"Eyes Of A Stranger" is the third album from German band Human Zoo. The band’s unique selling point in the overcrowded market of melodic Euro heavy metal is the presence of a saxophone player. So let’s see if this unique selling point does in fact give them an advantage in the marketplace.

After a short intro, first proper song, "The Answer", proves be to a good up-tempo track, somewhat in the style of other Euro metal acts such as Treat, where the saxophone fits in seamlessly and lifts the song. Whilst listening to second track, "Gimme Your Time", I start wondering would I like this as much if the saxophone was there and the answer yes. Therein lies the secret of Human Zoo’s success. They a none too shabby melodic hard rock band without the saxophone player. And on some of the tracks, such as the title track, he doesn’t make an appearance. These tracks still work well.

On "Everything Changes" the deliver some effortless sounding top quality AOR that is made even sweeter when the sax solo kicks in. By the time we get of "Fall In Love" I’m getting into the groove of the album. On this track and "Want It-Love It-Like It" the guitar player proves that he can shine too. In fact, "Want It….." gets the album back up to full flight after coasting on a couple of tracks. "Welcome To Paradise" and "10,000 Year Ago" close out the album with a melodic heavy metal rocker and a commercial rocker ala Brother Firetribe in fine style.

"Eyes Of A Stranger" is a successful third album for Human Zoo where the inclusion of saxophone in a melodic hard rock band continues to work well for them.

Zeroking hail from Huntington, West Virginia. They got together in 2005 and released an EP called "Sweet Sale Of Excess’ in 2006. The band started recording this album in 2009 and have released a few tracks over the past while to promote the album.

The band describe their sound as a mixture of Motley Crue and GnR meets Buckcherry and Hinder. They have shared the stage with bands such as Anthrax, Jackyl, Black Stone Cherry and Airbourne.

The opening tracking, "Dead Rock Star", has a rawness and aggression to it that unfortunately extends to the lyrics which contain, in my opinion, completely unnecessary use of explicit language. OK, unnecessary for me, but it fits in the whole rock star sleazy party theme to the majority of lyrics, nothing thought provoking going on here.

I have the first Buckcherry album, but it has been so long since I listened to it that I can’t remember what they sound like. Hinder are a possible reference point, but for me that means Nickelback must be in the mix somewhere as well. So from a melodic rock perspective, are there any more classic influences. Well, a bit of Aerosmith on "Forget Vegas", a bit Skynyrd on Southern Lady, "Girls Of California" has a GnR swagger to it and closing track "Leaving Los Angeles" has some old retro cheese added to the mix. Overall, the album sounds good when cranked up as the band convey a sense of energy and vitality to their music. It is a solid performance. That is a bit of surprising statement as I had the impression that my reaction was a bit more positive than that but I think maybe the bonus tracks, which are OK by the way, just gave me too much music to digest while sitting down to write the review and that a shorter blast of this might have fared better.

Can’t say that I know too much about these guys other than that Gordon Tittsworth of Images Of Eden performs the vocals. The Images Of Eden album was a mixture of progressive metal and traditional metal, which was almost too heavy for my tastes. Spiritus Mundi tip the balance and this is definitely too heavy for me. I’m sure there are more modern reference points but this reminded me of a mixture of early Megadeth and Metallica, complete with biscuit tin drum sound.

From the start of the album these guys play really heavy music that tells me they are pissed at the world, or at least the American government, although to be honest I wasn’t interested enough to listen too much to the lyrics. Most the tracks are a mixture of trash metal with maybe a bit of death metal thrown in a well. I found all the tracks to pretty much sound the same, with little to distinguish individual ones. About the only notable moments were that "Wake Up and Die" sounded a little like early Ozzy solo stuff and that the final track lasted for 14 mins.

So essentially a type mismatch with my personal musical tastes. There may be something in it for those who like really heavy stuff, but I think even then are better examples of the genre out there.

The name will be familiar to Saga fans as he had a brief spell with the band for one studio album and one live album. Before that he was in Final Frontier and issued a couple of albums under the Moratti moniker. This is his first album since departing Saga.

This is one the albums that I have been listening to whilst Mood Swings was on an extended vacation. That has given the opportunity to see if this album stands the test of time and I have to say that it does.

Simply put this is an album of very well executed 80s AOR. Rob does the singing (obviously), songwriting and production on the album, but is backed up some very skilled musicians such as Reb Beach from Winger & Whitesnake to name the first one that comes into my head. The whole team really seems to gel and the album oozes class.

I thought I detected some elements of Saga, but better reference points would the likes of Survivor and Journey, possibly some of the Steve Perry solo stuff. OK, so 80s style AOR is my first love when it comes to music, but maybe that makes me a bit fussy. Tracks like "Everything But Goodbye", "On And On", "Take It All Back" and "I Promise You" have that effortless quality that I associate with Journey and Survivor when they are in the zone and the music just seems to flow.

The bass player from Spaced Out steps out on his own. Antoine plays fretless bass and classical guitar on the album. The style of the album is jazz fusion. However, fear not, because we are talking relaxed acoustic guitar driven music rather than a discordant, intense and claustrophobic noise-fest. From my own collection Al Di Meola is the closest I can think off, but when he is in his acoustic mood and not racing across Arabian deserts.

Looking back over notes I made on each track it seems that the album grew on me, with the later tracks receiving the most positive comments. With 17 tracks on offer there is plenty of music to listen to.

This is the sort of music with which to sit down with a good book, a glass of Irish Whiskey and to then total chill out.

Opening track, "Cruise Control", is a bright and breezy rocky AOR/hard rock instrumental that seems to perfectly conjure up images of cruising down some American highway with the top down in a convertible. This same theme and style is maintained on the majority of tracks on the album, with "Out of the Blue" making a bid to be a little different by adopting a slightly more 80s hard rock vibe.

