Tag: Ronnie Mancuso
0 RED DRAGON CARTEL TO RELEASE THEIR SELF-TITLED DEBUT VIA FRONTIERS RECORDS
New Album by Band Comprised of Former Ozzy Osbourne/Badlands Guitar Legend Jake E. Lee, Bassist Ronnie Mancuso, Vocalist D.J. Smith and Drummer Jonas Fairley Set for Release in January
The newest band ready to take aim at the creative void in the hard rock world, Red Dragon Cartel, are set to release their debut album via Frontiers Records. The self-titled debut by the band made up of guitar legend Jake E. Lee, bassist Ronnie Mancuso, singer D.J. Smith and drummer Jonas Fairley is set for release on January 24th in Europe and January 28th in North America.
Jake E. Lee is best known for his work in Badlands and as guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne on Bark at the Moon and The Ultimate Sin albums. Red Dragon Cartel also features various guest appearances from some of music’s most notable faces including legendary Cheap Trick vocalist Robin Zander, original Iron Maiden vocalist Paul Di’Anno, Kill Devil Hill/Pantera bassist Rex Brown, Slash’s Conspirators Todd Kearns and Brent Fitz and In This Moment front woman Maria Brink. The album was produced by Ronnie Mancuso and Jake E. Lee and was executive produced, mixed and mastered by Kevin Churko (In This Moment, Ozzy Osbourne, Five Finger Death Punch).
From the opening riff of “Deceived” to final sustained piano chord of “Exquisite Tenderness,” it is clear Red Dragon Cartel has created an album that stands amongst some of the greatest hard rock albums of all time. Infectious songs such as “Shout It Out,” “Wasted” and “Slave” showcase the band’s ability to write memorable hooks and vocal melodies. Robin Zander of Cheap Trick lends his voice to the track “Feeder” and a lyric video for the song can be seen below.
Maria Brink of In This Moment lends her unique vocals to the track “Big Mouth.” Paul Di’Anno and Sass Jordan also lend their talents to the band’s debut. Jake E. Lee’s trademark playing style instantly shines through and picks up right where he left off. The album is available for pre-order on Amazon.com at http://amzn.to/1aYjMng or digitally on iTunes at http://smarturl.it/reddragoncartel that comes with an instant download of “Deceived.”
The track listing for Red Dragon Cartel is:
1. Deceived
2. Shout It Out
3. Feeder with Robin Zander
4. Fall From The Sky (Seagull)
5. Wasted with Paul Di’Anno
6. Slave
7. Big Mouth with Maria Brink
8. War Machine
9. Redeem Me with Sass Jordan
10. Exquisite Tenderness
The band will be bringing these new powerhouse songs on the road playing a handful of dates in the US before embarking on a full tour in 2014. Tickets are currently on-sale and all information can be found on the band’s website.
December 12th – Los Angeles, CA – Whisky A Go Go
December 14th – Tempe, AZ – Marquee Theater (Support of Queensryche)
December 15th – San Diego, CA – Brick By Brick
December 20th – Las Vegas, NV – Count’s Vamp’d
Weblinks:
Red Dragon Cartel – Official Website: http://reddragoncartel.com
Official Facebook: www.facebook.com/reddragoncartel
Official Twitter: http://twitter.com/reddragoncartel
3 Beggars & Thieves – We Are The Brokenhearted (2011)
I have to admit that Beggars & Thieves is a band that I forgot about several years ago. I had their 1990 debut on cassette, and never got around to replacing it. Thanks to Beggars & Thieves new CD, I am thankfully getting reacquainted with the band’s music.
I didn’t know what to expect with We Are the Brokenhearted, and I have to admit I have been enjoying this CD quite a bit. The music of Beggars & Thieves is guitar oriented melodic rock. The music is not over powered by keyboards. It isn’t too heavy, but it is definitely not on the mellow side either. The music is just rocking enough to be interesting, but smooth enough to appeal to pretty much everyone. ( I believe Beggars & Thieves could create their own genre of smooth rock.)
Singer Louie Merlino has a terrific voice which is bolstered by the excellent guitar licks of Ronnie Mancuso. The whole band is solid, and they have crafted some very fine tunes on this CD.
Some of the album highlights include the songs “Beautiful Losers”, “Seven Seconds”, “Stranded” and “Midnight Blue”. I love the saxophone that closes out the title track “We Are The Brokenhearted”. I just wish there was more of it. “We Are the Brokenhearted is a really cool tune to close the album out with”. Quite frankly, there really isn’t a bad song in the bunch.
We Are the Brokenhearted is easily one of the best melodic rock CD’s I have heard in 2011. If you have forgotten about this band the way I did, We Are the Brokenhearted has 10 outstanding reasons to get to know the band again. Don’t miss this!!!
For more information on Beggars & Thieves, check out the band’s Facebook page. You can purchase We Are The Brokenhearted here.
Rating: 
Out of 10
Track Listing:
01.We Come Undone
02. Oil & Water
03. Innocence
04. Never Gonna See You Again
05. Beautiful Losers
06. Seven Seconds
07. Stranded
08. Wash Away
09. Midnight Blue
10. We are the Brokenhearted
Beggars & Thieves are:
Louie Merlino – Vocals
Ronnie Mancuso – Guitars
Erik Gloege – Drums
Blake Newman – Bass
