ALYSON AVENUE - CD CHANGES

Popis - CHANGES:
Produced by Alyson Avenue Mixed and co-produced by Chris Laney @ Laneyland Mastered by Classe Persson @ CRP Recordings Alyson Avenue are: Arabella Vitanc : Vocals, background vocals Thomas Löyskä : Bass, guitar Fredrik Eriksson : Drums Tony Rohtla : Guitars Niclas Olsson : Keyboards, background vocals Additional musicians : Michael Bormann : Vocals and background vocals on ”Will I Make Love” Anette Olzon : Background vocals on ”Liar”, ”Into The Fire”, ”Always Keep On Loving You”, ”Fallen” Rob Marcello : Guitar solo on ”Changes” Fredrik Bergh : Keyboards on ”Don´t Know If Love Is Alive” Chris Laney : Background vocals on ”Amazing Days” Mike Andersson : Background vocals on ”Liar”, ”Somewhere”, ”Changes”, ”Don´t Know If Love Is Alive”, ”Into The Fire”, ”Fallen”, ”I´ll Cry For You”, ”Always Keep On Loving You” Tommy Str?hle : Background vocals on ”I´ll Cry For You” Gregor Klee : Executive Producer Artist bio: 'Changes' is the highly anticipated comeback of the female fronted Swedish Melodic Rockers Alyson Avenue. It’s their third album and it marks the recording debut of powerhouse vocalist Arabella Vitanc, who joined the band in 2009, following the departure of their former lead singer Anette Olzon in 2007 to front Nightwish. The boys on Arabella’s side are main song writer and keyboard player Niclas Olsson, guitar player Tony Rohtla, bassist / guitarist Thomas Löyskä and Fredrik Eriksson on drums. The band co-produced all songs of the album together with one of Sweden’s best Rock producers, Chris Laney (Crazy Lixx, H.E.A.T., Brian Robertson), who also mixed the record and sang background vocals. With Chris in the producer’s chair, “Changes” turns out to be Alyson Avenue‘s most powerful album to date with a crunchier Melodic Rock sound, that gives more space to the guitars. Half a dozen guests followed the band’s invitation to be part of “Changes” and add their special touch. The band welcomed Nightwish’s Anette Olzon in the studio to sing background vocals. Anette did always keep in close personal contact with Niclas, who had helped her to record the demos that paved her the way to the Nightwish auditions. Another longtime friend of the band, Michael Bormann (Ex-Jaded Heart, Charade, BISS) sings the duet “Will I Make Love” with Arabella. Michael returns the favour for the guest appearances of Niclas on Michael’s “Conspiracy” (2006) and “Capture The Moment” (2008) CDs and Anette’s duet vocals on “Two Of A Kind” from “Conspiracy”. The title track “Changes”, the only outside song writing contribution courtesy of Mats Edström (Shiva), is high lighted by a fiery guitar solo of Swedish guitar wizard Rob Marcello (Danger Danger, Marcello - Vestry) and Fredrik Bergh (Street Talk, Bloodbound) plays keyboards on the track “Don’t Know If Love Is Alive”, which he also co-wrote with Niclas. The line-up of background vocalists for the catchy harmonies throughout the album is completed by Tommy Str?hle and Mike Andersson (Cloudscape, Planet Alliance). The history of Alyson Avenue started in 1989, back then the band was one of many male fronted followers of Swedish Melodic Rock greats like Treat and Europe. During the following years Anette joined the guys as a background singer and later took over the position as the band’s lead vocalist. They recorded a couple of demos, but it wasn’t until late 2000 when their self-produced debut album “Presence Of Mind” was officially released. The CD became a big success for the band with the fans and the media alike, including a 93/ 100 rating in prestigious Japanese Burrn! magazine. Four years later their sophomore effort “Omega” followed, another favourite among Melodic Rock and AOR fans. In the years to come Alyson Avenue was put on hold and the band members participated in different projects. Following Anette’s successful audition as the new female voice of Nightwish in 2007, the interest in the works of Alyson Avenue started to grow again and the band decided to re-release the two already sought after CDs. Finally in 2009 “Presence Of Mind” was re-issued in its original version, while “Omega” became “Omega II”, with re-recorded instrumental parts to achieve an album sound closer to the band’s vision, while keeping all of Anette’s original vocal performances. Also in 2009 the band started to audition female vocalists to write a new chapter in the history of Alyson Avenue. They looked for a charismatic lady with a Rock edge and after careful consideration and interest from female singers from around the world, Arabella Vitanc, a previously undiscovered Swedish talent, was chosen to be the voice of Alyson Avenue. A long time in the making “Changes” became a more mature affair than its two predecessors, the songs grow with each listen and the hooks have the strength to become a long lasting guest in your head. (Words: Gregor Klee)