Specialty label Numero Group is shining a spotlight on early ‘80s L.A. glam with ”Bound for Hell: On the Sunset Strip”, a fantastic release (October 28th) that takes a deep dive into Strip mainstays that may not be on the tip of your tongue… but should be.
Artists featured include scene heavyweights Black ‘N Blue, Rough Cutt, Armored Saint and Lizzy Borden, alongside long lost tracks from Reddi Killowatt, Angeles, Max Havoc, SIN, Romeo (to name a few) including future members of Ratt, Kix, Tuff, etc. ”Bound For Hell: On The Sunset Strip” also pays particular attention to the female musicians who challenged the testosterone-laden world of the Strip, with entries and recollections from Jaded Lady, Leather Angel, Lisa Baker, Hellion, and Bitch.
The collection includes the previously unreleased very first song written & recorded by Black ‘N Blue in 1981, an unreleased Rough Cutt early song, etc – in fact, many tracks are previously unreleased or impossible to find 7” singles, and with a good remastered sound quality.
There’s as well terrific extensive liner notes from music critic and co-author of Louder Than Hell: The Definitive Oral History of Metal, Katherine Turman, as well as first-hand testimonials, photos and show flyers – all into a 78-page book (full scans) in a similar Rock Candy Magazine fashion.
But wait, we have more: the limited edition comes with a Bonus Cassette, including 5 additional rare tracks!
You’ve seen it first at 0dayrox

FAN FICTION is a Los Angeles, California duo bringing back the melodies from the early ’80s on their debut album “Anticipated Hits“. They also have a strong sense of humor: they use fictional names; ‘Marc Samson’ (real name Mike G) is on lead vocals & drums, and ‘Jeff Honeycutt’ (real name Tyler Cash) on keys, synths & bass. They say ”Anticipated Hits” is the highly influential debut album from the most respected group in Prism City: Fan Fiction, a band managed by ‘Father Three’.
What it isn’t a joke at all is FAN FICTION impressive musicianship and ability to recreate the AOR / Westcoast sound of 1980-82. “Anticipated Hits” take the best of Airplay, Player, i-Ten, Franke & The Knockouts and add an air of the current sound from the genre – read State Cows, Young Gun Silver Fox, Peter Friestedt, etc.
The cool thing with FAN FICTION is they put aside the, sometimes, solemnity of Westcoast injecting a musicality and dynamics which makes the hole thing so enjoyable.

It’s never too late they say… after decades finally HITnRUN saw their debut album released on CD by Pride & Joy Music a few years ago. Including songs recorded in 1991/1994 – with a very good production – these tapes have been remastered for their self-titled release “HitnRun“.
Since then original guitarist Jareth Grealish and lead vocalist Eric Montoya reunited and re-founded the band, with the addition of talented musicians such as talented keyboardist Eric Ragno, Greg Smith (Tyketto, Ted Nugent) on bass, and drums, engineering and production by Kevin Soffera (Seether, Greg Howe, Howe II)
But wait: HITnRUN not only re-formed, but are releasing new material 2022 in the form of the EP “Give Me The Music“, a killer collection of songs inspired by the late ’80s / early 90s melodic hard rock akin 21 GUNS, HURRICANE, NIGHT RANGER, etc. Awesome stuff if you ask.
HitnRun, a Scranton, Pennsylvania based five-piece, was formed in 1991 and seems they stormed the music scene of Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey bringing their brand of original commercial hard rock to the masses…

Every now and then an album comes along that is refreshing and new. ”Shadow People” by MY OWN GHOST is one of those albums. ”Shadow People” is a modern female-fronted melodic hard rock album with more than a nod to the ’80s – take a look at the cover art and that neon all over gives you a pretty good idea – yet at the same time delivering a fresh new sound that is sweet candy for your ears.
There is also plenty for fans of pop-rock and sci-fi to enjoy here, too. This is not a concept album at all; it is a collection of songs that fit together nicely to form a very pleasurable listen. Production is bright and clear, enhancing even more these catchy songs…

