Marshall Of Rock

Thirty years after his departure from Krokus, guitarist Mandy Meyer rejoins the most successful line-up again on their upcoming album 'Dirty Dynamite'. Founder Chris Von Rohr and Fernando Von Arb are thrilled to have him back in the fold with Fernando proclaiming, "Now the Krokus family is complete again".

Mandy Meyer replaced original guitarist Tommy Kiefer (RIP) for the remainder of 1980's 'Metal Rendez-Vous' tour and 1981's 'Hardware' tour and witnessed the growing popularity of Krokus worldwide including the band's first US tour. Those two albums sold millions of copies around the world.

Mandy left Krokus and moved at the tender age of 22 years old to Los Angeles to pursue his musical dreams. And it worked out pretty good, as time would tell, playing with many superstars including Asia (recording the 'Astra' album with them).

In the mid-nineties Mandy moved back to Switzerland and joined Gotthard, another successful Swiss band. In 2004 he left that band and concentrated on his solo career. Mandy also spent periods of time with House Of Lords and Katmandu. Between 2005 and 2007 he toured with Krokus in support of the 'Hellraiser' album, which he recorded and contributed to.

In 2009, Meyer joined forces with vocalist Michael Kiske (ex-Helloween) with Dennis Ward (bass) and Kosta Zafiriou (drums) of Germany's in Unisonic.

Towards the end of 2011 Chris Von Rohr approached Mandy and asked him whether he would be game to play a couple of shows in Japan. Recalls Mandy, "I agreed in a New York minute". The concerts proved to be totally successful. "And we got along great, it was as if time stood still," reminisces Mandy.

Singer Marc Storace beams, "The collaboration with Mandy conclusively convinced us to complete our five-piece band by inviting him officially as our third guitarist. You never heard Krokus as powerful as on this new album!"

Bassist and producer Chris Von Rohr is excited about the newest events, "With Mandy rejoining Krokus our fans will be able to witness the best Krokus formation ever."

Mandy Meyer is equally stoked, "Everything is much better than before. Because these days we know exactly what we're doing. We are ready for the next major coup."

Chris Von Rohr, along with vocalist Marc Storace, recently laid down bass and vocal tracks at London, England's Abbey Road Studios for the band's 17th album, "Dirty Dynamite". Sound engineer for the recording sessions is again Dennis Ward, who also recorded the band's last album, "Hoodoo".

Von Rohr promises: "The new songs sound like dirty dynamite: pure, dirty, in-your-face hard rock with a touch of blues."

Adds Storace: "We've been taking the time it needs writing for our next rock album and we guarantee that it definitely will contain no fillers!"

KROKUS 2012 is:

Marc Storace - Vocals
Chris Von Rohr - bass
Fernando Von Arb - Lead Guitar
Mark Kohler - Rhythm Guitar
Mandy Meyer - Guitar

Tomorrow night, February 25th, an all-star jam band will open for Michael Schenker at the House Of Blues in Hollywood, CA. The band will feature vocalist Keith St. John (ex-Montrose, Quiet Riot), drummer Frankie Banali (Quiet Riot), bassist Sean McNabb (Quiet Riot, Dokken), drummer Simon Wright (Dio Disciples, ex-Dio, AC/DC), drummer James Kottak (ex-Kingdom Come, Scorpions), bassist Chuck Wright (Quiet Riot, House Of Lords, Giuffria), guitarist Alex Grossi (Quiet Riot) and others.

 

After a 20 year hiatus, recording artist and actress Fiona is back in action with a new CD, Unbroken, produced by James Christian of House Of Lords. I always had a huge crush on Fiona back in the day, and it is really good to see that she is getting some new music out. I used to think of her as a more rocking Patty Smyth, and I had a thing for her too. Remember Fiona's duet with Kip Winger "Everything You Do (You're Sexing Me) as well as her acting roles as Bob Dylan's love interest in Hearts of Fire and the Miami Vice second season episode "Little Miss Dangerous"? Check out some video below:

Unbroken will be released October 1st and contains mostly all new songs written by Fiona, James Christian, Tommy Denander, Holly Knight, Marc Tanner and the UK pop production team, The Elements. There's a remake of Shadows of the Night with DL Byron's original dark lyrics, a tribute to the beloved 80's band, Prophet, and a bonus female duet with internationally renowned rocker, Robin Beck.

