David Cross – Memos From Purgatory (1989)

Format: flac + cue + log

Genre: Progressive Rock, Jazz Rock/Fusion

Release Date: 1989

Label: KING Records

(Review from progarchives.com, scaruffi.com)

This is the first album David Cross released under his own name. Like on his later albums, Cross is supported by several other musicians, but more than his other albums, “Memos From Purgatory” sounds like a solo album, even though three of the eight songs were written by Sheila Maloney. The album is completely instrumental.

David Cross also directed the staging of “Memos From Purgatory” at the Half Moon Theatre and other venues using dancers, musicians, lights, slides, etc.

David Cross - violin

Pete McPhail - saxophone

Sheila Maloney - keyboards

Simon Murrell - bass

Dan Maurer - drum

Biography by Geoff Orens

The violinist for King Crimson from 1972 to 1974, David Cross later launched a solo career with the David Cross Band, which featured an interesting sound comprised of violin, bass, keyboards, drums, and saxophones.

David Cross was born in Turnchapel, England, near Plymouth. After leaving King Crimson, Cross formed the improvisational rock group Ascend, and spent the better part of the 1970s and 1980s composing for and working with theater groups in a variety of capacities. His first solo release was Memos from Purgatory (1989), which was later staged by Cross. With the David Cross Band, Cross moved between improvisational pieces and more composed ones. While the music bears some similarity to 1970s King Crimson, it is slower-paced with musical phrases and ideas that appear out of nowhere and disappear as quickly, leading some to call his music underdeveloped. 1998's Exiles was more song-oriented and featured guest appearances by Crimson alumni Robert Fripp, Peter Hammill, John Wetton, and Peter Sinfield. In 1999, Cross formed Noisy Records.

Northern Kings - Reborn (2007)

Format: ape + cue + log

Genre: Symphonic Metal, Power Metal

Release Date: 2007

Label: Warner Music Finland

Northern Kings:

Marco Hietala - vocals

Tony Kakko - vocals

Jarkko Ahola - vocals

Juha-Pekka Leppäluoto - vocals

Musicians:

Two Finger Choir: Backing Vocals

Vili Ollila: Piano, Keyboards, Programming

Erkka Korhonen: Lead & Rhythm Guitars

Erkki Silvennoinen: Bass

Anssi Nykanen, Sami Osala: Drums, Percussion

Review from amazon, revelationz.net

Northern Kings is a Finnish symphonic metal cover supergroup. The Kings are comprised of four vocalists, who are all frontmen of successful Finnish heavy metal bands — Marco Hietala from ‘Nightwish’ and ‘Tarot’, Tony Kakko from ‘Sonata Arctica’, JP Leppaluoto from ‘Charon’ and Jarkko Ahola from ‘Terasbetoni’. Each vocalist has his own trademark sound, including deep, satanic, operatic metal rock vocals. It’s all-consuming and larger than life.

The band masterminded the idea of recording their own metal versions of an electic selection of pop staples. Unlike most bands who try to reproduce the sound and arrangements of the original songs, the Northern Kings have deconstructed the arrangements, by coming up with their own renditions, most of which is backed with metal guitars, a full symphonic orchestral backing, and electronic enhancements.

The general vibe on the album is to give the metal makeover a fully orchestrated backing (string section, the works), with some electronic noodling thrown in . The metal guitars are prevalent, but there is the northern vibe of the band’s renditions. It’s not a gimmick, but it is very dramatic, very lush and grandoise sounding.

The sonic attack of the bands’ take on each song just blows you away. Unlike most artists or bands who record a cover, the version is traditionally inferior and not a patch on the original. It’s quite an accomplishment to take a song like Peter Gabriel’s ‘Sledgehammer’ or Lionel Richie’s ‘Hello’ and give it a new lease of life.

Hearing songs from a variety of genres and decades turned completely on their heads is an awesome way to spend the afternoon, especially when the tracks are tackled with such passion and no thought to consequence in forcing the listener to think outside the box.

You’ve heard these songs before… just never like this.

