· MOUNTAIN OF POWER - VOLUME THREE (GYR140) ·


::T R A C K S::

01. GIVE IT EVERYTHING WE GOT / KRYPTONITE
(NEIL MERRYWEATHER)
02. HEY SERENA / WHEEL OF FORTUNE TURNING
(WALTER ROSSI/CHARLEE)
03. IT'S A JUNGLE OUT THERE (POWER)
(DIAMOND REO)
04. BE MY LOVER / LITTLE TEXAS SHAKER
(TRIUMPH)
05. RAGING RIVER OF FEAR (CAN'T FEEL NOTHING-FROZEN OVER)
(CAPTAIN BEYOND)
06. SILVER DOLLAR
(APRIL WINE)
07. BADSIDE
(CAIN)
08. ALL THE WAY
(MOTHER'S FINEST)
09. CYNTHIA FEVER / JUKE IT
(BOOMERANG)
10. SHE FLEW FREELY / IF ONLY WE HAD TRIED
(THE HUNT)
11. UNDER THE SHADOW
(WORKING MAN-WHAT YOU'RE DOING-SOLILOQUY-YYZ)
(RUSH)
12. DEATH OF MOTHER NATURE SUITE / CHILD OF INNOCENCE
(CARRY ON WAYWARD SON-RELENTLESS-DOWN THE ROAD-
CHEYENNE ANTHEM)
(KANSAS)


FORMAT: Audio CD / 6 PANEL WALLET with STICKER
GYR140 - $14.99

Mega-awesome, brain-damaging third disc from Grooveyard Records bad-ass, heavy-duty, retro-70s heavy guitar "tribute" project from Sweden featuring Janne "Rock Machine" Stark and an amazing cast of outstanding, killer "special guest" axerippers and vocalists that truly deliver on a solid mission to Keep the Rock alive. Includes 12 tracks (78 minutes) of Classic, over-the-top, obscure, powerful, intense, retro-70s, blues-based, heavy guitar riffage/mojo that will kick your ass & rock your world.

On this outstanding follow-up to the previous two Mountain of Power discs, Janne Stark & Co. dig in deep on an awesome collection of killer 70s hard & heavy rock that lands bad-ass with tons of outstanding riffage and "musical brotherhood" all in the name of serious Guitar Rock. Brother Janne Stark (Locomotive Breath/Overdrive/Constancia/Balls/Grand Design) is a solid man of rock with an impeccable ear for the riffage that matters. The Man is an unstoppable heavy guitar force who successfully nails down this incredible guitar-heavy musical document. The MOUNTAIN OF POWER: "Volume Three" disc includes face-melting, mind-blowing, heavy, retro-70s "cover jams" complete with extended lead-guitar action by the following bands/guitarists: CAPTAIN BEYOND, BOOMERANG, DIAMOND REO, NEIL MERRYWEATHER, WALTER ROSSI & CHARLEE, CAIN, MOTHER'S FINEST, APRIL WINE, THE HUNT, TRIUMPH, RUSH and KANSAS that are all guaranteed to rock your #1 good jam:house into the ground. If you love Classic obscure 70s heavy guitar rock dig in deep, brothers & sisters, the MOP-V3 disc is just what the bad-ass rock n' roll doctor ordered.

