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LAURIE MANSWORTH – an interview with British guitarist/songwriter

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Laurie Mansworth has been part of the British scene since the late 70s. He joined NWOBHM band MORE, writing and playing on their 1981 debut album, before forming AIRRACE, and later moving in to production work, notably THE TREATMENT (which includes his son Dhani). More recently he’s formed MANSWORTH. In this exchange Laurie answers my questions about the bands and recordings he’s been apart of over the past (near) 45 years. *Check out the clips included, as well as the links below!

Can you give me a few of your own favorite guitarists, bands and albums from your youth, that lead you into performing and recording? 

Well definitely AC/DC, I loved music from a very early age, especially all the glam bands like Slade, T-Rex and The Sweet. I am also a massive fan of Jeff Lynne and ELO, but I would say AC/DC are the main reason I wanted to be in a band.

Do you recall how MORE came together? I had read initially it was more of a blues band. Did you know any of these guys prior to?

I joined MORE when their guitarist Paul Todd left. It was before we signed to Atlantic and the band were just a straight forward heavy rock band by then. I auditioned at Ezzee Hire in Marker Road in north London. I never knew any of the other guys but I immediately clicked with Paul, Brian and Frank. It was the loudest band I ever played in and I’m lucky I still have great hearing.

How did the band end up getting signed to Atlantic, and then get put together with Al Nalli & Henry Weck? Were you familiar with either from the Blackfoot and Brownsville Station connection? 

Phil Carson label boss at Atlantic heard the band on the Tommy Vance Rock Show. He came down to a gig and we signed a massive deal with Atlantic soon after. The label put us together with Al Nali and Henry Weck. I wasn’t familiar with Blackfoot at the time but me and Al still remain in touch. Ricky Medlock and Al stayed at my parents place in London when they were playing a festival in the UK in the 80s so we all got to know each other well. Al’s sister Rene Nali signed Airrace to Atco in the US, I also stayed with Ricky when I visited Al on a couple of occasions.

Songs were credited to the entire band then. Were they band really band collaborations? Any that originated from you? 

I wrote a lot of the MORE stuff with Paul but I was only seventeen at the time and green behind the ears. Let’s just say I was relieved of my song writing royalties by a few of my other associates. 

Who’s idea to cover Arthur Brown’s “Fire” ?  

That was the label’s idea. Some bands were getting initial successes with cover songs so that’s what we did. I was a fan of the original version but not completely sold on ours. 

What were some of the biggest gigs and support slots did you guys play? 

We did the Killers Tour with Iron Maiden throughout Europe, that was big. There were so many supports Krokus, Ted Nugent, but the biggest was opening for Foreigner at the Nuremberg ring. The audience was huge as far as the eye could see. Soon after we were healing decent size venues like the Rainbow in Finsbury Park on our headline shows. It was an exciting time.

You left the band, presumably from Kenny Cox wanting to do it without you(?) Did you have any further contact or connection with any of the guys? 

Kenny was a not a pleasant man to be in a band with, I loved playing in MORE with the other guys but it was a dictatorship,  as I was writing most of the material I wasn’t too sad to leave and do my own thing. Paul left soon after for the same reason. I have always kept in touch with Brian and Paul. Sadly as you know Paul passed away recently and I was so glad we got a chat about old times a week before he left us.

What was Peter Grant’s involvement early on with Airrace?

Yes, Peter managed Airrace for a short period we moved on. 

Beau Hill, at that point, had produced the first RATT album. How did you guys get put together with him, and how did you like working with him? 

Again it was the label. Beau had made a couple of hit records and they thought he would do a good job. 

Shaft Of Light has a very 80s production, with the keyboards, the drum sound….were you happy with the overall finished album? 

Not really, . I always felt that the Airrace album wasn’t as good as the demos we did with Tony Platt. Beau Americanised the band and I personally feel we should have stayed more guitar based like foreigner. The AOR fans still see it as a classic so I’m not complaining. Personally I would have rather made a much tougher sounding record. 

What sort of opportunities did Airrace get early on – any opening slots or big shows?

Yes, we supported AC/DC on the flick of the switch tour and also Queen on The Works tour. We had some great shows, It doesn’t get much better than opening for Queen. 

Was there any official videos made at the time (being the MTV era)? 

No videos unfortunately, Atco really dropped the ball with Airrace. There were a lot of internal problems at the label during the time we were signed to them. It’s a shame as the band should have done a lot more.

Back To The Start sounds great! Much livelier than Shaft of Light, a very good album, but it seemed to get a very limited release (CD only through Frontiers).  Might there be a chance of reissuing this one?

I’m sure it will be rereleased at some point. It was a good album, much more like the Airrace live sound. The drummer Simon Dawson who played on that album  is now in Maiden so it may well have get another release in the near future.

Were you happy with Back To The Start? Why did it not lead to a 3rd album sooner? 

Overall yes. I only had a small budget to make the album and I always feel I we could have done better. I think it went down well with the fans of the band and that’s the most thing. Frontiers have been a great support in my career and I still work with them with the Treatment. 

On the 3rd album, you changed the entire band, really, including singers. Why was that?  

Many of the old lineup had moved on to other things so I had no choice. I must say Untold Stories had the most chart success across the globe that any of the others. It made even made the to 40 in Japan which was a nice surprise. I was very happy with who that album went down. 