Delain - Lucidity (2006)

Format: flac + cue + log

Genre: Gothic Metal, Symphonic Metal

Release Date: 2006

Label: Roadrunner Records

-Miembros-

Martijn Westerholt - Keyboards

Charlotte Wessels - Vocals

Ronald Landa - Guitar, Vocals

Rob van der Loo - Bass

Sander Zoer - Drums

Miembros Anteriores

Ray van Lente - Guitar

Anne Invernizzi - Vocals

Roy van Enkhuyzen - Guitar

Tim Kuper - Drums

Colaboraciones

Marco Hietala (Nightwish, Tarot)

Ad Sluijter (Epica)

Ariën van Weesenbeek (God Dethroned)

Sharon den Adel (Within Temptation)

Liv Kristine (Leaves' Eyes)

George Oosterhoek (Orphanage)

Guus Eikens (Orphanage)

Jan Yrlund

Lucydity es el impresionante álbum debut de Delain, un proyecto único de Rock Gótico iniciado por el Tecladista Martijn Westerholt. (ex-Within Tempation). Él se ha rodeado de un número de músicos extremadamente talentosos tales como el Bajista Marko Hielata (Nightwish, Tarot), el Guitarrista Jan Yrlund (ex-Lacrimosa) y la vocalista Noruega Liv Kristine (ex-Theatre of Tragedy, Leaves’ Eyes).

Un número de renombrados músicos Holandeses de Rock tmbién contribuyeron al proyecto: La cantante Sharon den Adel (Within Temptation), el guitarrista Ad Sluyter (Epica), el baterista Ariën van Weezenbeek (God Dethroned) , el cantante George Oosthoek y guitarrista Guus Eikens (ex-Orphanage). Delain también tiene lugar para el nuevo talento: la Joven y relativamente desconocida cantante Charlotte Wessels (ex-To Elysium) contribuyendo con la mayoría de las voces en el álbum.

Imagina esto..Has sido parte de una banda por 5 años, y cuando finalmente terminan, eres incapaz de cosechar el fruto del éxito! Eso le pasó a Martijn Westerholt. Desde 1996 hasta 2001, él fue un miembro de tiempo completo de Within Temptation, por ahora una de las bandas de rock holandesas más exitosas e internacionalmente renombradas.

Mientras su hermano Robert y sus compañeros goth-rockers holandeses continúan en la conquista del mundo, Martijn fue forzado a dejar la banda por una enfermedad crónica. Pero el no se dio por vencido. Tan pronto como se recuperó físicamente comenzó a escribir canciones de nuevo, al principio fue sólo una manera de pasar el tiempo, pero con ello se sintió tan bien, que decidió hacer música a un nivel profesional, una música que era más fuerte día con día. Lento pero seguro, su idea para un proyecto musical empezó a tomar forma.

Martijn hizo una lista de músicos talentosos y empezó contactar con cada uno personalmente, mandándoles demos y haciendo llamadas telefónicas. Mas pronto de lo que esperaba su lista empezó a materializarse en un proyecto de talla internacional. Lo llamó “Delain”, inspirado por The Kingdom of Delain de “The Eyes of the Dragon(Los ojos del dragón) de Stephen King.

En Julio del 2005, Delain firmó un contrato de grabación con !Roadrunner Records!, la última etiqueta del metal y el socio ideal para Delain por sus contactos internacionales y su conocimiento del género. Muy pronto, Delain empezó a grabar su álbum debut en Alemania, Finlandia, Suecia y en los Países bajos con Oliver Phillips y el mismo Martijn en el escritorio de la producción, mientras Stefan Helleblad (Opeth, Rammstein and Dark Funeral) hizo el mezclado final.

Delain es una banda excepcional por que desde que este proyecto empezó, Los músicos y vocalistas en Lucidity (los cuales son muy variados) dejaron toda su marca plasmada. “Quise alentar la interacción entre los diferentes músicos,” dijo el líder del proyecto Martijn. Pero a pesar de su papel prominente, él dió suficientes espacios para contribuciones personales. “Pienso que es importante crear una vivencia positiva en el estudio, tenía la última palabra con respecto a todo el sonido, pero me cercioré de que mi ego no se interpusiera en el mejor resultado final.”

A pesar del hecho de que Delain es, primero que nada, un proyecto, Martijn y la talentosa Charlotte Wessels hacen la base de la banda, Martijn escribió la mayoría de las canciones, mientras la característica voz de Charlotte le dan a Delain su propia identidad. Su sereno y dulce sonido difiere de la mayoría de las voces de Opera del estilo muy típicas en el genero gótico. Martijn conoció a Charlotte por casualidad cuando ella tenía 18 años. Él no estaba en busca de una vocalista líder en este tiempo, así que sólo le preguntó sobre escribir letras y partes vocales. Pero cuando la escuchó cantar unos cuantos tracks en el estudio, se impresionó tanto que de inmediato le preguntó si quería unirse a Delain.

