Formed in Sweden, 1989, ALYSON AVENUE originally was a male fronted band when backing singer Anette Olzon took over the mike duties for the band’s 2000 debut album with the aim to take the resurgent Melodic Rock world by storm.
Highly praised by fans and the press that album was followed four years later with the equally impressive ‘Omega’ CD. The time that followed saw the band take a hiatus, as the various band members embarked on different projects and more significantly in 2007, when Olzon was named as the new singer for Nightwish.
These news were some kind of double edged sword – in one way the band had lost a great vocalist, but in another it also got the name of Alyson Avenue exposed to an even wider audience, which resulted in added interest in the bands first two albums, so much so that the band re-released their debut.
Then their second album ‘Omega’ was re-titled “Omega II“, after the band decided to redo the many of the instrumental parts, remix some and remastering, while keeping Olzon’s original vocals. Remastered by Tony Ubler for YesterRock, the release also features 5 previously unreleased tracks that are so good it makes you wonder why they were abandoned on the original release…

“Presence Of Mind” was the debut album from ALYSON AVENUE, out of print for many years until YesterRock remastered the whole thing for this deserved reissue.
Formed in Sweden in 1989, ALYSON AVENUE originally was a male fronted band when backing singer Anette Olzon took over the mike duties for this debut CD. Her impressive pipes lead in years to come being named as the vocalist for Nightwish.
But ”Presence Of Mind” has nothing in common with Nightwish, this is pure ’80s inspired melodic rock / AOR with the typical Swedish flavor. All songs are really good packing all we love about this genre; melody galore, glorious keys, cutting edge guitars, pulsing bass lines and the stellar vocals of Anette. So rich, full, and powerful.
It appears that a number of different musicians have contributed to the album, however doesn’t disrupt the flow at all, which is as stunning to start off with, as it is to end with…

As requested, here’s Rock Candy specialists ‘Remastered & Reloaded’ version of SAMMY HAGAR fifth studio album 1980’s “Danger Zone”. For this record, Hagar recruited British engineer Geoff Workman fresh from recording Journey’s album Infinity.
That wasn’t the only Journey connection as both vocalist Steve Perry and guitarist Neal Schon made guest appearances helping to showcase a collection of tracks and a production that propelled Hagar’s stature ever upwards.
By the time of “Danger Zone” – 1980 – Sammy Hagar hadn’t yet found the key to AOR and Melodic Rock greatness, but a some tracks here indicated he was slowly inching his way toward it. The advantage he had over his contemporaries was his skill as a songwriter. That later become more obvious when he took over from David Lee Roth in Van Halen, (and led the band to four career peak albums)…

Rock Candy specialists have remastered SAMMY HAGAR‘s “All Night Long“, the singer’s first live album ever. The sound quality is truly impressive and all songs on offer rock hard, including two cuts from Montrose’s classic first album; ‘Make It Last’ and ‘Bad Motor Scooter’.
One of the great things for rock bands during the Seventies was that they had plenty of opportunity to play live, to hugely appreciative audiences. But not only did their studio recordings have to be great they also had to deliver live in concert, and this was an area that really separated the wheat from the chaff. If you were known as a great live act then your success was almost guaranteed.
With this in mind, it’s no surprise that Sammy Hagar’s live performances had almost become legendary…

As requested by many, here’s late ’80s / eraly ’90 cult AOR album “Silk Under The Skin“, from Greek outfit RAW SILK.
RAW SILK burst onto the European Melodic Rock / AOR scene in 1990 with their, over the years, cult debut album titled ”Silk Under The Skin”. The 2004 re-release on CD brought the band back to the forefront and led to high profile reunion concerts supporting Pink Cream 69, Jeff Scott Sotto and Winger.
While production isn’t the best, especially the drum tracking, there’s some kind of magic on “Silk Under The Skin” sound, that aura of something special. It has to be the excellent songwriting, George Florakis sweet vocals, and of course, the catchy hooks and memorable choruses. RAW SILK’s overall style bring to mind British AOR acts from the ’80s.
If you have a digital copy of “Silk Under The Skin” charces are you own a faulty one, with cuts. This is a properly ripped CD…

After 27 years from their cult debut album this time it was for real: melodic rockers RAW SILK released their long awaited follow-up titled “The Borders Of Light“. Again entirely written by founder member drummer / keyboardist Kostas Kyriakidis, for this recording the new line-up include British musicians and whole thing created in Birmingham, England.
Raw Silk burst onto the European Melodic Rock / AOR scene in the ’90s with their, over the years, cult debut album Silk Under The Skin. The 2004 re-release on CD brought the band back to the forefront and led to high profile reunion concerts supporting Pink Cream 69, Jeff Scott Sotto and Winger.
After a second long hiatus and led by composer-drummer Kostas Kyriakidis the band has regrouped in the UK with a brand new line-up, and the result is “The Borders Of Light”.
Starting from the album artwork, the original Raw Silk elements are still there ranging from strong melodies to colorful keyboard lines and hard solid guitar riffs. The songs are benefited by new singer Chris Dando vocals – at places sweet and melodious yet stronger when needed.
While the AOR factor is still present all over the record, this Raw Silk 2017 explore varied waters such as neo / light prog, elaborated melodic rock and even some hard rock…

