The official Frontiers Softcock Shit thread

[bl5150]

I wouldn't be either if I was listening to The Hoff 

[BlobVanDam]

Oh snap!

That was only once, and it knew it was cheese!

[bl5150]

Well my initial thoughts on Kiske-Somerville aren't much different to the Peterik-Scherer.

Sounds great , the songs are competent but mostly by the numbers/uninspired.   The vocal performances are fine as expected.   I rated about half the songs as something I'd be happy to have on rotation and the rest were pretty average.  As with the Peterik album there were a couple of songs that stood out. My favourite may well be the ballad (usually not a good sign) After The Night Is Over.

I'll note that some of the lyrics on this are so bad I'd have trouble singing them without losing my shit.

I rate it 77%.  Another Frontiers project that sounds just like a Frontiers project.  And another album that seems to be scoring 90%+ everywhere i look for reviews.  So maybe it's just me. 

[Prog Snob]

I've been trying to find this melodic rock band for the longest time.  My friend played them for me once and what hooked me was when he said they sounded like TNT.  I know this is probably the vaguest description ever but it's all I have to go on.

[bl5150]

Masquerade?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahrlHIlGEH4

[Prog Snob]

No.  But I'll check them out anyway.      

It's alright and I can definitely hear the Tony Harnell influence in his voice.  God, I remember how many CDs I had of melodic rock bands at one point.  My collection was immense. My friend turned me onto the band Fair Warning years ago and I basically went from there.  I am pretty sure Go was the first release of theirs I heard and loved it and then I got Four.

[bl5150]

Make sure you get Fair Warning's s/t debut too then.

[bl5150]

Oh........and I should mention it really shits me when people put a vague question out there like that and I feel I should know the bloody answer     I won't sleep tonight until I figure it out.     (only half joking)

Let's go more obscure-  Bigg Mouth.   Harnell actually did background vox on this and the guitarist even has the Le Tekro sound.  TNT meets Skid Row I suppose.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJdv7YXgLVM

[Prog Snob]

Oh........and I should mention it really shits me when people put a vague question out there like that and I feel I should know the bloody answer     I won't sleep tonight until I figure it out.     (only half joking)

Let's go more obscure-  Bigg Mouth.   Harnell actually did background vox on this and the guitarist even has the Le Tekro sound.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJdv7YXgLVM

Definitely not them.  I vaguely remember the band starting with the letter 'T' but that could be wrong.

[bl5150]

How about Harnell's replacement in TNT Tony Mills and his old band Shy.   I can't think of any bands starting with T that have ever been known as TNT soundalikes.

Try this..........sounds very TNT from the guitars to the vocals.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfZALVlK1Es

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ikv_hsBwqT4

[Prog Snob]

Maybe it was Shy.   I really wish I could remember for certain. 

[Evermind]

Well my initial thoughts on Kiske-Somerville aren't much different to the Peterik-Scherer.

I'll note that some of the lyrics on this are so bad I'd have trouble singing them without losing my shit.

I rate it 77%.  Another Frontiers project that sounds just like a Frontiers project.  And another album that seems to be scoring 90%+ everywhere i look for reviews.  So maybe it's just me. 

Salvation! I can't resist your temptation!

Well, it seems your rating matches my 7 - 7.5 / 10 alright.

[Prog Snob]

I would give it the same rating. It doesn't blow my ears out.  She's always pleasurable to watch which maybe adds 1 point to the rating.  I've always liked her since I saw her in the Epica home video. 

[Lowdz]

Major keys have no balls.

I really struggle with major keys. I can cope for the odd track as a change but it kills most "power" metal for me. No wonder my kids call me grumpy 

[Bolsters]

77% is being generous I think.

[wolfking]

Got a copy of the Kiske/Somerville on Friday and have been spinning it in the car on the weekend.  First off, for the modern production, it actually sounds really clear and impressive.  Loud, but not over compressed.  The only thing I will say is that in the choruses Kiske sometimes sounds inaduable compared to Amanda.  Not really a big thing as these songs suit Amanda really well, and I'm notmally not that keen on female metal singers.