The MOUNTAIN OF POWER: "Volume Three" disc features many amazing, world-class "special guest" axerippers in the form of MARTIN J. ANDERSEN (BLINDSTONE), JAY JESSE JOHNSON, BRETT ELLIS, CRAIG ERICKSON, MIKE ONESKO (BLINDSIDE BLUES BAND), KEE MARCHELLO, MIKAEL NORD ANDERSSON, HANK SHERMANN (MERCYFUL FATE), MICHAEL DENNER (MERCYFUL FATE), KEN HAMMER (PRETTY MAIDS), JONAS HANSSON (SILVER MOUNTAIN), STEFAN LINDHOLM (VINDICTIV), MICKE NILSSON, JIMMY RYAN (THE FLYIN' RYAN BROTHERS/TRUTH SQUAD) and even the Grooveyard Records label owner + president JOE "grOOveDaWg" ROMAGNOLA lands to jam at the big, electrified Mountain Of Power V3 heavy guitar rock party!!! Along with all these killer axerippers, supreme MOP RIFFMASTER: JANNE STARK kicks serious lead guitar ass throughout the amazing MOUNTAIN OF POWER "Volume Three" disc. Easily his best + strongest riffage/mojo that has landed down hard to date. Digging in six string deep with the "vintage rock" mentality of recording with Les Pauls & Strats through a Marshall, Stark nails down a way-kool, legit "old school" tone-king heavy guitar rock vibe that is ALL ABOUT THE ROCK. The MOUNTAIN OF POWER: "Volume Three" disc also features the following way-kool, awesome vocalists: MARTIN J. ANDERSEN (BLINDSTONE), NEIL MERRYWEATHER (SPACE RANGERS/HEAVY CRUISER/MAMA LION), CARL DIXON (CONEY HATCH), DAVID ANGSTROM (BLACK CAT BONE/SUPAFUZZ), MAGNUS EKWALL (THE QUILL), THOMAS VIKSTROM (CANDLEMASS/STORMWIND/BRAZEN ABBOTT), ROGER SOLANDER (DUST), PELLE SAETHER, CHRIS CATENA, MARC QUEE & AMY DOUGLAS (FEINTS). The MOUNTAIN OF POWER "Groove Machine" is provided by PETER HERMANSSON & PETER SVENSSON on powerhouse Drums and Mr. JANNE STARK lays down the Bass Mojo @ "low-end bottom kool". Mixing & Mastering were excellently nailed down hard @ J.A.M. PRODUCTIONS by Danish studio veteran + sonic mojo:man & BLINDSTONE BROTHER MARTIN J. ANDERSEN. All the above talented players produce and deliver the serious heavy rock "goods" on the bad-ass, mega-killer, phenomenal, monumental, MOUNTAIN OF POWER "Volume Three" disc.

The MOUNTAIN OF POWER: "Volume Three" disc is all about the RIFFAGE THAT MATTERS. Janne Stark definitely lives up to his "Riff:Master" handle @ this disc. Stark got very sneaky and creative with the riffage to the point of Epic proportions. Easily the most challenging material to land @ the Mountain Of Power disc series, nothing stopped J.S. from nailing down the bad-ass, killer riffage. From start to finish, this killer heavy guitar disc has more heavy riffs per square inch than most heavy rock bands' entire catalogs!!! Of special note and true to our vintage rock mission, we were fortunate to get one of our 70s rock god heros, Mr. Neil Merryweather, to land. The Man definitely still has the Rock Mojo, his vocals land amazing & powerful beyond belief and are the epitome & definition of KEEPING THE ROCK ALIVE. It is truly an honor having our good musical 70s rock brother Merryweather land on the MOUNTAIN OF POWER: "Volume Three" disc. The same applies to all the awesome guest guitarists & singers who were kool/solid enough to land. Everybody who landed did an amazing job & we are proud and honored to have all of these excellent musical guests be part of this amazing heavy rock disc/project.

As an added bonus, the Mountain Of Power: "Volume Three" disc is packaged in an amazing 6 panel fold-out wallet complete with a way-kool Mountain Of Power Sticker with AWESOME art created by Sami-Nyx @ Nyxian:Drift layout & design company. Physical discs rule @ the Grooveyard and the MOUNTAIN OF POWER: "Volume Three" disc is worthy of landing down hard. Highly recommended to fans of serious, balls to the wall, blues-based, retro-70s, guitar heavy rock n' roll that defies gravity. An Essential, ass-kickin', hard rockin', monster slab of Epic, brain-damaging, heavy guitar rock mojo from Grooveyard Records.

