Respuestas de foro creadas
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1. Shoot the moon
2. It’s strange
3. Throw the dice
4. Dance with the sun
5. Oblivion ocean
6. The painter
7. Keep me out
8. If battle is breaking out
9. Don’t go
10. I am crazy -
The genesis of Black Swan was sparked by a conversation between Jeff Pilson and Frontiers’ President & Head of A&R, Serafino Perugino, who wanted a project that would not only showcase McAuley’s vocal prowess, but have a mighty musical backbone to stand skyscraper tall behind him. Thus, the initial seeds were planted and Pilson ran with it from there. «Shake The World» was tracked at Pilson’s home studio in Los Angeles, “Shake The World” is a showcase of both the musical talents of the instrumental players in the band as well as McAuley’s powerful voice. The four members got Black Swan off the ground by exchanging ideas back and forth and then bringing all the songs together. The final result is something fresh, very heavy, but still intensely melodic and it’s certainly not Dokken, nor Winger, nor MSG, or some combination thereof, but it’s own unique animal. As an example, one of the songs was written by Jeff Pilson right after seeing the Queen movie ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. «I came home and I sat down at the grand piano and pretty much wrote exactly the chorus that we have, just coming straight [from] the movie. It is a bit Queen-like.» Continues Pilson, «It’s amazing, incredible music. Wait until you hear everybody’s playing and singing. It’s beyond — way beyond.»
Adds Robin McAuley, «This is really exciting for me to read: Black Swan announces the release of “Shake the World,» the first offering from the band on the Frontiers’ label.» I’ve known Jeff for some thirty years and we have a history of performing together on MSG Unplugged, in addition to being great friends, musically and socially. When he asked me to do this and collaborate with Reb, I didn’t have to think too long with my response. Initially he wasn’t going to play bass on this, but Reb and myself soon changed his mind, lol!!! Bringing Matt into the mix was a great decision. His powerful energy and style is unmistakable on this album. Overall, it is a very powerful blend of styles and writing. Reb is truly an amazing guitarist and songwriter. Jeff captured my vocals the way I like to sound. Probably the best vocal sound I’ve had… ever!!!! Such a great and creative studio experience for me. This is kick ass, powerful music on an album full of great songs. If you love strong melodies and BIG choruses, BLACK SWAN won’t disappoint!! It’s time…”SHAKE THE WORLD!!!»
Guitarist Reb Beach says, «When Jeff approached me to do this, I was so excited because I loved writing “Erase the Slate” with him for Dokken. I also played in the band with Jeff for four years, and we worked so well together, writing and live too. He is as good as it gets when it comes to a rock musician, a great songwriter and an absolute joy to work with. I came in with riffs, Jeff arranged them into a song by adding his own parts, and then Robin wrote the lyrics, and knocked it out of the park with the vocals. I am pretty particular about singers, and Robin’s voice is so slammin’ that I wouldn’t want anyone else. Matt came in with his huge drum sound, and we had a great sounding band. Very exciting stuff!!»
«Shooting the video was a blast,» says drummer Matt Starr. «Shot in Los Angeles over the course of two days, it was similar to recording the record, everything was very organic and comfortable. That’s the advantage of working with guys who have so much experience. There’s not too much discussion going on. Everybody knows what to do, we just get to work and do it. That leaves more time for hanging out, chatting and smoking cigars!»
The album is a killer slice of melodic hard rock & heavy metal from seasoned players who have gelled musically. Whether you are a fan from “back in the day” or brand new to the scene and just diving in, the album is essential listening!
Tracklisting:
1. Shake The World
2. Big Disaster
3. Johnny Came Marching
4. Immortal Souls
5. Make It There
6. She’s On To Us
7. The Rock That Rolled Away
8. Long Road To Nowhere
9. Sacred Place
10. Unless We Change
11. Divided/United -
Rarely has there been such a drastic change of musical style than that made by the Swedish hard rock band Easy Action when it came to the recording of their second album ‘That Makes One’ in 1985. While the band’s debut LP (1983) was an ahead of its time glam classic, Easy Action had morphed into a slickly melodic AOR group on the follow up record.
Kee Marcello, who later on joined Europe, was approached by Peo Thyrén (b) from the pop punk band Noice which were considerably successful at the time to sing but eventually ended up as their producer. Not willing to live the destructive lifestyle of the band, Kee and Peo founded their own band: Easy Action. The name refers to Marc Bolan who is considered the biggest rock star by Marcello. The band recorded a mini-album and got themselves a multi-million dollar deal with Sire Records. “I went from practically being homeless to being a young, stupid guy with loads of money“, Marcello recalls. Joining Peo and Kee in this early version of Easy Action were Zinny J. Zan (v), Fredrik Von Gerber (d, ex Noice) and Danny Wilde (g).
The band sounded like a blueprint for Mötley Crüe, Poison and the like and consequently wanted to go in a different direction with the follow-up. Several line-up changes came, most notably Peo eventually making way for Björn ‘Nalle’ Påhlsson and Tommy Nilsson being recruited to fill the vacant lead singer role after Zinny left. The journey together ended when Marcello was offered to join Europe – an offer to good to turn down.
Upon release in 1986 ‘That Makes One’ certainly gained its many admirers, but any success was short-lived due to Kee taking up that aforementioned offer from Europe to replace John Norum in November the same year to go on to record the ‘Out Of This World’ and ‘Prisoners In Paradise’ albums with the group. When that version of Europe went their separate ways, Marcello began a solo career in 1993 that continues to this day, alongside a lot of production for other artists.
The “glam rock variant“ of Easy Action reunited. Kee and Zinny J. Zan having recruited a first class team of players that included Simon Roxx (g), Micael Grimm (b) and ‘Grizzly’ Höglund (d) and played Sweden Rock in 2006. But the passing of Grimm in 2011 who was the driving force at the time ended the band activities, although some songs were written.
Yet in 2019 the “melodic rock version“ of the band got back together! Kee and Tommy, alongside Chris Lind (g), Björn ’Nalle’ Påhlsson, Björn ‘Grizzly’ Höglund and the band’s long-time live keyboard player Jörgen Ingeström reformed again earlier this year when Kee received another offer to play Sweden Rock. The band recorded a live DVD and presented themselves in excellent shape, for instance using no backing tapes and stuff.
This re-release is remastered by Chris Lyne and limited to 1000 copies. As a bonus there are rare b-sides “Eye For An Eye“ from the “In The Middle Of Nowhere“ single and “There Is A River“ from the “Talk Of The Town“ single.