Si, muy tarde ha llegado este disco hasta mis manos. Nueve años (que se dice pronto) hace que se editó este fabuloso trabajo. Pero he de aclarar, que hace nueve años era un alumno de segundo de la E.S.O y directamente, no escuchaba música. Pero cómo bien dice el refrán, más vale tarde que nunca, y Arrival ya está en mi poder.

Qué alegría señores, ¡qué música más preciosa! Muchas veces se me viene a la cabeza, la cantidad de buena música que se está perdiendo la gente. ¿Nunca has pensado eso? ¿Nunca has pensado lo triste que es que alguien escuche (solamente) Reggaetón o mierdas del estilo habiendo obras musicales como ésta? Temas a parte, vamos al disco, que es lo que verdaderamente importa.

Formación :

- Glen Pierson : Voz
- Jim Santos : Guitarra y Teclados

Temas :

1 Givin’ It All
2 One Night Alone
3 Someday,Someway
4 I Don’t Wanna Love You
5 Cant Live Without You
6 Sending A Prayer
7 When You Close Your Eyes
8 Crybaby
9 Find My Way Home
10 Hole In My Heart
11 Heaven In Your Arms

El disco navega (nunca mejor dicho) entre el Hard melódico y el mejor AOR que puedas escuchar. Givin’ It All es el primer tema de este trabajo, un tema muy hard rockero con un estribillo 100% Aor, como es todo el disco, mezclando de manera perfecta y elegante ambos estilos musicales. Un largo y bello riff que comienza a partir del minuto 2:50 refleja la gran calidad técnica de estos músicos procedentes de New Jersey (EE.UU).

Norway te recordará a muchísimos grupos. A priori, con este tema, te vendrá a la mente los míticos Def Leppard. Vamos con el segundo, mucho más inclinado al Aor en esta ocasión. One Night Alone, otro tema de melodías dulzonas, y buen estribillo. Destacar el fantástico ritmo de teclado y de nuevo, el virtuoso riff de guitarra. Este tema da paso a uno de mis preferidos, Someday, Someway. Decir que estos dos últimos temas nos recuerdan sobre todo a grupos como Boston, Journey o los memorables Toto.  En la línea de los anteriores, buenas melodías, y estribillos pomposos ligados a distinguidos coros. I Don’t Wanna Love You; otro de los bombazos de este disco. Esta canción  te hará sentir como si estuvieras escuchando un disco perteneciente a uno de los cientos de grupos hard de los ochenta. Y si no, haz la prueba, cuando la estés escuchando, imagínate al cantante y al resto de miembros de la banda, con pelos cardados y mallas de colores y bailoteando en el escenario.  Cómo me alegro que la magia de esos años no se haya perdido a día de hoy.

Cuando uno está escuchando un grupo de este estilo, es inevitable no encontrarse con una preciosa balada. En este caso, se titula: Can’t Live Without You. Preciosa balada que en este caso, te recordará a esas baladas de Blue Murder o Winger. Precioso tema, excelente estribillo.

Las siguientes canciones, Sending A Prayer algo más cañero y When You Close Your Eyes, un valioso y romántico medio-tiempo, sitúan a este disco, entre los más importantes del género. Estamos a mitad de Arrival y vamos temazo tras temazo. Cry Baby, Find My Way Home y Hole In My Hearth, son unos temas más apegados al Hard más cañero, con menos nivel de azúcar y más ligado al estilo Motley Crüe.

Y terminamos con Heaven In Your Arms, de nuevo, el lado más Aor. Me encanta esta mezcla. A veces un disco Aor, puede parecer demasiado empalagoso y falto de fuerza, y un disco Hard puede carecer de más sentimiento, y sin embargo, Arrival mama de ambas tetas. Cuando más necesitas despertar tu lado más cañero, ahí tienes temas como Cry Baby, cuando necesitas de esas melodías dulzonas, When You Close Your Eyes o Someday, Someway están para ello.

Un diez sobre diez. Una autentica joya musical, un disco como pocos. Hazte con él, no te arrepentirás. No puede faltar en la colección de todo amante del rock más melódico.

Un abrazo.

Álvaro R.

www.getreadytorock.com/best_of_2009.htm

Albums by Magnum, Saxon, House Of Lords and Europe are popular choices som far with more reviewers still to add in their selections.

Sou suspeito para falar da carreia musical de Mitch Malloy. Ele é, pra mim, dentro do rock’n roll, hard rock e afins, um dos artistas mais injustiçados de todos os tempos. Mas para a benção de daqueles que acabam por conhecer o seu trabalho, é também um dos músicos mais talentosos que o estilo já conheceu.

Se você perguntar ao Wikipedia, o máximo que terá de informação é sobre a breve passagem de Malloy pelo Van Halen, em 1996, após a saída de Sammy Hagar. Na ocasião, ele foi convidado para assumir o posto de vocalista, mas por conta de uma cagada ‘marketeira’ do Sr. Eddie Van Halen – uma dentre muitas no currículo do músico holandês – Mitch  percebeu que aquele não era o lugar ideal para se trabalhar. Aham, e esse é um dos motivos pelos quais eu, o Ogro, odeio Van Halen (desabafo mode off, Há!).

