THE LATE seventies/early eighties American music scene was a veritable breeding ground for melodically infused hard rock. However, in many ways, it was a sound built principally on British roots including clearly identifiable stimulation from later period Beatles to the early seventies progressive rock movement dominated by Yes, Genesis and Camel to name but a few. It was this pre-occupation with all things British that gave rise to a brilliantly dynamic style that relied equally on adroit arrangements as it did on melody and accessibility.

Alongside more familiar names such as Kansas, Boston and Styx, Trillion were one of the greatest - yet in many ways unheralded at the time - bands of the era. Combining stunningly melodic songs with adventurous arrangements and tricky instrumentation the band straddled a knife edge between the deliciously hook laden pomp of Toto and the daring anything-goes musicality of pomp-prog masters Kansas and Starcastle. It was a style that had no boundaries, incorporating raging guitar driven hard rock to delicate and complex progressive compositions.

Originally released in 1978, helmed by British producer Gary Lyons (Foreigner, Lone Star, Gamma) and featuring future Toto vocalist Fergie Frederiksen, Trillion’s debut album is an astounding and accomplished work that sounds is as impressive today as it was when first released.

24-bit remastering from original source tapes, 4,000 word essay about the making of the album and a new interview and full involvement from the band. Additional photos and memorabilia spread out over a 12 page full colour booklet.

Track Listing: 1. Hold Out 2. Big Boy 3. Give Me Your Money Honey 4. Never Had It So Good 5. May As Well Go 6. Fancy Action 7. Hand It To The Wind 8. Bright Night Lights 9. Child Upon The Earth

AMERICAN EAST Coasters, Balance were a mini super-group of sorts. Pride of place was taken by vocalist Peppy Castro a man whose CV boasted commercially successful stints with late sixties psych legends the Blues Magoos, pop rockers Barnaby Bye and an obscure but influential hard rock band called Wiggy Bits. Guitarist Bob Kulick had built a solid reputation as a super-session player contributing to diametrically opposed talent as Diana Ross and Kiss. Third man on board was yet another session wunderkind; that’s keyboard wizard Doug Katsaros.

Enlisting the help of NYC powerhouse managers Leber/Krebs and signing to the impressive Portrait label, a division of Columbia Records, Balance looked set to bulldoze their way into the hearts and minds of music fans coast to coast. Indeed, for a few exciting weeks the project looked set to explode when the track ‘Breaking Away’ caught fire at radio, reaching the dizzy heights of #22 on the US chart. Sadly, however, the momentum quickly dissolved leaving the band unable to capitalize on their good fortune.

Compared, at the time, to similar sounding acts such as Journey, Foreigner and Toto this album, originally released in 1981, contained a stunning array of top notch AOR with vocals and arrangements to die for. A finer combination of melody and muscle you will not find.”

24-bit remastering from original source tapes, 4,000 word essay about the making of the album and a new interview and full involvement from the band. Additional photos and memorabilia spread out over a 12 page full colour booklet.

Track Listing: 1. (Looking For The) Magic 2. I’m Through Loving You 3. Breaking Away 4. No Getting Around My Love 5. Fly Through The Night 6. American Dream 7. Haunting 8. Falling In Love 9. Hot Summer Nights 10. It’s So Strange

It is often simplicity that makes the biggest splash; banal lyrics, play-in-a-day riffs and shouty vocals are two a penny but, at the outer regions of the rock ‘n roll solar system some more interesting examples live and thrive. Step forward the Reggie Knighton Band, an ensemble fronted by - no prises for guessing - a certain Reggie Knighton and his quirky, some might say eccentric, views on life, love and long distance space travel.
 

For Reggie all topics are game. If not singing about a ‘Clone In Love’, with obvious reference points to genetic modification, strange aerial phenomenon in ‘UFO’, the ever popular Walter Mitty fantasy touched on with ‘Lear Jet’ and the extraterrestrial conundrum examined in ‘Rock ‘N Roll Alien’, he’s off with the fairies singing about the bizarre imaginary bond between him and Elvis in the ‘King And I’.

 
It’s all trippy stuff for sure, but if it wasn’t for rock solid musical backing this album might not sound so appetizing. Produced by Roy Thomas Baker (Queen, the Cars, Journey) the sound is enormous incorporating John Bonham style drumming, razor-sharp guitar work and flamboyant backing vocals in the mould of classic Queen. That this album rocks hard is a revelation in itself. So, climb on board for an extraordinary journey into the world of melodic, if quirky, hard rock by a man whose creativity has few boundaries.

24-bit remastering from original source tapes, 4,000 word essay about the making of the album and a new interview and full involvement from Reggie Knighton. Additional photos and memorabilia spread out over a 12 page full colour booklet.