You put Airrace to rest after that,  and formed ‘Mansworth’. What’s been going on with this project? Will there be a record anytime soon?

We have recorded a Mansworth album that I love. Not sure when it will be released I’m still looking at the options. I’m taking sometime out at the moment. I suffer with fibromyalgia and it’s something I’m trying to get to grips with.

You are also involved in production, especially with The Treatment. Are you more comfortable these days as a producer than as a performer? 

I would say yes. I like performing but my main role for the last 16year has been working with the Treatment. It been great touring with my son and the Grey brothers are like family, we have had some amazing times with that band.

What projects are you working on these days? 

I’m taking it easy at the moment but I’m sure I won’t stay quite for too long 🙂 

*photos courtesy of Laurie Mansworth.

LINKS:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082819030219

Laurie Mansworth (More/Airrace)
Laurie Mansworth From the band Airrace Interviewed at Hard Rock Hell (2/12/11)

https://www.redguitarmusic.com/the-bakers-dozen/2018/8/15/the-bakers-dozen-10-laurie-mansworth-airrace

AIRRACE – Back To The Start (2011)

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Well, as often happens, I get into (or pick up) an album, and some of the names and associations lead to further records and bands to look into. I previously posted on the debut from NWOBHM band MORE, which featured singer Paul Mario Day (RIP), who went on to a few other bands of note, but it is guitarist Laurie Mansworth, who left after the first album and soon put together a new band. AIRRACE would be Mansworth’s new band, and over a few decades the band put out 3 albums.

The first AIRRACE album, Shaft Of Light, came out in 1984 and was the debut of drummer Jason Bonham, who’s connection to Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant helped the band land a record signing. Bonham left after that to join VIRGINIA WOLF, before forming his own band BONHAM. The band also included keyboard player Toby Sadler (ex White Spirit, and pre Samson), singer Keith Murrell, and bass player Jim Reid. The debut was produced by Beau Hill (who at that point, had produced Ratt’s Out Of The Cellar), Anyway, that album got great reviews. It had a lighter 80s AOR production sound to it. It did feature the single “I Don’t Care”, as well as rockers like “Promise To Call” and “Not Really Me” . After Bonham left, the band seemed to fade away, with Murrell joining MAMA’S BOYS for a bit, and Mansworth going on to various other things, most notably producing THE TREATMENT. In 2009 Rock Candy released a 25th anniversary edition of Shaft Of Light, with bonus tracks. This anniversary edition lead to the band reforming for shows and eventually a new album.

Mansworth, Murrell, and Reid returned for Back To The Start was released in 2011, joined by Chris Williams (keyboards), Dean Howard (guitar), and Simon Dawson (ex Outfield; now Iron Maiden’s drummer). Back To The Start was a better sounding and more hard rocking release, with guitars more up front, and a much more lively production. Still had that 80s appeal, with the keyboards and the backing vocals reminiscent of Journey. Back To The Start is a fairly solid listen beginning to end, with standout tracks being opener “Keep On Going”, “So Long”, “Call Me Anytime”, and the riff driven “Enough Of Your Loving”. Well worth checking out, but not easy to find, as this only got a CD release on Frontiers (Italy), as well as a Japanese release. Here’s hoping someone reissues this one (yes, I need one).

Laurie Mansworth put together a new line-up for the third AIRRACE album, 2018’s Untold Stories, which included singer Adam Payne, drummer Dhani Mansworth (The Treatment), and bass player Rocky Newton (MSG, Lionheart). Since 2019 Laurie has put together a new band ‘MANSWORTH’, and from what I read they were recording an album.

LINKS:

https://www.frontiers.it/album/4892

Laurie Mansworth (More/Airrace)

MORE – Warhead (1981)

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MORE released 2 albums back in the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal period, and both with very different line-ups. It is the band’s debut Warhead that is the better of the 2 and of most interest. On the debut MORE consisted of bassist Brian Day, drummer Fran Darch, guitarists Laurie Mansworth and Kenny Cox, and singer Paul Mario Day, who was known to many as the first Iron Maiden singer. MORE were signed to Atlantic Records (UK, US, etc..) and with US Southern rockers Blackfoot also being on Atlantic (and very popular in the UK at the time) Al Nalli (producer/manager- Brownsville Station, Blackfoot) and Henry Weck (Brownsville Station) were brought in to produce the first album.

The band had debuted on the Friday Rock Show in 1980, playing 4 songs.

Warhead features 8 tracks, with side 1 one opening with a good riff rocker “Road Rocket”. This side also features a decent ‘metal’ version of the Arthur Brown classic “Fire”, which seems like an odd choice for a cover, but as a fan of AB, I find it pretty cool and interesting. It is side 2 which is the better side (IMO), opening with the title track, which features a big intro, which makes me wonder why this wasn’t the first song on the album!? It also includes another fine riff driven rocker in “We Are The Band”, and standout here is the closing cut “I Have No Answers”, which gallops along in places, and to me, is the closest thing to Iron Maiden here. Two singles were released from Warhead – “Fire” in the US, with the non-LP “Lord Of Twilight”, while the UK and other countries got “We Are The Band”, backed with the non-LP “Atomic Rock”.

