Rough Trade Benelux.

California Breed is a new band, consisting of two old timers – so to say – in the persons of Glenn Hughes and Jason Bonham, both formerly busy in Black Country Communion and newby Andrew Watt, a singer-guitarist.

Formerly a member of Stratovarius, guitar wizard Timo Tollki with his new band/project Timo Tollki’s Avalon are in a period a bit longer than one year, already at their second release.  Since the first album received good reviews, I was surprised if this second album was going to be another success, or instead couldn’t stand up to it’s expectations.

‘High Road’ is ‘Nightrangers’ eleventh Studio album. ‘Nightranger’ is known for its feelgood- and catchy songs. And on ther latest album it’s not so different, and it’s a great album as usual. Of course they can never beat the years where they brought out albums such as: ‘Down Patrol’ (1982), ‘Midnight Madness’ (1983) and ‘Big Life’ (1987) but that goes for all the bands that exist more than 25 years.

 The older rock fans among us will undoubtedly remember that Sebastian Bach started his musical career in Skid Row, but before Skid Row  he was in another band called Kid Wikkid.  He fronted Skid Row from 1987 until 1996.  His first solo album ‘Bring ‘Em Bach Alive was released in 1999, it was partially a live album with songs from his Skid Row period, and partially a studio album, containing five new solo tracks. He also performed on some Broadway shows, and on TV.

What you cannot say is that in its existence Winger has been a prolific band.  Between 1988  and now they’ve released only six studio albums.    Nevertheless they had their fair share of fans, which might not sound as a wonder, since musically these guys have always stood their ground.  OK, not all albums were that good, but they do have a few memorable songs.

How the guys at Frontiers Records are able to start of projects or bands with members from different bands, and get them to bring us fantastic music most of the time is a riddle to me.

This new band/project Three Lions consists of Vinny Burns (Dare, Ten, Asia), on guitar, Greg Morgan (Dare, Ten) on drums and introduces Nigel Bailey on vocals and bass.

This New Jersey three-piece engage in stoner, grunge and seventies rock passages. They do show some hints of talent and rhythm during some of these bits, but they lack direction and they rarely flesh out any of their ideas. At best they sound like second rate Alice In Chains for a few moments or like Soundgarden without the depth or sense of direction. At worst they sound flat and clueless. Somewhere below the surface I think that Driven Rise generate some interesting tones, but just not enough of them and no real blueprint to go by.

In spite of my rather varied experience as a music listener, I keep coming along occasional surprises, usually of the pleasant nature!

Nervosa is an all-female Brazilian trash metal band from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,  release its debut album, "Victim Of Yourself" somewhere between February and March (depending on where you live).The all-female thrash band offers the listener the same high-speed riffs, furious drumming and raging leads like every “man band” would. The songs have a brutal and raw energy and are crowned by murderous hooks and aggressive vocals.

Most of House Of Lords albums are good, if not very good. And this new album is no exception on that rule. Of course it brings us nothing new, since the band, or their mastermind James Christian stick to the same recipe.