Track Listing: 1. Breakin’ Up Inside 2. Rock ‘n’ Roll Alien 3. The King And I 4. Clone In Love 5. Lear Jet 6. Highway Patrol 7. UFO 8. Ooh Girl 9. Magnum Sally 10. Behind A Rock ‘N’ Roll band

AUTOGRAPH’S DEBUT album ‘Sign In Please’ contained a surprise hit single, the infectious ‘Turn Up The Radio’, whilst a sell out tour supporting Van Halen elevated them into the upper echelons of the eighties hard rock elite. Things were looking more than good. However, when a Stateside tour supporting Mötley Crüe was secured, RCA, their record label, hit the panic button, insisting that in order to keep momentum rocketing the band should get back into the studio and cut a follow up album as quickly as humanly possible.
It was inevitable that things began to slide; a rushed choice of producer, a lack of preproduction time and a touring deadline that was looming ever closer. Amazingly, when the album was released its cover had to be changed due to bungled copyright issues. And if that wasn’t enough, in order to combat the appearance of Russian band Avtograf (pronounced Autograph), RCA thought it might be a good idea for Autograph to record a cover of Grand Funk Railroad’s classic ‘We’re An American Band’ adding it to the record half way through the campaign.
Under any other circumstance this set of events might have spelled disaster but for Autograph it was just a one more river to cross and one more hurdle to jump. ‘That’s The Stuff’, despite all the pressures baring down on them, was hailed as another solid slice of prime-time American hard rock, big on hooks and crammed with some of the best guitar playing that Steve Lynch ever recorded.

 
24-bit remastering from original source tapes, one bonus track, 4,000 word essay about the making of the album and a new interview and full involvement from Steve Plunkett. Additional photos and memorabilia spread out over a 16 page full colour booklet.

Track Listing: 1. That’s The Stuff  2. Take No Prisoners 3. Blondes In Black cars  4. You’ll Get Over It 5. Crazy World 6. Six String Fever 7. Changing Hands 8. Hammerhead 9. Built For Speed 10. Paint This Town  Bonus Track: 11. We’re An American Band

FANDANGO, SIGNED to the powerful RCA label, recorded a total of three albums of varying quality and content prior to the release of ‘Cadillac’, a record which most fans agree finally saw them take flight as a mature and fully confident melodic hard rock band in the finest late seventies tradition.
This was tough-guy melodic hard rock with great songs, memorable hooks and punchy guitar work. It was also the coming of age of vocalist Joe Lynn Turner, a man who would, after the demise of Fandango, go on to achieve huge success with a number of projects not least of all as the lead vocalist of both Rainbow and Deep Purple. It was also a record that divided the band internally whilst its commercial failure led to an inevitable final split.
Looking back there is no question that ‘Cadillac’ stands loud and proud alongside revered classic of the genre bolstered by a choice song writing quota, fiery guitar playing and just the right amount of controlled mayhem in the drum ‘n bass department. An overlooked classic make no mistake.

24-bit remastering from original source tapes, 4,000 word essay about the making of the album and new interview with Joe Lyn Turner. Additional photos and memorabilia spread out over a 12 page full colour booklet.

Track Listing: 1. Blame It On The Night 2. Rock ‘N Roll You 3. Hypnotized 4. Don’t Waste My Time 5. Stranger (In A Strange Land) 6. Cadillac 7. Fortune Teller 8. Getaway 9. Headliner

THE DEBUT Montrose album is universally regarded as one of, if not the greatest hard rock albums of all time. Released in late 1973, it introduced both a sound and a swagger that single-handedly dragged heavy rock kicking and screaming from its turgid proto-metal roots into a modern streamlined era, opening up a brave new world of possibilities. It was the sound of a mould being smashed to smithereens and the birth of a new epoch; a sound that Van Halen would co-opt for their own earth shattering debut four years later. For guitarist Ronnie Montrose and frontman Sammy Hagar, this was indeed history in the making.
It has been rightfully said that there is not a weak track on this album. Every guitar riff, drum break and ball-squeezing vocal rings out with a pristine clarity that sounds as astounding now as it did when it was first released. Essential to their monumental sound is the creative axis of Sammy Hagar and Ronnie Montrose, who provide the classic guitar/vocalist foil, in a tradition set by Plant/Page, Jagger/Richards and Tyler/Perry. With Hagar’s immediately identifiable vocals and Montrose’s juggernaut guitar riffs the results are truly mind blowing.
It is an album full of classic hard rock moves. From ‘Rock The Nation’, to ‘Bad Motor Scooter’, through ‘Rock Candy’ (a track so good, in fact, that a record company was named in its honour!) to the truly Herculean ‘Space Station #5’ there is no denying the sheer thermo-nuclear power.  With the emphasis on maximum mayhem we ask only that no prisoners be taken.
24-bit remastering from original source tapes, 4,000 word story of the making of the album, full involvement by the band, rare photos, all spread out over a superb 16 page full colour booklet.

