Melodic rock legends Winger are set to release their sixth studio album in April.
It has also been confirmed the band are to appear alongside other melodic rockers Aerosmith, Red Dragon Cartel and “comic” relief Steel Panther.
Entitled ‘Better Days Comin”, the album reunites original members Kip Winger, Rod Morganstein and Reb Beach (also a longterm member of Whitesnake) with guitarist John Roth for a continuation to the band’s hard rock legacy.
House of Lords’ self-titled debut from 1989 is somewhat of a melodic rock cult classic. The combination of Chuck Wright’s meaty bass work, Lanny Cordolla’s nifty-yet-melodic guitar shredding, Greg Giuffria’s bombastic keyboards and James Christian’s commanding vocals pull together excellently – like listening to a melodic rock supergroup, even though the original project was never conceived as such. Line-up changes for each of their subsequent recordings (1990’s ‘Sahara’ and 1992’s overlooked ‘Demons Down’) meant that the magic was never quite captured in the same way again, but these, nevertheless are enjoyable offerings.
Following line-up changes after the release of their 2008 debut, it took Italian melodic rockers Hungryheart three years to return with their second release. While the gap between releases was a bit longer than ideal, the Tanzan Records label stood by them and the band, in turn, clearly spent their time wisely. For those who like their melodic rock with a slightly Euro bent, ‘One Ticket To Paradise’ is more than worth a listen.
Following the success of ‘Pyromania’, ‘Hysteria’ and ‘Adrenalize’ 2CD deluxe editions, Def Leppard are giving ‘Slang’ similar treatment in February 2014.
Moving away from the band’s signature sound, ‘Slang’ is a “Marmite” album for fans (ie: they either love it or hate it), but despite the mixed response, it still scored the Leps three hit singles in the title track, ‘Promises’ and ‘Work It Out’.
With the seventies drawing to a close and with three successful albums released under the Rainbow moniker, the ever-restless Ritchie Blackmore looked to make changes. In a quest to push Rainbow towards a more commercial and radio-friendly direction a big shake up occurred, resulting in the departure of three of the band’s five members. While Cozy Powell retained his position on drums, a quest for a new bassist saw the appointment of Blackmore’s old Deep Purple mate Roger Glover, while the role of keyboard player was filled by future Ten/Deep Purple member Don Airey. Certainly the most devastating loss was that of Ronnie James Dio, who supposedly had no interest in Blackmore’s new vision for the band. Since a talent like Dio’s comes along once in a lifetime, perhaps other musicians would have fought to reach a compromise; but in any band featuring Ritchie Blackmore, Blackmore’s decision is final.