I don’t know how well Warhead did at the time, but the band did shows in Europe (Monsters Of Rock) , and opened for Iron Maiden on their Killers tour. It seems more of a curious collectable as it features Day (with his connections to Iron Maiden and Sweet), as well as guitarist Laurie Mansworth, who went on to form Airrace, and later manage The Treatment. Both Paul Mario Day and Laurie Mansworth left the band before the 2nd album (tho’ Day had a songwriting credit on it). Paul Mario Day went on to record 2 albums with Wildfire (which included Andy Scott Sweet members Jeff Brown and Bruce Bisland) before joining The Sweet as well. Guitarist Kenny Cox went on to record with ’80s band Mammoth, which also included John McCoy (Gillan) and Nicky Moore (Samson). Cox passed away in 2022 (RIP).

Warhead is well worth checking out, at the least, appealing to fans of Samson, Tank, and a few others from the NWOBHM era. There is a ‘More’ still performing to this day, albeit with no original members.

RIP Paul Mario Day.

SAXON – albums of the day

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So, gearing up for SAXON & URIAH HEEP in Cleveland.. Not totally looking forward to the 4 hr drive, but 2 of my favorite bands on one bill!

While going through SAXON CDs for the car the last few days, I had these 2 on – 2 classic Saxon albums – something old and something new. Wheels Of Steel is the band’s 2nd album, from 1980 and boasted the hits “747 (Strangers In The Night)” and the title track, as well as the single “Suzie Hold On”, and heavy opener “Motorcycle Man”. The LP went top 10 in the UK and began a run of classic NWOBHM era Saxon albums from 1980-83 (or so). Love the album artwork, the band’s logo that is still used. A must-have Saxon album to start. Check out the 2009 remaster with 8 extra tracks!

And from 2009, Into The Labyrinth . What a killer opening track – “Battalions Of Steel” is, with those church bells and built up intro before the band comes roaring in. One of Saxon greatest and heaviest. This album is full of cool rockers like “Demon Sweeney Todd”, the anthem “Live To Rock”, and “Valley Of Kings”. Highly recommended!

https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-story-behind-saxon-wheels-of-steel

SAXON’s BIFF BYFORD – Hell, Fire and Damnation Interview

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SAXON released Hell, Fire, And Damnation in January, the band’s 24th studio album (excluding their 2 recent collections of covers). if you haven’t heard the new album, it is one of the band’s best in the past few decades (well, their best since 1999’s Metalhead, for me). See my review elsewhere on this site. In this conversation, Biff discusses the band’s change in guitar players, the songs and artwork for Hell, Fire and Damnation, and the band’s upcoming US tour (co-headlining w/ Uriah Heep).

*Check out the links and tour dates below.

First of all, the new album if you can tell me a bit about the title where the what inspired the title and the title song obviously in that context. I posted a review the other day.

Yeah, the first song’s about the battle between good and evil, really, that’s been going on for 1000s of years. I suppose it’s based on the prophecy, you know like the Omen films, that type of thing. I suppose it was good to write a song about good and evil and just a lot of bands just write about devils and demons and things, or occult. And it’s a saying my dad used to use when he was upset – ‘hell, fire and damnation’. That’s where the title came from, the idea for the words, anyway.

You got Brian in the band now. Prior to, when Paul announced he was leaving did you have Brian in mind already, when that came up?

Paul’s been thinking about leaving for some time. I think when we were touring during that particular period, he was quite tired and not really into metal music anymore. So he just wanted to play blues music and relax a bit. So that’s what he wanted to do. So we asked Brian – Brian was the first guy we asked actually. And the thing about Brian, is apart from Metallica connection, you know, the songs that they recorded of his; He’s a bit sort of frustrated, writing great riffs and things and playing great guitar and not being able to play in front of a lot of people, so he jumped at the chance to join Saxon. He’s still in Diamond Head, but he’s really enjoying himself, you know, getting the sort of interest that he deserves.

Yeah, did that change kind of give you guys a bit of a spark with the new album, so I think it’s great album. It’s very consistent, the songs are really good.

Well he wrote the title track with me, we wrote that time together – “Hell, Fire and Damnation”, so he’s come in to the band and done some writing. So dynamically, we’ve changed a little bit, which I think is for the better really. The album sounds fantastic.

A lot of the songs you write are kind of history lessons or history topics. So I always find myself when I get a Saxon album I gotta go look up something that – ‘what is this moment he’s talking about or this event’?

Haha… A lot of people do Google, you know – if they don’t know what happened in 1066. Or the Salem witches, you can go on Google and Wikipedia it gives you a short story of what it’s all about. I think in that way it’s interesting you know. And some of the Maiden tracks are quite history based. I’m sure some people google and find out what the tale of the “Ancient Mariner” is, you know!?

What kind of inspires each topic that you come up with – is it reading or a book or movie..?

A lot of it’s documentaries and things you see on Netflix or something. I read articles and watch films and things, so I’m always looking for something to write about. I was doodling with a song called “Remember the Alamo” for this album, but it didn’t quite make it. So that might end up on the next album (haha); you never know!

You also had a change with the artwork on this album?