The songs I'm pretty sure Karlsson wrote in his sleep, and I question Sinner's involvement, but perhaps he handled the awful lyrics, as Karlsson's normally are passable.  There is nothing bad on here as everything Karlsson does usually is at a standard, but some of these songs are safe and just good.  There are a couple of good tracks here and as usual with his work, I'll get some replay value out of it.  Salvation is actually a fantastic track even with the horrible lyrics in the chrous.  Lights Out is a good rocker with a nice atmosphere, Rising Up and Breaking Neptune are solid tracks and Last Goodbye and Run With a Dream are pretty good too which actually both remind me heavily of Avantasia.  The final track seems so cliche and pop, but is actually a really good anthem IMO, and has a heavy Martenssen feel.

Perfomances are good, and the chick drummer certainly is impressive too.  Karlsson gets the job done, but I can's help but feel his guitar playing these days is quite lazy compared the the first Allen Lande and Last Tribe days.  The solos are top notch, but I think since he's so busy, a lot of these are rushed and even one take solos.  He's always been repetitive but seems in a little rut in terms of his solos.  Listen to some Last Tribe solos and then these and there's no comparison.

All in all, it's shitloads better than the last Allen lande and even though this is a safe effort, shows he should have still been handling that project.  Considering his first solo album, the last Primal Fear, along with his new solo album and no doubt a new Primal Fear, while providing songs each for Place Vendome and Revolution Saints, coming out with this with all that on your plate is a pretty impressive feat.  I just hoped he's left the real good stuff for Freefall and PF.

[TAC]

I sampled a number of tracks and I'm just not sold on this. I just don't think it's strong enough.
Maybe 10-15 years ago I would've jumped on this, like I did with Supared and the self titled Kiske album, when Kiske was doing jack shit and you'd have to buy a sucky album just to hear his voice.
But his return to heavier music, the Unisonic albums, etc...no longer require me to buy a shit album.

Like Wolf, I don't really go for female vocals in my hard rock, and I like Somerville's voice well enough, but truth is, I cannot remember the last time I listened to the first K/S album.

Approaching the end of April now, and I've bought about 10, maybe a dozen 2015 albums already, which is the most I've bought in the first quarter of any year that I can remember, but I am really on the fence on this K/S album. I am finding it very hard part with any cash for this.

[bl5150]

Looks like it wasn't just me. 

Kiske + TAC no likey = shit 

[TAC]

Looks like it wasn't just me. 

Kiske + TAC no likey = shit 

Yeah right? This album is just so bad. If he were doing ALL of the vocals, then maybe...

[wolfking]

It's not bad at all, that's a bit of a stretch IMO.  It's still quality for the type of music it is, but I think I can speak for all of us that the genre just seems to be getting too stale and safe.   I just couldn't be bothered with a lot of this style anymore.  Not the style I guess, just what is getting dished out.

I will say the new Eclipse impressed me, but won't have the lasting power as per Bleed and Scream.  Perhaps Frontiers should move more into the hard rock and metal stuff like Primal Fear and Level 10.  Those seem like a good mix lately that I'm really digging.

I will listen to the new Jim Peterik album, but I doubt I'll spend any money on a copy.  I can't believe how picky I've become lately with music and what I'm purchasing.  Getting older and more priorities I guess.

[bl5150]

I've alluded to it in my earlier post about wondering if I will even bother with new melodic rock releases any more but it seems to me that some fans of melodic rock (all of us here for starters) have become much more discerning and I think that's pretty understandable.  We're talking about a genre that was getting stale in the 90's and I don't think it's being too picky to expect a bit more than the same old same old when you already have hundreds or thousands of albums in this style in your collection.

We're currently in a situation where one label (Frontiers) is keeping the whole scene going in some ways and on one hand I thank them for that.  On the other hand - in order to make it work financially they're focusing on project bands/supergroups where the artists themselves defer the songwriting to the "Frontiers team" and ,the odd release aside , it's very stale.

As you know , before my arrival here I'd been hanging around with Paul and the mr.com crowd .  I only keep a lazy eye on what's going on over there now but all the releases that we have reservations about are being fawned over endlessly.  So these albums are cheap to produce and have a small but very loyal following which shows little sign of abating =no incentive to change.

