Eighties melodic rock favorites GIANT returns with a powerful new chapter in their storied career, featuring a fresh lineup that propels the band’s signature sound to new heights. The forthcoming album entitled “Stand and Deliver” showcases once again the talents of David Huff on drums, Mike Brignardello on bass, Kent Hilli (of Perfect Plan) as the commanding lead vocalist, with the addition of Jimmy Westerlund (One Desire) on guitars.
As if this dynamic combination of talent was not enough, the album also includes some gems penned by the original guitarist and singer Dann Huff including “Time to Call It Love” (a collaboration with the late Mark Spiro) and “Holdin’ On for Dear Life” and “Paradise Found” coming both from his sessions with Van Stephenson, which strongly link the new album especially with the sound of the classic album “Time to Burn”.
With “Stand and Deliver” GIANT delivers (pun intended!) the hard-hitting rock and melodic hooks that fans have come to expect with a state-of-the-art production.
There really is not one weak track on this entire album; the level of consistency is extremely high and the overall quality of songwriting is hugely impressive. It says something that the Dann Huff co-writes are no better than those he didn’t co-write. The whole band should be rightly proud of this entire new piece of work…

One of the world’s best-selling albums, DIRE STRAITS’ ”Brothers In Arms”, celebrates its 40th Anniversary with an exquisite 3CD Deluxe Edition release.
The box set features the full studio album remastered, and a previously unreleased full-length live concert from the band’s Municipal Auditorium, San Antonio tour stop in 1985, on the remaining 2 discs. The ‘Live In 85 Tour’ ran a total of 248 gigs in 117 cities and was seen by over two and a half million people.
Housed in a digi-sleeve featuring art inspired by Mark’s National Style ‘O’ Resonator Guitar, seen on the cover of the studio album, this deluxe version sound quality is magnificent.
”Brothers In Arms” include the singles ‘Money For Nothing’ and ‘Walk Of Life’, and the LP ‘Brothers In Arms’ spent 14 non-consecutive weeks at Number 1 in the UK Albums Chart and is the 8th best-selling album in UK chart history…

ABSOLVA hail from Manchester, UK and have been around for thirteen years, releasing six prior albums and now releasing the new effort titled ”Justice”, an album lyrically inspired by the early 90s film Tombstone.
While ABSOLVA’s songwriter and guitarist Christopher Appleton also handle lead vocals, the idea for ‘Justice‘ was to bring outsider vocalists too, and half of the songs are performed by the likes of Ronnie Romero and Blaze Bayley among others.
Musically ABSOLVA mis ’80s / ’90s metal with hard rock, ranging from Avantasia to Dokken and the heavier side of Nineties hard rock. It may sound like a weird combination, but works greatly giving ”Justice” a nice bounce.
The opening track takes off like a shot, with the metallic ‘Freedom and Glory’. Speed mixed with dynamic tempo changes and it’s riding into battle, take no prisoners approach is fabulous, reminding me a bit of Avantasia with its boldness and dynamics.
Track 2’s ‘The Thrill of the Chase’ has my favorite melody line and riff. It has an old school Ratt / L.A. Guns feel to it, with an updated production. One of the highlights is ‘Find My Identity’, featuring Ronnie Romero. Appleton is all over the fretboard, noodling in all the right ways to construct a melody that never becomes routine and kept me smiling the whole time…

On May 17 this year, the frontman of the groundbreaking first two IRON MAIDEN albums, PAUL DI’ANNO, would have celebrated his 67th birthday. Unfortunately, we received the bitter news last October that the charismatic singer had passed away unexpectedly at his home in Salisbury.
“In Memory Of Paul Di’Anno” is a selection of the best songs that Paul recorded during his time at Metalville Records. In addition, the release contains as bonus tracks that have never been released in physical form before. “Je Suis Charlie” is a track from Paul’s ARCHITECTS OF CHAOZ phase, which was only released digitally at the time and now not available anymore. And there’s the classic “Killers” in a live version from the Wacken Open Air 2015, never released.
Born in Chingford, East London on May 17, 1958, Di’Anno, whose real name was Paul Andrews, first came to prominence as lead singer of IRON MAIDEN between 1978 and 1981. He sang on their groundbreaking debut album “Iron Maiden” and the influential follow-up release, “Killers”.
“In Memory Of Paul DiAnno” is a fitting tribute to honor this pioneer metalhead – the man, the myth, and especially, the music. Ten tracks equally representing the singers’ two releases for the label – Hell Over Waltrip / Live in Germany, and the Architects of Chaoz album The League of Shadows plus a pair of unreleased bonus tracks from the latter project…