GROOVEYARD RECORDS HAS JOINED THE VINYL REVOLUTION!!! THE MOUNTAIN OF POWER "VOLUME THREE" DISC IS NOW AVAILABLE AS A LIMITED EDITION DOUBLE VINYL ALBUM!!!
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO AND HOW TO ORDER THE ALBUM.


MP3 Sample Clips

01. GIVE IT EVERYTHING WE GOT / KRYPTONITE
02. HEY SERENA / WHEEL OF FORTUNE TURNING
03. IT'S A JUNGLE OUT THERE (POWER)
04. BE MY LOVER / LITTLE TEXAS SHAKER
05. RAGING RIVER OF FEAR (CAN'T FEEL NOTHING-FROZEN OVER)
06. SILVER DOLLAR
07. BADSIDE
08. ALL THE WAY
09. CYNTHIA FEVER / JUKE IT
10. SHE FLEW FREELY / IF ONLY WE HAD TRIED
11. UNDER THE SHADOW
    (WORKING MAN-WHAT YOU'RE DOING-SOLILOQUY-YYZ)
12. DEATH OF MOTHER NATURE SUITE / CHILD OF INNOCENCE
    (CARRY ON WAYWARD SON-RELENTLESS-
      DOWN THE ROAD-CHEYENNE ANTHEM)

 

FOR OUR GOOD CUSTOMERS WORLDWIDE WHO PREFER DIGITAL DOWNLOADS,
THIS KILLER GROOVEYARD DISC IS AVAILABLE AS AN MP3 DOWNLOAD
THROUGH THE FOLLOWING EXCELLENT DIGITAL DOWNLOAD PARTNERS.


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· RECOMMENDED GROOVEYARD DISCS ·

MOUNTAIN OF POWER
"Volume One"
(GYR025)



MOUNTAIN OF POWER
"Volume II"
(GYR060)



Mike Onesko's
Guitar Army
(GYR131)



MARTIN ANDERSEN
"6 STRING RENEGADE"
(GYR132)



BLINDSTONE
"karma factory"
(GYR092)



snake head ritual
"S/T"
(GYR105)



AMERICAN MAFIA
"R N' R HIT MACHINE"
(GYR128)



johnny hunkins
"DOWN IN FLAMES"
(GYR127)



· VIDEO ·

 

Mountain of Power - "Give It Everything We Got/Kryptonite"

 

 

· reviews ·

NEWS RELEASE - ALREADY PICKED UP BY "BRAVEWORDS.COM" AND "HEAVY-METAL.IT" !!

BRAVEWORDS.COM

HEAVY-METAL.IT


‘Mountain of Power, Volume Three’ is a special CD. It contains elements of neo-classical rock, progressive rock, alternative rock, fusion, funk, and jazz. But this doesn’t sum it up. It is more like carefully arranged blues-rock, engaging musicians who are at the top of their game. They play well thought-out original material, but leave enough freedom for the musicians to stretch out, evoking a sense of spontaneity and fun. But this is serious music, rendered by masters. In addition to the highly capable Janne Stark (guitar and bass) and comrades Peter Svensson and Peter Hermansson (both on drums), numerous guest musicians — people like Mike Onesko, Craig Erickson, Martin J. Andersen, and, yes, Joe Romagnola — make this a virtual masterpiece of guitar sounds and images. It may well be one of the best guitar records in a long, long time.

Steven J. Rosen / Author + Journalist (January 2017)
 


The heavy rocking, hard hitting, guitar totting, blues boasting brainchild of six string supremo Janne Stark (Locomotive Breath, Constancia, Balls, Grand Design), Mountain Of Power returns with Volume Three of their homage to 70s guitar rock. As ever the cast list is extensive as some obscure and some not so obscure covers are thrashed out, jammed through and generally given new life. An embarrassment of guitar goodness and vocal prowess brought to bare on a selection of songs which previously hit hard, but now positively bulldoze all in their path.