Lucidity contiene algunos duetos interesantes: Liv Kristine canta con Marko Hielata en ‘Day For Ghosts’ y con Charlotte en ‘See Me In Shadow’. LA peculiar voz de Sharon den Ade es un gran contraparte para la intensa voz de Marko en ‘No Compliance’, mientras la voz gutural de George Oosthoek combina muy bien con la voz pacifica de Charlotte en otras pistas.

A pesar, o debido a, la diversidad de músicos y vocalistas en el álbum, las canciones en Lucidity forman una unidad atractiva. Las características musicales de Delain son los prominentes teclados, coros deslumbrantes y cambios de tempo, adherido con guitarras “Heavy”, baterías rápidas y poderosas y grandes melodías. “Amo la música hermosa, melancólica y poderosa, incluso la eufórica, pero lo más importante para mi es la vibra que una canción tiene ” explica Martijn.

El lanzamiento del álbum será precedido por el lanzamiento del primer sencillo “Frozen”, que contiene los mismos ingredientes de la mayoría de las canciones de Lucidity: coros pegajosos, rasgueos fuertes, solos de guitarra, coros, pero también un cambio más suave y melódico. En resumen, es una gran probada de todo lo que Delain tiene para ofrecer.
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Gary Moore - Wild Frontier (1987) [2003 Virgin Remaster]

GARY MOORE

1952-2011

On Sunday 6th February 2011 musician Gary Moore died in his sleep of a heart attack while on holiday in Spain.

Acknowledged as one of the finest guitarists that the British Isles has ever produced; Gary Moore’s career dated back to the sixties. Moore graced the line-ups of several notable rock bands including Thin Lizzy, Collosseum II and Skid Row, to name but three, and to this year maintained a highly successful solo career.

Format: flac + cue + log

Genre: Rock

Release Date: 1987

Label: Virgin Records

Gary Moore - guitar, vocals

Neil Carter - keyboards, vocals

Bob Daisley - bass

The drums are sequenced with a drum machine, but the programming is uncredited in the liner

notes of the album
Additional engineer: Chris Porter.
Additional producers: Pete Smith, James "Jimbo" Barton, Mike Stone.


Wild Frontier is a 1987 album by Gary Moore. His first studio album after a trip back to his native Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1985, this album has several songs about Ireland and even the music itself is steeped in Celtic roots. The title track was intended to be sung by Phil Lynott, however Lynott's death in January 1986 prevented that. The album is dedicated to the memory of Phil Lynott, with the words "For Philip" on the rear cover. This album contains the hit "Over the Hills and Far Away", which reached #20 in the UK as well as a cover of the Australian band The Easybeats' hit of the middle of the 1960s, "Friday on My Mind".

"Over the Hills and Far Away" was covered by the Finnish symphonic power metal band Nightwish on their 2001 EP of the same title, and Swedish viking metal band Thyrfing on their album Urkraft.
This album attempted to repeat the pop-metal formula of Gary Moore's 1985 album, Run for Cover, but falls short for various reasons. First, the songwriting wasn't quite up to par and except for "Over the Hills and Far Away, the title track, and "The Loner" - a beautifully moody guitar instrumental, Moore seemed to be going through the motions. Second, and most fatal was the decision to use a drum machine throughout the album; a failed experiment which just plain sounds wrong. Still, this is hardly a bad record, just slightly disappointing. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia

UK remastered reissue of the Irish guitarist's 1987 album includes three bonus tracks, 'Loner' (Extended Mix), 'Friday On My Mind' (12 Inch Version), & 'Out In The Fields' (Live). Virgin. 2003.

Allmusic Album Review: Billboard

Marty Friedman - Dragon's Kiss (1988)

Format: flac + cue + log

Genre: Instrumental rock, neo-classical metal

Release Date: 1988

Label: Shrapnel

Dragon's Kiss is the debut studio album by guitarist Marty Friedman, released in 1988 on Shrapnel Records.

Marty Friedman – guitar, bass guitar, co-producer

Jason Becker – additional guitar solos (tracks 1, 6)

Deen Castronovo – drums

Mike Varney – producer

The Story
"Dragon's Kiss" features guitarist Marty Friedman in an intense classical/speed metal instrumental full of complicated changes, impressive solo work, and incredible drumming from Deen Castronovo. Jason Becker contributes his guitar talent's to two tracks "Saturation Point" and "Jewel". "Dragon's Kiss" is real eye opener for those seeking something fresh and inventive, and is an exciting collectable for fans of Marty's guitar work with Megadeth.