Again, it’s dark and light – good and evil. So I wanted to an album cover that basically mirrored what I was saying in the song really – the fight between good and evil. And I got my friend, the actor. Brian Blessed to do the intro for all sounds pretty precious metal to me. I mean, I do like it.

Now you got Peter Selye doing the artwork this time? That’s first person you’ve had somebody new for, I guess for quite a few years, I guess.
We do usually use our other friend Paul Gregory who’s done a lot of albums since Crusader. But he wasn’t able to do this album. So I had an idea, you know, an idea of a cover, and we sent my ideas to different artists. And he (Peter) came back straight away with that concept of you know, the super angel and the shield in the middle of the battle. And it looked really great to me, you know,

How involved are you with each cover from album to album? Is it your ideas?

Yeah, a lot of them are based on my ideas, yeah, and where I think they should from. The album can do what he wants, but it all comes back from an idea I have. They’re not always great, and don’t always work, so we might have to move on to a different cover. but this one is pretty much how I wanted it to be really.

Well it’s a great cover

Looks great on a t-shirt!

And the title is very memorable…

And you can buy a box set with a patch in it, and put it on a jacket, and that’s pretty cool. I’m going to be wearing one of them on stage, I think.

If we can touch on some of the songs, because there’s a lot that stand out on this here for me – “Madame Guillotine”, “Fire And Steel”, “Pirates Of The Airwaves”… Can you tell me a bit about a few of the songs and if you’ve kind of decided or have an idea what you might put into the live show?

“Pirates Of The Airwaves” was based on the ’60s really. When I was a boy listening to music on a little transistor radio because the BBC the British government, wouldn’t allow people to listen to rock music, like The Rolling Stones in the 60s, so we used to listen in our in our bedrooms late at night, midnight, listening to these tracks coming through from these pirate stations. That’s what that song is about. You know, it’s just reminiscing from my youth, really.

“Fire And Steel” is basically it’s about a city in Yorkshire England called Sheffield, and that was a very behemoth city. It’s the place I used to go when I was a teenager to see all the bands. You know I saw David Bowie there, and I saw Uriah Heep, and Deep Purple – all the big bands used to come through this city called Sheffield, and I used to go so that’s what the song’s about really.

And obviously “There’s Something In Roswell”, I think a lot of people know what that’s about already.

Well, I’m a believer. I don’t know about you, but I think there’s something in Roswell. I think something happened there. Roswell was ground zero for UFO enthusiasts. Really.

Do you follow a lot of that stuff?

It’s interesting. I like conspiracy theories. Like something happens and then the government tells you something else. It’s interesting, isn’t it? I mean from Roswell millions of UFO sites and people talk about UFOs, Investigate UFOs, and it all started from Roswell, really.

“Kubla Khan And The Merchant of Venice”?

Again, that’s a bit of a history lesson really. You know Genghis Khan was a big warlord in Europe who conquered most of Europe and some of the Roman Empire. And one of his great grandsons was the Emperor of China, his name was Kubla Khan. And the first guy to go there and write about it was a guy called Marco Polo, who was from Venice. He discovered the Chinese used gunpowder, this fantastic pottery that they used to make – a great story really. I think that’s the most historic song on the album, but you can google it again if you want to find out what it’s about.

You guys are consistently putting out albums, like yearly – even when we were off during the pandemic you still managed to put out the two covers’ albums. What kind of drives you and how important is it to keep putting out new material when there’s a lot of bands at this stage who are just content to do one every five or six years or whatever?

We still have lots of things to prove. And we’re still always trying to write that perfect song on that perfect album. And we’re songwriters basically, well you know, I mean I look at myself as a songwriter not just a singer, so I’m very dedicated to make and produce new material. And then tour with it. We could obviously tour and just do the big hits from the ’80s, but we don’t really want to do that you know; we want to want to make music that’s relevant – you know people like it, like this album’s getting good reviews from around the world. It’s a good feeling you know; it’s good feeling that we can still write great songs – in my opinion that are just as good as the early songs.

Yeah, I like following bands who have something new because it’s easy to fall off if there’s nothing new for a long time right, so yourselves and well Magnum, Uriah Heep… bands have that still put out albums consistently every year Or few years that are well worth having.

I think especially in the metal genre like Saxon, Judas Priest, and Maiden – we put out albums because you know we like to tour on those albums and that’s what really gives us the juice you know that keeps us alive, keeps us feeling young, playing music that’s new. It’s a really great feeling.

You’ve got a tour coming up in the US with Uriah Heep. So a couple things – when you go out on the road for these long journeys, like you’d be out here for a couple of months. What do you guys do? You know, what’s your kind of your routine as far as do you go visit a lot of historic sites yourself and or is it kind of all business?

Well we drink a lot definitely! (haha) And we keep ourselves busy really. And then we don’t have many days off, so, if we have a day off in a cool place then we’ll go off and visit the area or go shopping or something, just to break the monotony of traveling every day. We’re pretty much a family, it’s like a gang on the road. There’s a lot of fun, a lot of joking about, you know, it’s like being out with your friends really, like being out with your mates.

You’re touring with Heep, and you’ve mentioned them before, I know I read you’d picked Demons And Wizards as one of your favorite albums. And you covered “Gypsy” on the last covers album. How far back do you go with them as far as seeing them the first time?