As requested, here some GRAND FUNK RAILROAD material and what better than feature of their best LP’s: “We’re An American Band“. You cannot talk about rock in the 1970s without talking about Grand Funk Railroad.
Grand Funk laid the groundwork for such bands as Foreigner, Journey, Van Halen and Bon Jovi with its signature hard driving sound, soulful vocals, muscular instrumentation and forceful pop melodies. The fact that Grand Funk’s legacy still reigns over the Classic Rock landscape fifty years after its 1969 birth in Flint, Michigan is a testament to the group’s influence and staying power.
Mega-hits We’re An American Band, I’m Your Captain/Closer To Home, Locomotion, and Some Kind Of Wonderful still receive continuous airplay on Classic Rock radio. ”We’re An American Band” has received notoriety in recent years being used in movie sound tracks and in television/radio advertising.
“We’re An American Band” was released with ‘Grand Funk’ only as band name on the cover.
This reissue features 4 bonus tracks including a new mix of the iconic title track, and has been remastered preserving the ‘analog’ feel of the original LP.
This is a milestone in American Rock history, and need a place in your collection…

Inspired by the late 80s rock scene with bands such as, Def Leppard, Europe, Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, NITRATE is the brainchild of Nick Hogg (guitars/keyboards) who after playing in a few bands in the early 2000’s decided after a long absence from the music scene to get back into song writing again.
Enlisting some of the best in the business like guitarist Rob Wylde (Midnite City, Tigertailz), lead vocalist Joss Mennen (Zinatra, Mennen) and Pete Newdeck (Midnite City, Eden’s Curse, Blood Red Saints, Newman), NITRATE released “Real World”, one of the most amazing albums from 2018.
They decided to reissue “Real World +5” because the original pressing sold out – additionally their Japanese publishing label broke up. So as bonus we find the original bonus track for Japan, plus 4 extra tracks from the pre-production sessions.
These previously unreleased tracks feature Rob Wylde not only on guitar but drums and handling lead vocals, because at the time Mennen still wasn’t part of the band…

AUSTIN GOLD‘s new album album recently featured here at 0dayrox resulted one of the best of the year so far, and many of you asked for the British rockers debut “Before Dark Clouds“. This physical CD on digipak has become pretty hard to find, and we include here the two bonus tracks from the digital version of “Before Dark Clouds”.
After listen the first song you can’t believe this is a debut LP. There’s something disconcerting about the way these Peterborough rockers seem to spring fully formed from this first album. The band are based firmly along the Free / Bad Company axis, but there’s an unexpected poise and maturity on the opening tight and impressive ‘Brand New Love’, and also on the title track where they allow the song to build its own momentum…

With a new OUTLAND 2022 album after almost two decades, it’s the right opportunity to revisit the band’s 2, very good albums which helped to revitalize the Melodic Rock genre into this new Millennium.
”Long Way Home” is OUTLAND‘s second effort, in this Japanese edition including an exclusive bonus track.
With Jeff Prentice, lead vocalist and guitarist of the popular Metal Blade Records band Predator handling the lead vocals and the majority of lead guitar duties, and Rob Nishida playing bass, guitar and keyboards, OUTLAND was formed in California in early 2000’s.
Mixing the dynamic melodic rock from the ’80s like early Bon Jovi with the pumping AOR of Survivor plus a little of Boston pomp, OUTLAND’s music is pure delight. Add refined arrangements and a polished production, and we have a winner here.
For the ‘Long Way Home’ the band asked Mr. Big’s Pat Torpey to perform all the drums on the record…

With a new OUTLAND 2022 album after almost two decades, it’s the right opportunity to revisit the band’s 2, very good albums which helped to revitalize the Melodic Rock genre into this new Millennium.
”Different Worlds” is OUTLAND‘s debut, in this Japanese edition including an exclusive bonus track.
With Jeff Prentice, lead vocalist and guitarist of the popular Metal Blade Records band Predator handling the lead vocals and the majority of lead guitar duties, and Rob Nishida playing bass, guitar and keyboards, OUTLAND was formed in California in early 2000’s.
Mixing the dynamic melodic rock from the ’80s like early Bon Jovi with the pumping AOR of Survivor plus a little of Boston pomp, OUTLAND’s debut LP is a pure delight. Add refined arrangements and a polished production, and we have a winner here…

