Europe
Bag Of Bones
Produced by Kevin Shirley
earMUSIC
UK Release date: April 30, 2012 CD | MP3
U.S. Release date: May 8, 2012 CD (Import)

Love it or loathe it, the fact is Swedish rock band Europe will always be the band responsible for “The Final Countdown.” Twenty-six years on from making one of the most iconic rock songs of all time, new album Bag Of Bones demonstrates a significantly different band.

The current line-up of singer Joey Tempest, guitarist John Norum, bassist John Leven, drummer Ian Haugland, and keyboard player Mic Michaeli have been together since 2003 (but also played together for most of the ’80s) and have worked hard to make the transition from hard rock hair metal to a hard rock blues band. Songs like “Riches To Rags” with its superb guitar solo – a sonic sugar-rush as the tempo kicks up a level and Norum shreds – and lead single “Not Supposed To Sing The Blues” are the perfect example of Europe’s hard rock blues.

Flying Colors
Flying Colors
Mascot Label Group/Music Theories Recordings
Release date: March 26, 2012 (U.S.) CD | MP3
March 27, 2012 (UK) CD | MP3

When your band Dream Theatre or Deep Purple takes a rest, what is a man to do? Stroke your blond hair and cradle your guitar? Trim your beard and twiddle your drum sticks? Well, no. Late in the year 2010, guitarist Steve Morse and drummer Mike Portnoy decided to start a new band.

For facts’ sake, it was around this time that Portnoy and DT parted ways. But the prog-metal powerhouse and the hard rock fret flyer made for an impressive, if slightly unusual, pairing. The Flying Colors band started to stretch its wings with the addition of Neal Morse, the keyboard player from the spectactularly nerdy-named Spock’s Beard; bass player Dave LaRue; and lead vocalist Casey McPherson. In nine intensive days at the beginning of last year the album Flying Colors was finally recorded.

Great Gypsy Soul
By Tommy Bolin and Friends
429 Records
Release date: March 26, 2012
MP3* | CD Exclusive | CD

The late, great Tommy Bolin, one of the most prolific and underrated guitarists arguably of all time, is getting the royal crown tribute firmly affixed on his sonic memory with the release of Great Gypsy Soul. The eleven song album, which was released in MP3* format today, March 25 (it’s actually on sale right now for $3.99) has a stunning array of guests on it that reads like a who’s who line-up of some guitar and vocal greats of the 1970s and 80s and today, like Peter Frampton, Joe Bonamassa, and Warren Haynes.

Bolin, who was born in Sioux City, Iowa, in 1951 and died in Miami, Florida, in late 1976, was yet another guitar player in the annals of rock whose bright future was stilled, a victim of a heroin overdose while on tour with Jeff Beck.

The Wing Zero EP
By Richie Branson
Released date: March 20, 2012
Price: Free!

How many of you were fans of the anime Gundam Wing when it was show on Cartoon Network? I know there are a bunch of you out there. I was one of you, still am a fan in fact. The other day I decided to break out the DVDs and started watching the show all over again. It remains a decent show and may have been the first anime any of you ever watched. So, when we got word that there was a new mix-tape from artist Richie Branson based on the show, I just had to take a listen to it. So I’m here to tell you about The Wing Zero EP EP. Now, the good news about this is that the record is free to download right now from Branson’s webpage. The album is worth taking a listen to, especially at that price. It contains 13 tracks, six songs and seven instrumental tracks, and is pretty decent but not as good as I had hoped it would be.

School Of Seven Bells – Ghostory
CD | MP3
Vagrant Records
Release Date: February 28, 2012

Every music geek has a pair of headphones they value above all others. Maybe it’s those earbuds that shut out the other commuters on the subway, or maybe it’s the full studio set that lets you hear bits in your favorite songs you’ve never heard before. Whatever your pair, the reason you own them is to experience music on a different level. Music can be enjoyed in many different ways, but there are albums that come along that seem to be tailor made for headphones, and the new School Of Seven Bells record, Ghostory, certainly belongs in that category.