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Wednesday, January 21, 2009
STAIRWAY - THE OTHER SIDE OF MIDNIGHT / 2006
THIS ALBUM CONTAIN(11-TRACKS)
1-NO MERCY
2-SEA OF FOOLS
3-BURN
4-PRAY FOR THE CHILDREN
5-TASTE THE BLOOD
6-LEAD US
7-SHE CALLS
8-CANTABILE
9-DEATH & DESTRUCTION
10-SOLDIERS OF HEAVEN
11-LIFE GOES ON...!
CREDIT:line up:
Graeme Leslie – Vocals, Guitars & Keyboards
Pete Jennens – Guitar
Rob Jennens – Bass
Andy Edwards - Drums.
STAIWAY-NO MERCY-2006
THIS SINGLE DEMO CONTAIN(2-TRACKS)
1-NO MERCY
2-UNKNOWN TRACK
STAIRWAY-ON HOLLOWED GROUND-2002
THIS ALBUM CONTAIN(9-TRACKS)
1-UNDER THE GUN
2-LIAR
3-JUSTIFY
4-DEO VOLANTE(Thy Will Be Done)
5-STOP THE PAIN
6-SILENT DREAMS
7-SAVIOUR
8-THE SKY IS BEAUTIFUL
9-FULISH HEART
CREDIT:
line up:Graeme Leslie –Vocals,Guitars & Keyboards
Pete Jennens – Guitars
Rob Jennens – Bass
Andy Edwards – Drums
Sarah Burford - Piano.As Guest
STRAIWAY-BLEEDING HEART-1999
THIS ALBUM CONTAIN(10-TRACKS)
1-AWAKE!!
2-RISE
3-CHASING SHADOWS
4-SHOW ME A WOMAN
5-SAVE ME!!
6-RED ALERT
7-BODY & SOUL
8-ISRAEL'S LAMENT
9-AND THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL BE SAVED!!VACANT PRAYER
CREDIT:Current line-up
Graeme Leslie - Lead Vocals, Guitars
Robert Jennens - Bass, Backing Vocals
Peter Jennens - Lead Guitars, Vocals
Andrew Edwards - Drums.
STAIRWAY-NO REST:NO MERCY-1993/2005
THIS ALBUM CONTAIN(12-TRACKS)
1-BATTLE OF HEAVEN
2-SPIRIT OF GUILT
3-BONDAGE
4-MEET THE MAKER
5-FLY WITH THE SPIRIT
6-SWEETEST SONG
7-THE GREAT WHORE OF BABYLON
8-WALK AWAY
9-BLACK BE THE NIGHT
10-KEEP THE FIRE BURNING
11-SOULS OF ZION
12-THE GREAT OF BABYLON(Revisited)
Stairway's roots are firmly planted in the (not so) New Wave of British heavy metal. If you are looking for the next big thing or the new sound this is not the place to start. But if you still have a hunger for denim and leather, rise up together! Because Stairway are here to set the spirit free! (If you don't know what I am talking about you are too young!) There is more to Stairway than screaming guitars and tight jeans, the songs have a great progressive feel with quieter passages and lots of little treats on the way. 'On Hallowed Ground' is generally well produced although I personally found the bass sound a little flat and lifeless. A great meat and potatoes heavy metal album that does what is says on the tin. More likely to shift your dandruff than Head And Shoulders!. This is British power metal in all its pomp and glory, heavy driving riffs interlaced with lightning speed lead work from bloody-fingered guitarist Pete Jennens. Songs such as "Battle Of Heaven" and "The Great Whore Of Babylon" are most reminiscent of Iron Maiden in their Paul Di'Anno years. In contrast "Bondage" is almost thrash and I could picture Stryper playing "Souls Of Zion". "Sweetest Song" is the obligatory testimonial ballad with classical guitar solo. In criticism I would say that the power metal sound is a touch old-fashioned now, the choppy riffs and stabbed intros have all been heard before, also the lyrics are all end-time exposition, a subject which quite frankly I'm fed up of hearing from white metal bands across the globe. But vocalist Graeme Leslie assures me that it is a concept for the album and new material will explore other avenues.A real surprise, this one. Surprise number one is that I thought this Midlands team had called it a day when Kingsway stopped recording UK Christian heavy metal albums a few years back. Surprise number two is that this isn't the recycled metal riffs of Sabbath, ACDC, et al but rather a much more sophisticated attempt to put a progressive spin on those crunching guitars so that in between spells of heavy duty guitar work we've got some deft acoustic work and satisfyingly complex changes of musical texture. Surprise number three is that despite this reviewer being no kind of prog rocker, I'm impressed by the standard of