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Melodic Rock, AOR, Hard Rock, Prog, Classic Rock news

Category: REMASTER

GARY MOORE / REMASTER / SHM-CD

GARY MOORE – Run For Cover [Japan SHM-CD miniLP remastered +3] (2023) *HQ*

Fortunately the excellent SHM-CD format used in Japan is not dead, and now Universal Music Japan is reissuing in 2023 masterpieces from GARY MOORE in a miniLP / cardboard sleeve cover artwork and the latest remastered sound, plus bonus tracks.
“Run For Cover” is often considered as Gary Moore’s breakthrough album, and his more glossy / melodic produced. It features as well, monster vocal contributions by legends Glenn Hughes and Phil Lynott.
Indeed, checking the credits, you’ll see no less than four big name producers were employed in the making of “Run For Cover”: Mike Stone (Journey, Whitesnake), Peter Collins (Bon Jovi, Queensryche), Andy Johns (All!) and Beau Hill (Ratt, Winger), with each playing to their strengths.
Parping ’80s keyboards are present and correct but not obnoxiously so and complement songs like ‘Once In A Lifetime’, the excellent title track and the awesome ‘Out In The Fields’. The choice of vocal wonder Glenn Hughes, to guest on four of the tracks, works really well. His, for once, understated delivery meshes really well with Gary’s voice.
This SHM-CD remastered reissue sound quality is excellent…

AEROSMITH / REMASTER

AEROSMITH – Night In The Ruts [remastered from the original tapes 2023] HQ *Exclusive*

If you thought you heard all AEROSMITH, you better keep reading. We already featured at 0dayrox all AEROSMITH classic first era albums in its Japanese Blu-Spec CD2 pressing, the best sounding version you could get… until now.
Those Japan releases used the 1993 remastering job, which are good, but wait to listen to this new 2023 CD release of AEROSMITH’s sixth album ”Night In The Ruts” featuring a new remaster – this simply blows out of the water anything you heard before.
Housed into a transparent jewel case and discrete artwork – poor, if you ask – oddly, the back cover art states this is the 1993 20-bit remaster. Someone must have forgotten to scrub it before it went to the printers.
Anyway, what matters in this fresh 2023 release of “Night In The Ruts” is the defined, pristine warm sound of this CD. You’d never heard this album so good. And it isn’t ‘quiet’ at all – it’s potent yet not distorted.
So yes folks, this is the definitive version of the underrated “Night In The Ruts”, featured in exclusive at 0dayrox.

GARY MOORE / REMASTER / SHM-CD

GARY MOORE – Victims Of The Future [Japan SHM-CD miniLP remastered +3] (2023) *HQ*

Fortunately the excellent SHM-CD format used in Japan hasn’t been shelved, and now Universal Music Japan is reissuing in 2023 masterpieces from GARY MOORE in a miniLP / cardboard sleeve cover artwork and the latest remastered sound, plus bonus tracks.
Continuing Gary Moore’s path in the hard rock genre started as solo artist a couple years before (after his excellent work with Thin Lizzy) “Victims of the Future” was a collection of straight-out rocking anthems such as “Teenage Idol” and “Hold on to Love”, a mournful love ballad (“Empty Rooms”), a killer cover of The Yardbirds’ “Shapes of Things”, and two darker songs with some social and political commentary: the title track and the heavy “Murder in the Skies”, a protest against the Soviet Union’s shooting down of Korean Air Flight 007.
The bonus tracks included in this remastered reissue are great as well: “Devil In Her Heart” is a heavy number worthy of standing alongside “Murder in the Skies” plenty of fire and full-blooded guitar work, “Blinder” is a great instrumental showcasing emotional inspiration, and “Empty Rooms 1984 Remix” is the AORish version of Gary’s more popular song from the mid-80s…