O que importa é que, além desse episódio, Malloy tem inúmeros motivos reais pelos quais pode e deve ser reconhecido como um excelente vocalista, músico, produtor e compositor. Experimente ouvir o álbum de estréia da carreira solo dele de 1992, e eu não precisarei dizer mais nada aqui. Hard rock/AOR de primeira linha!

Mas enfim, quando se achava que os trabalhos novos desse incrível músico seriam limitados a cds inéditos, eis que é lançado “Live From Rock City”, gravado ao vivo em 2008 no Firefest V. Indicado por muitos críticos como a melhor apresentação da noite, e uma das melhores de todo o festival – que ainda teve nessa edição atrações como Danger Danger, Firehouse, Jeff Scott Soto e muito mais – o show foi registrado em cd e dvd de maneira magnífica, transbordando toda a vibração tanto da banda quanto do público.

O repertório apresentado por Mitch Malloy leva qualquer fã de AOR e hard rock ao delírio. São performances irretocáveis e carregadas de muita energia de clássicos como “Mission Of Love”, “Over The Water”, “Nobody Wins In This War”, “Cowboy And The Ballerina”, “Forever” e um encerramento apoteótico com a maravilhosa “Anything At All”. Para ser realmente sincero, você não precisaria ser fã dos estilos citados para curtir “Live From Rock City”. Se a sua praia é boa música de verdade, não perca mais tempo e garanta a sua cópia.

Mitch mostra que o amadurecimento que esses 20 anos de carreira lhe proporcionaram, transformaram-no em um espetacular ‘front man’. Ao longo de toda a apresentação, ele tem o público nas mãos, esbanjando carisma e energia. A banda que o acompanha também merece seu devido destaque. Tommy Denander (guitarra), Victor Broden (baixo) e Magnus Ulfstdet (bateria) demonstram um ótimo entrosamento no mesmo alto astral apresentado por Malloy e pelo público. Melhor, impossível.

Resumindo, uma obra musical perfeita para os amantes do hard rock e AOR e da boa música em geral. Conheço um guitarrista por aí que deve se morder de ódio de si mesmo por ter deixado um talento nato como Mitch Malloy ‘escapar’. Perder playboy, há!

Dá uma olhada no trailer do dvd pra ficar com água na boca:

Mitch Malloy – Live From Rock City

Mission Of Love

Problem Child

Stranded In The Middle Of Nowhere

Over The Water

Nobody Wins In This War

You Can’t Fool God

Cowboy And The Ballerina

Our Love Will Never Die

Forever

Stone In Love

Anything At All

www.mitchmalloy.com

Emocionado estoy mientras escribo estas líneas ya que me dispongo a hablar sobre una de las voces más grandes de toda la historia del Rock internacional y sobre todo porque vuelve, Michael Kiske vuelve por fin a los escenarios tras dieciséis años en el exilio. ¡Todo un hito!

Pero vamos por partes, antes de entrar en su trayectoria profesional, centrémonos por un momento en lo que a todo el mundo nos tiene en vilo; Su nuevo grupo: UNISONIC.

Dennis Ward (Pink Cream 69, Khymera, Place Vendome), vuelve a juntarse con Michael Kiske para crear Unisonic, un nuevo grupo, con el cual, quieren empezar desde cero, creando una música a gusto de todos  y lo más interesante, salir de gira. En este nuevo trayecto, les acompañan Kosta Zafiriou (Pink Cream 69, Place Vendome) y Mandy Meyer (Krokus)

El primer disco de Unisonic se prevé que saldrá a la luz en la primavera de 2010 para estar ya de gira a finales de verano.

Más de una década sin pisar unos escenarios, sin cantar en vivo, sin entablar contacto con público en directo. Pero dudo que esto sea un handicap y mucho menos para Michael Kiske. Lo que esta claro es que no veremos a ese Kiske de los años ochenta, con ganas de comerse el mundo, más jevi que una lluvia de hachas regalando a cada momento esos imposibles agudos que sólo él sabe hacer. Pero tampoco esperamos eso, al menos, nosotros, su fieles seguidores, que nos importa bien poco que deje o no de hacer Heavy Metal. Sólo queremos escucharlo, y disfrutar de él.

Con ansias esperamos, esa esperada gira…

Su trayectoria

Cuando uno habla de Michael Kiske, es imposible (rotundamente) no recordar sus años en Helloween, una de las bandas más importantes del Heavy Metal cuyos mejores años fueron con Kiske en sus filas.

Michael Kiske entró sustituyendo a las voces al fundador de la banda, Kai Hansen, al que le era muy dificultoso cantar y tocar la guitarra a la vez.