The Neil Merryweather amalgam, "Give It Everything We Got/Kryptonite", introduces proceedings perfectly, Stark and Martin J Andersen sparking wildly as they trade solos with real intensity. That Andersen backs that up with a Conny Bloom like vocal capable of matching the six string histrionics simply seals the deal. Merryweather himself then turns up to deliver vocals on the melodic blues merry-go-round of "Hey Serena/Wheel Of Fortune", as the formula of choosing a pair of a band's best tunes and expertly fusing them together continues with the Walter Rossi/Charlee cuts being expertly handled.

From there highlights come thick and groovetacularly fast, Roger Solander and Peter Harmansson adding the vocal muscle to the guitar hit from Stark and Brett Ellis on "It's A Jungle Out There (Power)" (by Diamond Reo), while Thomas Vikström handles the Stark/Ken Hammer infused "Be My Lover/Little Texas Shaker", with skill and ease in abundance. Songs from two underrated bands shine next, "Raging River Of Fear (Can't Feel Nothing-Frozen Over)" from the criminally unknown Captain Beyond celebrated by Stark, and Andersen once more, while "Silver Dollar" by April Wine is brought to life with a real sense of rejoicing in the good times by the one and only Carl Dixon (Coney Hatch/April Wine) behind the mic.; Craig Erickson excelling with Stark on guitar.

And so it continues, a mix of singers, David Angstrom on "Badside" by Cain, Marc Quee and Amy Douglas (the latter having lost none of her power) on the Mother's Finest belter "All The Way" and the pairing of Chris Catena and Peter Hermansson moulding a mix of smooth and husky-dusty vocals into a potent force on Boomerang's "Cynthia Fever/Juke It". Six string expertise provided by Stark, Angstrom, Mike Onesko, Jay Jesse Johnson and Mr. Grooveyard records himself Joe Romagnola! Unlike most near 80 minute albums, things just keep getting better and better as they head towards their conclusion, the Styx like "She Flew Freely/If Only We Tried" (originally by The Hunt) finding Carl Dixon returning to provide his best Tommy Shaw-esque vocals, while Stark take sole centre stage on guitar in quite blistering fashion. Leaving a four part Rush medley come guitar jam and four part Kansas tribute come six-string weapon of destruction to close the album out magnificently, a whole host of previously mentioned vocal and guitar talent, plus Magnus Ekwall, Pelle Saether, the Mercyful Fate guitar pair, Michael Denner and Hank Shermann, Stefan Lindholm, Jonas Hansson, Jimmy Ryan, Kee Marcello, Micke Nilsson and Mikadl Nord Andersson, making mockery of the idea that all star albums lack for cohesive hard rocking authenticity.

If you like big, fat grooving guitar led anthems from the classic and underrated 70s vaults, Volume Three by Mountain Of Power is the altar at which you should worship. Put simply: fabulous.

Steven Reid / Sea Of Tranquility (February 2016)


As the title states, this is the third installment of the Mountain Of Power (MOP) guitar overload franchise. Brainchild of guitarist and producer Janne Stark, and with the assistance of producer/label president Joe Romagnola, all three MOP records reignite a passion for the electric guitar by pulling the best from well known to obscure heavy rock bands of the ‘70s. Stark carefully selects tunes from a list of guitar heroes and rebuilds each tune into sonic monsters that pay the ultimate homage to the original creators. Eagerly anticipated, Volume Three features a slew of prominent guests including Craig Erickson, Mike Onesko and Jay Jesse Johnson (all steadily reviewed as solo artists within The Electric Beard vault). However, the biggest thrill this time was inclusion of legendary bass/vocalist Neil Merryweather. The disc kicks off with a roaring version of “Give It Everything We Got / Kryptonite” from Merryweather’s iconic classic Kryptonite (1975). Immediately, the bass jumps up front and center as the riff lands full-throttle. Martin J. Andersen (Blindstone) turns in a brilliant vocal performance on par with the original.