GARY MOORE / REMASTER / SHM-CD

GARY MOORE – Corridors Of Power [Japan SHM-CD miniLP remastered +3] (2023) *HQ*

Fortunately the excellent SHM-CD format used in Japan hasn’t been shelved, and now Universal Music Japan is reissuing in 2023 masterpieces from GARY MOORE in a miniLP / cardboard sleeve cover artwork and the latest remastered sound, plus bonus tracks.
“Corridors Of Power” was the first of Irish guitar virtuoso Gary Moore’s true metal / hard rock albums. Featuring the same terrific rhythm section of Whitesnake at the time – Neil Murray on bass & ex-Deep Purple Ian Paice on drums – and produced by the highly requested Jeff Glixman, “Corridors Of Power” impressed the Rock community when appeared.
Boasting a crisp, aggressive sound, “Corridors Of Power” kicks off with the foot-stomping ‘Don’t Take Me for a Loser’, which is almost more Whitesnake than Whitesnake with the driving rhythm section and catchy hook. Gary’s lead vocals are fierce and fits the song greatly, yet with a more polished or dare I say ‘full-time’ vocalist (Coverdale perhaps?) it could probably have made the singles chart…

MEGADETH / REMASTER / SHM-CD

MEGADETH – Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying? [Japan SHM-CD miniLP remastered + bonus] (2023) HQ *Exclusive*

When we thought never will see again classic hard rock / metal albums pressed on superb physical format SHM-CD Universal Music Japan has started a new 2023 reissue campaign, and we have in exclusive MEGADETH‘s 1986’s “Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying?” reissued in a miniLP replica, remastered and with bonus tracks.
Simply put, ”Peace Sells… but Who’s Buying?” is a classic and an album that gave prominence to thrash metal. The anthemic title track and “Wake Up Dead” are the two major standouts, but the entire album knock your socks off.
From the get go, it’s clear that on ”Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying?” in 1986 MEGADETH were a new beast. Maybe not as unhinged or fierce sounding as its predecessor debut, ‘Peace Sells…’ still sounds muscular and commanding, due to a much better songwriting and a serious improvement in musicianship.
”Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying?” has hints of the band’s refined future sound while still retaining the filth and mercilessness of their early material. It’s the perfect blend of everything MEGADETH…

MEGADETH / REMASTER / SHM-CD

MEGADETH – So Far, So Good… So What! [Japan SHM-CD miniLP remastered + bonus] (2023) HQ *Exclusive*

When we thought never will see again classic hard rock / metal albums pressed on superb physical format SHM-CD Universal Music Japan has started a new 2023 reissue campaign, and we have in exclusive MEGADETH‘s 1988’s “So Far, So Good… So What!” reissued in a miniLP replica, remastered and with bonus tracks.
The success of “So Far, So Good… So What!” (managed to enter the top-30 of the Billboard 200 although it received no commercial radio play) indicated Megadeth’s forthcoming emergence from the underground scene.
While isn’t polished sounding as previous LP ‘Peace Sells…’ or the next ‘Rust In Peace’, for many fans this is MEGADETH finest hour, raw, with a sort of sloppy, rugged charm to it. “In My Darkest Hour”, the catchy “Hook In Mouth”, “Mary Jane”, “Set The World Afire” are killers tracks.
Every heavy metal album wishes it had the fury that seethes in these tracks. Only a few come close…

MEGADETH / REMASTER / SHM-CD

MEGADETH – Rust In Peace [Japan SHM-CD miniLP remastered + bonus] (2023) HQ *Exclusive*

When we thought never will see again classic hard rock / metal albums pressed on superb physical format SHM-CD Universal Music Japan has started a new 2023 reissue campaign, and we have in exclusive MEGADETH‘s 1990’s “Rust In Peace” reissued in a miniLP replica, remastered and with bonus tracks.
For “Rust In Peace”, enter excellent lead guitarist Marty Friedman and drummer Nick Menza into the line up, and MEGADETH created one of the best thrash metal records of all time according to Decibel and Kerrang!, and listed in the reference book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The album even was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance.
“Rust In Peace” is a killer LP without a single skippable song. The lead guitar work is second to none, the drumming is always popping off, and the bass sounds so thick and juicy. The riffs are nasty too, even rivals Metallica’s. Dave Mustaine vocals sound great on this record, despite them being sort of an acquired taste for some casual listeners…

