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EMAIL: label@progaor.com
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DR07: HELIX-White Lace & Black Leather CD £13
HELIX are a Canadian institution as much as Rush, Triumph and April Wine. They achieved much success in the mid' 80's with albums like No Rest for the Wicked, Walkin' the Razor's Edge and Long way to Heaven. They had singles in the charts, videos on MTV and stadium festival appearances. Walkin' the Razor's Edge 1984 album was their best sales mark, selling over half a million copies. HELIX are still active today and still led by the eternal band frontman Brian Vollmer, a true Rock & Roll legend from Canada.
Album digitally transferred from the master reels, presented in a 12-page booklet with album liner notes by Brian Vollmer, 1980/81 photos and the lyrics reproduced for the first time, including two unreleased bonus tracks from 1981 taken from the original 1/4" tapes owned by band leader and frontman extraordinaire Brian Vollmer.
This is the ultimate White Lace & Black Leather reissue, and the very first time it is released on CD in european soil.
An absolute delight to the fans and an important piece of Canadian Rock history!
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DR06: HELIX-Breaking Loose - 40th Anniversary Edition CD £13
HELIX are a Canadian institution as much as Rush, Triumph and April Wine. They achieved much success in the mid' 80's with albums like No Rest for the Wicked, Walkin' the Razor's Edge and Long way to Heaven. They had singles in the charts, videos on MTV and stadium festival appearances. Walkin' the Razor's Edge 1984 album was their best sales mark, selling over half a million copies. HELIX are still active today and still led by the eternal band frontman Brian Vollmer, a true Rock & Roll legend from Canada.
Album digitally transferred from the master reels, presented in a 12-page booklet with the band's early years history, late 70s photos and the lyrics reproduced for the first time, including two unreleased bonus tracks from 1979 taken from the original 1/4" tapes owned by band leader and frontman extraordinaire Brian Vollmer.
This is the ultimate Breaking Loose reissue, and the very first time it is released on CD in european soil.
An absolute delight to the fans and an important piece of Canadian Rock history!
STILL HOT!!
DR05: GYPSY ROSE-Prey (Expanded Edition 2018) CD £13
Canadian Hard Rock classic from 1990, originally released on RCA/Simmons Records, under the wing of Gene Simmons himself. Produced by Tom Treumuth (Helix, Honeymoon Suite, Autograph...) and Gary Furniss (current president of Sony
Canada), this cult gem is now reissued with 3 bonus demo tracks recorded before the album and one secret surprise track.
Presented in a 12-page booklet with lyrics and song notes by Michael Ross including the band photos taken by Mark Weiss. 500 copies only limited edition made to celebrate GYPSY ROSE visit to Europe in December.
TRACKLIST:
-Poisoned by Love - Crawlin' - Borderline - Blood 'n' Sweat
- Love me or Leave me - Make me do Anything you want - Shiver then Shake - Wild Reaction - Don't Turn your Back on me Now - Highway One Way - Crawlin' (Demo) - Love me or Leave me (Demo) - Wild Reaction (Demo) - (Secret surprise track!)
STILL HOT!!
DR03: NITRO-Do Ya Wanna Rock - Rarities 83-87 CD £12
Pennsylvania Hard Rock history would be poorer if NITRO never came to existence in 1979. This supercharged Hard Rock band took the U.S. and European emerging Metal underground by storm with their privately pressed 10''EP "Lethal" released in early 1982. At this point their sound was reminiscent of great 70s acts such as Montrose and Teaze but also in the vein of other contemporary high energy rock acts like Riot, Schoolboys (pre-Icon) or the more obscure Loosely Tight. In 83 Mausoleum Records releases the EP with two bonus tracks in Europe giving the band a wider coverage in european territory. On the second coming of the band in 87, they recorded the pre-production tapes for their follow up album "Volatile Activity" that never happened. This time their sound was more on par with Quiet Riot or Twisted Sister. However, in the big scheme of Rock and Roll, it was too late for stardom as this "Stadium Metal" type sound has been around since 1983 and the band members look didn't even match with the hairspray and doll-face image that was associated to the "Hair Metal" sound, so important for record sales at the time. The band eventually vanished into obscurity until a comeback in the 21st century when they realised there was still a fan base for their music much due to the Internet, specially Youtube. The Volatile Activity songs appear for the very first time on CD, as they were released on vinyl back in 2013. The Lethal +II Studio Session 83 unreleased tracks appeared before in the CD "Lethal Dose" released also in 2013 but is now out of print. It's time to enjoy the ride again on this ultimate rarities collection and honour this exciting 4-piece Nitro-fuelled Rock'n'Roll machine!
File under: Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, Hair Metal.
For fans of: Teaze, (early) Riot, Loosely Tight, Wild Dogs and Twisted Sister.
STILL HOT!!
DR02: M-16-Locked and Loaded - 30th Anniversary Expanded Edition CD £12
Reissued on CD for the first time in europe includes the rare privately pressed 1988 album "Locked and Loaded" and two bonus tracks (Demo 89). M-16 shared stages in the 80's with bands like Ratt, Armored Saint, Wrathchild America, and fellow New York bands Dirty Looks, Roxx, Triffid and Blacksmith.