Track Listing: 1. Rock The Nation 2. Bad Motor Scooter 3. Space Station #5 4. I Don’t Want It 5. Good Rockin’ Tonight 6. Rock Candy 7. One Thing On My Mind 8. Make It Last

Influenced predominantly by superstar American acts such as Foreigner, Journey, Survivor and Heart came a new breed of British melodic rock band ready and willing to take on the competition with a sense of energy and professionalism that, if lady luck had been smiling in the right direction, might have catapulted them to the same dizzying heights of success.
FM, Shy, Tobruk, Lionheart, Strangeways and Grand Prix were the main frontrunners but it wasn’t until Airrace arrived on the scene that the scene gained a real contender for the NWOBMM (New Wave Of British Melodic Metal) throne. Signed to the giant and hugely influential Atlantic label, they headed straight to New York City, recording with one of the top American producers of the day, namely Beau Hill, the man behind platinum albums from Ratt, Warrant, Winger, Kix, Europe and Twisted Sister.
‘Shaft Of Light’, originally released in 1984, is a masterpiece of catchy hook laden rock with tough-guy guitar riffs, quality keyboards and the superior vocals of frontman Keith Murrell, who has one of the greatest rock voices of all time. With Jason Bonham providing a solid swing to the rhythm section it remains a mystery why Airrace failed to connect on a multi-platinum level.

24-bit remastering from original source tapes, 4,000 word story of the making of the album, full involvement by the band, rare photos, two bonus tracks, all spread out over a superb 16 page full colour booklet.

Track Listing: 1. I Don’t Care 2. Promise To Call 3. First One Over The Line 4. Open your Eyes 5. Not Really Me 6. Brief Encounter 7. Caught In The Game 8. Do You Want My Love Again 9. Didn’t Wanna Lose Ya 10. All I’m Asking. Bonus Tracks: 1. Not Really Me (demo) 2. She Can’t Come Out (demo)

COMPARED, BY those who know about such things, to leading lights of the era, including Kiss, Aerosmith, Angel and Cheap Trick, Teaze made an immediate impact in, of all places, Japan where their explosive riffs, poptastic hooks, colourful glad rags and no holds barred on-stage energy immediately elevated them to stardom. Buoyed by this success, the band continued to consolidate their Canadian presence before scoring a much coveted Stateside deal with Capitol Records.

For many, ‘One Night Stands’ is the highlight of Teaze’s career; a savage take no prisoners collection of tough-guy hard rock produced to maximum effect by April Wine main-man Myles Goodwin and loaded with prime time guitar anthems such as ‘Back In Action’, ‘Red Hot Ready’ and the classic ‘Boys Night Out’. It is regarded as one of the most impressive hard rock records of the era.”

24-bit remastering from original source tapes, 4,000 word story of the making of the album, full involvement by the band, rare photos, one bonus track, all spread out over a superb 12 page full colour booklet.

Track Listing: 1. Back In Action 2. Young And Reckless 3. Heartless World 4. Boys Night Out 5. Through The Years 6. Reach Out 7. Stay Here 8. Red Hot Ready 9. Touch The Wind. Bonus Track 10. Loose Change

GRAND PRIX, signed to RCA records, were launched to solid critical acclaim, but their music was quickly identified as being far too sophisticated to truly align them to the NWOBHM. Like Praying Mantis, White Spirit, Tobruk and Shy, the band’s penchant for polish, melody and complex arrangements meant that they were quickly sidelined by many in favour of the more in-your-face attributes of the competition.

With a sound steeped in American radio rock, comparisons were immediately made to Styx, Kansas, Saga and Journey. However, Grand Prix were, it must be said, practically the only British band of the era that could hold a candle to the serious melodic sensibilities of their American cousins. Part of the reason for this was the appointment of vocalist Bernie Shaw, a Canadian citizen who had moved to the UK in search of new opportunities.

Grand Prix’s, largely overlooked, self titled debut album, originally released in 1980, is actually one of the greatest melodic rock albums of the era. Immersed in pomp and circumstance, the record contains a number of classic tracks, including ‘Waiting For The Night’, ‘Thinking Of You’, ‘Mama Says’, and ‘Which Way Did The Wind Blow’, amongst other gems.

24-bit remastering from original source tapes, 4,000 word story of the making of the album, full involvement by the band, rare photos, three bonus tracks, all spread out over a superb 12 page full colour booklet.