With over 15 years of experience, Italians SANDNESS have cemented their place in the European hard rock scene with a high-energy sound blending hard rock, power pop, hair metal and classic metal sound from the ’80s. Their music delivers sharp riffs, infectious hooks and anthemic choruses, with the band mentioning Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard, Cheap Trick and Whitesnake as main influence.
We featured here some of their previous albums, good platters of rock n’ roll with a commercial feel and aslightly sleazy touch. Their fifth studio album, ”Vertigo”, marks a new evolution in their sound, more melodic hard rockin’ in the classic style, think Y&T, D-A-D, The Darkness, even UFO – timeless classic melodic hard rock.
Produced by Alessandro Del Vecchio, the album balances modern and vintage rock aesthetics, making it both radio-friendly and stadium-ready. Tracks like “Per Aspera Ad Astra” bring arena-rock power, while “Back For More” (featuring Del Vecchio on Hammond) offers a bluesy groove, and “Draw The Line” dives into AOR influences.
“Not Your Dog” is a powerful and catchy anthem about independence and breaking free from control and expectations. With gritty guitars, punchy rhythms and bold vocals, this one rocks hard…

LINKIN PARK latest album is receiving a Deluxe Edition. ”From Zero (Deluxe Edition)” showcases three new studio songs, plus live tracks recorded around the world.
Among the new studio tracks, “Up From the Bottom” was created in between tours this year, infused with the electricity of those first concerts back after a long hiatus. “Let You Fade” was a song that began during the From Zero sessions but found its final shape in sessions after the album’s release.
Then “Unshatter” was an early track the band made while recording From Zero. According to the band, Emily Armstrong’s huge vocal in the bridge was one of the moments that gave LINKIN PARK an indication of what was possible together.
This is the physical 2-CD edition with 3 new studio songs + six live tracks.
You may like LINKIN PARK music or not, but can’t deny this band created a unique sound. Emily Armstrong’s voice fits the band like a glove, never directly imitating the late Chester Bennington style but still displaying the same levels of power and versatility that made him such a force.
Whether delicately crooning on ‘Over Each Other’, which wraps searing ’80s synth-pop in arena-ready riffs and clattering drums, or her throat-scorching, fifteen-second scream on the propulsive ‘Heavy Is The Crown’, she makes it all sound effortless…

Who knew the end times could be so much fun? Well… not these times. Not that we’re literally living out the end of days; although, what better sign of the times than the plausibility that such a statement could be about these times, even if it’s hard to imagine what’s fun about it. No, the classic kind of apocalyptic Judeo-Christian story-telling favored by Ft. Wayne, Indiana’s ECHOSOUL.
Built on a framework of U.S. Metal and fleshed out with Prog Metal ideas and style, EchoSoul’s second album, ‘‘Time of the Dragon”, embodies the spirit of ’80s bands with current progressive metal. Though not quite a concept album, it is heavily inspired by the Book Of Revelation, which means songs about global corruption and the coming of the antichrist, the rise of the devil, and the ultimate victory of God, of Good over Evil.
Oftentimes, it seems, what separates the wheat from the chaff among albums drawing on an old style is that intangible quality of authenticity, nearly impossible to define yet pretty much immediately felt by the discerning metal fan. These are albums that feel like they were made for metalheads by metalheads, from the sound, style, and themes, obviously, down to album length, structure, and flow.
”Time of the Dragon” checks all these boxes at the same time it nimbly flexes its modern relevance. (We could talk about the logo design, but that’s about as perfect an example of between Then and Now as there is, no?) In fact, a lot of Hinton’s heavy metal history shines through, as Time of the Dragon bridges old and new schools very nicely…

Art Of Melody Music & Burning Minds Music Group will release “Fight Against Time“, the new studio album from Italian melodic hard rockers SOUL SELLER, a record seeing the band continuing with their love for powerful ’80s melodic rock melodies, skillfully produced and arranged in a captivating up-to-date style.
SOUL SELLER is fantastic band. The guys already pleased with their quality songwriting on previous album, but “Fight Against Time” also showcases their maturity as musicians. This is not your average Melodic Rock album, this is a great Melodic album you’ll be listening to for quite some time.
But SOUL SELLER now also adds the classic rock / hard rock factor and that’s really welcomed, creating a more varied palette of colors to their already satisfying melodic rock origins. There’s Hammond runs, bluesy guitar solos, a steady rhythm section on some songs – others are arena ready as usual…

Hailing from Gothenburg, Sweden, ART NATION is a rising force in current melodic hard rock. Founded by Alexander Strandell and Christoffer Borg, the band is gaining acclaim for their astonishing hit-writing potential, their truly captivating sound and dynamic live performances.
While the band continue to release incredible albums, building the strongest fanbase ever, Frontiers Records is re-releasing Art Nation’s most famous album, ‘Revolution’, now re-titled “Re-Revolution”, nothing but pure AOR heaven. This is a huge album filled with absolutely stunning Melodic Rock / AOR with superb production handled by Jakob Hansen (Pretty Maids, Amaranthe).
As extra juice, there’s 5 bonus tracks, and a re-imagined artwork…