The tracks are relatively short and the style of the music is such that this is very accessible EP of guitar instrumental.

This French Canadian progressive outfit are new name to me. However, the band was formed in 2005 and issued their debut album in 2008.

The opening track is a gentle piano driven ballad that echoes Marillion at their most gentle. Being true to their French Canadian roots the vocals are sung in French. As the album progresses it becomes clear that the band have a variety of influences that date back to the heyday of prog rock with King Crimson, Pink Floyd and Yes as potential reference points. However, the band keep their sound fresh by having also incorporated some more modern ambient sounds.

After the gentle introduction of the first couple of tracks, the third track has a Police style new wave/funk vibe going on which is a bit of a shock. On the 4th track, Trahison, we get a fusion of Marillion and King Crimson. The next track, Au nom d’Apo Calypso, displays a bit more urgency with rock organ that perhaps echoes 70s bands like Purple, but the vocals remind me of hippy guys The Enid. On the next couple of tracks the band tip their hat towards Pink Floyd, possibly Saga, but with a more modern drum sound. The penultimate track, Dualite, is an almost 10 min epic that mixes 70 style Pink Floyd and King Crimson. The band show their truly progressive intent on the discordant final track, L’Autre Monde, which has an Arabic feel to it.

This proved an interesting listen and will appeal to those who like retro prog.

More info: www.unicornrecords.com

The band kick off the bombastic "Loaded Gun" which has a raw metal feel that reminds me of Chrissy Steel in the vocal department. The next track, "Tumblin’ Dice" has a little bit if a rock and roll feel to it. A decent start to the album, but when "If Love Could Last Forever" starts the band move into a different league. It owes a lot to Cher’s "Turn Back Time", but I’m inclined to forgive because it just sounds so good. Cher gets mixed with Alannah Miles for the power ballad "I’m No Angel" which is a little predictable, but then I guess all power ballads are.

Def Leppard and Bon Jovi get visited for the effective title track "No Bed Of Roses". Aerosmith are a possible influence for "Easy Lay" but the song doesn’t quite have the class of Tyler, Perry and co. Still, "Rock And A Hard Place" gets them back on track with a big rocker which manages to still how to a sense of melody and the following "Red Hot Heaven" also has a good groove.

"Ghost Of You" is well executed 80s style hard rock with a hint of Chrissy Steel on display again. "Forever My Love" is also well executed but this time in the ballad department. "Long Way From Home" sees the acoustic guitars come out and this time I’ve written down Bon Jovi, John Mellencamp and Tesla as reference points. Curiously, the original album seems to end with the piano led "Man Against The World" which reminds me of something that Freddy Mercury would do with Queen. IT is done well, but somehow seems out of place with the rest of the album.

Then we go into the bonus tracks on this reissue. The first 4 of these feature Jackie Bodmead on vocals. "All Over" is a muscular track that is pretty good and the pick of the bunch. The others a decent, but perhaps a little more workmanlike. Live track "Tight Jeans" beings proceedings to a close.

Overall a good album that is worthy of a re-release.

More info: http://www.avenue-of-allies.com/

The album grabs you by the throat on opening track, "I Spit On Your Curse", and for the most part doesn’t let go. Think Rob Zombie, Black Sabbath and Metallic with a doom/stoner layer on top and you have the picture. I’m reminded of Motorhead as the album has that raw no nonsense vibe to it, however this is Motorhead without the ‘melody’ (assuming you think Motorhead have a sense of melody in the first place).

The onslaught is endless and by the end of the album I’m suffering from ‘heaviness’ fatigue. The exception is the mildly Southern styled "Black Moon Shine" where if you try really hard you can convince yourself that you can hear hints of Molly Hatchet going on.

You will need to be in the mood for some serious heaviness to enjoy this.

More info at www.crownedbyfire.com

Hardline - Frontiers release Hardline’s new album on 18th May in Europe & 22th in N America. The current line-up is singer Johnny Gioeli plus Francesco Jovino (UDO), Thorsten Koehne (Code Of Perfection, Eden’s Curse) and Anna Portalupi (Mitch Malloy). More info at www.frontiers.it.

Status Minor - new album, OUTOBOROS, released on Lion Music on 25 March. More info at www.lionmusic.com.

Lars Eric Mattsson - new album, Obsession, will be released by Lion Music on 25th April. More info at www.lionmusic.com.

Wig Wam - release there new studio album, Wall Street, on 18th May in Europe & 22th in N America. More info at www.frontiers.it.

Blood In Venice - The Danish/Italian modern rock band BLOOD IN VENICE have made their second single "Day After Day" available for streaming on YouTube. You can listen to here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yp7JvhNduw.

Pollution - release "Beyond Control" on Escape on 25 May. Their sound is described a Nickelback meets ACDC, Krokus & Gotthard. More info at www.escape-music.com.

Electric Boys - are in the UK in November for some dates. More info at www.electricboys.com.

Tomorrow’s Outlook - have an album called "34613" out which is said to be 80s classic metal & features a guest appearance by Graham Bonnet on a couple of tracks.

Robbie Crane - Ratt bassist has left the band after 15 years.

Steel Panther - in the UK for a tour in Nov. Tickets at www.livenation.co.uk.

Europe - release "Bag Of Bones" on April 30 and have been making headlines recently by telling Classic Rock that have considered dropping Final Countdown from their set. More info at www.europetheband.com.

Tuff - are back with "What Comes Around Goes Around… Again" which revisits some their best know songs & some early recordings.

Roxette - have a new album called "Travelling" out at the moment. More info at www.roxette.se.

Sonisphere - festival has been cancelled for 2012. It was to feature Kiss, plus Queen with Adam Lambert.