Los famosos e idolatrados Keepers, esos discos que llevaron a la banda a lo más alto, con un Kiske joven, dinámico, enérgico, portentoso, dejando maravillado a prensa y público. En estos magníficos discos, Kiske aportó temas cómo, You Always Walk Alone, We Got The Right, Don´t Run For Cover y Savage (estas dos últimas pasaron a ser caras b aunque más tarde se incluyeron en el recopilatorio The Best The Rest The Rare). Más adelante, y con motivo de su gran éxito mundial, graban un disco en directo titulado Live In The U.K., uno de los directos más importantes de la escena metalera, dónde podemos (una vez más) contemplar la asombrosa voz de Kiske y constatar que es una de las mayores voces que existe. Luego, esos discos “mal mirados” por muchos: Pink Bubbles Go Ape y Chameleon, dónde “Michi” (como se le llama cariñosamente a Michael Kiske) toma el control compositivo del grupo y nos regala emotivos temas alejados del estilo de discos anteriores, pero de la misma calidad o superior. Pink Bubbles Go Ape, un trabajo más comercial con tintes mucho más melódicos pero sin perder ese enfoque metalero. Aquí, Michael Kiske, nos deleita con You Turn, mi tema favorito del disco. Y por último, Chameleon. El lado Pop del grupo. Un disco al que quiero dedicarle un artículo a parte, porque se lo merece. Para mí, se encuentra entre los tres mejores discos del grupo, temas como I Believe, Longing, When The Sinner, In The Night, o temas compuestos por otros miembros del grupo como I Don´t Wanna Cry No More, First Time o Giants, que hacen que el disco sea una obra de arte.  Pero esto ya es otro cantar.

Antes de entrar a formar parte de las famosas calabazas, Michael Kiske, con tan sólo dieciséis años, pertenecía a una banda llamada Ill Prophecy. Un grupo más bien orientado a un metal melódico más progresivo que powermetalero.

Tras una serie de conflictos internos en la banda, debidos a diferencias musicales entre los distintos miembros, surgen peleas y Michael Weikath decide expulsar a Kiske de la banda. GRASO ERROR. Si, graso error para muchos, y para otros, movimiento inteligente por parte de Weikath ya que si la banda hubiese seguido por esos derroteros, Helloween sería a día de hoy una banda tributo a Dunca-Dhú. Y con esto no estoy de acuerdo. Bien es cierto que tras la entrada de Andi Deris al grupo, Helloween editó discos enormemente grandes como Master Of The Rings, Time Of The Oath, Better Than Raw y The Dark Ride, pero de aquí en adelante, surge el dilema. Los Helloween actuales tienen una formación cuyo cantante (al que admiro muchísimo) apenas puede cantar y un nivel compositivo bastante mediocre. ¿Qué sería de Helloween si hoy por hoy siguiera la misma formación que en el año 1992?

Todo es relativo. Cuando oigo el Time Of The Oath, no me duele la salida de Kiske y posterior giro de 360 grados del grupo. Pero cuando escucho el aberrante Rabbit Don´t Come Easy o el mal logrado Keeper Of The Seven Keys – The Legacy -, preferiría que ha día de hoy, Helloween siguiera sacando discos tipo Chameleon con Kiske a la voz.

Teorías personales a parte, en 1996 Michael Kiske comienza su carrera en solitario. Instant Clarity es su primer álbum donde colaboran artistas como Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden) y su antiguo colega, Kai Hansen (Gamma Ray). Con Instant Clarity, Kiske nos deleita con canciónes como The Calling, New Horizons, Somebody somewhere,  Hunted, Do i remember a life? y Always, dos maravillosas baladas, ésta última dedicada a su antiguo compañero de Helloween, el batería Ingo Schwichtenberg que se había suicidado tirándose a la vía de un tren años antes.

En ese mismo año, conocemos otra faceta de Kiske, la de escritor. Publica un libro llamado Kunst und Materialismus, sólo editado en idioma alemán. En el que expone su punto de vista sobre el arte.

Readiness to sacrifice, es su siguiente disco publicado en 1998. Where wishes fly, Ban’em, Philistine city, It , Shadowfights. Con estos temas, nos encontramos a un Kiske más maduro y personal. Este álbum tubo muy poco éxito, y es que, de aquí en adelante, la carrera en solitario de Michael, no tendrá mucha gloria. Él mismo reconoce que no puede vivir de sus discos, no dan para ello, ya que apenas se venden, por esto, Kiske para de sacar discos propios y se centra en participar en proyectos musicales liderados por artistas y grupos de la escena metalera. E aquí otro dilema. Michael Kiske ha renegado miles de veces del metal y aún así, sigue participando sin parar en discos de Heavy Metal. Probablemente esta afirmación sea una de las más leídas en prensa y foros a lo que yo digo: ¿Y? Qué él haga lo que le de la real gana. Si la canción que le ofrecen es de su gusto y más aún, si el dinero que le ofrecen, le hace falta, ¿por qué tendría que dejar de hacerlo? Para los que somos seguidores de su voz, nos da igual escucharle cantando baladas poperas como temas super metaleros. Entre los años 2001 y 2002 Kiske aparece en Avantasia I & II, proyecto liderado por el emblemático Tobias Sammet. Tambien participa en el proyecto de Timo Tolkki, Hymn To Life, dónde interpreta un fantástico medio tiempo titulado Key To The Universe. En 2003 participa en el proyecto de Sascha Paeth, AINA donde aparece en cuatro canciónes: Silver Maiden, Serendipity, Revelations y Restoration. En este mismo año, Kiske forma un grupo, llamado SupaRed. Un disco de rock (a secas) dónde podemos encontrar temas muy buenos como Hey o Turn It y poco más que salvar. Un disco bastante flojo, con una producción nefasta y cuya supuesta gira tuvo que ser cancelada por los problemas estomacales de Michael, dónde tuvo que ser operado. A partir de aquí, los proyectos y participaciones de Michael Kiske son numerosos.

