TEAZE – Live At Liege (CD)

TEAZE – Live At Liege

Back in 1980 when we started up my old heavy metal band Overdrive, I had a soft spot for Canadian hard rock. I was a big fan of bands like Rush, Triumph, Max Webster, Goddo, Mahogany Rush, and of course Teaze. So much that we even did a cover of Teaze’s “Rockin’ With The Music” as one of the first songs we played together. I then had the great pleasure of finally seeing the band live in 2023 and I was totally blown away by the power and vitality that flew off the stage! Before the show I saw in Sweden the band had also played at the Golden Age Rock festival in Belgium, and they had the good taste of recording the show. The live CD, entitled “Live At Liege” perfectly brings back the memories of seeing the band at the Time To Rock Festival in Sweden. The power is perfectly captured even on CD, with Brian Danter’s powerful vocals, the intense drumming from Mike Kozak and the biting guitar work from Marc Bradac and the band’s only new member Charlie Lambrick. It’s like time stood still. The song selection shows the band’s musical width ranging from classic rockers like “Gonna Have A Good Time Tonight”, “Back In Action”, “Young And reckless”, "On The Loose", “Come On, Hold On” to more melodic stuff like “I’m Not Gonna Cry Anymore”, “Roses And Chrome”, “Heartless World” and the perfect power ballad “Touch The Wind”. One of my favorites is the back-beat power rocker from the band’s self-titled debut album, “Flames Keep Growing”, a kick-ass tune, indeed.  A killer set-list and the mix is in your face, hot and powerful and makes me want to see the band live, again, like NOW! 

Country: Canada

Year: 2024

Label: Self-released

Tania Kikidi - Rock & Roll Paradise (CD)

 

Greece has presented some good stuff now and then, unfortunately not that often. However, in the last 6-7 years there’s been a bunch of good stuff with a nice 70s vibe coming out with bands like Universal Hippies, King Mountain, Hard Driver, Freerock Saints and Super Vintage. One guy has a finger in each of the pies, guitarist, singer, producer Stavros Papadopoulos. So also here, meaning my expectations are quite high. Tania kicks off the opening track and immediately shows how things are done! Power-rock, hard rock, riff rock – classic hard rock with great melodies, fat guitars and Tania’s rocking voice as the icing on the cake. This starts out really good! “Queen Rider” continues in the same vein. It’s kinda hard to describe the style more than saying it’s 100 % rocking classic and quite timeless hard rock in the same musical territory as classic Dio and Victory, but with Tania’s voice as a new element putting them in a lane of their own. “Freedom Highway” invites you to some serious riffing with a nudge to the old Zep school, but a chorus closer to southern rock. “Night Burner” fills upp the riff account again and this one brings classic 70s bands like Teaze, Moxy and Riot to mind, and a riff that made me think of Whitesnake’s “Still of the Night”. Without going through each and every track on the album I’ll say that the overall quality is high, the song material is quite uniform but still varied enough to make it an interesting album. The fact is that the album rocks my world in every track! If you like classic hard rock with great riffs and a singer with the right rock edge, this album is a must The production, as Stavros’ productions usually is, is dynamic yet fat and powerful with kick ass guitars and drums that sound natural. High scores there as well! 

/Janne Stark

Year: 2021

Label: Grooveyard Records