A few days ago we featured the one and only album from Canadian combo BITTER SUITE, a project put together in the early Nineties by songwriter / musician David J. Petovar. While finally released 2004, most the music was recorded 1991-1992, quality Melodic Rock unfortunately shelved back in the day.
Now we bring a rarity; the promotional sample CD that DAVID J. PETOVAR recorded in 1991 and professionally pressed on CD in limited copies, with a promotional intention only. Eonian Records shop has some copies on sale now, quite expensive as this is a collector’s piece.
Not titled, just “Promotional Sampler” (but even the cover art is professionally printed), the disc packs 10 tracks showcasing David J. Petovar talents as songwriter and musician. As we heard on some tracks from BITTER SUITE, Petovar isn’t the greatest shouter in the world, but he know the tricks of the business and how to get a feel-good melody.
Where Petovar is stronger is in the songwriting department; he has written songs for bigger names, and here shows himself with tunes ranging from AOR & Melodic Rock to pop-rock, rhythm & blues.
Petovar play most the instruments on “Promotional Sampler”, and while the rest of the personnel isn’t listed, there’s a female vocalist singing the rocker ‘Forever Tonight’- we guess she’s Canadian Carrie Jay, often compared to as a cross between Darby Mills and Chrissie Steele…

“Street Machine” is SAMMY HAGAR‘s fifth solo studio release for Capitol, now fully remastered by Rock Candy Records plus two bonus, non-album tracks only appeared as singles. This very good reissue is out of print now.
Hagar, later to make a huge impact in Van Halen, first exploded on the Rock scene as the front man of Montrose, playing his part in creating what is unquestionably one of the greatest debut albums of all time. It was a record that sent seismic shock waves around the globe, helping to propel the hard rock scene, and Hagar, into a new era.
In 1975, Hagar left Montrose and opted for a solo career, signing to Capitol Records. His first few albums were tentative steps towards a sound and style that would blossom with the recording of “Street Machine”, an album that was, for the first time, in the writing and production, completely controlled by Hagar, and with his eyes firmly focused on the hard rock prize.
Packed with knockout punches, the album showcases one of the world’s greatest showmen, whose voice and songwriting ability are captured in pristine clarity…

Synthwave has become the music genre that perhaps better recaptured the ’80s fun. What initially started as nostalgic video game-like sounds, in recent years Synthwave artists developed into full-band products.
One of the leaders in this matter is ULTRABOSS, basically a duo of vocalist Robert Beachgrove and songwriter / multi-performer PJ d’Atri, which plays electric guitar and bass, while their albums always feature guests performing real saxophone, piano, etc. – ‘real’ mean actual instruments, not programming.
So ULTRABOSS albums sound like a real rock&pop band, and their new offering “Slow Motion Rider” should be their best: 14 tracks in total with 4 being instrumentals. The secret of ULTRABOSS success is simple: strong songwriting. The songs are good, very good.
Imagine if Kenny Loggins had recorded another album in 1984: this is “Slow Motion Rider”. Robert Beachgrove is a wonderful, colorful singer with that ’80s training, and despite this being a synthwave / rock&pop album, d’Atri play more guitar solos here than many hard rock acts did in their recent albums.
Take notice; in the credits of “Slow Motion Rider” ULTRABOSS wrote: ”This album is dedicated to Randy Rhoads, Jason Becker, Eddie Van Halen and Johann Sebastian Bach”.
Oh yeah: if you’re a fan of Synthwave you need this album, if you’re a fan of AOR you need this album, if you’re fan of ’80s culture, you need to hear “Slow Motion Rider”…

Requested by many it’s a real pleasure to feature here TWO FIRES eponymous debut album “Two Fires” in its  Japanese Edition including a bonus track, unfortunately out of print for years. Two Fires is the band made up of remaining two members from the awesome AOR band The Storm: superb vocalist Kevin Chalfant and terrific guitarist Josh Ramos.
After THE STORM second album ‘Eye Of The Storm’ – a masterpiece in our opinion – the group fell apart. By the time Kevin Chalfant set up for the third album, Ross Valory rejoined Journey and Gregg Rolie left the band to pursue his latin / bluesy flavored music.
However Kevin and Ramos keep writing new songs, and with the help of outstanding session musicians like drummer Kenny Aronoff and Jim Peterik, they created Two Fires.
The band’s debut album, released in June 2000 is still one of the biggest successes ever from the Melodic Rock / AOR ‘resurgence’, scoring huge interest from the fans and the press…