When Redondo Beach, CA based Jeff Prentice and Rob Nishida got together in the Summer of 2001, it was to create a new sound, based on what both musicians considered to be a nearly forgotten genre of music in the USA, Melodic AOR Rock. With influences ranging from Boston to Night Ranger and Survivor, Prentice and Nishida wrote four complete songs on the first day they got together.
With Jeff Prentice, lead vocalist and guitarist of the popular Metal Blade Records band Predator handling the lead vocals and the majority of lead guitar duties, and Rob Nishida playing bass, guitar and keyboards, the band’s sound was quickly defined. Naming the band OUTLAND, they released two critically and fans acclaimed albums in 2003 & 2004.
After an almost two-decade hiatus, Prentice & Nishida are back with OUTLAND, and a brand new CD titled ”Where Do We Go From Here?”, a great slice of classic Melodic Rock / AOR updated with a modern sound production…

Sometimes, even the biggest, wildest rocker needs to wind down for a few hours. The amps are turned down, the bright lights are dimmed and Jack Daniels is replaced with a nice cup of tea! Ok… maybe not the last one. Even at rock gigs, it’s not uncommon for the leather bar stool to be wheeled out by a road-worn roadie, signalling a mid-set acoustic interlude. So, it’s not a new phenomenon for rock acts to perform acoustic versions of their tracks.
So it shouldn’t really be a surprise that melodic rock musician Darren Phillips decided to unplug the guitars with his The DARREN PHILLIPS PROJECT by recording an acoustic EP of some brilliant tracks from the 1980s called ‘Acoustic Heart’.
Covering great tracks by White Lion, Warrant, Poison, Bon Jovi and KISS, as usual, Phillips recruited a stellar cast of musicians to the project, with Rob Wylde (Midnite City) on vocals/acoustic guitar, Dennis Butabi Borg (Cruzh, East Temple Avenue) on bass and long-time collaborator and guitarist/synth-master Dan Skeed completing the line-up.
Oh and we have more new The DARREN PHILLIPS PROJECT material, fully electrified…

Mastermind of classic AORsters REVLIN PROJECT, songwriter & keyboardist NILVER PEREZ is involved on many projects collaborating with big names from the genre, and it’s time for his solo album titled “Living In Desire“, featuring a lot of friends from the scene such as singers Rodrigo Marenna (Marenna), Ed Carabantes (from melodic rockers Hunter), drummer Christian Sundell (Grand Illusion, Promotion), bass player Ken Sandin (Alien, Da Vinci) just to mention a few.
Of course the music into “Living In Desire” is rooted in classic AOR / melodic rock, rich in melodies, catchy choruses, keyboard / synths, and a very strong selection of vocalists providing variation. Musically, and especially production sound is in the vein of Lionville, Wild Rose, Drive She Said, of course Revlin, etc…

All rockers who follow the world of Rock Candy Records would have noticed that the label have never issued material from a new artist. Indeed, their speciality is primarily to shine a spotlight on remastered reissues – records that in one way or another, were vastly overlooked at the time or are of such a high quality that they needed to be re-examined and brought back into focus, buffed-up and given a truly five star re-appraisal.
“Runaway“, the debut by New Yorkers TEMPT marks the first release by Rock Candy Records from a new artist / album. And it’s darn good one.
Tempt first effort showcases a young, but thoroughly contemporary band, playing a style of music that evoked memories of the great melodic hard rock bands of the past. Tempt’s musical delivery is quite modern, yet the musicianship and spirit bring to mind classic Van Halen, Aerosmith, Def Leppard and more…

With its roots planted firmly in the fertile grounds of the neo-prog movement of the 80’s, ”Primary” is the first release by THE PALIMPSEST, the brainchild of veteran UK singer and performer Glamdave. Since joining his first band ‘ROGUE’ in the early 80s, his career has spanned over 30 years and encompassed many genres, most notably an 11 year stint as lead singer for glam rock tribute show ‘The Glam Band’. He was also the man behind power prog trio ‘ARKHAM’, current rockers ON THE LEVEL, and held the bass seat in ‘THE TONY EDWARDS BAND’, among others.
Glamdave grew up on bands like AC/DC, Motorhead, Black Sabbath and much of the NWOBHM scene, but soon became drawn to the so called Neo Prog movement, listening to bands such as Marillion, IQ, Twelfth Night and the like which, in turn, led him to go back and search out their influences, discovering Rush, Queen, Styx and so on in the process.
You can hear all these influences on ”Primary”, but also the music on ”Primary” is strongly impregnated in the polished melodic rock / lite prog sound of all times…