The first time I saw them, I mean, they’ve been going on quite a long time. I didn’t see them in the late ’60s, I must’ve seen them on their second album tour, I think…and I think they were out with Purple. I’d seen them in Sheffield actually. So it must’ve been very early ’70s. But I didn’t need them until much, much later on. Because they weren’t really on our touring circuit, if you know what I mean, in the ’80s. I think they stopped touring the UK in the ’80s and had a bit of a hit in America in the ’80s with one of their albums. (Ed: Abominog, w/Peter Goalby). I didn’t see that band, but I saw Uriah Heep with a guy called John Sloman. Yeah, so I do like Uriah Heep, and I do know them, but we’d see them in restaurants and airports and it’s only in the last 3 or 4 years that we started playing shows together.

Metalhead was kind of my rei-ntroduction to you guys because I know you’d been over here in the ’80s, but when Metalhead came out, that really got me back into you guys and I’ve kind of picked up from there and been following ever since.

A lot of people got in to us on Metalhead. It’s kind of a dark album. It’s a great album, actually, I think it’s a really underrated album.
It now ended up in a lot of people’s like, you know, top 10 albums they play Saxon, so it’s getting the recognition, I think.

You did the King Crimson cover on the next album? Do you remember touring or sharing bill with a Canadian band named April Wine in 1980?

Yeah, we did some shows together. We did the Monsters Of Rock together, the very first big one in the UK. I remember watching them, they were a good band.

Yeah, because they had a bit of a radio hit with their cover of “21st Century Schizoid Man”? So, when you guys did “In The Court Of The Crimson King”, I thought that was a great connection there.

A lot of people do “21st Century Schizoid Man”, it’s such a hidden track, but I wanted to do something a bit more proggy, a bit more prog-rocky. which is why we used the other one.

What else do you have on the go as far as other projects you’d like to do or anything else you’re working on?

At the moment, we’re not really working on much. We only finished this album in October last year, so we’ve been working pretty hard on this album. No real plans yet, just to promote this album, tour this year and promote the album. We might do more videos, maybe I don’t know. Just to concentrate on the album. That’s the next thing.

I’m looking at the dates. And I don’t see any Canadian dates yet. So I’m hoping if there’s going to be dates added on, because there’s not really a lot of room in between all those shows that are listed.

We have some space after the summer to maybe come back and do some Canadian shows, and some West Coast; we’re not doing West Coast shows either.
It would be a good plan to do Canada, then shoot over to Vancouver and then on the West Coast and maybe go into New Mexico. So there’s a few areas that we aren’t playing on this part of the tour, but it’s just part one, basically. So we’ll see what happens.

LINKS:

https://www.saxon747.com

https://saxon.tmstor.es

https://www.facebook.com/SaxonOfficial

https://www.instagram.com/saxon.official/

https://www.ticketmaster.com/saxon-tickets/artist/736050


SAXON – Hell, Fire and Damnation (a review)

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Over the past couple of decades SAXON has proved themselves as one those high ranking bands to emerge from the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. Though never as big as Maiden was or is, Saxon have consistently put out solid albums, almost yearly, giving their fans exactly what they want and expect – classic British kick-ass metal, with no deviations. Having said all that I think Saxon’s Hell, Fire and Damnation is the band’s best in years! Not that anything prior to wasn’t good, but the songs here just roll off so well one after another, with lots of memorable rockers, the Saxon historical tales, and anthems. Love the production from Biff Byrford and Andy Sneap, and perhaps the addition of Diamond Head’s Brian Tatler (having taken over for the retired Paul Quinn) has sparked something special. From the title track to “Madame Guillotine”, the speedy “Fire and Steel” that kicks off with Nigel Glockear’s drum roll, and early favorites like “Kubla Khan and the Merchants of Venice” and album closer “Super Charger”. Looking forward to putting this on in the car and cranking it up, and hopefully catching the band on their upcoming tour. Love the cover-art by Peter Sallai!

SAXON has also released a brand new single/video for the track “There’s Something In Roswell”. The track is about the enigmatic events surrounding the 1947 crash of an assumed Army weather balloon in Roswell New Mexico, referred to as ‘The Roswell incident’.

“It’s such a great story. It’s been around for years and years, and it’s just what the song says: there must be something in Roswell because there’s too much hoorah about it still”, lead singer and founder-member Biff Byford explains. “I like the tune as well, I think it harks back to ‘80s Saxon musically, a really good bridge between the classic ‘Dallas 1 PM’ era and ‘Saxon 2023.’”

Pre-order Hell, Fire and Damnation > https://lnk.to/SaxonHellFireAndDamnation

Catch SAXON with URIAH HEEP in the US –

LINKS:

https://www.saxon747.com/

https://www.facebook.com/SaxonOfficial

https://www.youtube.com/@PlanetSaxon

Story Behind The Album Cover – RAVEN’s All Hell’s Breaking Loose, with Andrej Bartulović

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In this latest post of Story Behind The Album Cover, artist Andrej Bartulović (All Things Rotten) discusses the cover art for the brand new RAVEN album All Hell’s Breaking Loose. Andrej has done numerous album covers for the likes of Mortis, Nocturnal Breed, and the latest from Alcatrazz! Enjoy the read, and check out the links below for more on Andrej Bartulović’s work.


