~~ALBUMS OF THE YEAR~~

I.] GARY HUGHES - ONCE AND FUTURE KING PT. 1 & 2
To write a rock opera like this is a massive undertaking, just ask all the other musicians that have attempted such in the past and succeeded at it. Arjen Luccassen’s Ayreon projects, Tobias Sammet and his world of Avantasia, Nikolo Kotzev resurrecting the life and times of Nostradamus… but for the few that have met expectations there have been even more that were flush worthy. When you are trying to balance so many singers and musicians plus a keep a straight theme, things can easily go awry. But with Hughes, there’s no reason to worry. Give a listen to any of his Ten albums and it’s instantly evident that the man writes some of the most passionate and poetic lyrics in the world of rock today. So painting the legend of King Arthur onto a musical tapestry is probably just an easy task for such a massive talent, or atleast he makes it seems so. The two discs abound with glorious songs, the first quaintly subtitled “Part One” is the more melodic of the two, the other seems to wander around a little more musically which labels it a tad more ‘progressive’. I have locked them in first place together as a single entity because that is how they are meant to be heard and should have been packaged as a double disc single release a’la Nik’s Nostradamus. My main quibble with the “Future King” is surprisingly the lack of Hughes himself. Hearing Bob Catley, Damian Wilson, Lana Lane, Irene Jansen, and the squeal worthy single appearance of DC Cooper is wonderful, yet I yearn for more of Gary’s sensual voice that makes one go weak in the knees. Nevertheless many have said that this is one of the best concept albums ever conceived, and I believe that the masses in this case, are right. The songs are so tight and well written that it allows most of them to stand alone, separate from the “theme”, a feature that so many of these concept projects lack. Superb stuff with an all star cast.

II.] BRAZEN ABBOT - GUILTY AS SIN
Some might not like Nikolo Kotzev’s policy of having multiple singers per album, but I for one, believe it to be refreshing. You get a sampling of different voices and Nik always manages to make the cd flow along without a hitch despite the changing roster of singers. Here we find two returning BA staples, the luscious foreign tilt of Goran Edman, who I will add, is improving rapidly with age, I love this man more and more as time goes on, and of course Joe Lynn Turner, whose bluesy voice is instantly identifiable as one of rock’s under acknowledged gods. Newcomer to the Brazen camp is sometimes David Coverdale sound-alike twin, the talented Jorn Lande, who is positively divine here as well. Interestingly enough all three of these guys are ex-Yngwie Malmsteen singers, its amazing how many vocal talents the neoclassical speed demon has left by the wayside. Lucky for us Nikolo was keen enough to pick them up for us and put them on display with a variety of suitable songs that bring out the best of each singer. JLT rips right out of his old Rainbow book with “One Life to Live”, “Mr. Earthman” sees Lande just destroying the monster chorus, and “I’ll Be Free” gives Edman room to breathe with a touching, sweet ballad that is saccharine to the ears. Kotzev himself is a fabulous writer and musician and his guitar licks are mesmerizing without being overly showy. Unfortunately nothing really touches my favorite BA piece from years back, “Restless in Seattle”, but after so many years without Abbot in my life, this was like a touch of heaven. A must-have piece of Euro-hard rock.

III.] BOB CATLEY - WHEN EMPIRES BURN
Could Bob survive without the guidance of Ten frontman Gary Hughes? Apparently so! “When Empires Burn” was not a departure for lead Magnum crooner at all but yet another showcase of his pure, golden voice with lovely musical backdrops born of more traditional British hard rock than his pompous past trio of Hughes helmed discs. The choruses are positively massive and while hard rock ditties abound we are also treated to a Celtic influenced track and some breezy AOR that suits Catley’s voice perfectly. While I was personally worried that without Hughes’ backing, the cd would suffer, but apparently this legendary singer made the right choice and gave his fans the most pleasant shock of the year.

IV.] KAYAK - MERLIN BARD OF THE UNSEEN
This album still pretty much remains “unseen”. For those that don’t know, and until this year I was one of you guys, Kayak has been around since the early 70s, doing pop prog stuff, made occasionally appearances through the 80s only to die off, unseen through the 90s and pop up in 2000. My interest wasn’t invested until Bert Heerink was confirmed to be on board as vocalist, and that sealed the deal for me. Bert was the singer for much beloved Dutch hard rock band Vandenberg, and its wonderous to hear him back in action and in such fine voice. The songs here are a mix of tunes from the 1981 Kayak album “Merlin” and some new material made just for this release as Ton Scherpenzeel looks to finally make his dream reality. The result is an effortless flow of story and music in concept album form that when given the proper chance, can completely dazzle the listener. Heerink duets with female singer Cindy Oudshoom on a couple of songs, each one more lovely than the last. Just listen to “When the Seer Looks Away” with its drama or “Friendship and Love” and its tenderness. “Merlin” is fairly easy to keep up with concept wise as well. Five main characters, two each handled by Heerink and Oudshoom and one by Vunderink. This keeps the cast small and the story flowing. Those that missed out on this in 2003, well, there’s no better time than now to discover the prog highlight of the past year. The addition of a full on orchestra only encourages matters and elevates the album to near classic status.