Ya en 2005, aparece en otro interesante proyecto perteneciente a Renato Tribuzy: Execution, donde aparecen artistas de la talla de Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden) Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear), Roland Grapow (Masterplan, ex-Helloween), etc. Kiske interpreta el tema Absolution.

A finales de 2005, Kiske participa en el que probablemente sea lo mejor que ha hecho desde su salida de Helloween. Un proyecto en el que interpreta todos los temas.  Se llama Place Vendome. El disco está liderado por el productor y bajista Dennis Ward (Pink Cream 69), el batería Kosta Zafiriou (Axxis, Pink Cream 69), el guitarrista Uwe Reitenauer (Pink Cream 69) y el teclista Gunther Werno (Vandenplas). ¿Qué ironía no? Kiske con los antiguos compañeros de grupo de Andi Deris (vocalista de Helloween desde 1994).

El disco es prácticamente puro AOR con pinceladas hardrockeras. En este enlace podéis leer sobre el disco, el cual fue uno de los primeros artículos que escribí en Invernalia.

Ya en el año 2006, Michael Kiske decidía sacar otro disco en solitario titulado Kiske. Es el disco más maduro, intimo y personal que ha editado. En 2007 vuelve a participar en la tercera parte de Avantasia, donde canta los mejores temas del álbum, Lost In Space, Promised Land (junto con Jorn Lande y Tobias Sammet), Shelter From The Rain.

Timo Tolki, en 2008, edito su primer album perteneciente a su nueva banda tras su salida de Stratovarius: Revolution Renaissace dónde Kiske canta también los mejores temas, como Angel, una balada espléndida, The Last Night On Earth, y I Did It My Way.

En el año 2008, Kiske editó Past In Different Ways, un álbum dónde interpreta de forma acústica las canciónes compuestas por él en los años que estaba en Helloween.

Recientemente, Tobias Sammet ha confirmado que en 2010 sacará la cuarta parte de Avantasia dónde de nuevo, participará Kiske. Además, en breve podemos disfrutar de un proyecto en paralelo con la cantante Amanda Somerville, un álbum completamente de estilo AOR donde la composición de los cortes van de la mano de los integrantes de Primal Fear.

Verle en directo es todo un sueño hecho realidad. Ansioso estoy porque llegue pronto esa ansiada gira y podamos disfrutar de él aquellos que no podumos hacerlo antaño. Ver a Michael Kiske en directo…¡Toda una experiencia!

Desde aquí, le doy las gracias a Michael Kiske por todos los años de buena música que nos ha brindado.

Un saludo.

Álvaro R.

]]> http://heavymetaladdiction.com/2009/11/19/chickenfoot-st-2009/ Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:08:13 +0000 rhodeislandrock http://heavymetaladdiction.com/2009/11/19/chickenfoot-st-2009/ http://calmatensa.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/beethoven-r-sangriento-y-mortal/ Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:09:03 +0000 diegus http://calmatensa.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/beethoven-r-sangriento-y-mortal/ http://rockblogazzurro.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/rock-hard-love-h-i-j-k/ Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:51:54 +0000 LuBlue http://rockblogazzurro.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/rock-hard-love-h-i-j-k/

Viene de Rock hard Love (…C-D-E-F-G…)

Continúa aquí la tercera entrega de esta serie alfabética de canciones con título amoroso dentro del panorama rockero, o más concretamente centrado en el hard-rockero.

Como en las anteriores ocasiones ha de quedar claro que seguimos el orden alfabético, que la premisa principal es disponer de la palabra ‘love’ (o ‘lover’) en el título, y que la canción, y/o vídeo, tengan algún interés por el cual reseñarlas. Reiterando también el consabido ‘no están todas las que son…’, etcétera…

HANSON era un grupo de rock bastante suave, la verdad es que de “hard” no tienen mucho, pero creo que estaría bien repasar un par de canciones suyas con la palabra “love” en el título. Se trata, en primer lugar, de uno de sus temas más famosos titulado “Where Is The Love“:

Y una más reciente de este grupo, formado por tres hermanos, de la que enlazamos un vídeo acústico, titulada: “Love Somebody“. Además, Taylor, uno de los tres hermanos interpreta en solitario un precioso tema titulado “Love Me“.

En cambio HEART sí era una banda puramente de hard rock. Pero ya con su nombre nos anuncian claramente que esto no va reñido con que sus canciones tengan amor a raudales. Aquí tenemos el vídeo subtitulado de un tema precioso, amén de uno de los más famosos, titulado “All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You“:

Otro tema de ellos es “What About Love“, que no por ser menos famoso que el anterior deja de ser una gozada auditiva.

Una canción de HELLOWEEN muy interesante también tiene cabida en esta serie. Se trata de una versión de un tema de ABBA titulado “Lay All Your Love on Me“.