Merryweather’s contribution continues as he lends vocals to the groovy Walter Rossi/Charlee number “Hey Serena” / “Wheel Of Fortune Turning”. His powerful voice has lost nothing over the years bringing a legitimate stamp to the proceedings with dynamic force and raw emotion. Stark’s unique vision breaths new life into each of the album’s twelve arrangements. A world-class musician in his own right (Overdrive, Locomotive Breath), Stark takes the creative liberty of fusing two or three elements from his list of influential artists into a cohesive bundle of guitar worship. In his tribute to Kansas he combines “Death of Mother Nature Suite” and “Child of Innocence” with a mash of “Carry On Wayward Son”, “Relentless”, “Down The Road” and “Cheyenne Anthem” in a twelve-minute progressive mind-blower. He does the same thing with Rush combining “Under The Shadow” with “Working Man”, “What You're Doing”, “Soliloquy” and “YYZ”. The results are extraordinary and the seemingly complicated becomes beautifully melodic.

Though some may recognize deep cuts by April Wine (“Silver Dollar”), Triumph (“Be My Lover”/ “Little Texas Shaker”) and Captain Beyond (“Raging River of Fear” / “Can't Feel Nothing” / “Frozen Over”) the personal highlights are in the more obscure workouts like Cain’s “Badside” where the song literally explodes out of the speakers. Throughout the disc, Stark plays the majority of the song’s structure including guitars and bass with the rhythm assistance provided by drummers Peter Svensson and Peter Hermansson. Where that rhythm really finds it’s groove is in the Diamond Rio number “It's A Jungle Out There (Power)”. The swagger plays perfectly into the dirty hook while Boomerang’s “Cynthia Fever” / “Juke It” is brought back from obscurity with the full Janne Stark riff-master treatment. The expected strut of “All The Way” (Mother's Finest) is made all the more incredible by the vocal prowess of Amy Douglas who sounds like a mix between Mother's Finest's Baby Jean and Tina Turner on steroids. Another surprise is the addition of Canadian singer Carl Dixon (Coney Hatch) raising hell on The Hunt’s “She Flew Freely” / “If Only We Had Tried” and April Wine’s “Silver Dollar”.

Todd K. Smith - The Electric Beard (January 2016)
 


The name of this juggernaut of a project says it all. Mountain Of Power, the brainchild of guitarist Janne Stark, has once again delivered the goods. Assembling some of the planet's most powerful guitarists including Martin J. Andersen from Blindstone, Brett Ellis, Jay Jesse Johnson, Mike Onesko, former Europe guitarist, Kee Marchello, Ken Hammer from Pretty Maids and the finest vocalists including Carl Dixon of Coney Hatch, David Angstrom from Supafuzz/Black Cat Bone and Roger Solander from Dust/Lugnet. While all the vocalists featured give outstanding performances, it's guitar performances that are the highlight of this album with Martin J. Andersen, Brett Ellis and Mike Onesko giving the best performances, but really all the six string samurais featured deliver near religious shredding experiences. All twelve tracks are supercharged and loaded for bear. Highlights include "Give It Everything We Got", "It's A Jungle Out There", "Raging River Of Fear" and a pleasant surprise, a awesome take on an April Wine classic, "Silver Dollar" with Carl Dixon of Coney Hatch on vocals. Also closing out the album is the epic Kansas medley, "Death Of Mother Nature Suite/Child Of Innocence". talk about closing it out in a blaze of glory, WOW! You simply cannot go wrong with this recording if you dig solid, hard-edged guitar powdered blues-rock. This set rocks so amazing it's incredible. If you were blown away with Volumes 1 and 2, then this latest installment will knock your socks off big time. Mountain Of Power Volume Three is truly a guitar player lover's wet dream. - Highly Recommended.

