• Newsletter Sign up
• Subscribe
• Back Issues
• Sample Issue
• Contact Us

Classic

From page 4 of Classic Rock Magazine May 1999

Cover of May 1999 issue.

Cuts No*4

It just keeps on getting bigger and better. This issue we have 16 amazing new tracks for you all free! Here's a user's guide to this issue's Classic Rock CD. Unfortunately, the disc's only available to our UK-based readers and subscribers sorry! 1) Fish 'Tumbledown'

From the album 'Raingods With Zippos' (Roadrunner)

The long-awaited follow-up to'Sunsets On Empire' is finally here. Enjoy its opening track on us.

2) Hazeldine 'Bob' From the album 'Digging You Up' (Polydor) Hazeldine are big favourites in the Classic Rock office, and 'Digging You Up' certainly whets the appetite for a UK tour that the American quartet are threatening to undertake later this year. Dreamy harmonies and a chorus to die for. 3) Scorpions 'Mind Like A Tree'

From the album 'Eye To Eye' (Coalition) The German band's 18th studio album was released on March 29, and 'Mind Like A Tree' is a lot less experimental than their new single,'To Be Number One:Just listen to the engine room work of new drummer James Kottack — phew!

4) Porcupine Tree 'This Is No Rehearsar

From 'Stupid Dream' (K-Scope/Snapper) Regarded by many in the know as 'the next big thing; Porcupine Tree have spent almost a decade honing their sound and preparing themselves for stardom.'Stupid Dream; with its amazing songs, suggests they're very close.

5) Thunder 'Rolling The Dice'

From the album 'Giving The Game Away' (Eagle)

Amazingly,Thunder celebrate their tenth anniversary this year — so let's have a cockney knees-up! And while you're at it, chuck on 'Rolling The Dice' in the background. Hey — watch out what you do with those jellied eels, fella!

6) Fergie Frederiksen 'Blaze Of Love'

From the album 'Equilibrium' (MTM Music) In the words of our own Dave Reynolds,'Blaze Of Love' is"possibly the best melodic rock album of 1999':Frederiksen is best known for his mid-'80s role as Toto's frontman, featuring on the underrated 'Isolation' album. He also appeared with the lesser-known Le Roux and Trillion.

7) ID 'The Universal Scam'

From the album 'The Lost Attic' (GEP) Taken from 'The Lost Attic; a collection of rarities, 'The Universal Scam' was originally intended for IQ's 1997 concept album, Subterranea; but was omitted in the interests of continuity.The song was finally completed earlier this year, and we present it to you now. Enjoy...

8) Hard Rain 'When The Good Times Come'

From the album When The Good Times Come' (Eagle)

Ex-Magnum duo Bob Catley and Tony Clarkin return, with a new group including singer Sue McCloskey (above) and a broader sound. Hard Rain's UK tour starts on April 26see p16.

9) Rob Lamothe 'Misery'

From the album 'Being Human' (Dream Circle/Cargo)

Last issue's review of 'Being Human' suggested that ex-Riverdog Rob was "one of the great lost songwritersn'ou could do worse than checking out his gig at London's 12 Bar Club on April 26.

10) Michael Schenker Group 'Live For Today'

From the album The Unforgiven' (SPV)

Schenker's talent as a guitarist is beyond all doubt, as is his fabled eccentricity. Since walking offstage in Tokyo and leaving UFO in the lurch once again, Michael has re-activated MSG. Next issue will feature an in-depth interview.

11) Chris Whitley 'Ballpeen Hammer'

From the album 'Dirt Floor' (Ulftone)

Chris Whitley's deformed yet gratifying brand of country/blues is intimate, primitive and intense. 'Dirt Floor', the Houston-born singer/songwriter's fourth album, has even been praised by The Times. See Classic Rock's review on p82.

12) The Distance 'Take It Or Leave It'

From the album 'Live And Learn' (Escape Music)

From the second album by The Distance, a band based around Chris Ousey of Heartland and Pokerface's Kenny 'Kaos' Loney.They come highly recommended to lovers of melodic rock.

13) Threshold 'Angels'

From the album 'Clone' (GEP)

Singer Andrew McDermott is the latest addition to the Threshold ranks, and his arrival could be the last piece of the jigsaw.The British sextet are highly regarded in the world of progressive rock, and 'Angels' will show you why.

14) The Urbane 'Fading Out'

From the album 'Neon' (Verglas)

John Mitchell, guitarist with prog rockers Arena, uses The Urbane as a mouthpiece for his love of alternative guitar rock.'Neon; with its concise tunes and memorable hooks, is a pleasant shock.

15) Gamma Ray 'Short As Hell'

From the album 'Powerplant' (Noise)

Over a year in the making, Gamma Ray's fifth studio album is a crystallisation of all the German group's traditional strengths: power, poise and precise rhythmic melody.

16) Joe Lynn Turner 'Guilty Heart'

From the album 'Hurry Up And Wait' (MTM Music)

"The best thing he's done in ages," is how we summed up 'Hurry Up And Wait; a return to form for the ex-Rainbow/Deep Purple crooner.