Reviews LIZHARD

STRUTTER'ZINE (Points: 8.1 out of 10)
http://strutter77.angelfire.com/HOTNEWREVIEWS.htm
Date: 28.10.2008 - Autor -

Next up is LIZHARD with their same titled debut CD. Featuring a very good lead singer, this Italian band’s first CD ‘Lizhard’ was co-produced, mixed and mastered by Alessandro Del Vecchio, a musician known worldwide for his collaborations with acts like EDGE OF FOREVER, GLENN HUGHES, JEFF SCOTT SOTO, AXE, etc. etc. LIZHARD is playing Melodic Hardrock, a bit raw and groovy, very guitar orientated, but in a good way, as the guitarsound and style is rather excellent. Think of modern day EUROPE doing something more pure Melodic Hardrock orientated, just listen to the catchy uptempo MHR songs “My wild side” and “Let the good times roll”, which are both not far removed from what we have heard on this year’s albums By H.E.A.T. and ECLIPSE or WIG WAM/GOTTHARD for that matter and the semi-ballad “I cry for you” which sounds like a cross between FAIR WARNING and MR. BIG. However, most of the time it is a little less melodic and perhaps mostly recommended to fans of groovy big punching sounding Melodic Hardrock like WHITESNAKE meets EUROPE meets MR. BIG… More info at: WWW.LIZHARD.COM and www.myspace.com/lizhardband

sleaze-metal.com (Points: 6.5 out of 10)
http://www.sleaze-metal.com/reviews/read/cd/lizhard-same.html
Date: 19.10.2008 - Autor Jörg

Aus dem Land von Pizza, Pasta und Mafia kommen diese Lizhard und beweisen bei der Wahl ihre Bandnamens schon mal kein so gute Händchen, denn es Eidechsen schon einige Bands unter diesem Banner durch die Szene. So haben sich diese Lizhard für eine etwas abgeänderte Schreibweise entschieden. Die Italiener beweisen aber das es in ihrer Heimat dann doch noch gute Bands aus dem Hardrockbereich zu geben scheint, denn viele der Gruppen aus Italien sind oft kaum der Rede wert. Was dem Betreiber dieses Label hier ja noch nie gestört hatte, dennoch sind Lizhard wirklich eine gute Band und machen eine schönen erdigen, leicht Southern-angetouchten Hardrock. Hier kommen dem Fan sicher Erinnerungen an Badlands, Van Zant oder auch ein wenig Thunder. Die Gruppe hat neben diesem Longplayer schon im Jahre 2005 eine CD in Eigenregie gemacht und die nannte sich „Sexy Lolitta“ und war, so wie es ausschaut“ auch in Italienisch. Erdige Hardocker wie „Let the Good times roll“, „Life in the fast lane“ geben sich hier abwechselnd mit feinen Balladen wie „I cry for you“ die Klinke in die Hand und es gibt wirklich keinen großen Anlass zur Kritik. Sicher ist der Sound nicht gerade neu und der Weisheit letzter Schuss, aber Lizhard widerlegen, das aus Italien meist nur Schund kommt. Sänger Luke Marsillo verfügt über eine angenehme Stimme mit einem warmen Timbre und ist für seine Musik ein guter Mann. Mit „Let’s Party“ versuchen sich Lizhard an ein wenig Blues-Rock und das steht ihnen auch recht gut zur Gesicht, hierdurch entsteht ein leichter Southernrock-Hauch und man das Album ein wenig lockerer. Produziert wurden Lizhard von einem gewissen Alessandro Del Vecchio der schon mit Künstlern wie Glenn Hughes, Ian Paice oder dem Moonstone Project gearbeitet hatte. Das bringt den Italo-Eidechsen einen guten Sound für ihr Album und hebt sich auch so von den Rumpelproduktionen ab, welche sonst regelmäßig aus ihrer Heimat unsere Ohren überbeanspruchen.

