MICHAEL THOMPSON BAND – Love & Beyond (2019)

The Michael Thompson Band is back with their brand new album, “Love And Beyond” on April 26, 2019! For this new release, Michael wanted to go back to the more polished AOR sound of the band’s debut album. Once again, he teamed up with Wyn Davis to mix the album. Additionally, he also had the amazing Mark Spiro involved in the songwriting as well as appearing on vocals together with the awesome Larry King and Larry Antonino. Antonio, best known for being Unruly Child’s bass player, delivers a phenomenal vocal performance which can only be defined as stunning. Another Unruly Child member, Guy Allison, appears on keyboards, while drums on the album are handled by Sergio Gonzalez and Tim Pedersen.

Originally from New York, Michael Thompson moved to Los Angeles in 1979 to begin his career. In 1988, after working to try and get a deal with his band Slang, he signed a deal with Geffen Records to release an album entitled «How Long» under the Michael Thompson Band (M.T.B.) monicker. On «How Long», many great studio musicians appeared as guests, in particular drummer Terry Bozzio, singer Moon Calhoun (ex-The Strand), Pat Torpey (Mr. Big), bassist Jimmy Haslip, John Elefante (Kansas), Bobby Kimball (Toto), and Great White associates Michael Lardie and Wyn Davis (who also produced the album). Songwriters included, among others, AOR luminaries such as Jeff Paris, Mark Spiro, Billy Trudel, and Brett Walker.

As of today, “How Long” is still regarded as one of the premiere examples of hi-tech AOR / West Coast with superb production and immaculate songwriting. A relationship between Michael Thompson and Frontiers began with the reissue in 2007 of «How Long» (with 3 bonus tracks). The label then released a new Michael Thompson Band album, «Future Past» in early 2012. For that album, Michael teamed up with the awesome singer Larry King from the band Soleil Moon. Larry brought a new and more rocking approach to the MTB sound, but certainly the trademark elements of songwriting and melodies were still to be found on the “Future Past”.

Now, in 2019, Michael Thompson Band returns once again with their new album, «Love & Beyond» that will surely delight AOR and melodic rock fans everywhere!

Amongst musician circles, Michael Thompson is considered one of the leading guitar players in the world. He was awarded the «Distinguished Alumni» award from his alma mater, Berklee College of Music to commemorate his contributions to the music industry. Berklee’s program for the event noted that «he is widely regarded as being among the elite studio session players, and his amazing list of credits includes such prominent names as Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, ‘N Sync, Toni Braxton, Phil Collins, Rod Stewart, the Scorpions, Vince Neil, Christina Aguilera, Michael Bolton, Mariah Carey, Bette Midler, Madonna, Babyface, En Vogue, Gloria Estefan, Stanley Clarke and Ricky Martin.»

Tracklist:
1. Opening
2. Love & Beyond
3. Save Yourself
4. Passengers
5. Red Sun (Interlude)
6. Supersonic
7. La Perouse (Interlude)
8. Don’t Look Down
9. Far Away
10. Penny Laughed (Interlude)
11. Love Was Never Blind
12. Black Moon (Interlude)
13. Flying Without Wings
14. Forbidden City (Interlude)
15. Just Stardust
16. What Will I Be Without You
17. Starting Over
18. ‘Til We Meet Again

Lineup:
Guitars: Michael Thompson
Lead Vocals and bass: Larry Antonino
Lead vocals: Larry King, Mark Spiro
Drums: Sergio Gonzalez, Tim Pedersen
Keys: Guy Allison