No podían faltar IRON MAIDEN en esta relación, a pesar de ser más representativos del heavy metal que del hard rock. Atención al videoclip de una de sus no muy numerosas baladas, titulada “Wasting Love“:

Pasamos a una banda con menos fama, pero que tiene un sonido que destila calidad por los cuatro costados y que es puro hard-rock. Se trata de JADED HEART, y abriremos sus cuatro aportaciones a esta relación con un marchoso “Love Is a Killer“, que nada tiene que ver con el de las VIXEN, que aparecerá en su capítulo correspondiente:

Dos baladas suyas contienen también nuestra palabra clave, se trata de “Love Is Magic“ y “What Is Love“, nuevas muestras de que los tipos duros saben ponerse mimosos.

Para terminar con Jaded tenemos un interesante “cover” del “Easy Lover“ de PHIL COLLINS llevado con habilidad al terreno “hardrockero”.

Nos vamos al rock más clásico ahora con el maestro de la guitarra JIMMY HENDRIX, que disponía en su discografía de varios temas con la palabra mágica en su título: “Bold As Love“, “May This Be Love“, “Message to Love“, “Love or Confusion“ o este fantástico “Sunshine of Your Love” instrumental interpretado en directo en Estocolmo, de la manera magistral que sólo Jimmy podía:

Otro clásico que no queremos dejar pasar, aunque se aleje bastante del estilo marcado, es a JOHN LENNON y su canción titulada sencillamente “Love“:

JOURNEY se merece un destacado lugar aquí, ya que su estilo es una variante del hard rock: AOR, y su calidad es innegable, tanto en composición como en interpretación. Por ello no hay que perderse dos vídeos de sendos directos suyos; “Stone in Love“:

… Y “When You Love a Woman“.

Volvemos a pasar por un clásico del heavy metal para deleitarnos con el fantástico tema “Turbo Lover” de los importantísimos JUDAS PRIEST. Volvemos a ver que hay muy diferentes formas de expresarse musicalmente “con amor“:

Y, terminado el repaso a la letra jota, cierro el capítulo con el inevitable…

…CONTINUARÁ…

(`´·.¸(`´·.¸  ¸.·`´)¸.·`´)
«´¨·.¸.* LuBlue *.¸.·¨`»
(¸.·`´(¸.·`´  `´·.¸)`´·.¸)

The Art of Rolling finger skates have been gaining a lot of buzz and I’ve heard first hand from Angelo Ferrer about his international popularity with his latest product. Though some may complain about the price of the finger skates (who are most likely the same kids who buy $60 skateboarder hats, $300 jeans, and $100 BBC t-shirts, just to look like everyone else) they’re definitely well worth it and this featured youtube subscriber shows you why. There’s a lot of hard work and heart that goes into each custom made finger skate so show your support for the only online magazine that’s supporting you, the NYC skater, and get your pair at the AOR site.

You can also see even more custom AOR Finger Skates on Angelo Ferrer’s Flickr account. Check out all the different colorways and names for the finger skates including an NY Mets, LA Lakers, the 5 borough series, and Ramelle Knight pro skate. See the new colors and customs here.

Crowd Sourcing and Engagement are probably the two biggest buzz terms in marketing today. My non-marketing friends know about interactive marketing; know that it’s here to stay, and know a handful of terms and buzz and then wonder what in the hell I do.

Of course any interactive campaign has several goals:

• Fan/customer engagement
• Crowd-sourcing
• Differentiating yourself from competitors
• Drive time on site and impressions
• Increase ad revenue
• Email capture
• Attract new customers or advertisers

It’s possible to have several goals but it’s best to identify your primary objectives. Although it is possible to have both as objectives, one has to take precedence over the other or the campaign could be viewed as a failure. The two basic types of campaigns that our technology can be used for are crowd-sourcing efforts or customer/fan engagement. Engagement campaigns can be fun, safe ways for brands or media properties to interact with their fans while crowd-sourcing campaigns can be a great way to tap into the community for creative work.

Here are the distinctions between crowd-sourcing campaigns and engagement campaign.

Engagement

• Low barrier to participation- Photo contests with very broad themes are the best way to guarantee high participation. Ihoops is an NCAA/NBA collaborative; their theme is simple—youth basketball.

• Results are not as quantifiable- Around the office we use the term ‘fan engagement’ rather than ‘customer engagement’ because customers that are fans will champion your brand to passive customers. Tapatio Hot Sauce is a perfect example- The hot sauce is sold and served in restaurants across North America so it must have millions of passive customers but it has formed a quirky and massive following of 27,000 facebook fans who have demonstrated they are willing to share their love with their friends. This month’s contest is best “Tapatio costume contest.” There are a suprising number of Tapatio themed costumes out there—by hosting the contest Tapatio has given these fans a chance to share their enthusiasm.

• Engagement campaigns can be sustained long-term- Themes can be loosely based, seasonal or change based on the community. Starting December, Sacramento Press will start a series of neighborhood photo contests. These have a very low barrier to entry, can be recycled easily and can easily attract local sponsors.

Measures of Success for Engagement Campaigns: quantity of submissions, number of votes, and time on site

Crowd-sourcing

• High barrier to participation- Anything other than drawings and doodles requires a certain level of expertise especially video editing and graphic design.

• Must reach out to people outside of brand- The San Diego Science Festival asked us to help them host a contest for a new mascot. Initially submissions were below their expectations but the AOR began reaching out to design students and comic book artists and have dramatically improved the quality of submissions.

