KINGDOM COME
Too
2000
From L - R:
Oliver Kiesner: Guitar
Mark Cross: Drums
Lenny Wolf: Vocals
Mark Smith: Bass
Mirko Michalzik: Solo Guitar
Additional Musicians:
Bjoern Tiemann: Keyboards
Discography:
IN
GERMAN:
Bei der Aufzählung der markantesten Stimmen im Bereich internationaler Rockmusik
fällt neben den Protagonisten der Szene wie etwa Steven Tyler, Ozzy Osbourne,
Ian Gillan oder Sammy Hagar sehr häufig auch der Name Lenny Wolf. Wolfs helles
und zugleich kraftvolles Timbre, seine fabelhaften Melodiebögen und die
jederzeit greifbare Leidenschaft, mit der er seine Songs vorträgt, sind
unverwechselbar. Neben dem unüberhörbaren Faible für dramatische Arrangements
und packende Orchestrationen, wie sie beispielsweise in seinem neuen Song ´Too
Late` eindrucksvoll zu hören sind, ist seine Stimme ein ganz eigenes Trademark
geworden. Mit seiner Band Kingdom Come hat der gebürtige Hamburger mit Wohnsitz
in Los Angeles zahlreiche Alben an den Start gebracht, die – trotz
unterschiedlicher Verkaufserfolge – ein gleichbleibend hohes kompositorisches
wie auch technisches Niveau aufweisen. Lenny Wolf´s Kingdom Come veröffentlichen
mit Too nun ihren achten Longplayer, und präsentieren sich erneut in brillanter
Spiellaune.
Too lebt, wie schon seine sieben Vorgänger, von einer eindringlichen Atmosphäre,
wie sie in dieser Form wohl nur Lenny Wolf erzeugen kann. Der stimmungsvolle
Opener ´It Ain´t So Bad`, das nachfolgende, sehr groovige ´Free Your Mind` und
´Waiting`, mit einer einfühlsamen Stimmung, offenbaren gleich alle Stärken von
Kingdom Come. In ´Tell Me What I´ve Done` beweist die Band (Lenny Wolf, Gesang &
Gitarre; Oliver Kiessner, Gitarre; Mirko Michalzik, Gitarre; Mark Smith, Bass;
Marc Cross, Schlagzeug; Björn Tiemann, Keyboards), dass sie auch bei beherztem
Griff in die Instrumente niemals die feinen Gesangsmelodien aus den Augen
verliert. Zudem glänzen die beiden Gitarristen Oliver Kiessner und Mirko
Michalzik hier mit kraftvollen Powerchords und einem fesselnden WahWah-Solo. Das
direkt anschließende ´Should Have Told You` wiederum präsentiert schwarze
Bluenotes über einem treibenden Drumbeat, und gipfelt in einem klassischen
Rockmusik-Rephrain der kernigen Sorte. Das Opus endet mit ´Joe Englisch`, einem
echten Partyrocker, der direkt in Bauch und Beine geht. Elf Songs mit dem
Gütesiegel ´KC`: Diese Welt ist Dank Too um ein weiteres musikalisches Highlight
reicher.
Taken from CMM
BIOGRAPHY:
In 1988, after having
been signed to Polygram Records, New York by Derek Shulman, Lenny Wolf and his
manager Marty Wolff (no relation), were asked to put a new band together. The
players he chose for his new band were: James Kottak on drums, Danny Stag on
lead guitar, Rick Steier on rhythm guitar and Johnny B.Frank on the bass guitar
(for more background see Lenny Wolf Biography).
A very lucky event happened when Lenny was introduced to Bob Rock, who is best
known for his work with Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Loverboy and Metallica. "Working
with Bob was one of the best times I've had during my career. Being a musician
himself, knowing how to get the best out of a band, a similar outlook on how the
sound should be and working in a great studio (LittleMountain in Vancouver,
Canada) were major reasons for the first record's success", - says Lenny.
Having finished the record Bob and Lenny flew to New York to mix it at the
Electric Lady Studio, formerly owned by Jimmy Hendrix. During the mixing session
of "Get It On", John Kalodner, a John Lennon look-alike and one of American
rock's most listened to men, stopped by to say "hi". He liked the song and asked
if he could take a cassette with him. As far as is known, the tape ended up at a
radio station in Detroit, which played the song without anyone in the band or
Polygram Records knowing about it. Hard as it is to believe, other stations
actually recorded the song off the air since the record had not even been
released yet. The American music industry magazine "Album Network" reported
about a mysterious band, which kept the telephone lines of Detroit's rock
stations busy for days. Suddenly, a few weeks later, all of America's rock
stations were playing "Get It On". Kingdom Come shipped gold (500,000 copies),
before the label or the band itself were able to discuss the first single.
Kingdom Come toured throughout Europe opening for an English band called
"Magnum", while the news from the states kept on getting more and more exciting
by the minute. Timing could not have been better and Kingdom Come ended up on
the first American tour named "Monsters of Rock", playing with Van Halen,
Scorpions, Metallica and Dokken. "Besides having to sing at 2 o'clock in the
afternoon, it was the greatest time of my life. Strange enough, playing in front
of 500 people makes me sweat a lot more than facing 80,000 rock heads in New
Jersey's Meadowlands Stadium", - says Lenny. After the Monsters of Rock tour
Kingdom Come continued touring America with the Scorpions for another two
months.......
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