





Year : 2003 (AOR Heaven Records Remastered Edition)
Style : Melodic Hard Rock , AOR
Country : Germany
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 167 mb
Bio:
FRONTLINE from Nürnberg, Germany belong to the pioneers of the German hard rock scene. Founded in 1989 by Robert Böbel (guitars, keyboards; EVIDENCE ONE, PHANTOM V), Stephan Kämmerer (vocals), Thomas Riess (bass) und Stephan Bayerlein (drums), their debut album "The State Of Rock" finally hit the stores in 1994 - a true classic which until today still is regarded as the finest album of the band by many. This record also meant the breakthrough for the guys in Japan where they reached # 10 in the rock sales charts. Straightly after the release, FRONTLINE went on tour in Europe and had the honour to open for various great acts such as GOTTHARD, CRASH TEST DUMMIES, BONFIRE, TYKETTO and CASANOVA. In 1995, FRONTLINE pulled out the full acoustic album "Two Faced". However, personal differences within the band followed and ended up in the departure of Stephan Bayerlein and Thomas Riess in 1996. They were replaced by Thomas "Hutch" Bauer (Bass) und Rami Ali (Drums; EVIDENCE ONE, SHYLOCK). Still in the same year, FRONTLINE signed a record deal with a new label, recorded the single "Man In Motion" and the album "Heroes" which though officially only saw the light of day in Japan since their European label went out of business. One year later, the band decided to start working on another new album which is well known under it's working title "Heroes II" amongst the fans but never saw a release. Due to a complicated contractual situation many labels feared to contact FRONTLINE during the following years and the band went back to the underground again until Georg Siegl at AOR Heaven finally showed his interest in the band in the year 2000 and signed them for the first time. Just one month later, the album "Right Attitude" was released which can be regarded as a sort of compilation out of both "Heroes" albums …and "Right Attitude" became a huge success for the band again! The recordings for their 2002 output "Against The World" started the same year, and this album finally re-established FRONTLINE on the international hard rock market. Throughout the months after the release of the best of compilation "Almost Unreleased" (2003) which also featured a couple of rare tracks for the fans, FRONTLINE again went into the studio and started to work on a new album called "The Seventh Sign" (2004). In the year 2006, the last studio album the German group called "Circles" was released. AOR Heaven now re-issues the rare and out of print album "The State Of Rock" with two bonus tracks as a limited edition of 1000 copies. The album was re-mastered by guitarist Robby Böbel.
Album:
AOR Heaven Records edition.Frontline is a band that I didn't even know existed until I reviewed their newest album, Against The World last year. That album still receives regular play in my CD player. However, I had reservations about this album when I first heard about it. You see, Almost Unreleased contains three new songs, previously unreleased tracks, and Japanese bonus tracks. Therefore, I was afraid that these songs were merely "leftovers" and somehow not worthy of placement on a regular album. Well, my misguided reservations were quickly dashed upon first listen to this melodic hard rock jewel….The three new tracks are all uptempo rockers: My Innocence, No one Like You, and I'll Be There For You. All three pick up right where Against The World left off with their winning formula of catchy melodies and wonderful song structures. If this is a sign of things to come, the next Frontline album will deliver the same high quality of melodic hard rock the band has become known for.For hard rock and AOR fans who have not yet discovered Frontline, this would be a great place to start. Frontline plays an excellent brand of guitar driven hard rock. Stephan Kaemmerer offers a colorful and melodic vocal delivery (not too far from that of Ted Poley), while the music itself is uplifting and jam packed with melodies. The keyboard sound is very big, but fits within the structure of the songs very nicely. The guitars are still at the forefront of the sound, while the keyboards enhance the climatic moments of the songs. Careful attention is placed on production as the instruments and vocal lines are at the perfect levels, making the CD very easy to listen to and enjoy. I am also very impressed with the guitar work of this band. The rhythm work and soling of Robert Böbel certainly adds a lot of color to the songs.From the first track to the last, Almost Unreleased is a fair representation of the band's classy, addictive sound. This is NOT an album full of leftover scrap! You are getting three new tracks (all of the uptempo variety), previously unreleased tracks, tracks previously available in Japan only, and a live version of Endless to close the album. All songs are very worthy of the Frontline name as the quality level remains high throughout the album. Highly recommended or fans of the band as well as those looking to discover an excellent melodic hard rock / AOR band.
Line-Up:
Stephan Kaemmerer - lead and backing vocals
Robby Boebel - guitars, keyboards
Thomas "Hutch" Bauer - bass
Ramy Ali - drums
Production:
Artwork, Design – Designstudio Ertl
Mastered By – Robert Boebel
Producer, Engineer, Mixed By – Robert Boebel
Songwriter [Songs By] – Boebel, Kaemmerer
Tracklist:
01. My Innocence
02. Man in Motion
03. Break My Heart
04. All I Wanted
05. Must Be Dreaming
06. Sign of the Light
07. No One Like You
08. Everything You Do
09. Between the Lines
10. Broken Hearted
11. Without Your Love
12. I'll Be There for You
13. Falling
14. Alone
15. Restless Kind
16. Endless (Live)
1, 7, 12: new track
2, 3, 4, 5, 6: taken from "Heroes = ヒーローズ" (Japan only release)
8, 9, 10, 11: unreleased
13, 14: Japanese bonus track "State Of Rock"
15, remix
16, live version


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