• Requires worthwhile incentives- If you want someone to submit quality work you have to give them incentives. Simple enough right?

• Difficult to maintain long-term campaign- Most of these campaigns are one-offs for new product design, logos or mascots. Plus the high barrier to entry and high-value prizes make long-term campaigns unattractive.

Measures of Success for Crowd-sourcing Campaign: Quality of submissions- at least one usable design, hopefully several

This post was inspired by a post on Creativity Unbound by Edward Boches about a new agency that will specialize in crowd-sourcing campaigns. It will be interesting to see how Victor and Spoils will do. One of their biggest challenges will be maintaining enough clients when they’re only running short term campaigns. They should be able to negate this by; establishing a network of designers, solid relationships with AORs and reaching out to top-tier customers with multiple brands. Their business model is solid and they seem like a talented team. (Actually they seem like a team of evil lawyers but we’ll see their true colors once the new website is up- via crowd-sourcing of course!)



Click to view the 5 borough catalog

The Art of Rolling family, Angelo and Layla Ferrer, release a new line of finger skates dedicated to our city’s five boroughs. These skates are a great way to kill time while not sessioning and now you can represent your borough even better with them as each borough has an individual color scheme featuring some of the MTA lines and the name of the borough on the boot. Check the catalog up top and get your set of finger skates at the Art of Rolling website. “Art of Rolling has been covering the nyc skate scene and is dedicated to presenting and exposing the talents that live withen our city, Each boro has a large amount of skaters and are all like a pumping heart that unite to bring our city alive, in respect to our 5 boro’s that are the home and lifestyle Art of Rolling has released a limited run of NYC OUR BOROS THRORO FINGER SKATES.. We feel that with out each boro our city could’t be what and who we are today. For a limited time get your boro and neighborhood trainstop on your finger skate to better show who you are and where YOU COME FROM” – AOR.

W.E.T.'s self-titled debut album

Most casual music listeners and hipster critics live in the belief that anthemic rock died out some fifteen-odd years ago and only belongs in cheesy montages, ironic references, middle-aged flashbacks and the bottom of department store bargain bins. Wrong. Since the (mainstream) downfall of hair metal, arena rock, glam, and AOR there have been a contigent of artists who have slaved, labored, toured, and rocked their way through life just to bring us quality music.  Three of these bands are the funk-influenced Talisman, the Toto-esque Work of Art, and the riff-oriented Eclipse.  Members of the aforementioned bands have come together to bring us the band W.E.T., and combine their talents to showcase what, on the surface, looks like what could be a melodic rock masterpiece.

Before I continue on with this review, I must acknowledge and promote a website that has done more to promote this genre of music than any other. Visit Melodic Rock to read reviews, news, press releases, and interviews centered around melodic rock bands old (Journey, Styx, Survivor, Van Halen), little-known (Pride of Lions, Gotthard, Tall Stories, Tyketto), and new (Anberlin, Airbourne, Shinedown, and now W.E.T.) Be sure to visit the forums for a wealth of entertainment and knowledge, and stay tuned for weekday updates on a variety of independent and major-labor artists.

The website through which I've discovered dozens of Melodic Rock and metal bands

Now for a bit of background on W.E.T. Robert Sall of Work of Art, Erik Martensson of Eclipse, and Jeff Scott Soto of Talisman are all veterans of the Swedish and international music scene, having decades of professional experience between them. Perhaps the most well-known of the lot is Jeff Scott Soto, who has also spent time with Yngwie Malmsteen’s band, Soul SirkUS, and even the gods of the genre, Journey. One can’t speak enough of Soto’s vocal talents, he’s one of the most underrated voices in any style of music. Equal parts Sammy Hagar, Chris Cornell, and Steve Perry; there isn’t much Soto can’t sing, and emote well while doing so.

The first track, “Invincible,” has a calm intro before an explosion of riffs splits the speakers. Soto’s voice combines soul, R&B, and funk influences with soaring, anthemic notes. The band is incredibly tight; the instruments weave in and out of one another while maintaining a punch. The guitars shift from heavy and surging to wafting and epic. Major props go out to the understated yet effective keyboard theme, and the fact that Soto’s vocals sound especially “from the heart” on this record thus far.

The first song seamlessly gives way to the second, “One Love.” This song sounds like a sequel to the first, but there’s evident difference in the feel. The method by which the riffs give way to Soto’s vocals, and the brilliance of the snappy rhythm section, make the song flow rather well. The vocals are mixed extremely well and this is definitely a “sing-along” type of tune. I love Soto’s vocal especially about 2/3 through the song, right before the destructive tapping solo that is equal parts Van Halen and Schon, but all W.E.T.

“Brothers in Arms” has a very effective main riff. This song soars just as much if not more than the others before it. It’s not proven, but I believe this song to be a tribute to the late Marcel Jacob, Soto’s longtime bassist in Talisman and friend. I find Soto’s voice to be inspirational, full, vibrant, and deep. The guitars chug in the bridge, and the song turns on a dime. It defies the typical formula of the genre, especially after the chugging near-metal section gives way to peaceful drum-and-key interludes.  The ending blast to the song is pseudo Dream Theater before the record gives way and lessens pace to the fourth tune.

