WHEELS OF FIRE – Hollywood Rocks (2010)

Until the present day the very lively Rock music scene of Los Angeles during the 80s hasn’t lost any of its cult like fascination. The Roxy, Whisky A Go-Go, Rainbow Bar And Grill on Sunset Strip and the Troubadour a little further south are the locations in West Hollywood in which the eventual mega sellers entered the stage and where they still hang around today every once in a while.
This neighborhood also seems to be made for a band like “Wheels Of Fire” and their band leader Davide “Dave Rox” Barbieri, who started his musical career as a keyboard player back in the early 90s in some local bands.

About ten years ago Dave discovered his passion for singing and to improve his skills he turned to Michele Luppi, who besides being a member of various bands, formerly of the Power Metal band Vision Divine and currently of the Melodic Metal act Killing Touch and the AOR project Los Angeles, is also active as a vocal coach.

The foundation for “ Wheels Of Fire ” was effective back in 2006 when Michele Luppi heard some of Dave’s demos and subsequently offered his help to record an album.
Eventually Michele produced “Hollywood Rocks” together with Dave and Michele can also be heard playing grand piano and singing background vocals.

The studio line-up is completed by guitar player Stefano Zeni, who was in a cover band together with Dave, Roberto Galli on bass, as well as Andrea Zingrillo on drums.
Roberto Priori (Killing Touch, Michele Luppi’s Heaven) took over the mix and the Mastering, and did an amazing job in delivering a great sounding record.

The songs of “Wheels Of Fire” are a captivating combination of all the elements that Melodic Rock and AOR fans love about this kind of music and that made these songs staples on mainstream radio twenty years ago.
Pushed forward by powerful drums the mid- and uptempo rockers, like “Hollywood Rocks”, “You’re So Cool”, “What I Want”, “Everywhere I Go”, “Live Again”, “Relax” and “Rock The World” also shine with their melodic guitar riffs and a heathy dose of crystal clear keyboards.
As expected the verses of the songs always lead to a super catchy chorus and are crowned with a guitar solo.

Rock ballads have always been a big plus of the Melodic Rockers and so the band has paid very careful attention to the softer moments “I Can’t Live Without You” and “Little Prayer”.
They serve a decent portion of guitar power and the arrangements also include a grand piano, while the concluding master piece in this category, the bombastic eight minute epic “Love Nest” even adds a string section, making it a full blown wide screen listening experience.

After some changes in the band’s line-up with the incoming of Marcello Suzzani on bass and Fabrizio Uccellini on drums, the guys are ready to spread their music all over the world under the name “WHEELS OF FIRE”.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

01 – Hollywood Rocks
02 – You’re So Cool
03 – What I Want
04 – I Can’t Live Without You
05 – Everywhere I Go
06 – Live Again
07 – The Reason
08 – Little Prayer
09 – Relax
10 – Rock The World
11 – Love Nest

Davide “Dave Rox” Barbieri – Vocals
Stefano Zeni – Guitars
Marcello Suzzani – Bass
Fabrizio Uccellini – Drums
Andrea Vergori – Keyboards