Swiss symphonic metal band DEEP SUN, formed in 2006, are about ro release a new album, ”Storyteller”, on May 15, on Power Blast Records. Female-fronted, as many of the bands in the genre currently, we were expecting another repetitive formula.
But DEEP SUN really surprised us with ”Storyteller”. Sure, Debora Lavagnolo has a soprano powered voice as many these type of bands have, however she’s different, she actually sings ‘rock’. And the rest of the guys are awesome too.
What we really liked about ”Storyteller” is its musicality: we trend to bore with current symphonic metal acts after 5 songs or so – that’s not the case with DEEP SUN. This is a band rich in dynamics, clever arrangements, and a fantastic mix & production.
”Deep Sun” opens the album with the title and best track on the album, ‘Storyteller’. The song begins with soft choirs, then orchestration, strings, and a full drum salute. Then, Debora makes her debut with commanding vocals and the band in full electricity…

This just released ”The Lost Acoustic Album [Unplugged & Unphased]” album compiles a selection of GUNS N’ ROSES unplugged live FM Broadcast recorded during the band’s 1993 World Tour. It’s an unofficial album released by Iconography bootleg label, but sound quality is very good.
The fist half of the album features GUNS N’ ROSES performing live at a big arena classic acoustic songs from the band such as You’re Crazy, Used To Love Her, Patience, and more. The second half is a recording at a FM radio studio, where the band did an interview and performed several songs, including One In A Million, and cool acoustic versions of Mr. Brownstone and Move To The City.
As extra, there’s the version of November Rain performed by Axl just with his piano…

Now here’s in exclusive the ultra-rare PRECIOUS METAL album “Unreleased Trax & Demos 1983-1991“, released by the band’s front-woman Leslie Knauer some time ago, available via her website only.
It’s a CDr with most the demos the band recorded, different track versions from the albums final takes, and some unreleased songs.
While there’s demos from the very first era, the real gem on this disc comes in the second half – melodic hard rock with punch, similar to Vixen in sound, but heavier. The audio quality is A+, especially the unreleased songs 1990-91.
These are awesome female fronted AOR tunes with that bright melodic hard rock sharpness from the early Nineties.
“Unreleased Trax & Demos 1983-1991” is a highly collectible, extremely rare, and gooood.
You saw it here first at 0dayrox

While not commercially successful as Lita Ford, Vixen, or Lee Aaron, PRECIOUS METAL was one of the coolest all-women hard rock bands from the second half of the ’80s. They actually can play, and very, very well. Their albums have become quite hard to find, used CD copies sold for over U$D 100 at auction sites.
Vocalist / songwriter Leslie Knauer (who still fronts the band, still not officially dissolved) some time ago made available via her website remastered versions of Precious Metal first 3 albums.
Now as requested, here’s in exclusive PRECIOUS METAL debut album, 1985’s ”Right Here, Right Now”, in its 2000 self-released reissue. It’s a CDr and it isn’t noted that it was remastered, but compared with the original CD (a rarity), this 2000 version sound quality is much, much better.
Produced by Paul Sabu and with songwriting contributions by experts Richie Zito & Joey Carbone, ”Right Here, Right Now” is pure mid-80s: having a good time, leather and lace, an pop-metal ditties – and that is exactly what Precious Metal deliver.
No, this isn’t exactly rocket science, but who ever said rock and roll had to be so serious, or even thoughtful for that matter. ”Right Here, Right Now” sports catchy guitar riffs, sing-along choruses, catchy melodies…

As part of the Universal Records Japan reissue campaign of various ’80s Rock artists / albums from their back catalog on high quality SHM-CD, all remastered and with bonus tracks, here’s the requested POISON third album, the multi-Platinum “Flesh & Blood” including 2 bonus tracks.
After the glammy, hair metal party of the band’s two previous efforts, “Flesh & Blood” was Poison’s ‘get serious’ album, and one of the strongest of their career.
The idea was to write and record more mature music and lyrics, something that guitarist C.C. DeVille was opposed to. He saw nothing wrong with the glam-slam-king-of-noize direction that they started on, and maintained that Look What the Cat Dragged In was their high point. He saw the introduction of more classic hard rock blues influences as diluting the Poison sound he liked.
However, “Flesh & Blood” is the best thing C.C. has done, and ultimately he was very happy with the result…

Criminally underrated and relegated to a second row in terms of popularity, PRECIOUS METAL was one of the best all-women hard rock bands from the second half of the ’80s – they actually can play, and very, very well. Their albums have become quite hard to find, used CD copies sold for over U$D 100.
Seems vocalist / songwriter Leslie Knauer (who still fronts the band, still not officially dissolved) some time ago made available via her website remastered versions of Precious Metal first 3 albums. We featured the 3rd, ‘Precious Metal’, already.
Now as requested, here’s in exclusive PRECIOUS METAL second album, 1988’s ”That Kind Of Girl”, in its 2001 band self-released reissue. It’s a CDr and it isn’t noted if it was remastered, but compared with the original CD, this 2001 sound quality is much, much better.
Produced by Paul Sabu ”That Kind Of Girl” is a glossy, commercial 1988 pop-metal album. For the most part Precious Metal deliver hard-rocking and melodic songs like album opener “Anybody’s Lover”, “Seven Minutes to Midnight,” and the fun and entertaining title track, all resembling the sound of Vixen, Lita Ford, and Heart at the time, but with a bit more edge…
You saw it here first at 0dayrox