“Comes Down Like Rain” does just that, a gentle shower of moody and moving lyrics from Soto. W.E.T. manages to keep an epic sound even in their first ballad of the record. The guys are masters of melody and prove it yet again here. The guitar solo is very technically good, but it honestly has a “come out of nowhere” feel to it and don’t think it fit well to the mood and rhythm section. Good, but just not for the song.

“Running from the Heartache” is another dark and moody yet surging and big up-tempo number. The keyboards are tasteful yet again, and have been throughout the record. One criticism of the genre is that synths could be too overstated or used too much.. but yet in this album the keys are beautiful and accent the music rather than take it over. Guitars are big in melodic rock and this record is no exception.

I really do love “I’ll Be There.” This is the fastest track yet and its feel is a mix of Survivor, Soto’s solo material, and the best of pop rock. The lyrics could be passed off as “cheese” but Soto emotes them well enough to make them authentic; one can really “feel” listening to music like this. I love the riff, it’s very fist pump-worthy, and I can see myself cruising around to this song for years to come. “I’ll Be There” fits in well with any playlist of uptempo rock and roll. The best solo of the record thus far shreds through the speakers halfway through the tune. Melodic rock is packed to the brim with extremely talented instrumentalists. Martensson, Sall, and helpers Magnus Henriksson and Robban Back deserve their fair share of accolades and respect. It’s a shame that great players like these guys are relatively unknown and unappreciated while folk like the Jonas Brothers and Daughtry sell out stadiums and rack up platinum records.

“Damage is Done” is yet another up-tempo head-bobbing rocker. The shifts in timing and lush harmonies keep a fresh feel to the otherwise consistent mood of the record. There’s a great flow to this album, and should be listened to as an album despite the single-worthy qualities of the tunes. These songs could definitely be hits in the U.S. if it weren’t for the average listener being a sheep force-fed with ringtone rap and overmarketed pop-tarts… but that’s a rant for another blog.

Songs like “Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is” prove that the boys in W.E.T. are having a little fun with this album. It’s bluesier with more hard rock roots than the rest of the songs thus far. It wouldn’t sound out of place on a modern Whitesnake or Winger record, and that’s not a bad thing. It’s not as serious and dire as some of the other tunes but it’s a change in mood that’s very well-timed.

Another ballad comes in the form of “One Day at a Time.” In the vein of Journey’s “After the Fall” or Whitesnake’s “Is This Love?”, it’s a dense song with a snappy flow. I love how the twin guitar solo is layered, and how the harmonies are mixed. Production is top-notch; I can hear the instruments clearly. Authenticism isn’t subtracted and there isn’t any trickery, it’s just very well-recorded. The song takes nearly a minute to close out, with intense and morose keyboard and bass tones lulling me unsuspectingly into the next song.

“Just Go” revisits some of the gnarliest Talisman rockers with its churning feel. The drumming is impeccable and I really can’t say enough of the piercing guitar work. The keyboard is again wonderfully understated and accents the song. “Can’t choose the way we die/But we can choose how we live.” Brilliant lyricism and an inspirational feel. Are the guys saving the best guitar work on the album for the latter half? It sure seems so with this dynamic solo.

“My Everything” revisits the feel of “I’ll Be There,” and keeps a smile on my face as I tap my foot to these relentless riffs.  The guitar solo, again, is beautiful and fits smoothly into the rhythm section. Soto’s inflections and vocal trademarks are well-timed and precise, he’s a master of the vocal craft.

The album comes to a less hectic ending. “If I Fall” is possibly the best song on the album. It’s a mid-tempo song, faster than the ballads on the record yet not fast enough to fit in with any of the anthems. I love how the smooth intro goes straight into isolated guitar, thundering drums, tasteful piano, and then incredible vocals. The ringing, clean guitars throughout the background of the verses are extremely well-done and add to the passionate vocal work. The chorus is sensational, the harmonies are some of the best ever done in rock, I’m grinning from ear to ear, the song has definitely done its job. I can “feel” it, and love how this song makes me feel, it will be listened to many more times in my life. Fans of Journey will definitely eat this song up. The guitars are melodic yet piercing, it’s everything the genre stands for, was that even a “Who’s Crying Now” motif I heard thrown in? The outro is several minutes long, but it’s very effective and a great ending to what I see as a very good album. As I listen to the AMAZING guitar work, I wonder how the solos can get any better… and somehow, they do. It all fits well together and is a very mature, dense, impressionable piece of work.

W.E.T.’s debut album was moody, direct, well-paced, mature, mostly up-tempo and well-produced. A handful of the songs truly made me “feel” while the others delivered melodic rock with a seasoned feel. There wasn’t much that felt “cheesy” or “forced” or “formulaic” about this record; those are the typical criticisms of the genre as a whole. The instrumentalists are very talented and Soto has some of the best vocal work of his entire 25 year career, one can argue he gets better with age. The album did have one song that truly helped elevate it into greatness, and that was the beautiful “If I Fall.”  While W.E.T.’s work isn’t incredibly deep or innovative, it’s great rock and roll and worth every cent you pay to help support a good band, if you buy this record (which I kindly suggest you do).

