The second instalment in Lion Music's tribute to Shawn Lane. As with Pt.1 there is serious talent on offer here with performances sadly inspired by the tragic loss of Shawn Lane.

As was probably to be expected the majority of the tracks on offer are home to technical guitar mastery, yet you can hear that all artists are playing with a lot of emotion. The highlight of the album is Artension guitarist Roger Staffelbach's Toward The Light. This track is brimming full of stunning guitar work and sheer emotion from one of the the progressive metal scenes hidden gems.

Despite the opening track being the highlight thats not to say the rest of the album is without merit - far from it. Alex Masi and Patrick Carlsson also deliver excellent tracks, worthy of your hard earned cash.

Rating - 80%

Well I never thought anything related to Marilyn Manson would make it to this website but with the debut solo album from guitarist John 5 that time is now. It must be stated that John 5 has also been involved with Rob Halford and Mr Pizzaz himself Sir David Lee of Roth.

Well this is instrumental throughout and as expected there is industrial touches. John 5 certainly can play but there is nothing as coherent here as heard on other instrumental albums mentioned recently here at virtuosityone. The production of the album is good, but the detuned madness that is used quite frequently doesn't really speak to me. Maybe a teenager will find this music an inspiration to start playing which in itself beats DJ turntables but is this album likely to change the guitar community ala Yngwie's Rising Force or Vai's Passion & Warfare? I seriously doubt it, though some places are putting it in with these most hallowed of rock instrumental releases.

Overall this is not for me, the vibrato is awful, the guitar tone is not to my liking and there is nothing that even remotely appeals to these ears.

Rating - 40%

Lenny Wolf returns with...well...basically himself and Eric Foerster for company on guitar solos for what could (very) loosely be called a Kingdom Come-back album. Quite why Mr Wolf has gone with the Kingdom Come name can only be down to one thing ($$$) and to be honest this album fails on near every level.

First off Lenny can hardly be described as having one of the strongest voices in the business, his gravely yelp doesn't do a lot for these ears whilst the cluttered production and drum sounds are just weak. Track 2, Hang Em High does have some potential thanks to a good riff, but unfortunately even that goes out of time at points (!) but there is potential within. Sadly this is lacking from near enough everything else on offer.

Whether this album will resurrect the career of Lenn...sorry Kingdom Come is open to debate, but on the evidence of Perpetual alone? Probably not.

Rating - 20%

An re-release of the debut album from the Rolf Munkes led band Empire. As with the bands second album (Trading Souls) this is a solid slice of classic metal and features guest performances from the likes of Mark Boals, Neil Murray, Don Airey, Lance King and Anders Johansson.

If anything I would say I prefer Trading Souls, but Hypnotica represents good song writing, very clear production and good performances all round. Mark Boals actually sounds better here than on the latest Ring Of Fire release. Having said that there is nothing that really stands out as an overall killer track yet the material is competant enough, yet I prefer the bands second album Trading Souls more.

Rating - 70%

Book Of Reflections is somewhat of a Lion Music all star supergroup featuring guitars from Rusty Cooley and Lars Eric Mattson, vocals from Andy Engberg (ex-Lion's Share/Section A) , Hubi Meisel (solo) and Mikael Holm (Winterlong) with keyboards courtesty of Vitalij Kuprij (Artension).

Stylistically this is fast and furious Power Metal meets Neo Classical with some Progressive touches. Mikael Holm vocals are as impressive as ever, particularly on one of the albums highlights Guardian Of Time - home to a classic Rising Force feel with a soaring chorus and some blazing solos. Much to my suprise Vitalij Kuprij plays a quite understated role throughout allowing the guitars to be the dominant force on the solo front, though what he does contribute is a good underpinning background to all tracks.

Book Of Reflections does take a few listens to really get into and even then Hubi Meisel's vocals don't really do a lot for me (especially compared to Mikael Holm's), yet overall this is a solid enough slice of Power Neo Prog Metal with some good performances.

Rating - 75%

Patrik Carlsson hails from Sweden and much to my surprise the guy isn't in the neo-classical vein favouring a much more Vai like approach. There is a definite Vai humour running through much of the material on Phraseology yet unlike many others Carlsson manages to make it sound original and not just like he is aping his hero.

Carlsson certainly has a good grasp on modern rock guitar techniques including a formidable whammy bar technique, yet its his clever use of natural harmonics (again quite Vai like) that made this guy stand out to me. The Survivor has several changes of direction yet all work well with one another, whilst the melodic work on Still Believe shows Carlsson knows a thing or two about phrasing. Carlsson also has some formidable country chops as highlighted on Twilight Zone. The rest of the material is equally diverse and well produced and Lion Music has found yet another talented guitar player.

Fans of Steve Vai or just good guitar music be sure to check this one out.

Rating - 85%

Jeff Scott Soto returns with his second solo album on Frontiers Records and for those that are partial to the Soto brand of AOR inspired hard rock then Lost In Translation is guaranteed to please.