One new song that is getting raved over is the new Trixter.  Now to me this is a talented band wasting their time trying to be 20 again , but it's going down a treat.   This is no project band either but doing the retro thing when it comes to 50 year old guys singing about chicks and so forth really makes me wince.  But they're getting rave reviews and good luck to them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZ1vxBJ_c9w


Out of all the recent new releases the one song that really gives me the best of both worlds is Before I Die by The Poodles.......surprise,surprise not a Frontiers release.   The subject matter is a bit like It's My Life by Bon Jovi - difference being this has some balls , crunchy guitars , better melodies and some nice playing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p477gDIRxo

But it takes a lot of listening to find just the odd track that I really love these days .  The scene is nowhere near as strong as back in the day but the dramatic reduction in barriers to entry (cost of putting albums out there without record deals etc...) means there's so much crap to wade through.  No doubt there is good stuff passing us by for that reason.........it just gets lost.

Anyway.....I suppose we can be thankful that we're not being brought up on Top 40 stuff from today 



PS  anyone else having trouble with Google Chrome? - some dodgy update seems to have gone through that's constantly freezing it 

[wolfking]

Overall, you're pretty spot on.  I'm glad though there is fans that still lap up whatever Frontiers do,  It keeps them going no doubt.

The Poodles are pretty good.  I only have their last two, but they are both solid.  I forgot they had something new and will check it out.

Don't use Google Chrome Brent.

[BlobVanDam]

PS  anyone else having trouble with Google Chrome? - some dodgy update seems to have gone through that's constantly freezing it 

Oh good, that's not just me then?

[bl5150]

Nah - been driving me mad today Blob.

So mad that I checked this out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYcH6Dk3Urk&feature=youtu.be   


 

[BlobVanDam]

Suddenly that Hoff song isn't looking so bad.

[Prog Snob]

Nah - been driving me mad today Blob.

So mad that I checked this out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYcH6Dk3Urk&feature=youtu.be   


 

That's terrible.   

I'm not sure if that is worse or Google Chrome sucking it lately.   

[wolfking]

Nah - been driving me mad today Blob.

So mad that I checked this out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYcH6Dk3Urk&feature=youtu.be   


 

*clicked link*
*saw the artist before the video started*
*immediately closed window*

[bl5150]

Obviously not a fan of the idea of something being so bad it's good 

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Listening to Red Zone Rider today.  Damn good album.

[TAC]

It's not bad at all, that's a bit of a stretch IMO.  It's still quality for the type of music it is, but I think I can speak for all of us that the genre just seems to be getting too stale and safe.

Other than the fact that it has Kiske, I would not even go near this album.

  I can't believe how picky I've become lately with music and what I'm purchasing.  Getting older and more priorities I guess.

And that's just it.
I'm a huge Kiske fan, so I'm sure I'll get it eventually.

[Zook]

The only thing I will say is that in the choruses Kiske sometimes sounds inaduable compared to Amanda. 

Good to know. We need more Amanda, but I love female fronted metal.

[wolfking]

Listening to Red Zone Rider today.  Damn good album.

Still need to check this one out.

It's not bad at all, that's a bit of a stretch IMO.  It's still quality for the type of music it is, but I think I can speak for all of us that the genre just seems to be getting too stale and safe.

Other than the fact that it has Kiske, I would not even go near this album.

  I can't believe how picky I've become lately with music and what I'm purchasing.  Getting older and more priorities I guess.

And that's just it.
I'm a huge Kiske fan, so I'm sure I'll get it eventually.

Kiske and Karlsson made it an instant purchase for me.  These days, I'd listen first, but probably wouldn't buy it.  Saying that, I'm still spinning it and it's worthy of a purchase.

The only thing I will say is that in the choruses Kiske sometimes sounds inaduable compared to Amanda. 

Good to know. We need more Amanda, but I love female fronted metal.

She's very dominant on this, so you may enjoy it.  Needs more Kiske IMO.

[TAC]

Got an 85 at Metal Reviews:
https://www.metalreviews.com/reviews/album/9099

[wolfking]

All the reviews I have seen have been pretty positive.

[TAC]

Well, I'm planning on getting the Impelliterri tomorrow, so maybe I'll grab this too.