First, can you give me a bit of background on yourself, how you got into art (different media’s) and in particular, album art? 

I got into art while I was practically a kid. Got more involved into band stuff in high school and started working for bands around 2000. – the great time of MySpace. Awesome times!

Do you have favorite artists, and particular rock album artists, any favorite album covers (by other artists) from your youth? 

Always loved Ed Repka, we all grew up with his covers. But artists I admired were regular metal fanboy list artists, starting with Giger then Cappullo. Grew up with Italian comics, not American. Dylan Dog was my fave comic and for many years Corrado Roi was my fave artist back then. Today I worship Riccardo Federici, an absolute beast and God (for me at least).

You’ve done the latest Raven album (did you happen to do the previous one?)  Can you tell me a bit about your connection to the band? 

If you are referring to “Metal City” as the previous one, then no. I didn’t do that. I did their “Leave ’em Bleeding” EP. I started working for the band years before on some shirts. I think Mike Heller just posted on Facebook that he needed artsy/graphic guy and I answered. He checked  my page and I think that’s how it all started, that was years before. Working with Mike since. We toss ideas around, I do sketches, brothers are deciding is it a go or no. They’re all cool guys. I’m honored for a chance to work with them.

What inspired the whole idea and drawing for the All Hell’s Breaking Loose cover? Were there ideas put forth from the band or drawn from the music? 

I think the idea came from the album directly, it’s actually all hell’s breaking loose on that record. It’s mayhem of an album (in a good way). Guys wanted madness, monsters, basically Metal City on steroids on steroids on steroids (yes, I wrote that 3 times haha).

All Hell’s Breaking Loose – back cover
compilation release from 2022

Can you detail how you created the artwork for AHBL – techniques, materials,… It is a very detailed piece. Excellent 

Thank you for your kind words, appreciated! It was hand drawn on tablet, colored and textured too. There were many changes concerning poses and faces, kinda tricky to pull those out. I used reference photos, of course. Monsters were the easy part haha. Also drew the logo by hand to fit the aesthetics of the cover and get more comic book feel. And yes, would use this opportunity (thank you again) to say loud and not so proud – bass guitar has 2 extra tuning machines. It’s a honest mistake we’ve all overseen. Super weird! But we were busy adding all those laser spiders.  So yeah, shit does happen but I think it doesn’t ruin anything, just adding bit of charm. 

Anything else you can tell about this cover, and how well it turned out? 

The answer is below the previous answer, basically. But I’m happy how it turned out, guys love it and people seem to dig it too. So it’s win-win-win.

You’ve done a number of other covers, notably the last 2 Alcatrazz albums. What are some of your favorite covers you designed, with a line or 2 about them? 

Yes, I did the last 2 Alcatrazz covers, gotta thanks to Giles (for the opportunity and trust) and Silver Lining Music for patience. Some of my faves? Bah, I always think the last thing is the best thing. I’m super critical about stuff I do so I really can’t decide about faves. I like the last Nocturnal Breed stuff I did.

What sort of music do you listen to? And any favorite tracks from the new Raven album?

At this exact moment as I write this I have Dissection playing through the speakers. It’s usually death and black metal, but I also love Arjen Lucassen stuff too… weird heavy stuff like Lost Horizon, Laibach, EMF, ABBA…hahah. Last few years I’m mad about video game soundtracks… nostalgia all the way.
My fave Raven track from the new album would proly be “The Far Side”, but the whole album is absolute batshit crazy and young bands should take some notes.

What other projects are you working on (music related or otherwise)? 

Just finished some book cover illustrations; but generally it’s more or less about music – shirt designs, banners, whatever the band needs. But whenever someone needs any art done I’m around, like a sleazy weirdo hiding in the bushes.

LINKS:

https://www.facebook.com/AllThingsRottenOfficial

https://www.instagram.com/maggotmeister79/?hl=en

https://www.discogs.com/artist/3746421-Andrej-Bartulovic

RAVEN – release new album: All Hell’s Breaking Loose

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British metal legends RAVEN have a brand new album out – All Hell’s Breaking Loose. If you like your rock fast and furious, check this out. There’s 3 singles/videos released so far (see below), as well as favorite cuts like “Turn Of The Screw”, “Desperate Measures”, and “Invasion”. Ten tracks that don’t let up from beginning to end. The band has also released a new single/video for the album’s title track (today). Great production, love the sound of this album. Dig the album art courtesy of Andrej Bartulović at All Things Rotten! *For more info check out the press info, videos, and links below…

photo_ Jay Shredder

Prepare yourself for a metal rampage the likes of which you haven’t enjoyed in many a year as New Wave of British Heavy Metal stalwarts RAVEN deliver the electric mayhem of All Hell’s Breaking Loose, their 15th studio album, released June 30th on Silver Lining Music. 

The Newcastle pioneers, formed by the Gallagher brothers (bassist/vocalist John and guitarist Mark) and rounded out by drummer extraordinaire Mike Heller have emerged from Heller’s own Heaven And Heller Studios in Los Angeles with 10 crisp, visceral metal classics, each fused with riffs, twists, turns, chaos and more hooks than all the Hellraiser movies combined (think hyperbole, ‘turn-it-UP’ and find out for yourself)!

