ROUND-UP: Melodic Rock
Roxanne Radio Silence rAt PAk
roxanne is among the most perfect aor band names of all time. Which is fortuitous, as the aptly titled radio silence – released 30 years after a selftitled debut – is right up there among the most flawless records made within the genre over the past 12 months. Despite the band denting the Us Top 75 with a stab at Wild cherry’s Play That Funky music, their label did little to promote roxanne, who broke up after a year of schlepping around clubs.
Where their demise was timid, this rebirth is the polar opposite – roxanne have come out swinging, with a comeback record blessed with confidence and swagger, finesse and flair and no small amount of sun-kissed californian charm. someone To kill and girls alright fuse Queen and Foreigner, while the muscular super Bad nods at heyday-era Warrant. king’s X frontman Dug Pinnick and korn drummer ray luzier make appearances, but the real greatness of radio silence lies in its songs, from the smooth groove of Thin Blue line and i Don’t Want To live This Way’s subtle, insistent charm, to First mistake.
Kenny leckremo’s spectra Kenny Leckremo’s Spectra drEAM in colour
like the first incarnation of H.e.a.t, which he fronted until 2010, the return of kenny leckrem is less inclined to sprinkle you with spittle or sport a mohican than its current erik grönwall-voiced counterpart. kenny leckremo’s spectra is solid rather than spectacular, but its high points are well worth experiencing.
Kane Roberts The New Normal FrontiErS
alice cooper’s former muscle-man guitarist may have played one of the most spectacularly inept gigs ever witnessed by this writer (Firefest 2011), but aided by a cast of cooper alumni including kip Winger, Paul Taylor, ken mary, nita strauss and alice himself, plus Halestorm’s lzzy Hale, kane roberts proves with this record that he still knows his way around a recording studio.
Toby Hitchcock Reckoning FrontiErS
Fifteen years ago, ex-survivor man Jim Peterik discovered singer Toby Hitchcock for the band Pride of lions. murder of my sweet’s Daniel Flores is the musical director of this, Hitchcock’s second solo album. Trouble is, Flores is no Jim Peterik, and neither is he erik mårtensson, the brains behind its predecessor mercury’s Down, and all too often the gap shows.
Jerome mazza Outlaw Son EScAPE MuSic
The former voice of 1990s christian metallers angelica, Pittsburgh native Jerome mazza drew recent attention recently via singer steve Walsh’s solo record Black Butterfly. lyrics and backing vocals here are from Fm’s steve overland, with the much-travelled Tommy Denander contributing music and guitar, but this album suggests mazza could have a strong future in his own right.