Carefully remastered and presented in a 12-page booklet with band history and rare photos, this release marks the celebration of the 30th Anniversary of "Locked and Loaded".
BAND HISTORY:
The 1980s was a decade of flamboyance, excess, and decadence; all the ingredients to make up one hell of a time. Like David Lee Roth once said, “the people shined, and the music shined.” Nowhere was this more evident than the glittering glam cesspool of Los Angeles, where the country’s wildest and flashiest bands made the Sunset Strip sound extend far beyond Doheny Drive and Hammond Street. Like an out of control epidemic, the mindless self-indulgent sounds of flash metal and party rock spread throughout the country. In nightclubs all across America, circuit bands spread their simple message of having a good time while rock ‘n’ roll was still alive and well. The fever spread quickly and no town was immune to big hair, colorful spandex, loud guitars, and those oh so melodic hooks.
One of the hot spots at the time was, unsurprisingly, New York. Already home to bands like KISS and The New York Dolls, the area was certainly no stranger to a good time. Multitudes of nightclubs full of rock star hopefuls littered the state. In the Capital District, before heading out for the night, one would pick up the local Metroland Magazine to find out who was playing in the clubs. Scanning the many nightclub advertisements, often all eyes were searching for the familiar machine gun toting grim reaper that heralded a performance from the one and only M-16.
M-16 was formed in 1983, and consisted of lead guitarist Glen Oliver, drummer Tom Verrigni, bassist Steve "Mote" Vandyke, vocalist Greg Simmons and rhythm guitarist Gary Ranze. The band quickly hit the scene, making the rounds to all the hottest rock clubs around the metro area. It did not take long for M-16 to begin to gain a dedicated fan base by playing covers of popular songs by Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Dokken, Scorpions, and others, as did most other bands on the circuit. That year personnel changes found Ranze and Simmons leaving the group and being replaced by Eddie Scutt and Darren O’Brien. By the end of 1984 musical differences began to cause the troop to splinter, and M-16 eventually became non-functioning.
In 1985 founding members Oliver, VanDyke and Verrigni decided to continue M-16 adding new members Kevin Egnor on second guitar and vocalist Lenny Thomas. The new line up would only play a few shows before drummer Tom Verrigni would be replaced by Pete Sivaslian. With a newfound stability in the ranks things began to click as M-16 marched out on an East Coast club tour. The band continued touring throughout the Northeast for the next two years playing with bands like Armored Saint, Wrathchild America, and fellow New York bands Dirty Looks, Roxx, Triffid, and cult metal heroes Blacksmith. They hit clubs throughout New York, down to Maryland, over to Pennsylvania, and as far up as Maine to play the famous Free Street Pub where Led Zeppelin had once performed in the ‘70s. At this time the guys had begun to write their own original material that was being shuffled into their sets. Things became extremely busy for M-16, who would sometimes play 3-4 shows a week.
Their first original song "Wasted Love" was released to local radio stations, receiving airplay in standard rotation. Stations WPYX and PYX106 Metal Shop received a steady flow of requests for the single. Then in 1986 M-16 was asked to open up for Ratt at R.P.I. Fieldhouse in Troy to a crowd of 8,000 screaming fans. Originally Poison were the opening act on tour with Ratt but had to pull off due to Brett Michaels’ health issues. This chance occurrence was a perfect opportunity for M-16 to increase their fan-base.
By 1987 M-16 was ready to enter MCE Recording Studios in Schenectady, N.Y and begin recording what would be their debut album. In 1988 Locked and Loaded was released, receiving favorable reviews from fans and critics alike. The DIY release sold an amazing 15,000 copies nationwide and 10,000 overseas. More East Coast touring continued to promote the album. After a year on the road drummer Sivaslian was replaced by Gary Seeley, and soon after guitarist Glen Oliver left and was replaced by Russell Harnish. In 1989 M-16 returned to MCE Studios to record two new tracks "The Game" and "Play It Loud" that were never officially released. Another year of touring followed before guitarist Harnish would leave, replaced by Dan Wos. M-16 continued to tour for a few months but the end of 1990 the band had run out of ammunition and split up.
In 2007 M-16 would come back together for a reunion show dedicated to the memory of Pete Sivaslian, who passed away in 2000. After 17 years members Lenny Thomas, Glen Oliver, Kevin Egnor, and Steve Vandyke all decided to reform the band and once again hit their local circuit. Not unlike their many lineup changes, the years since M-16’s beginnings brought many changes to their regional metal landscape. Peers like The Emerald City Band, Angel Cruz, Run 21, Reckless Romance, Virgin and countless others are nothing more than fond memories, the once thieving nightclubs and venues no longer exist, and the audiences have all grown up, and the hair is no longer as big as it once was. But one thing is still present in the Capital District and that is M-16 and their machine gun welding grim reaper.
File Under: Melodic Metal, Heavy Metal, Hair Metal.
For fans of: Dokken, White Lion, Whitefoxx, Metalwolf and Shire.