Compiled by Woody




August 11th saw the tragic passing of Jani Lane, best known as front man of melodic rock band Warrant, the troubled singer was found in an LA hotel room. The much loved and respected singer’s passing has rocked the melodic rock world and at only 47 sees one the genre’s iconic figures and respected songwriters leaving so much unwritten and unsung. Lane is probably best known for pop metal hit “Cherry Pie” although most Warrant fans will remember him for the likes of “Mr Rainmaker”, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, “I Saw Red” & “Heaven”.




Brummie AOR legends Shy are set to explode back onto the scene with a new album due later this year. It’s been a long wait since their last album (2005’s “Sunset & Vine”), and I’m sure Shy fans are going to be really pleased with this new album, which features new front man Lee Small. I’ve heard rough mixes of two new songs “So Many Tears” and “Land Of a 1,000 Lies” and they definitely get two thumbs up from me and if the rest of the album is in the same vein of grandiose epic AOR we’re in for a real treat!

I’m really excited about the new album from Newman who I’m unashamedly a massive fan boy of! Having listened to all the snippets over on www.newmansound.com I think Steve’s hit the jackpot again, carrying on in the vein of “Art Of Balance” but with a slightly more commercial edge. “Under Southern Skies” is due out on September 23rd.

It seems VEGA are going to be blazing the live trail with loads of gigs and major festival slots over the coming months, which I’m sure will have melodic rockers eagerly updating their gig schedule. They are set to play a hometown headline gig @ Fibbers in York on the 8th October as well as festival slots at Firefest, Rockfest in Madrid and Hard Rock Hell this coming December in Prestatyn! I highly recommend checking these guys out live – can’t wait to see the band again at HRH!

I know the upcoming release from Kimball Jamison (featuring the eponymous Toto and Survivor vocal legends) will be on many people’s must buy list, and it’s set to be a hit with pure AOR fans. I know many will be counting down the days till its 14th October released date! If you can’t wait that long you can check out the interview / promo video below.



A new package tour is set to hit the UK this October that will be of major interest for Melodic rock fans! This tour features headliners Electric Boys, Tainted Nation, Miss Behaviour, Dynazty and Sencelled. The dates are:

06 Oct. Liverpool - 02 Academy 2
07 Oct. Grimsby - Yardbirds
08 Oct. Nottingham – Rescue Rooms
10 Oct. Glasgow - 02 Academy
11 Oct. Sheffield -02 Academy
12 Oct. London - Islington Academy

Stampede are set to hit the road this autumn supporting popular American melodic rock giants Y&T at their shows in Manchester, Newcastle, Southampton, London and Wolverhampton. Sounds like a great package for gig goers as both bands are amazing live acts and I’m really looking forward to seeing them both in Wolvo as well as catching them at this year’s Hard Rock Hell festival!

Check out a new video from melodic metallers Coldspell for their song “Time” below. The band are going down a storm in melodic rock circles so if you like your melodic rock heavy, these guys are well worth you checking out!



Saracen are set to release a new album called “Marilyn” on the 23rd of September. It’s a concept album about Marilyn Monroe, now while this doesn’t fill me with anticipation I am very curious about the album as it features guest appearances from Steve Overland, Issa and features Robin Beck as Marilyn. So my love of Robin Beck will definitely have me giving this one a spin!

House Of Lords are back with a new album “Big Money” due out on September 23rd, and based on the sound samples I’ve heard it sounds massive. I believe much loved AOR songwriter Tommy Denander has co-written some of the songs on the album, which is a good sign! They are embarking on a European tour this autumn, unfortunately only one UK date this time around - at the Corporation in Sheffield on the 15th of October (I can hear the HOL fans screaming road trip from here!). Check out this interview/promo video which features a few new songs.



Ex-Skid Row front man Sebastian Bach is back kicking and screaming with his new album due out 23rd September. He has released a video for the title track of the album “Kicking & Screaming” which you can rock out below.



I’m very intrigued about new British band Omega who have just announced their line-up after being kept a secret by their record label Z Records. The announced line-up features Lee Small (Shy/Phenomena) – Vocals, Vince O’Regan (Legion/Bob Catley) – Guitars, Ged Rylands (Ten/Contagious) – Guitars & Keyboards, Andy Pierce (Seven Dayz) – Drums & Steve Mercy (Holy Rage) - Bass. The buzz around this album was it was going to be a pure AOR sound in the vein of Journey, but based on the track I’ve heard (“Pandora’s Eyes”) I think this album is likely to be heavier and maybe more progressive than the pure AOR tag would imply. “Journey To The Far Side Of the Sun” is due out in September.

White Widdow, who are making an appearance at this year’s Firefest, have their second album “Serenade” released this September. It’s been less than a year since their debut created waves in the scene, so I’m a little surprised they have a new one out already! It’ll be interesting to hear what this album is like as their “straight out of the 80s” sound impressed many but could it possibly be seen as too retro for mass consumption?

August 26th saw the release of a trio of fantastic melodic releases – Toby Hitchcock “Mercury Down”, Work of Art “The Great Fall” and Xorigin “State Of The Art”. You can check out the videos of songs by all these bands below.


Toby Hitchcock “This Is The Moment”



Work of Art “The Great Fall”



Xorigin “Can’t Stop Running”



Finally for this month, Chasing Magic is the new band featuring popular American songwriter Jace Pawlak (who has had songs featured on albums by Far Cry and Goodbye Thrill amongst others). Chasing Magic sees Jace step out of the shadows and allow him to showcase his talents with his very own band. The self titled album was released on August the 16th and should be of interest to fans of traditional American melodic rock.

'Bye for now - see you in September!