CONCRETE WEB (Points: 83 out of 100)
www.concreteweb.be
Date: 11.11.2008 - Autor – Tony

First thing that went through my mind when first listening to Lizhard’s material on this mp3-disc was “They from Germany, or what?”. “What” turned out to be Italy...which would’ve been my second thought, goin’ on singer Luke Marsilio’s somewhat typical vocal deflections (ain’t thàt a complicated way of explaining that the man’s geographical origins come through in his voice?)! Not ever song on this album is an original song though, because “Life In The Fast Lane” was originally a song by The Eagles! With their simple line-up, each and every instrument is important, but each gets its moment to shine (of course the guitarist comes to the fore a little more due to his solos)! Luckily, Marsilio’s lead is well backed in harmonic way by the other guys, which makes me tone dosn my previous remark about his somewhat heady and accented vocal style. To listen to 30-second samples from each and every song on the album (plus three off the EP), surf to the media section of the band’s own website lizhard.com; for full-length version of five out of the 10 songs (plus the title track of the EP) go to myspace.com/lizhardband. At the end of the day, the lead vocals dó cost the band points in the rating in my book…but I’m sure the album will do well in both Italy and Switzerland…and why not Germany as well. Individual rating: 83/100

ROCK EYEZ (Points: 4 out of 5)
http://www.rockeyez.com/reviews/cd/lizhard/rev-lizhard.html
Date: 21.11.2008 - Autor –David Felix

Originally formed as a “covers” band back in 1995, it didn’t take long for this Italy-based foursome to realize their true calling in creating their own original music. Now composed of drummer Ricky Lecchini, bassist Luca “Ze” Moroni, guitarist Paul Mainetti and lead vocalist Luke Marsilio, LIZHARD are poised to take their place in the European hard-rock scene. I have to be honest here, when I first took a look at the CD jacket with song titles like “Angel,” “Bad To The Bone,” and “I Cry For You” I thought it was going to be an all covers album. But to my surprise, while some of the song titles themselves are far from original… the music and songs have their own unique quality. What I really like about this band is their ability to blend their classic rock sound with some cool, bluesy grooves and guitar riffs but it’s lead vocalist Luke Marsilio who really steals the spot light here… almost sounding like a cross between Joey Tempest with a little Don Dokken thrown in for good measure. Nowhere is this more apparent than on hard rockers like “Let The Good Times Roll,” “My Wild Side” and “Devil’s Highway.” While the album contains it’s fair share of edgy, hard rock tunes, I found myself more drawn to the acoustic driven tracks like the ballady “Diamond,” “Angel” (another stand-out ballad with a nice, soothing arrangement complimented by a powerful chorus and some harmonica accents) and my absolute favorite track on the CD “I Cry For You” which will find you having flashbacks of all those great, late-80’s power ballads ala bands like EUROPE, FIREHOUSE or POISON. The song title may be the same, but this ain’t George Thorogood performing on the hard-hitting “Bad To The Bone” but I did mention that these guys “did” start off as a covers band! So I wasn’t surprised to hear at least one on the CD as LIZHARD takes their crack at the EAGLES’ classic “Life In The Fast Lane.” While preserving the unmistakable riffs and chords of Walsh and Frey, LIZHARD adds a harsher, edgier groove to this EAGLES favorite and end up creating their own unique rendition of this timeless hit. Perris Records have themselves another winner in the new s/t LIZAHARD release. Fans of that edgy, hard-rock sound will appreciate the raw, in-your-face rockers while even those fans of AOR/ Melodic Rock can find themselves some real gems when the band takes a walk over to their lighter side. A good album all around which has a little bit of everything to satisfy the most finicky of appetites.

ROXXZONE (Points: 7.0 out of 10)
http://www.roxxzone.com/NEW/lizhard.html
Date: 24.11.2008 - Autor –Anna Minguzzi

Il rock and roll è tornato, o forse non se n’è mai andato, e non se ne andrà mai finché, anche in Paesi “difficili” come l’Italia, ci saranno gruppi come i Lizhard a portarne avanti con onore gli ideali. Ci sono un paio di aspetti da migliorare, riscontrabili soprattutto in una produzione non del tutto impeccabile, che dà moltissimo spazio alla voce e mette gli strumenti troppo in secondo piano, ma per il resto c’è da drizzare le antenne. Il genere suonato da questa band, al suo esordio sulla lunga distanza (prima c’era stato un ep cantato interamente in italiano), rimanda ad un hard rock opportunamente vario e ben strutturato. Sia che si tratti di brani veloci che lenti, i Lizhard mostrano buone qualità, e anche la voce di Luke Marsilio è decisamente adatta al ruolo. “Let The Good Times Roll”, grintoso pezzo di media velocità ma ottimamente arrangiato grazie al lavoro della chitarra e dei cori, emerge subito come uno dei brani più interessanti, nonostante un titolo che è tutto fuorché originale. Allo stesso modo, piacciono “Let’s Party” per la sua indubbia vivacità, la heavy ballad con tanto di armonica “Angel” (anche se forse certe parti del testo sono un po’ scontate) e il rock ritmato di “My Wild Side”. Anche questa band è quindi un segnale di come il mondo hard rock nostrano sia in fermento e stia producendo buoni risultati, che speriamo rimangano nel tempo.