Among the stand-outs are lead single “Go For The Gold”, with the redline pushed hard by a cavalcade of riffs and furious, percussive madness, yet behind it all a melodic journey that makes it multi-dimensional skull-crushing.

“‘Go For The Gold’” is our first single as it really represents the new album mission statement… 100% full on RAVEN lunacy!!!!”,  enthuses John Gallagher. “If you’ve got an initial great riff, you just build from it,… you try not to milk it to death. You want a good structure. You want a good verse with hooks, a good pre-chorus with hooks, a great chorus, and then you want little left turns here and there to spice it up. Otherwise it can sound boring. And if you have too many left turns then it turns into jazz fusion, so it’s a funny line you gotta dance on to have structure but also the chaos part as well.”

Title track “All Hell’s Breaking Loose” twists and turns with accents and flavours buried inside the chaos. “Lyrically the song is about the constrictions of being locked down during the pandemic and the desire and need to ‘break free’ from it all or risking going insane…” explains co-founding member and guitarist Mark Gallagher. “It’s about taking control of your freedom!” Mark exclaims. Meanwhile “Surf The Tsunami” sees  Heller gatecrash your eardrums with a furious flurry of his own, before some supreme twister riffs bring on the full metal chaos; “Turn Of The Screw” bounces on the upbeats before smashing you with a thunderous chorus; “The Far Side” has as classic a metal riff as you’ll hear in 2023; “Desperate Measures” is pure ’81-saturated tales of hardship and despair, if you ever wondered what RAVEN at the Marquee were like on a sweaty metal night in ’83; “Edge of A Nightmare” is your portal to paradise, thundering as hard as the opener “Medieval”. 

What RAVEN have delivered with All Hell’s Breaking Loose is permission for everyone to remember exactly what it’s like to lose yourself in the healing aural waters of supreme heavy metal music, resplendent in sweat-soaked denim and leather. 

“You got three guys with very strong, passionate, opinions,” offers Mark, “and when those are brought together, it’s a case of ‘iron sharpens iron.’”

“We’re very hard on ourselves,” adds John, “it had to be ‘all killer, no filler’. Absolutely every single part of every song had to make sense, had to mean something, and had to be there for a purpose.”

And All Hell’s Breaking Loose makes it clear that RAVEN aren’t messing around in that regard.

*To order on green vinyl, CD, and Cassette(!), check out – https://raven.tmstor.es/?lf=92b7b4d1d4cd1b587d5f32f64b525256

Recommended to fans of  Anvil, Lizzy Borden, Diamond Head, Saxon, Metal Church, Exciter, Armored Saint.

Links: 

https://smarturl.it/AllHellsBreakingLoose

http://sl-music.net/en/60-news-silver-lining/1058-ravens-all-hells-breaking-loose-out-now

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https://www.facebook.com/ravenbandofficial

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WHITE SPIRIT – Right Or Wrong featuring the late Brian Howe, now out.

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White Spirit was around briefly during the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal era. The band’s time included a lone album in 1980, some line-up changes, and further recordings, which never saw the light of day then. The significance of those unreleased recordings was that they featured singer Brian Howe, who’d replaced Bruce Ruff, And guitarist Mick Tucker (ex Axis, pre Tank) – who’d replaced Janick Gers (who went on to Gillan and Iron Maiden) . Following the death of Brian Howe in May of 2020, Tucker, and (keyboardist) Malcolm Pearson (who is the lone original member of White Spirit on this album) set about finding the tapes and then getting the album done and out. (*see bio below for more details). Anyway, the album features newly recorded parts, including the recently recruited rhythm section of Russell Gilbrook (Heep) and Neil Murray (Whitesnake, Sabbath).

As a fan of Howe’s work with Bad Company – sure I would’ve loved to hear all of his vocals here, but from old tapes they couldn’t all be saved, and you can’t go wrong with the singers used to finish this album – Jeff Scott Soto and Lee Small (Lionheart) each sing lead on 2 tracks, while Steve Overland (UK’ FM) sings on an excellent new version of “Holy Water”. Right Or Wrong is classic British hard-rock, with easy favorites being “Runaway”, “Got To Get Out” and “Lady Of The Night”, the first 2 featuring grand keyboard intros, and all just really good tracks sang by Howe. This album is full of energy, great guitar and keyboard leads, melodies, harmonies, and solos. If these songs were originally written and intended for 1981, you would never know by hearing it!

Safe to say if you like Brian Howe’s era in Bad Company – these songs will be very enjoyable, as if they would’ve fit anywhere on one of the 4 Bad Co albums he wrote and sang on! Jeff Scott Soto sings the title track, which leads off the album – a strong melodic rocker, as well as the Rainbow-ish rocker “Better Watch Out”, while Lee Small sings the excellent “The Dice Rolls On”. My fellow Uriah Heep fans will dig Russell Gilbrook’s performance here, especially on “Rock n Roll (Is Good For You)”. Am thankful to hear this album, a very good album, and it’s release is a fitting tribute to Brian Howe.

