Best known as the guitarist with Europe on their ‘Out of This World’ and ‘Prisoners In Paradise’ albums (released in 1988 and 1991, respectively) Kee Marcello is no stranger to the world of melodic rock. Although his time as a member of hit-makers Europe was brief, his impact on the band’s sound was significant; his soloing on parts of ‘Out of This World’ in particular singled him out as being a gifted player with a great tone. Throughout the next two decades, Marcello worked extensively with other artists, racking up guest credits on dozens of rock albums, as well as embarking on an oft-overlooked solo career.
Tag Archives: frontiers records
HARDLINE – Human Nature
Back in the early 90s, the Gioeli Brothers (vocalist Johnny and guitarist Joey) attracted the attention of Journey guitarist Neal Schon. After drafting in Bad English drummer Deen Castronovo and forming Hardline, the band’s debut album ‘Double Eclipse’ was well received by the melodic rock community. It took a full decade until a follow up belatedly appeared and another eight years for the third Hardline album to materialise. You could say that Hardline make Metallica and Guns N’ Roses appear rather prolific. 2016’s ‘Human Nature’ – the band’s fifth studio album – reinstates guitarist Josh Ramos, absent for 2012 offering ‘Danger Zone’. This is something that will undoubtedly please fans, but it does mean that Hardline have featured a different line up on each release. There are some that have long thought that, in this repect, the band are basically Johnny Gioli and whomever he can find at the time of recording – and they’d probably be right – but if Johnny says it’s Hardline, then Hardline it is.
PALACE – Master Of The Universe
Michael Palace made his entrance into the melodic rock world early in 2016 when he contributed some fine guitar work to the second First Signal album. Several months on and with a new band in tow, his eponymous band’s debut teams him up with musicians who’ve played on other AOR projects from Find Me, Houston and even Erika Norberg.
CRUZH – Cruzh
Having never scoring a record deal or recording anything of note, Swedish glam rockers TrashQueen called it a day in 2015. Two thirds of the band then decided it was time to try a different style of rock music…and so bassist Dennis Butabi Borg and guitarist Anton Joensson formed Cruzh with vocalist Tony Andersson. The new band shunned the previous sleaze and glam sound in favour of AOR and melodic rock…music also not popular since 1990. If swimming against the tide were an Olympic sport, these guys would get a gold medal.
KING COMPANY – One For The Road
Constructed of ex-members of Warmen, Thunderstone and Enfarce, King Company started out their musical journey as No Man’s Land. After a swift renaming they set about recording their debut album ‘One For The Road’ and were subsequently picked up for distribution by Frontiers Records, a label which, at the time of King Company’s first offering was home to Def Leppard, Whitesnake, Journey, Uriah Heep and other classic rockers. If nothing else, King Company found themselves in fine company.