ROCK REPORT (Points: 4 out of 6)
http://www.rockreport.be/review.asp?id=2253
Date: 24.11.2008 - Autor –CL

Lizhard is an Italian melodic hard rock band that was founded by Luca Moroni (b) and Ricky Lecchini (d) in 1995. Originally operating as a cover band, they gigged a lot in the north of Italy as well as in nearby Switzerland. Having won enough sympathy from the crowds, they thought the time was ripe to take the band a step further and so they started writing material of their own. Exactly ten years after their formation, a first EP saw the light of day. Titled “Sexy Lolita” and entirely sung in Italian, it was a start, but the guys quickly recognized that more was needed to conquer the (international) market. With new guitarist Paul Mainetti on board, Lizhard decided to go back to their pure, hard rock ‘n’ roll style of olden times. Recovering lost ground, Luca Moroni started writing material, that was arranged in such a way that it captured the spirit of the 80s and 90s. It was in June of this year that the recordings for their self-titled debut album were rounded off. Co-produced by Alessandro Del Vecchio (Axe, Edge Of Forever, Moonstone Project) and released by Amercan label Perris Records, it’s a nice effort, featuring some interesting songs, such as the Dokken-esque “Let The Good Times Roll”, the ballad “I Cry For You” and the Eagles cover “Life In The Fast Lane”. Pluspoints are the lead and harmony vocals and the overall execution, which is rather simple but effective. Of course the material sounds a little cliché’d, but as long as it’s brought with as much enthusiasm and fun as with these Italians, I couldn’t care less. If only I could have been one of the lizards on the front cover …

HARDROCK HOUSE (Points: 7.0 out of 10)
http://www.hardrockhouse.com/NewReleases/Lizhard.htm
Date: 26.11.2008 - Autor – Paul Quinton

There are some people I know who would like to pretend the musical clock stopped in 1991, and Italian band Lizhard have made an album for exactly those people. Some of the track titles give the game away, 'Rock and Roll Is Back', 'Let The Good Times Roll', 'Let's Party'. This an album of unashamed, good-time, hard rock'n'roll, nothing more, nothing less, and, refreshingly, the band clearly have no pretensions to be anything other than that, and good on them. Let's get something out of the way before we move on to the music: the band name. When I saw it, I thought it was a pretty poor effort, and although I haven't changed my opinion, at least we know there's a story behind it. For the record, the band used to be called 'LEGO' (I have no comment to make!) but when they rightly wanted to change their name, bassist Luca Moroni conjured up a pun between the ex-singer's name, Liza and the type of music they play, hard rock. Hence Lizhard. All clear now? Good, let's move on. Although the band's roots are firmly planted in the 80s hard rock scene, and they're not afraid to wear their influences on their respective sleeves, that's not to say they sound dated or haven't taken in any more modern influences. Opener 'Rock And Roll Is Back' wouldn't sound out of place on a Buckcherry album and although much of the rest of the album is pretty straightforward melodic hard rock, it's no less enjoyable for that. The only quibble I do have is that the album seems very short, and although there are ten tracks on the album, the last one is a brief acoustic love song. It's not out of place on the album, but it hardly makes for a big finish. And yes, 'Life In The Fast Lane' is an Eagles cover, but credit to the band for being able to put their own stamp on such a familiar song; although having said that, the question of bands including covers on studio albums is never going to go away. The cover version and the anticlimactic acoustic finish also emphasise that this is also a comparatively short album. which is a shame. I did enjoy Lizhard's own songs, they seem to have good ideas and good songs. I actually found myself wishing the album was a bit longer, and that can only be a good thing. A promising debut then, so here's hoping they can build on it in the future.