Track Listing: 1. Waiting For The Night 2. Day In The Life 3. Thinking Of You 4. Mama Sayes 5. Which Way Did The Wind Blow 6. West Wind 7. Next To You 8. You Know It Can Be 9. Feel Like I Do 10. The Very Last Time (Dreamer) Bonus tracks: 11. Feels Good (Grand Prix) Non LP B-side of ‘Which Way Did The Wind Blow’ 12. Room 155 (Unreleased demo) 13. Somewhere Tonight (Unreleased demo w/ Bernie Shaw)

TRIGGER’S LONE major label album (originally released in 1978) is regarded by many as one of the greatest hard rock records to have been recorded during the 1970’s. That it didn’t sell a bean is no refection of its creative power or its unyielding ability to impress.

Signed to the prestigious Casablanca label (on the recommendation of Gene Simmons), the Trigger sound was cut from very much the same cloth as fellow label mates Kiss and Angel, as well as other great American hard rock institutions such as Starz and Aerosmith. Melodic, yet rough hewn, their sound relied on killer hooks, razor sharp guitar, pummelling rhythm work and songs that told road-weary stories of hard livin’, dangerous deeds and late nights. It was a party sound tailor made for the era and one that out-performed fledgling rivals by a considerable margin.

Sadly, despite delivering a near masterpiece of triumphant shout-it-out-loud rock, Trigger’s fortunes were dashed by the economic cruelties of a label that was fast running out of both track and cash. Sinking with the ship, Trigger’s time may have been short lived but their legacy continues to exert considerable influence. And, like all the great loud and proud records, it is a sound that, come rain or shine, sounds as fresh today as it did on the day of release.

24-bit remastering from original source tapes, 4,000 word story of the making of the album, full involvement by the band, rare photos, all spread out over a superb 16 page full colour booklet.

Track listing: 1. Somebody Like You 2. Gimme Your Love 3. Baby Don’t Cry 4. Shake It Up 5. Rockin’ ‘Cross The USA 6. Deadly Weapon 7. I’ve Heard That Line Before 8. Beware Of The Strangers 9. I Think I’m Ready 10. Don’t Stop Your Love 11. We’re Gonna make It

ORIGINALLY RELEASED in 1978, this record captures Bow Wow in full unrestrained flight, delivering an explosion of energy. Recorded with pristine clarity, ‘Super Live’ takes no prisoners. It is the sound of a band finally finding their true sound and displaying instrumental capability of the finest calibre. Indeed, guitarist Kyoji Yamamoto was already shaping up to be the most distinctive Japanese player of the era, an honour he still shoulders to this very day. Of special note is the enthusiasm of their audience – a more fanatical reaction being difficult to imagine.
‘Super Live’ marked a major advancement in Bow Wow’s career. In the first instance it cemented their reputation as unquestionably the hottest Japanese hard rock band around and, secondly, it allowed them to retrench and focus on their next studio album. It is without doubt, another key moment in Japanese hard rock history.

24-bit remastering from original source tapes, 5 bonus tracks, story of the making of the album, full involvement by the band, rare photos, all spread out over a superb full colour booklet.

1. Introduction (Hey Your Ready) 2. Heart’s On Fire 3. Jet Jive 4. Explosion  5. Still  6. Just A Rockin’ Time  7. Get On Out Train 8. Just One More Night  9. Theme Of Bow Wow 10. Summertime Blues

‘CHARGE’ WAS Bow Wow’s third album, originally released in 1977, and showcased a mature, and in some ways a more refined, approach to the band’s evolving sound. This new album rather cleverly fused intense hard rock riffing with a sense of mature drama, which suggested Bow Wow were not just a one dimensional beast. Some of the material showcased on this album is heavier and more intensely sinister than anything they had previously recorded. Clearly, though, Bow Wow were rapidly expanding their horizons, setting their sights on the big prize, with a view to taking on the gods of Western rock and beating them at their own game.
And let us not forget guitarist Kyoji Yamamoto’s increasing expertise on guitar. Above all else, this album demonstrates what an incredible player he had been developing into, which was carving out a superior reputation amongst not only his Japanese peers but also internationally. Truly breathtaking, a number of solos on this record are monumental statements, confirming that Yamamoto was not only a masterful Japanese player but also one of the most innovative his generation.

24-bit remastering from original source tapes, 5 bonus tracks, story of the making of the album, full involvement by the band, rare photos, all spread out over a superb full colour booklet.

1. Jet Jive  2. Must Say “Adieu”  3. Blue Eyed Lady  4. The Clown  5. Rock And Roll Kid  6. Fallen Leaves  7. Heavy  8. Sister Soul  9. Behind The Mask