“Right Or Wrong” is the title track of the new album from White Spirit, out now and features the colossal vocals of Jeff Scott Soto.
White Spirit’s self-titled debut album was released in 1980 to great acclaim, and a constant schedule of touring saw the band build up a large and loyal following. Line up changes introduced us to a then unknown singer named Brian Howe and the band entered the studio in 1981 to work on their second album, with then Gillan keysman, Colin Towns at the production helm. The album was never completed. The band broke up and Brian Howe went on to mega platinum success replacing Paul Rodgers as the singer in Bad Company.
Those 2nd album session tapes were rediscovered in 2020 and after a delicate restoration process, the performances were transferred to digital. Some of the sound quality had deteriorated over the years, so the musical backing was completely replaced by White Spirit veterans Mick Tucker and Mal Pearson, along with Russ Gilbrook (Uriah Heep) and Neil Murray (Whitesnake). Brian Howe’s vocals on five of the tracks survived well, but the other takes had too much degradation, so guest singers stepped in as tribute to the late singer who tragically died in 2020. Jeff Scott Soto was a powerhouse in replacing the original Brian Howe vocals on “Right Or Wrong”, delivering a performance that is as good as anything in his illustrious career.
Pontus Norgren (Hammerfall) mixed the album in Sweden, and the result is an incredible body of work with power, finesse, great songs, and amazing vocals.
Ten tracks with a nod to the past, but fresh and vibrant arrangements fit for 21st Century ears.
Be prepared for an album that, had it come out when it was originally written, could have placed White Spirit amongst the giants of melodic rock.
The album Right Or Wrong featuring lead vocals from Brian Howe, Jeff Scott Soto, Steve Overland and Lee Small, was released on 29th July 2022 through Conquest Music on limited edition CD and via the digital platforms.–

Links:

https://slinky.to/RightorWrong?fbclid=IwAR3ZKK5L7ml98xO5572RbqDO-7lLqRUaK9T7Nl3H4cgd4qPDMJFcJxO-5bs

https://white-spirit.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057431412727

www.conquestmusic.co.uk

Pete Feenstra

WHITE SPIRIT featuring Brian Howe Release first single

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White Spirit Airs First Single With Brian Howe

RUNAWAY is the first single from the new album, Right Or Wrong, and is accompanied by a lyric video that reflects the carefree, good time vibes of 1981, when Brian Howe’s stunning vocal was originally recorded.

RUNAWAY is a time capsule. A pure slice of joyous, melodic rock layered with luscious keyboards, driving guitars, a powerhouse rhythm and a barnstorming vocal from a young Brian Howe that showed he was destined for stardom.

After their debut single, Backs To The Grind was released on the legendary NEAT Records in 1980, White Spirit were hot property and their debut album was loved by critics and the public.

After line up changes, the new and improved White Spirit entered the studio to work on their second album, but the album was never fully completed, the band broke up and musicians went their separate ways.
Singer, Brian Howe crossed the Atlantic and became frontman for Ted Nugent, before achieving mega platinum success as the replacement for Paul Rodgers in Bad Company.

So White Spirit were seemingly consigned to music history, with former members proceeding to forge impressive careers built on this promising foundation. Four decades on, the location of these 2nd album sessions remained a mystery.

The day following Brian Howe’s tragic death from a heart attack in May 2020, guitarist, Mick Tucker and keysman, Mal Pearson were on the phone reflecting on those heady White Spirit days. The missing tapes were once more discussed, but still neither had any idea where to find them.

Fate stepped in, and during a house move, Mal Pearson was looking through his furniture in storage when he found a dusty old bedside cabinet. Inside were four sets of tapes. One labelled Chiswick Studios – White Spirit. This was it. The one they’d all thought was lost forever.

The tape was handed over to Conquest Music boss and Tank guitarist, Cliff Evans who arranged for the delicate process of restoring the tapes to retrieve the old recordings.
Successful as the process was, the sound quality of some elements of the tracks were just not good enough for today’s ears so Tucker & Pearson decided to replace all of the musical accompaniment with a stellar line up of players. Neil Murray (Whitesnake) and Russell Gilbrook (Uriah Heep) made up the rhythm section, with the guitars and keyboards replaced by Mick and Mal.

Pontus Norgren (Hammerfall) was chosen to mix the album in Sweden, and the result is an incredibly fresh body of work with power, finesse, great songs, and amazing vocals.
Ten tracks with a nod to the past, but fresh and vibrant arrangements fit for 21st Century ears.
One can only wonder what may have been if the album was released as originally planned in 1981.

So the wheel of fate that saw White Spirit disband 40 years ago, turned once more, unveiling the lost tapes that finally reveal the first album recorded by Brian Howe, sounding as fine as he ever did.

The album Right Or Wrong will be released in July 2022 on Conquest Music.
Be prepared for some surprise guest stars and a body of work that, had it come out when it was originally written, could have placed White Spirit amongst the giants of melodic rock.

White Spirit are planning live shows, with Tucker & Pearson already writing the next album. We can be sure it won’t be another 40 years before that is released.

The first single, RUNAWAY features an exclusive radio edit, alongside the full, album version of RUNAWAY.
Find RUNAWAY on digital services below.

https://bfan.link/runaway-8

The stunning nostalgic lyric video is here:

www.conquestmusic.co.uk

https://white-spirit.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/White-spirit-442344595808862

https://www.facebook.com/BrianHoweRocks

03/’22