V.] PRIDE OF LIONS - ST
Jim Peterik’s project turned out to be one of the best cds of the year, hands down. Its Survivor made over but with a fresh gloss that could only come out of present times. His singer is the young buck Toby Hitchcock who is in his mid 20s but already an amazing vocalist that is reminiscent of a marriage of Jimi Jamison and Mickey Thomas. Hearing him nail Survivor’s “Burning Heart” live was absolutely amazing. The songs on the album itself are superbly crafted and have more hooks than you can hang your proverbial hat on. AOR fans must have been in heaven once they latched upon this little gem, I know I was.

VI.] MIDNITE CLUB - RUNNING OUT OF LIES
I was first turned on to Carsten Schulz just last year with the Evidence One release. Lucky for me It was a double treat this year with him singing vocals on two albums. Domain is heavier pure Euro stuff. Solid as a rock but not a lot of variety in the mix, which is disappointing. Midnite Club is much easier on the ears and very similar to Evidence One. This was the disc that brought me to love Schulz all over again. They draw comparisons to Frontline and Jaded Heart and while they aren’t as dazzling as Frontline, they are still a cool band for the AOR crowd seeking something a little heavier in taste and form. It also sports one of my favorite covers of the year with the butterfly girl.

VII.] JOE LYNN TURNER - JLT
I love Joe Lynn Turner, anything he does attracts me like flies to honey. He has one of the best rock voices out there, that can croon as smooth as silk or rasp with a bluesy wail, and I’m not even going to touch his release with Malmsteen, “Odyssey”, for that performance was too incredible for words. The point is, Joe Lynn knows his stuff and is a great songwriter to boot. This is another dose of Deep Purple-ish hard rock, and thankfully much more accessible than “Slam” or “Holy Man” ever was. Its great hearing guitarist Al Piterelli getting back to his melodic roots and his riffs and solos blend nicely into the mix. There’s more to his repretoir than speed metal string striking in Megadeth (RIP) or the riffage for pomp-masters, Savatage. Even though “JLT” is a solid cd that begs for replay, I still will not die happy until Joe Lynn gives me another release in the vein of the pop classic, “Rescue You”. Maybe next time, please?

VIII.] HAREM SCAREM - HIGHER
Ten tracks, barely thirty minutes long… what is this the 80s again? That was acceptable when the dominant musical medium was the cumbersome LP but in the days of hour long albums, cutting us short shouldn’t really be tolerated. Except this album is so damn good you don’t even care. It completely levels their previous “Weight of the World” and comes close to clipping the wings off of “Mood Swings” - which I will add right now is one of my favorite discs that I keep coming back to. The writing is top notch, giving us stadium rock anthems, darker tunes with an edgy melodic rock heart and breezy AOR ballads that melt what’s left of our soul. Harem has been a great band from the get-go but this proves that after they got all that Rubber nu-breed junk out of their system they have since managed to reach for the stars and pull down a few just for us.

IX.] STRATOVARIUS - ELEMENTS PT. 1 & 2
It is a fact that in comparison to Stratovarius’s other material, these two cds kind of suck. Nothing compares to the “big three” - “Fourth Dimension”, “Episode”, and “Visions” and these two albums don’t even attempt it. They are both kind of tired sounding musically and you can’t fault the other band members for that, since everyone in this band was top notch. Was being the word. Timo Kotipelto and Jorg Michael are out and on their own and God help poor Timo because his other solo album was a real stinker. But I suppose it doesn’t really matter because Tolkki hasn’t written much of anything worth raving about since the “Destiny” days. Strat was a great band though and some songs can’t help but to come out smelling like roses such as the lovely ballad “Papillion” from Pt. 1 that squeezed a few teardrops from my eyes and the rather inspirational “Elements”. Then there’s “Awaken the Giant” and “Alpha & Omega” from the second part… both worthy of having the band’s name attached to them. The sad thing is, if it wasn’t for the internal destruction of this Finnish outfit from 2003, neither one of these albums would have made my top 10 for the year, they simply cannot hold up as individuals on their own, but with the events that have taken place, its likely the last time we will hear the guys together as the world had grown to love them. Sad, but true. . I play “Papillion”, dream of better days gone past and the sorrow that comes with the end of an era.

