CD/DVD Releases: Michael Kiske And Place Vendome Unveil ''Streets Of Fire''
Frontiers Records is pleased to announce the release of the highly anticipated second album from Place Vendome entitled Streets Of Fire.
During the winter of 2004 former Helloween singer Michael Kiske, whose voice is still regarded as one of the most fascinating of the whole of rock, accepted an invitation to be part of a melodic rock concept by Frontiers Records' President Serafino Perugino. The resulting Place Vendome debut album brought Kiske back to a more straight-ahead and rock sound, still very accessible and melodic and far from the heavy metal stereotypes of blood, violence, and hate from which Kiske decided to move away. He collaborated for the first time with Pink Cream 69's Dennis Ward, Kosta Zafiriou, and Uwe Reitenauer, with Gunther Werno (Vanden Plas) on keyboards.
In Kiske's view, "Without Serafino Perugino offering me this Place Vendome project, I would probably never have sung a few of the musical styles on there up to this day (also in terms of lyrics), because my own songwriting is different. But I have found it interesting to do exactly because of that reason. It's like playing roles or testing possibilities. To sing songs you did not write has its own quality: you can learn something you otherwise probably wouldn't and get a chance to look beyond your own borders. AOR won't 'revolutionize' our music-world these days, but it is certainly fun to sing and people seemed to have enjoyed the first Place Vendome a lot. It did pretty well and also received surprisingly good reviews all over the world."
The very favorable reviews of the first Place Vendome album planted the seeds for a second recording, which was recorded during 2008. The songs this time were supplied by different songwriters, particularly motivated and enthusiastic to be part of this new album. Torsti Spoof (Leverage) offered "Dancer," "Changes," "Believer," and the title-track "Streets Of Fire." Ronny Milianowicz (Saint Deamon and songwriter for Primal Fear) wrote "Surrender Your Soul," "Completely Breathless," and "A Scene In Replay," while Robert Sall (Work of Art, W.E.T) supplied "Follow Me" and "Valerie." The production and the musicians' team have remained unchanged with Ward, Zafiriou, Reitenauer, and Werno supplying all the necessary musicianship and skill to make this new album a success.
"This second one appears to be even more AOR for my ears," said Kiske. "It was also (again) very interesting for me to see how different a song sounded after I did the vocals. When Serafino sent me the songs one by one as demos, I sometimes secretly thought, 'OK, nice tune, painless and sweet, but it could also be a bit better.' But after I did the vocals and Dennis Ward produced it in his own way with his guys, that impression changed and I am always surprised at how good it actually turns out in the end! This shows once more the importance of 'HOW' we do things."
A promo video clip for the song "My Guardian Angel" (written by Magnus Karlsson) is included as a special interactive bonus on the album and marks Kiske's visual return on the scene after years of a self-imposed exile.
Streets Of Fire final track listing includes: "Streets Of Fire," "My Guardian Angel," "Completely Breathless," "Follow Me," "Set Me Free," "Believer," "Valerie," "A Scene In Replay," "Changes," "Surrender Your Soul," "Dancer," "I'd Die For You," "My Guardian Angel" (bonus video).
Michael Kiske MySpace Site
Frontier Records MySpace site
[Source: Mazur PR]