Requested by one of you it’s a real pleasure to feature here TWO FIRES second album “Ignition“. This Japanese Edition including a bonus track is quite hard to find. Two Fires is the band made up of remaining two members from the awesome AOR band The Storm: superb vocalist Kevin Chalfant and terrific guitarist Josh Ramos.
After the successful self-titled debut, Two Fires released their second effort titled “Ignition”. On the previous album there was a collaboration on one track with Survivor’s Jim Peterik, and here it was augmented.
Indeed, ‘Mr. Melody Jimbo’ co-writes half of the songs here.
Additionally, musicians on the recording include renowned cats such as Jeff Jacobs (Foreigner) on keyboards, Atma Anur (Steve Perry, Tony McAlpine) on drums, Rick Powell on bass and Alby Odum on rhythm guitars…

Germans WICKED SENSATION have been releasing quality hard rock with melody for over two-and-a-half decades now. Their brand of European Melodic Hard Rock is focused on muscular riffs, driving melodies and catchy choruses with tons of harmony vocals.
There’s a curious thing with WICKED SENSATION: they maintained the same line up, but changed lead vocalist for each of their albums except the last two, including the recent 2021’s ‘Outbreak’ with capable David Reece at the mic. Instead of a detriment in the band’s sound, switching vocalists has given WICKED SENSATION albums a welcomed variation.
In the case of this request, WICKED SENSATION 2004’s second LP “Exceptional“, we find the great Fernando Garcia (ex- Victory) providing superb vocal melodies, which works awesomely with the other members backings. Mixed by talented Dennis Ward, for many Melodic / Hard fans, “Exceptional” is WICKED SENSATION’s finest moment, on par with JADED HEART albums from the same era.
Long time out of print, with WICKED SENSATION being signed by Rock Of Angels Records a few years ago, the album has been reissued and available again. If you never heard WICKED SENSATION, “Exceptional” is indeed an exceptional place to start…

Delivering a cavalcade of hits, Swedish hard rock band STARMEN have been keeping the flame alive for the 70s / 80s classic rock sound during almost a decade now. In their music, melody n’ catchiness takes the front seat, with original songs that are hard to resist, graphically packaged in a retro comic book style with a running theme that oozes superheroes and rock stars.
With 4 albums under their belt, many fans were asking for a ‘best of’, especially rockers from all over the world whom discovered the band recently. “The Best Of Starmen Volume 1” is a perfect introduction for new listeners and a great reminder for loyal ones.
In the same style as their rock heroes from the 70s and 80s, the band goes all the way in terms of image with full make-up and accompanying stage clothes, where each member has their own color. Of course, you can see nods to the bands from these eras in appearance and musical style, but that’s where the similarities end. STARMEN write their own songs and are not afraid to bring the music of previous decades into the present.
For those of you already familiar with the band and the albums already released, “The Best Of Starmen Volume 1” is just more fun, more sweet rock n’ roll all into one package. For new listeners eager to hear the best STARMEN songs – some have been re-mixed, btw – this Volume 1 works like a great, fresh rockin’ playlist.

Tony Carey’s musical talent lent very heavily to the success of Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow. Carey played keyboards for Rainbow on 2 world tours before turning solo. Carey released 2 albums of rock&pop solo work, and it was with the third in 1982 when he scored a hit with the single ‘I Won’t Be Home Tonight’, and its successful MTV video.
Meanwhile, Carey had written a lot of material that didn’t fit his current style. The music was more progressive than his normal rock&pop releases. Hence the birth of the pseudonym PLANET P PROJECT that Tony Carey used, and got a 2-album deal with Geffen Records.
Recorded in Germany where Tony Carey owned a recording studio, he wrote all of the songs and played most the instruments on the 1983 debut album, self-titled ”Planet P Project”. With a progressive feeling but still commercial and accessible, the music is layered in keyboards and synthesizers.
The album sold very well and spawn a surprising Top 40 hit in the thumping “Why Me?”, which video received a heavy rotation on MTV. Carey does exhibit a good sense of melody on tracks like the propulsive, delusion-of-grandeur tale in “King for a Day” and the dreamy “I Won’t Wake Up.”
All over the years ”Planet P Project” achieved a cult classic status, a different side of Tony Carey mixing progressive melodies with an early ’80s new wave / rock & pop sound…

Still a one-man show, Tony Carey, under the banner of PLANET P PROJECT, again teamed with producer Peter Hauke for this 1984 follow-up to the self-titled Planet P Project debut of the prior year.
Titled “Pink World“, Carey created here a true concept album, something that scared Geffen Records, however ”Pink World” sold very well too, as happened with the first album.
Originally released in 1984, “Pink World” is a sprawling, ambitious double album with a plot line revolving around Artimus, a boy who doesn’t speak, and a Cold War-inspired Armageddon. Like it’s predecessor, the music features a heavy emphasis on synthesizers, although there’s also a good dose of guitar, giving it appeal to rock fans.
Carey infuses ”Pink World” with solid melodies, and there’s plenty to enjoy on tracks like the surging title cut, the brooding “What I See,” and the acoustically-tinged “A Boy Who Can’t Talk.” And, to his credit, despite the somewhat cumbersome premise, Carey manages to keep it all from getting too pretentious.
”Pink World” is a curiously interesting work that has managed to achieve a cult status over the years, recently reissued on vinyl LP…