Stylistically there is nothing new here, yet the quality of songwriting is good for the most part. The debut single from the album Believe In Me is an inspired slice of Journey-esque hard rock - no doubt aided by the appearance of one Neal Schon (now in Soul Sirkus full time with Soto) on the track. It could have quite easily been on Journey's Arrival which goes to highlight the quality and makes the Soul Sirkus an exciting prospect.

From here on in the album never quite hits the heights of the opening track. Soul Divine does come close with its hard edged Def Leppard feel but there is nothing that original here. Soto however has one of the best voices in the business and is capable of turning an average song into a good song by himself and his voice is stronger than ever on Lost In Translation.

Jeff Scott Soto fans (those of the Talisman, Human Clay and Humanimal variety) may find this a little overly commercial compared to those acts (Yngwie fans there is nothing Malmsteen-esque here), but don't let the slightly more polished edge put you off from what is essentially a good album.

Rating - 80%

Former Yngwie Malmsteen vocalist Mark Boals and company return for Ring Of Fire album number 3 (or 4 in you include Boals' solo album entitled Ring Of Fire). Since the bands last release there has been a change of personel with keyboardist Vitalij Kuprij (Artension) leaving to be replaced by Steve Weingart. However, gone with Kuprij are sadly a lot of the neo-classical overtones that won the band a dedicated following to be replaced with a more straight progressive metal tinge somewhat more inline with Boals' recent solo album Edge Of The World.

Lyrically not a lot has changed with Boals still singing of tales of cities of gold, better places and the key to mans destiny etc. However, with this Boals vocals also seemed to have dropped slightly in pitch - maybe to tie in better with the straighter sound? They do have the benefit of being slightly more accessible for those that do not like the super high stuff - needless to say Boals' vocal delivery is technically as excellent as it always has been. Tony Macalpine is as good as ever, yet the album does lack a little oomph in the production department making Phil Bynoe's bass less powerful than it could have been.

In my opinion this is the weakest of the Ring Of Fire albums thus far, but as there is a new member involved it may take some time for the chemistry to really hit there stride. If you liked the bands previous albums then you will like this but be prepared for less neo-classical touches.

Rating - 80%

Stylistically Get Up is best described as classic rock, the feel is retro and so are the guitar tones. Only 2 tracks go beyond 4 minutes in length - the benefit of this being that each song is packed full of energy that will never outstay its welcome.

Everything on this album has been performed by Kotzen, and anyone that has followed the man's career will know that this guys vocal pipes are amongst the best out there. The fact that his guitar playing is probably even better really makes you wanna puke (which incidentally is what Kotzen means in German!). However, nothing here takes over as the songs being the number one vehicle for Kotzens output.

Of the 11 tracks on offer the bulk are upbeat, high energy rock songs, all with a good funky feel (no this is not Chili Peppers style funk), more the sort that Hendrix used to dish out. Hendrix is a good reference point here for a lot of the tracks, though the tracks are slightly updated to the classic Hendrix ouput. Fans of acts such as the now sadly now defunt Cry Of Love and Black Crowes (in their Southern Harmony era) will find an awful lot to get into here, highly recommended.

Rating - 90%

Lion Music release another tribute album this time dedicated to Gary Moore, one of the finest players to have come out of the UK. As is usual with these tribute albums from Lion Music we find artists from the labels roster performing their own versions of Gary Moore classics. Dogpound open the album with an excellent take on Led Clones, which as the name implies was Gary's tribute to Led Zeppelin. Elsewhere we get strong covers from Star Queen who cover the superb ballad Empty Rooms with sheer class, Torben Englund's excellent solo is stunning. Iron Mask cover Out In The Fields with sheer skill whilst Orion Riders offer up an equally strong version of After The War. Lars Eric Mattson closes the album with a respectful version of Parisienne Walkways. Elsewhere some of the other tracks do suffer from the odd case of bad mix syndrome but not enough to ruin your listening of the album.

Overall another good tribute album from Lion Music, and I look forward to the 2nd Ritchie Blackmore tribute due out in early 2005.

Rating - 80%

The spookily named Mistheria has been guesting on various metal albums over the last few years, most notably his excellent contribution to Winterlong's Second Coming tour-de-force. However, now is the time for Italy's leading metal keyboardist to make a defiant stand on his own, the result is Messenger Of The Gods.

The album's title gives a clue as to what can be found inside, dark mystic and epic themes that are sure to appeal to anyone with a passing interest in the power metal genre. The number of guest names is also impressive with a selection including: Alex Masi, Anders Johansson, Rob Rock, Barry Sparks, George Bellas, Marcel Coenen, Rick Renstrum and Thorbjorn Englund. Fortunately all the guests play a positive part in making the album an impressive body of work, with fans of the grandiose music styles of Rhapsody, Symhony X and Impellitteri will find a lot to enjoy.

Mistheria's keyboard work is excellent and is further proof that he is a star to be in the metal keyboard stakes. All he needs now to make a real name for himself is getting into a band format ala Yngwie Malmsteen, Symphony X or Dream Theater Messenger Of The Gods is a strong release that shows a lot of potential.

Rating - 85%