FIGHTER / REMASTER / UNRELEASED

FIGHTER – The Fighter Demos [Previously Unreleased Digitally Remastered] (2019) *Exclusive*

Led by talented vocalist and principal songwriter Amy Wolter, a female singer which already had worked in the music business as back-up vocalist and advertising singles performer, FIGHTER was formed in the ’80s with his bro Jim to create arena style melodic hard rock / AOR music plenty of hooks and melodies galore. While in their origins considered part of the CCM scene, the focus with FIGHTER was to reach the Rock mainstream audience as well.
The band recorded several demos in the second half of the Eighties – one of these sold at their shows, which was added as bonus tracks on the reissue of FIGHTER’s first album 1991’s ‘The Waiting’ featured at 0dayrox yesterday.
Girder Records has also put together the band’s original demos for Wonderland Records (a short-lived sub-label of Christian label Word from the early 1990s) who released FIGHTER’s debut CD.
These tracks on “The Fighter Demos” have been remastered from the original reels, all professionally recorded pre-production tapes and the sound quality is very good. Some are unreleased, some ended on the first album with different lyrics and arrangements – all rock greatly, catchy, with AOR melodies…

PETRA / REMASTER

PETRA – Beyond Belief [2023 Girder/Curb/Word Remaster] (2023) HQ *0dayrox Exclusive*

Girder Music and Word/Curb Records presents an exciting collaboration, for the first time a remastered CD of iconic PETRA album “Beyond Belief”. Meticulously remastered by esteemed audio engineer Rob Colwell, the release is accompanied by a limited edition collector card.
The sound quality obtained is awesome: the original 1990 production was excellent, which helped to bring a potent, crisp sonic output to die for.
Produced by melodic rock magicians Dino & John Elefante, “Beyond Belief” has all that 1989-1990 bombastic, glossy, huge production we all love, and musically, this is one of Petra’s best albums ever. We find all here; killer hooks, big choruses, synth splashes and great harmonies, all supported by very good songwriting & arrangements.
This is a Limited Edition remaster. If you think think the CD will be around for some time and you can pick these up later, better grab this asap as it’s already almost sold out.
A must in your 80s/ early 90s American melodic hard rock collection…

HUMAN CLAY (Jeff Scott Soto) / HUMANIMAL / JEFF SCOTT SOTO / REMASTER / TALISMAN

TALISMAN (Jeff Scott Soto) – Humanimal [Deluxe Edition remastered / extra tracks]

Some time ago all the TALISMAN catalog has been reissued by a Swedish label with new artwork, newly remastered audio and previously unreleased material. We already presented most of these on this blog but a couple missing, and two that can’t be absent in your Talisman / Jeff Scott Soto collection.
TALISMAN’s third studio album “Humanimal“, for many, their best.
Finding a hole in his busy schedule, in January 1994 Jeff Scott Soto joined the guys in Sweden and recorded & mixed the new album “Humanimal” at Sound Trade Studios in Stockholm, working together with studio and mixing engineer Ronny Lahti (Europe, Electric Boys).

REMASTER / RETURN

RETURN – To The Top ’87 [Norske Albumklassikere 80-tallet remastered] (2023) *HQ*

As part of the ‘Norske Albumklassikere 80-tallet’ series from the excellent Norwegian reissue label Norske Albumklassikere – which seems to have access to almost every Norwegian release from the 70s and 80s – comes this really welcomed remastered reissue of RETURN 1987’s album ”To The Top”.
If you need an ’80s AOR album that could rival Europe’s Final Countdown, it was ”To The Top”. This is pure catchiness, top class multi-part vocal harmonies, infectious choruses and outstanding keys/synths. Very poppy at places and very radio friendly.
The album spent several weeks in the Scandinavian charts and while Return didn’t made it big world-wide, ”To The Top” put the band among the top AOR / Melodic Rock acts from the era.