Tony Sison - The Dedicated Rocker Society(January 2016)
 


The name Janne Stark should be familiar for anyone who knows anything about Swedish hard rock. As a guitarist he has been enriching record collections all over the world ever since I was born 36 years ago. Overdrive, Locomotive Breath, Grand Design... The list of bands is long and adding guest spots to that it can go on forever. He is also equally known for his massive work "The Heaviest Encyclopedia Of Swedish Hard Rock And Heavy Metal Ever!", released in 2013; a documentation and development of his earlier encyclopedias on the subject. A man with very heavy merits on the subject.

With MOUNTAIN OF POWER Stark has now come to the third release. Anyone with knowledge about the band is aware this is a tribute to the bands the master guitarist himself admires and loves, and this time bands like TRIUMPH, DIAMOND REO, KANSAS, RUSH and more, get a “Starkifiation”. Helping out is a bunch of strong vocalists, such as Carl Dixon (CONEY HATCH), Tomas Vikström (CANDLEMASS/THERION etc) and Magnus Ekwall (THE QUILL). I don’t even need to say this is professional through and through.

A big problem when you take on covers is of course that most people already know “what they’re supposed to sound like” and thus are “impossible” to improve. It is also true in this case, however – and it is a BIG however – Stark succeeds in tying the songs together to units and his versions are in all cases really, really good! It rocks big time both regarding guitar playing and rhythm section My personal favorites are "Be My Lover/Little Texas Shaker" (TRIUMPH) and the mega fat KANSAS medley that finishes the album! Here, the great solos keep coming, one after another and besides Stark we also hear Craig Erickson and Kee Marcello (EUROPE) rock it out! Goodies throughout! If you’re looking for a real dose of classic rock/hard rock in one piece, you’ll find it right here!

Stefan Lejon - Metal Central (Sweden) (January 2016)
 


Yet again, Janne Stark, with his Mountain Of Power project, in conjunction with Grooveyard Records, have delivered the goods BIG TIME !! For those not in the know, The Mountain Of Power project is the brain child of Janne Stark, who amasses an array of musical talent and voices from around the World and takes many of great, but lesser known songs from around the 70's era and he usually combines a couple of songs from the one Artist, as a bit of a medley and they BELT them out with precision and a ( pardon the pun ) Mountain Of Power wink emoticon I love the first two albums from Janne Stark and his Mountain Of Power Project, but I think this one tops them both and that certainly is one great achievement !! I love the entire album and again, no filler material on this one from start to finish and it comes very highly recommended !! My favourites would be Hey Serena / Wheel Of Fortune Turning ( WALTER ROSSI/CHARLEE), Raging River Of Fear / I Can't Feel Nothing - Frozen Over (CAPTAIN BEYOND) & Silver Dollar (APRIL WINE) Blown away with Carl Dixon's vocals on Silver Dollar.. Just BRILLIANT !! Another SENSATIONAL album from Mountain Of Power !!

David Vear (Grooveyard Brother from Downunder) (January 2016)
 