X.] FRONTLINE - ALMOST UNRELEASED
I almost feel guilty including this. The songs are not as the title claims all “almost unreleased”, in fact, five came from “Heroes” which was Japanese only so I suppose many did not get the chance to hear them the first time around. Three tracks are actually brand new, “My Innocence”, “No One Like You” and “I’ll Be There For You” - all superb and more guitar heavy than the “unreleased” portions of the disc which are a total of four plus two more “Japan bonus tracks” that those with European release copies were denied hearing. Well, I’m totally in love with this band, they are pretty much Starship for a new crowd with some Journey mixed in and some melodies that can turn even the most hard rock centered brain to AOR mush. I adore Stephan Krammerer’s vocals, to me he’s “better than Perry” and Robby Boebel is a great guitarist, very underrated, maybe he’s just too tasteful. This is the perfect starting point for those curious about Frontline but haven’t taken the leap yet, and for those already in the know, well you gotta have it, seven previously unheard tracks is practically enough for a full album on its own.

Runners Up:
The following five "almost had-its", nearly edged their way into the top 10 but for various reasons... didn't quite make it.

Dream Theater - Train of Thought
Another good cd for DT, but its still not enough to make me forget "Awake". 
Gotthard - Human Zoo
It may be more mature and rather good AOR but all we really want is to hear them rock, "Dial Hard" style.
At Vance - The Evil In You
What happened to the *other* singer?  Oh well, its nice to hear Mats Leven stretching his talents. 
Tarot - Suffer Thy Pleasures
TAROT! I love thee!  Unfortunately I don't own this cd and have only heard one song.. thus.. I stick them here.  Sorry guys.
Double Cross - Time After Time
Nice AOR and Bob Catley as a guest.  What more do ya want??? 

And rolling right along:

THE MISC. AWARDS
Do ya think yer good enuff? Apparently these guys and gals made the grade for the year of '03, or not, dependng on the 'award' category. 

Best Re-release:
Craaft - ST / Snake Charmer - Backyard Boogaloo
After years of people paying insane Ebay prices for Craaft’s first self titled release (not the OTHER one - that’s easier to come by) someone finally got smart and slammed out this puppy as a re-release. Not only do you get the original album in all of its classic glory but also a second bonus disc packed with SIXTEEN mostly unreleased songs. Good Lord if that doesn’t sucker you into buying this thing then nothing will. Snake Charmer was released years ago in Japan and was pretty much instantly forgotten. Thankfully it was resurrected by MTM so we can now hear Goran Edman crooning in all his glory supported with backup by the Johansson brothers, Jens and Anders. A rare coveted 80s classic and a flash in the pan Jap only release, both have found new life - and new fans.

Most Exciting Group Reformation:
EUROPE!
Dreams DO come true! Joey Tempest and John Norum back together…! I would never have entertained such foolish notions but the fantasy has become reality. Europe was my first “metal” band and “Wings of Tomorrow” my first album (on cassette tape no less). I sang their songs in kindergarten, I wanted to introduce “Stormwind” into song list for the church choir. And as long as this reunion results in some kind of live DVD, a re-release of their 80s concert tape or better yet, a promo-video compilation, I will be the happiest metal fan in the world.

Worst Breakup:
STRATOVARIUS.
Inner turmoil aside, who saw this coming until Tolkki started raving all kinds of crazy stuff about bodyguards, death threats, anti-depressants, and emergency band meetings. Then the news hit that Koti and Jorg was out. The band survived without them before and most likely will again… but as I have already raved in the album roundup for the “Elements”, it’s sad to see the band as we know it go.

Stupidest Breakup:
Matthew Barlow out of Iced Earth… because of the 9/11 terrorist attacks??? You can’t sing because of that? Shouldn’t that inspire you to put even more of yourself into your music? I guess it just made him want to throw in the towel and take up law enforcement? How could you do such a thing with such tremendous talent and go and waste it like that? How horridly depressing. I guess he’ll be the singing cop or something. Another band bites the dust? Only “The Glorious Burden” will tell…and having scored a preview copy a few weeks back let’s just say, I’m not worried at all. Tim Owens (Judas Priest’s ex) sounds like a freakin’ metal god…

Best Mainstream Release:
The Darkness - Permission to Land
I don’t think anyone is going to argue this. Here are a bunch of guys that look like 80s metal clichés come to life, playing music near identical to what was hot on the radio circa 1986 and with a heavy Queen influence to boot. Just check out the high notes the lead singer nails on “I Believe in a Thing Called Love”. Good Lord that’s almost as ridiculous as the skin tight pants he’s wearing. Would this have become so “big” (as in VH-1/MTV - and God help us - radio play!) had lead singer, Justin Hawkins, not been some kind of unholy caricature of Steven Tyler? Probably not, but who cares? Finally some rocking music (with sizzling guitar solos that aren’t all distorted - bout time) gets some U.S. attention. Will it revive rock in this stagnant musical wasteland? Most likely not, but at least The Darkness looks like they are having fun, the music is fun, but yet I wonder if its all a big joke - on us.