"I have released this new CD for two reasons. Very polite, albeit relentless hounding from fans and the absolute joy of creating this particular music that I miss so much. After raising a family and getting some sleep it was clear that I was ready to sing again. It is in this spirit that I dedicate this CD to all fans old and new. Thank you for the pushes, gentle and intense. Especially from my friend and fellow artist Robin Beck and the AOR Melodic rock community. Here it is. Enjoy. With affection and gratitude, I am yours, UNBROKEN."

Track Listing: Loved Along The Way, Broken, I've Released You, Shadows Of The Night, Badge Of Love, Wild One, This Heart (Duet with Robin Beck), Get Yer Kix, Salt On My Wings, I Love You But Shut Up, Everything You Are.
retrospectrecords.com
Check out her site here: www.fionarock.com

Here's the most memorable Fiona flashbacks:

I forgot about this one called "Hearts Of Fire", which was the theme to a movie she starred in with Bob Dylan. Check out Dylan's 80's hair....hilarious. Bob also has many opportunies to gaze lovingly into Fiona's eyes.

Miami Vice "Little Miss Dangerous" episode from 1986. Fiona played a a psycho in this episode with "Order Of Death" from Public Image Ltd. musically wrapping up this clip. Campy and cliche, but still a bit dark and fun to watch.

Frontiers Records will release the new HOUSE OF LORDS studio album, "Big Money", on September 23 in Europe and September 27 in North America.

Following on the heels of "Cartesian Dreams", HOUSE OF LORDS is coming back with another amazingly strong release which presents again all the trademark elements of its melodic hard rock sound.

"I am very proud to have done four HOUSE OF LORDS CDs with the same lineup," says singer James Christian. "I enjoy working with every one of them and plan to do many more records in the future. Mark Baker has now been on board as a co-writer for the last two CDs I love working with him. We are totally on the same page when writing new music."

And indeed, the new album, is truly newest addition to an already stellar catalogue of songs. Big Money is, well, BIG. The album starts with the trademark vocals of James Christian and crashes into a power rock classic that you will not forget after the first listen, followed by in a song that Christian describes “as the band’s best work to date”: 'One Man Down'. Each song has its own distinct quality as you would expect from The Lords and once again the album is full of soaring choruses, awesome guitar work and songs that grab you from the first listen and don’t let go.

“The elements we use on Big Money are always the same for us and that is to write and record the best songs that we can”, explains Christian. “We always write enough songs for more than one CD and then we pick the best songs to make up the new record. We will always be a melodic rock group. It is the music that made us want to be musicians in the first place. So we will always stay true to that art!”.

James teamed up again on the songwriting with long-time friend and partner Mark Baker along with the other band members Jimi Bell and BJ Zampa and Swedish producer/guitarist Tommy Denander.

House Of Lords debuted in 1989 with the release of the self-titled album, a record which is still regarded as one of the best arena rock releases of the 80s. The colossal sound, the soaring vocals of James Christian and instrumental capabilities of the band (which featured ex-ANGEL and GIUFFRIA's Gregg Giuffria, along with such luminaries as Lanny Cordola, Chuck Wright and Ken Mary, reminiscent of such frontrunners as WHITESNAKE, DEEP PURPLE and VAN HALEN, immediately brought the band to the attention of the media and fans.

With their sophomore release, entitled Sahara, House Of Lords gained considerable chart success with their cover version of BLIND FAITH's 'Can't Find My Way Home'. After a tour with NELSON in 1991, the group disbanded, eventually coming back with a new lineup (only featuring original members Giuffria and Christian) in 1992 with Demon's Down. With the change of the musical climate, House Of Lords went into hibernation, until the original lineup came back together in 2000, releasing of the controversial Power And The Myth, an album which featured a sound leaning more towards progressive hard rock with 70s rock influences.

After a short European tour, singer James Christian decided to go back to the trademark arena rock sound of House Of Lords, putting together a new line-up with the blessing of founding member Gregg Giuffria, who opted out right before the release of Power And The Myth. New members Jimi Bell on guitars, B.J. Zampa on drums and Chris McCarvill on bass supplied a true powerhouse sound to the fifth studio album, World Upside Down, a record which caused a real stir in the hard rock and melodic rock scene and was followed up by the equally impressive Come To My Kingdom and Cartesian Dreams.

House Of Lords have tour dates lined up for October and November in the UK, Germany, Netherlands, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, Spain and Portugal.