoing classical themes, such as the Satie-like ostinato of "Water Ballet," without overtly lifting from them. Water comes close to the painfully serene sound you might associate with Arvo Pärt.
5CD set w/Breath Of Life (2002), Brand New Morning (2004), Princess Alice And The Broken Arrow (2007), Into The Valley Of The Moonking (2009), The Visitation (2011)…
When Dennis Coffey’s incendiary ‘Scorpio’ went both Pop and R&B Top 10, it was a surprise for both the guitarist and his record label. The album from which it came had already been and gone when some pioneering New York DJs started playing this cut to full dancefloors. Suddenly Dennis Coffey was catapulted from successful producer and session guitarist to star status. ‘Scorpio’ went on to have an extended afterlife as one of the founding tunes of hip hop. Dennis recorded several more albums for Sussex before the label went belly-up in the mid-70s, but by this time he had over a decade’s experience as a session guitarist, playing on many of the great Detroit soul recordings at Motown, Ric-Tic, Invictus and many more. Along with Mike Theodore he had produced several great records, both in his home city and in LA. On the basis of this track record Westbound’s Armen Boladian approached the pair to see if they could be tempted to become producers and artists for him back in Detroit.
Bonfire's trademarks are and have always been deeply melodic hard rock songs, driven by captivating guitars, grooving rhythms and haunting vocal melodies. All the features that came together so perfectly on their most popular releases Fireworks (1987), Point Blank (1989) and Branded (2011) are present on their current release Temple Of Lies. Thanks to their new vocalist Alexx Stahl, who joined the fold two years ago, and a first-rate line-up on all instruments, the band's creativity explodes on Temple Of Lies and is bound to wow a younger generation of rock music fans, too. Hans Ziller: "With this line-up, we'll be able to increase the hardness level of our material whenever we feel like it. Numbers such as 'Temple Of Lies' and 'Stand Or Fall' wouldn't have been possible with previous line-ups." It's not only the occasionally tougher pace that impresses on Temple Of Lies (produced by Hans Ziller at the Flatliners Recording Studios in Ingolstadt) from the first to the very last note, but also the album's diverse high-quality songwriting in general.
Even though the ALIEN debut is 31 years old now it has lost nothing of its magic. In particular the two anthems “Only One Woman” and “Tears Don’t Put Out The Fire” are still a wet dream for any AOR fan. This reissue contains the original Scandinavian version with Jim Jidhed on vocals as well as the later US-version with new singer Pete Sandberg on vocals on some songs. Furthermore the re-release contains the two bonus tracks “Feel My Love” and “Touch My Fire” which make this album even more essential.
To state that the mid-2000s were a time of transition for the European power metal scene would be stating the obvious, but it was a particularly turbulent point for one of its most prolific and conservative affiliates Crystal Ball…