0dayrox Contributor Exclusives / REMASTER / St. VALENTINE / UNRELEASED

St. VALENTINE – S/T [20th Century Music Ltd Edition Remastered +5] (2022) *Exclusive*

Few weeks ago we featured in exclusive at 0dayrox the recordings of American melodic rockers St. VALENTINE whom operated in the Californian scene all over the ’80s.
Now 20th Century Music released for the first time on CD that five-song EP the band recorded with Dana Strum (at the time in Vinnie Vincent Invasion) as producer and Mark Slaughter & Jeff Scott Soto providing backing vocals, augmented with 5 extra bonus tracks: two studio demos produced by extraordinaire Matt Chidgey (Lynch Mob) and three live songs captured at The Roxy in West Hollywood in 1987. All digitally remastered.
While St. VALENTINE looks / big hair refer to glam metal, their music was much more melodic hard rock / AOR oriented than their Hollywood peers.

ANGEL (Gregg Giuffria) / DIMINO / REMASTER / UNRELEASED

ANGEL – The Casablanca Years [7-CD Box remastered + unreleased]

With the just released new, strong ANGEL album, many asked for this Caroline Records extensive, mammoth 7-disc Box Set celebrating the legendary early discography of the Washington DC-bred glam/rock outfit. Entitled “Angel: The Casablanca Years“, the band-approved Box includes all the complete discography with the record label, remastered, plus a bonus disc ‘Rarities’ with songs available for the first time on CD.
Formed in Washington DC in the mid ’70s, Angel were allegedly discovered playing in a nightclub by bassist Gene Simmons, and subsequently signed Kiss’ then label Casablanca. A big lush sound and the band dressed in white, they stood out in more ways than one. And their label has rotational symmetry too – it reads the same upside down.
The band’s catalogue has been reissued several times. And by Rock Candy who have done things piecemeal. This package, however, compiles the complete works, fully remastered.
The music and packaging are both excellent and this whole thing demands a place in any record collection. It’s how things should be done…

DOKKEN / REMASTER / REMASTER ROCK CANDY

DOKKEN – Under Lock And Key [Rock Candy remaster] *HQ*

There’s a little discussion among fans about which is the best DOKKEN album ever – in my opinion, all their ’80s creations are great – but arguably “Under Lock And Key” it was the record that promoted them to an A-grade platinum attraction and one that resulted in the sort of kerb appeal shared by the likes of Ratt, White Lion and Mötley Crüe.
“Under Lock And Key” received a ‘Remastered & Reloaded‘ treatment by Rock Candy Records, and the result is spectacular.
I read somewhere that this Rock Candy remaster is totally brickwalled. This guy needs to clean his ears or is getting old, as “Under Lock And Key – Remastered & Reloaded” sounds million bucks.
Forget the anemic previous CD editions of this great album (the vinyl still sounds better), and replace them with this Rock Candy dynamic refresh. It rocks bigtime.

REMASTER / SAGA

SAGA – Steel Umbrellas +1 (2021 Edition remastered) *EXCLUSIVE* / HQ

We have been featuring here the Canadian legends SAGA reissue series started in 2021 with fresh remastered versions. This newest release of “Steel Umbrellas +1 (2021 Edition remastered)” featured in exclusive at 0dayrox includes a bonus track.
Over 40 years have passed since melodic prog-rock band SAGA released their self-titled debut album. Since then, they have been an exceptional musical phenomenon and toured the globe various times — all the while selling over 10 million albums worldwide.
Their sonic trademarks – synthesizer harmonies, keyboard-guitar riffs, melodic arrangements, and the charismatic vocals of frontman Michael Sadler – have made Saga an influential rock act of the modern era.
Celebrating the band’s four-decade legacy earMUSIC continues with the band’s reissue series exquisitely remastered and these “must own” releases will be welcome additions to the musical libraries of the Saga faithful.
The criminally underrated “Steel Umbrellas” is best known for featuring a more commercial side of the band. Well, occurs this material was originally composed as a soundtrack for a TV series called ‘Cobra’, which needed an ’80s feel. Mixed by Mike Ging (Toto, Michael Jackson, Nazareth) in L.A., “Steel Umbrellas” takes you straight back to a pure glossy Eighties sound. Production is huge, bombastic, very Eighties indeed.
You’ve seen it first at 0dayrox