Highly recommended to fans of any melodic rock, old or new, especially Work of Art, Eclipse, Talisman, Jeff Scott Soto, Journey, Whitesnake, Survivor, Pride of Lions, Boston, and Sammy Hagar-era Van Halen.

Great album, nothing goundbreaking, deep instrumentals under melodic sing-along lyrics, one of the best albums in years within the genre and perhaps one of the best since the 80s.

FINAL GRADE: B+

W.E.T.

2009 has been another great year for albums and comebacks. There will be albums released this year I haven’t heard yet (eg Foreigner) which could have made my list. Where to start?

Melodic rock wise Places Of Power (Frontiers) was a stunning start to the year – an album to keep Foreigner fans happy that’s for sure. Lovers of Def Leppard look no further than Grand Design (Metal Heaven) who set out to create an album paying homage to the Mutt Lange era Def Leppard and they did in in style.

House Of Lords ‘Cartesian Dreams’ (Frontiers) is their best album since they reformed and harks back to ‘Demon’s Down’, hardly surprising as the co-writer on that album features on this new one.

For pure AOR try 101 South’s ‘No U Turns’ (AOR Heaven), this shows how AOR should be done. Bad Habbit (AOR Heaven) also produced a highly polished and enjoyable set of AOR/melodic rock tunes with some stunning ballads.

Covered Call came from nowhere to produce an album that is not only melodic hard rock but managed to add a couple of  moments of classy pop rock. Speaking of pop rock the masters returned with their best album since the 80’s, yes Cheap Trick ‘The Latest’ (Indie) is a delight with never a dull moment. This leads nicely into one of Cheap Trick’s biggest fans, Ginger and his band the Wildhearts released a real return to form with ‘Chutzpah!’ This has the band really firing on all six with catchy choruses, massive riffs and err some thrash metal.

Of the debut albums the Jokers really hit a chord with me and if you like 70’s Aerosmith and the Stones, in fact classic 70’s rock, this band will appeal to you. Draven also made a splash with another album steeped in classic rock influnences although they do have some more modern rock songs in their armoury. In a more melodic vein, Firenote give bands like Brother Firetribe and the Poodles a run for their money. A very accomplished debut ad looking forward to the next one already.

I do like a varied listening base and thanks to Bill Leslie over at the excellent Rock Of Ages I discovered Neil Hannon of the Divine Comedy’s latest work, the Duckworth Lewis Method. It is all based around cricket and is simply wonderful – ‘Jiggery Pokery’ and ‘Test Match Special’ should be on everyone’s IPod/MP3 player.

One band whose last couple of releases I have not been that taken with are Dream Theater but their new album ‘Black Clouds And Silver Linings’ (Roadrunner) is one of their best. The musicianship is top notch as you’d expect but now the band have found their melody again rather than drift off into endless solos.  Staying prog the Sine Star Project sounds like Muse but they add their own melodic and weird spin on the music. IQ’s ‘Frequency’ (GEP) is another band back on peak form and if you have never tried an album by this band this is a recommended starting point. Lots of big production and lush musical arrangements, sheer bliss. Roswell Six ropes in a whole host of musical stars including John Payne (Ex-Asia), Erik Norlander and James LaBrie (Dream Theater) amongst others. Based on a bestselling fantasy novel series and it is great fun to listen to!

ONE Magazine has featured the Art of Rolling finger skates in their weekly web roll. “Like Green Day says in Longview, “When masturbation’s lost its fun…” If that’s ever the case, and you’re stuck with too much time with your hands, there’s Angelo Ferrer and company’s Finger Blades. Similar in idea to the ones already out there, these skates are customizable and reflect current skates on the market. You know, the kind for your feet. Depending how creative (read: bored) you are, take the blades to the next level with your own grind box and Barbie pants.” – ONE Magazine.

Source: http://believeinone.com/

Dire che l`album degli Only Child (progetto con Paul Sabu) – 1988 – sia stato ed e` ancora oggi un diamante del genere Hard rock melodico, non e` sufficente! Io non so quanti di Voi conoscono questo disco, io ebbi la fortuna di entrare in un negozio di dischi all`epoca e di comprarlo a scatola chiusa. Oggi mi rendo conto di quale tesoro a livello musicale per un amante del Rock possa essere questo disco. Presente nella top list eurpoea degli album AOR/Rock di tutti i tempi e questo non e` poco.

save a place in your heart

Le melodie che sono racchiuse in questa gemma vinilica sono paurose ed irrepetibili. L`energia sprigionata dalla voce e dai ritornelli di tutti i brani sono un marchio di fabbrica che solo Sabu poteva regalare, in un momento storico per la musica AOR era agli inizi. Non parliamo poi degli assoli di chitarra, perfetti e melodici, trascinanti come non mai.

ALWAYS

Paul Sabu (2 gennaio 1960) è un cantante, compositore e produttore discografico statunitense.

Figlio dell’attore indiano Sabu Dastagir.

È conosciuto anche per i lavori della sua band, gli Only Child e soprattutto come produttore di numerosi artisti e delle colonne sonore di numerosi film e telefilm. Fra gli artisti con cui ha lavorato si possono citare David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Lee Aaron, Madonna, Malice, Prince, John Waite e i Silent Rage.

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