Alan Parsons is working on a new studio album, tentatively scheduled for release in the spring of 2019.

by | Aug 30, 2018 | News

BREAKING NEWS: Frontiers Music Srl is thrilled to announce the signing of Alan Parsons!

Alan and Frontiers‘ relationship began in 2010 when the label released “Eye 2 Eye – Live in Madrid”. They have kept in close contact since, with the ultimate goal to release another album together. Alan wanted it to be a really special album and only recently have the right plans and ideas fallen into place where Alan felt ready to enter the studio to record what he had in mind.

“The writing and recording sessions are going incredibly well,” says Alan. “The album already has a working title, which is THE SECRET, and it will include musical and lyrical themes that are very close to my heart and my own interests and passions. I do not really want to reveal a lot about it, except that for the moment everything that surrounds THE SECRET is going to be just that….a secret!”

The overall musical approach of the album is expected to be in keeping with the symphonic rock that Alan explored on his earlier solo records and the “Project” albums. But, of course, there will be new twists and turns and robust new creative inspiration behind the album. Some special guests will be on the album, but those will be revealed later….again, in keeping with the working title of the album, “The Secret“.

Frontiers President Serafino Perugino commented, “This is pretty much a dream come true for me. For Frontiers being able to represent the artistry and the talent of such a huge artist is a magnificent opportunity. We look forward to this release as much as Alan’s fans and it will see the light of day in multiple exciting formats. Stay tuned!”.

Alan Parsons said, “I wish to thank Serafino and the team for the commitment and the patience to make this happen. To the fans…We’ll see you soon on a world tour!”

Alan Parsons‘ music career started at 19 when he earned one of his his first credits as assistant engineer on The Beatles “Abbey Road”, an album recorded in the legendary London studios of the same name. He soon become a well respected studio engineer, working for Paul McCartney, The Hollies, and many others. He is particularly renowned for his work as recording engineer on the Pink Floyd masterpiece, “The Dark Side of The Moon“. This classic album was recorded in 1972 and Parsons experimented with many of the most advanced recording techniques of the time. As a producer, he enjoyed many successes with Pilot, Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel, John Miles, and Al Stewart, including the masterwork, “Year Of The Cat”.

In 1975, Alan Parsons formed The Alan Parsons Project along with principal songwriter (and occasional singer) Eric Woolfson. The Project consisted of a group of studio musicians and vocalists, often involving the members of three bands Alan produced: Pilot (Ian Bairnson, Stuart Tosh and David Paton), Cockney Rebel’s Stuart Elliott on drums, and (on the first album) American progressive pop/rock band, Ambrosia.

The Alan Parsons Project released ten acclaimed studio albums, but never performed live during the heyday of the albums, even after several US and European Top 20 hits. The Project made its final album at the end of the 80’s with the album “Gaudi“. Since then, Alan has released a number of recordings under his own name using several musicians that also appeared on the “Project” releases.

As well as receiving gold and platinum awards from countless countries, Parsons has received eleven Grammy Award nominations for his engineering and production work. In 2007, he was nominated for Best Surround Sound Album for his studio album, “A Valid Path“.

In 1994, Alan Parsons started touring regularly as The Alan Parsons Live Project and has released a number of live releases in audio and video. His live concerts continue to this day, to audiences worldwide.

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STRYPER – GOD DAMN EVIL – FRONTIERS

by | Jul 8, 2018 | Reviews

I haven’t considered myself religious for many years, but have no issue with those that do, and consequently am as happy to listen to religious albums as I do that portray cannibalism or Satanism. This means that I probably listen to more music with an open mind than many, as I guess that there are quite a few people who would balk at purchasing an album that is described as White Metal. But, Stryper is a band who I used to admire a great deal. I lost track of them over the years, but still, have their first two albums on vinyl (‘The Yellow and Black Attack’ and ‘Soldiers Under Command’), and their live video from Japan from the same period. My sister bought the album that probably broke them, ‘To Hell With The Devil’, but then the world changed in so many ways. The band eventually broke up in the early Nineties, before reforming in 2003, since which they have been consistently playing and releasing new music. Amazingly they still have the same singer/guitarist (Michael Sweet), lead guitarist (Oz Fox) and drummer (Robert Sweet) as they did when the band was originally formed as Roxx Regime some 35 years ago. Ex-Firehouse bassist Perry Richardson joined in 2017, is only the third incumbent, so they have been incredibly stable.

The opening track, “Take It To The Cross” features a guest appearance from Matt Bachand (Shadows Fall, Act Of Defiance) on death growls, which shows just how far they have come from the glam days when I used to follow them! What has always been the saving grace (sorry) of Stryper for me, is that at the heart of it they are all actually good musicians, who write catchy songs with hooks, and they have a singer with a really great voice. Whereas many other bands with a Christian message tend to stay within that scene, Stryper broke out into the mainstream and have sold more than ten million albums, most to non-Christians. All these years on and they are still as polished as ever, while they may not ever win marks for most original music, this is commercial hard rock that contains edge and melody and those all-important vocals. If, like me, you only remember Stryper from the early days then in many ways they are still the band they used to be, although they are definitely now more metallic than the hard rock pop of yore. A great addition to their canon, and well worth hearing.

7/10

Kev Rowland

AMANDA SOMERVILLE’S TRILLIUM – TECTONIC – FRONTIERS MUSIC

by | Jul 8, 2018 | Reviews

Somerville has written and recorded with bands such as After Forever, Edguy, Kamelot, Epica, Avantasia, and Mayan, and this is her second release as Trillium. ‘Alloy’ was released in 2011 when it was credited to just Trillium, so it appears that there are views somewhere that she needs to be pushed more to the fore, yet keep a link to the last album. Either way, whenever I see a band name extended with the name of a member I do ask, why bother? Anyway, there is no doubt that Amanda has an amazing voice, and it is no surprise that she has appeared on other people’s albums as well. She is a strong alto, which allows her to go sing in a slightly lower register than many other female singers, with power and control, yet still hit higher notes when the need arises without going to the very heights of sopranos.

It may have been seven years since her last solo album, but as well as being in demand in the symphonic metal world she has also got married and had a baby, so life has been rather full on. Musically this is a symphonic metal album, which to be honest doesn’t really stand out too much from many of the other albums around, but what makes the real difference are Amanda’s vocals which are direct, and contain such incredible power that it cuts through like a hot knife. The album has been designed as a vehicle for her voice, so even though the songs aren’t as rich and as expressive as I would wish them to be, the album is still far superior to what it would be with many other singers. Perhaps her forte does lie with other bands, such as the mighty Kamelot or Epica, but fans of the genre should still try and hear this at least.

6/10

Kev Rowland