Being a Rochester-born native, I grew up as an impressionable, young teenager discovering the art of fine heavy rock music from WSAY. You see, WSAY was an underground, cult radio station on the AM dial that would actually play independant and lesser-known hard rock bands in the 1970's. All the dj's seemed stoned out of their minds, while assaulting us with new record after new record of killer bands nobody ever heard of! To my friends, I was a pioneering god of heavy rock, when I would turn them on to these albums in my room and at parties! The tradition has carried on my entire lifetime . . . and you can still find me on radio carrying the torch of the WSAY tradition!! This brings me to one of the absolute finest testaments documented in modern heavy rock today! The MOUNTAIN OF POWER series! And what rises before us all today is VOLUME THREE of the M.O.P. series! The gorgeous packaging and cover design is all icing on the cake . . . it's the music that lies inside that really matters! Swedish guitar hero, Janne Stark, is the mastermind brainchild behind the music, who employs all his knowledge and connections to re-create and glorify these 1970's deep, cult masterpiece songs. With a host of talented guests, some more surprising than others, together they deliver the magic to give us a fresh, contemporary take on songs that have been buried in the unheralded rock vault for what seems like centuries!! The updated renditions hold true to the originals, but yet sound like songs just written in our modern, contemporary world of heavy rock! The style and production is second to none . . . and you can easily be fooled that these are brand, new penned songs of today! It's one of those records where you wish it never came to an end, and that there would be more rare, obscure songs being rectified to listen to once again in passion! I guess that's what Volume Four will be about!!! My hardest hitting favorites are the Neil Merryweather covers, the Walter Rossi/Charlee do-overs featuring Neil Merryweather, and the ultra-obscure The Hunt (Canada) tribute. Sensationally oddball yet clever, deep, medley cuts are also contained within by more predominently known artists as Rush, Kansas and Triumph. Listening to VOLUME THREE (as well as I and II), brings back a certain feelgood nostalgia that you can't just get from anywhere when listening to music! It transports you back to a place where it all began . . . where it is all good . . . that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside! MOUNTAIN OF POWER brings you back home!! It's a musical experience . . . and you have to take the ride!!!

DANIEL JACKS - RAISED ON ROCK / WITR (January 2016)
 


As the title suggests, this is the third in a series of projects by Overdrive, Constancia and Grand Design guitarist Janne Stark, on which the celebrated journalist/writer gathers together a sizeable guest-list to cover unusual or obscure seventies cult classics. Stark shares my love of Canadian Rock and this time half the twelve tracks originated in Canada with the remainder from the US.

In most cases Stark takes the opportunity to merge two or more songs by the same artist, and with drummers Peter Svensson and Peter Hermansson, and Danish singer, guitarist and mixer Martin J. Andersen (Blindstone), he does a great job of paying homage to the originals whilst adding something of his own.

Of the U.S. selection, gritty Rockers Diamond Reo are indicative of the Bluesy Riff Rock on offer with their 'It's A Jungle Out There/Power' hybrid, the wonderful Amy Douglas takes no prisoners on the Mother's Finest Rocker 'All The Way' and the much under-rated Captain Beyond provide the inspiration for a well-arranged medley based around 'Raging River Of Fear'. Both Cain and Boomerang were unfamiliar to me, but both are classic sounding seventies Hard Rock, the latter with Chris Catena on vocals. The album ends with a ten minute Kansas medley based around 'Death Of Mother Nature Suite' and 'Child Of Innocence', with Andersen and GD's Pelle Saether channelling Robbie Steinhardt and Steve Walsh respectively.

The six Canadian tracks could be divided into three well-known and three relatively obscure. Kicking off with Andersen nailing a great Neil Merryweather vocal on the latter's 'Give It Everything We Got/Kryptonite' and Merryweather himself sounding great singing Walter Rossi's 'Hey Serena/Wheel Of Fortune Turning'. Coney Hatch's Carl Dixon makes two appearances, one sounding uncannily like Myles Goodwyn on April Wine's 'Silver Doller' and on The Hunt's wonderful 'She Flew Freely/If Only We Had Tried'. Thomas Vikstrom does a great job on Triumph's 'Be My Lover/Little Texas Shaker', whilst perhaps the most unusual choice is Rush's 'Under The Shadow'. The middle part of 'The Necromancer' from 'Caress Of Steel' has Andersen doing Neil Peart's spoken intro and a decent stab at Geddy Lee from singer Magnus Ekwall, taking in several other Rush riffs and perhaps a few solos too many.

Stark handles most of the guitars and bass duties as well as producing to a high standard with Joe Romagnola. I think the obscure nature of some of the songs may limit its appeal, but for those with a wide knowledge of Hard Rock it's certainly an interesting and enjoyable listen.

Phil Ashcroft / Rocktopia (November 2016)
 



 


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