Lets Get Rocked - Sweet Sybil and Terry Brock

Welcome to the first installment of Lets Get Rocked! This will be a monthly column where I discuss melodic rock, AOR, glam/hair metal, and other kinds of hard rock offshoots that The Gauntlet doesn't always have the time to cover. I'll have everything from interviews, album reviews, to news tidbits pertaining to the aforementioned genres. If you have anything you would like me to cover, just shoot me an email at carlos@ultimate-guitar.com.

Sweet Sybil
s/t
Eonian Records
RIYL: Faster Pussycat, Tora Tora, Jailhouse

Sweet Sybil was a hard rock band from Chicago that slugged it out in the club scene back in the late ‘80s into the early '90s. Though they never managed
to score a major label deal, the quintet definitely knew their way around a hook. The folks at Eonian Records have just issued a self-titled disc from the
act that includes tracks from several recording sessions. Two of the cuts - "Burning House" and "Alone With You" - were produced by Johnny K. who would go on to success working with bands like Disturbed and Black Tide. The group utilized a slight psychedelic pop edge to some of the material here, and it lends songs like the aforementioned "Alone With You" a timeless quality.

Vocalist Sam Carava doesn't have a wide range to his vocal delivery - but it works for the band anyway. His nasally tone actually brings to mind Faster Pussycat's Taime Downe and Pretty Floyd Boy's Steve Summers in many parts. I don't have a problem with that at all. Lead guitarist Mike Parker does a fantastic job throughout - coloring his solos with memorable melody lines and never getting in the way of the arrangements. Sadly, drummer Randy Matthiesen passed away in 1993 - about a year after Sweet Sybil disbanded. His workmanlike style here proves that he could have gone on to have success in another band if he had lived on. Though they weren't quite in the same league with bands like L.A. Guns and Extreme - Sweet Sybil still wrote some highly infectious tunes, and this compilation would make any hard rock/glam metal fan's CD collection stronger.

Terry Brock
Diamond Blue
Frontiers Records
RIYL: Survivor, W.E.T., current Def Leppard

Terry Brock is the current singer of AOR greats Giant and he's just released Diamond Blue, his second solo album. Some of our older readers might remember him from his days fronting Strangeways -- an '80s UK band that never quite broke in the States. Brock is workhorse who has steadily been releasing material with various projects throughout the years. One of those projects was Seventh Key, which featured guitarist Mike Slamer. The pair's chemistry was undeniable and they've joined forces again on Diamond Blue. This time out, besides playing guitars, Slamer also produced the sessions.

As solid as the recent Giant album was, Diamond Blue is a better collection of songs -- and Brock has rarely sounded better than he does here. The hooks in songs like "Jessie's Gone" and the title track would have been huge hits in the era when bands like Survivor ruled the American AOR airwaves. In "The Rain," Brock has one of the greatest ballads he's ever sung on. Slamer's crystalline production is the ideal setting for the stadium-sized choruses and his own hooky guitar lines. Diamond Blue will undoubtedly be on the year end lists for many melodic rock enthusiasts come this December.

Melodic Rock / AOR / Hard Rock Tidbits:

* Line of Fire will be releasing Momentum, their new album of '80s' flavored AOR via Tribunal Records on August 10th. Stay tuned for a new interview with the band on The Gauntlet in the coming weeks!


* Wounded Bird will be reissuing 4 studio albums and a slew of compilations from Harem Scarem - the Canadian hard rock band that achieved massive success in Japan during the '90s.

* Have you guys heard Dio, the new Jorn album yet? Outside of one original track, a tribute to the late singer called "Song for Ronnie James Dio," the album is a covers affair. These kinds of releases usually disappoint, but Lande does a killer job with both the classic and lesser-known Dio songs.

* We're excited about the upcoming D'Ercole album which the folks at Z Records will be releasing on July 26th. The Rhode Island act is being pitched to fans of bands like Dokken and Fifth Angel... sign us up!

* Props to Derek Oliver and reissue heavyweights Rock Candy Records who have just started up Grind That Axe, their new imprint that will be releasing new albums from established acts who were once on major labels. Their first 2 releases are Enuff Z'Nuff's Dissonance and Redemption from Little Caesar.


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Tags:  Lets Get Rocked, Sweet Sybil, Terry Brock, Carlos Ramirez 

Carlos Ramirez    July 21, 2010