TANIA KIKIDI – Wings Of Freedom (CD)

Greek vocal powerhouse Tania Kikidi follows up the excellent 2021 album “Rock & Roll Paradise” with a new belter of an album. The album kicks of with the rockin’ “Rise” that almost touches on classic 80s metal and bands like Riot or Metal Church, but with a more 70s sounding chorus. All the instruments, mixing and mastering are handled by the multi-talented Stavros Papadopoulos who does a killer job sounding like a whole band of different musicians. The title track continues and again I have to say vintage Riot does come to mind, and that is in my book by no means a bad thing. On the contrary, the early discography of Riot are among my favorite records. This is definitely classic metal with a new touch. “Loud And Proud” touches on 70s heavy rock and made me think of bands like Rockicks and Hydra, with Tania taking the vocal department to a whole new level. A killer track! “Broken Dreams” is a cool up-tempo classic rocker keeping the pace up going into a kickin’ cover of Sass Jordan’s “High Road Easy”. Tania and Stavros do a great job with it, but it’s almost impossible to surpass the unearthly energy and power of Sass, Brian Tichy and Stevie Salas, but a great version, nonetheless! “Heart Painted Blue” is a cool, heavy bluesy number giving the album another touch of color. “Confession” takes us into a Dio:esque landscape with a touch of Sabbaths “Heaven And Hell”, while “Breaking It Down” kicks off with riff heaven. Heavy, funky and rockin’ with Tania’s voice as the icing on the cake. “Bleed” keeps the riff machine going, while “Pain” revvs up the metal machine again, going back into vintage Riot territory.”Foolish Lover” is a cool, bluesy ballad kicking off with a killer solo from Stavros. The album finishes with the beautiful acoustic ballad “Sea Of Tears”. A very nice ending to a kick-ass album! Killer vocals, awesome playing, killer production and a cool cover to match it! Get it! 

Janne Stark

Label: Grooveyard Records

Year: 2023

Country: Greece

Link: https://grooveyardrecords.com/

AMERICAN MAFIA – Rock N’ Roll Hit Machine (CD)

From what I gather this is based around guitarist Tom Jude (ex-Doro), bassist Freddy Villano (ex-Quiet Riot/Widowmaker) and drummer Bobby Marks, while prominent guests fill the other spots. When I see names like Jimmy Kunes (Cactus), John West (Artension, Badlands) and Mike DiMeo (Riot, The Lizards etc) I instantly get interested. Well, I’m happy to say the album opener Obsession features singer Ed Terry, who is just as interesting. The track is a cool riff-oriented hard rocker with a funky touch. It also shows the band has a cool groove and a tight sound, plus guitarist Tom really rips the leads! Great stuff! Second track Every Time is a more straight ahead southern rocker with Kunes stretching his vocal cords like only he can. Next up is John West, whose voice may not be as raspy, but instead he adorns this Bad Company style Brit rocker with a more Paul Rodgers:y blues feel. Up-tempo blues rocker Death & Destruction introduces another outstanding singer in Don Chaffin (Red Lamb), who sounds confusingly close to Rufus Huff’s Jarrod England, whose voice I totally love! So far, four outta four! And, it just keeps on! This is top-notch bluesy melodic rock with a strong British seventies vibe. There’s also a cover of Stevie Wonder’s Living For The City, featuring singer Dave Knight, who sadly committed suicide in 2014. This one sounds as if the mid-seventies Foreigner had put their teeth into it. A total ripper! There’s even a hit hidden in there! The Sky Is Falling sounds like something fans of late seventies melodic rock, such as Balance, early Survivor or the aforementioned Foreigner, would embrace. Nice melodic hooks indeed! This is really an awesome album which made this a throwback Wednesday reminding me of the great late seventies melodic rock and the long forgotten odd gems by bands like Buxx, Target, Morningstar, Hero, Fortnox, Russia, Oakley etc. You won’t see this one leaving my CD player any time soon!

Janne Stark

Year: 2014

Country: USA

Label: Grooveyard Records