playing, the variety of the arrangements and the sheer professionalism of the project of an album produced by Stairway's gritty vocalist Graeme Leslie. If you're a rocker longing for rock which has a classic Deep Purple lilt, songs that deal with themes like the Lord's return ("Red Alert") and salvation ("And The Righteous Shall Be Saved") I reckon you should be getting a cheque off to these Christian rock veterans.In the beginning STAIRWAY were influenced by the 80’s metal era. The founding members were Graeme Leslie (Vocals & Guitar), Pete Jennens (Drums), and Rob Jennens (Bass). Andy Edwards was recruited shortly afterwards as new drummer and Pete Jennens went on to guitar. Their Debut CD, 'No Rest : No Mercy', produced by Paul Hodson (Hard Rain, Bob Catley, Ten), was released on Edge Records in 1993 and hailed Stairway’s International popularity. The album was released in Japan later that same year, and debuted at #48 in the Japanese Import Charts. After completing contractual obligations with their former label, Stairway independently released their 2nd CD, 'Bleeding Heart' in July 1999.During 2002 Stairway's 3rd album 'On Hallowed Ground ' was released to great reviews and media feedback, as well as incredible support from fans world wide. This followed in 2003 by having the track 'Under the Gun', taken from the ‘On Hallowed Ground’ album, chosen to feature on a CD of Metal Bands released by American Label MIB Music. Further to calls for their debut album, Stairway signed a deal with Retroactive Records in the USA to re-release the 'No Rest : No Mercy' album as a Limited Edition and is now available on the market. Gigs to follow this up took place in 2005, followed by an incredible gig appearance in October ’05 at Metalfest Germany Co-headlining with Rob Rock (USA) and Narnia (Sweden).In 2005/06 the band began recording their new and 4th CD – ‘The Other Side Of Midnight’, which will see its release in early July 2006. To accompany the album, the single ‘No Mercy’, taken from the album, is now available world wide through itunes.com…. in addition to this, Stairway signed a deal with a Major UK distributor which will make the album available in UK Record Stores for the first time and also with CDbaby.com who are distributing the album through their network of online stores. All in all this is an exciting time for the band, which may well put STAIRWAY on the musical map for real!Stairway continue to combine elements of straightforward hard rock and heavy metal without a trace of concern for trendy modern power metal or modern rock. In other words, you won't hear any stop/start riffs or down tuned guitars here. Instead, this band proudly fly their classic metal flag high. Stairway are nothing if not consistent. To some this might sound like a bad thing, but to any long time Stairway fan, or fan of quality classic heavy metal, this is exactly what we want from this band. Despite words like consistent and simple, however, "The Other Side of Midnight" is not boring or mediocre. Rather, Stairway offer up plenty of diversity from track to track. "Burn" starts off as a slow brooding number with a Dio-era Black Sabbath feel to it and builds up to a more upbeat number. "No Mercy" and "Soldiers Of Heaven" are upbeat, heavy rockers, "Taste The Blood" is a slightly more epic number, "She Calls" has a bluesy feel to it, and "Cantabile" is a moody, melodic instrumental. This particular song has a bit of a Michael Schenker flare to it. Vocalist Graeme Leslie has improved with each new CD. Here he adds a bit more grit to his usual, mid-toned, clean vocal style. The lyrics from this band remain positive and spiritually focused. Overall, "The Other Side of Midnight" is Stairway's best release thus far and should please any fan of early 80's NWOBHM style(http://www.myspace.com/stairway
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