HARD’n’HEAVY (Points: 10 out of 10)
http://www.hardnheavy.org/modules.php?name=Reviews2&rop=showcontent2&id=403
Date: 28.11.2008 - Autor –Beppe HD Diana

Che disco ragazzi questo debutto omonimo dei meneghini Lizhard, la classica cigliegina sulla torta di un anno, quello ancora in corso, che verrà sicuramente ricordato negli annali come quello della rinascita, o se volete meglio della riconferma, di una scuola italiana, quella legata a doppia mandata ad una concezione hard rock old style di diramazione prettamente a stelle e strisce, che ha visto proprio negli ultimi mesi il proliferare di un numero enorme di ottime pubblicazioni su dischetto ottico che, grazie anche alla peculiarità artistica delle proposte, a volte veramente disarmante, hanno permesso ai nostri artisti di mettere finalmente da parte quel ruolo di cenerentola del vecchio continente recitato per tanto, troppo tempo, e di tentare finalmente la conquista del mercato intercontinentale proprio com’è successo ai nostri quattro amici rockers. Ebbene si, con alle spalle un passato artistico sicuramente ricco di soddisfazioni extrapersonali, soprattutto per quel che concerne il versante live, ed un primo ep cantato completamente in lingua madre, i Lizhard del nuovo corso dicevamo, riescono finalmente a rompere gli indugi e, grazie soprattutto a delle qualità intrinseche ben evidenti, si gettano a capofitto in un escursus musicale, nonché compositivo che, naturalmente, s’abbevera alla fonte statunitense degli ‘80ies, riuscendo ad inanellare un’ottima manciata di brani, ben dieci per la precisione, nei quali, oltre all’aspetto melodico sempre e comunque in evidenza, i nostri riescono a mettere in risalto anche le proprie qualità individuali e di abili strumentisti, quelle stesse qualità che, grazie anche all’ottima produzione artistica affidata al sempre più attivo Alessandro Del Vecchio, qui presente nella doppia veste di tastierista, vengono sicuramente potenziate e finalizzate in un’unica direzione che poi è quella che ha reso immortali formazioni del calibro di Great White, Firehouse, Mr. Big o dei nostri cuginetti elvetici Gotthard, band alla quale i nostri potrebbero benissimo essere avvicinati senza il benché timore di prendere nessun abbaglio. Ne scaturisce così un platter intenso ed avvolgente incentrato su partiture musicali che portano ben impresse nel proprio DNA artistico quelle digressioni hard rock mainstream, a volte torride e roventi , altre più volutamente lineari e trascinanti, il tutto naturalmente caratterizzato da refrain irresistibili ed hooks melodici che strizzano l’occhio al rock più semplicemente fm-oriented, ben tre le ballad nel lotto di composizioni, componenti che naturalmente fanno di questo “Lizhard” un tipico esempio del made in Italy di cui andare terribilmente fieri. E non a caso, a valorizzare la band e a rendere più internazionale il disco in questione, ci ha pensato la label americana Perrris record, che per i nostri dovrebbe sicuramente rappresentare il classico trampolino di lancio verso quel successo che tutti noi da tempo auspichiamo, e che, naturalmente, ha creduto in pieno nelle potenzialità dei quattro musicisti nostrani, e in quello di brani come il trascinante heavy rock di “Devil’s Highway” , la sinuosa “My Wild Side” classico coacervo sonoro nato dall’incontro di reminiscenze class metal e partiture più tacitamente sleazy, la più sanguigna “Let’s party” infarcita di tipiche dissonanze boogie n’roll, o l’ipotetico hit single “Let the good times rock” che ha un incedere che non può non ricordare la più famosa “Mountain Mama”. Un disco perfetto, o quasi, in tutte le sue componenti, da quella grafica a quella più prettamente musicale e strutturale, caratterizzato da un insieme di qualità che, come dicevamo prima, la formazione nostrana ha saputo affinare negli anni di dura gavetta che l’hanno finalmente condotta al debutto sulla lunga distanza, un debutto che, naturalmente, potrebbe fare sia la felicità degli estimatori di quelle tipiche sonorità adulte e ricercate, che dei semplici intenditori di musica rock, per cui non fatevelo scappare, potreste commettere un crimine di cui so già che vi pentirete…..

AUDIODROME (Points: 4 out of 5)
http://www.audiodrome.it/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=4186
Date: 02.12.2008 - Autor – Stefano Gottardi

Si affacciano sul mercato con questo primo album cantato in inglese (in precedenza c'è già stato un ep in lingua madre) i milanesi Lizhard, hard rock band che può vantare la presenza di Alessandro Del Vecchio (Edge Of Forever, Moonstone Project, Glenn Hughes, Ian Paice, Jeff Scott Soto, Axe) in cabina di regia, che ha ottimamente co-prodotto, mixato e masterizzato il cd. Forte di una prestazione dei singoli musicisti ben al di sopra della media, in particolar modo per quanto concerne la voce di Luke Marsilio (smaliziato cantante dalla timbrica calda e bluesy, capace con la sua performance di arricchire brani già ottimi come “Rock'n Roll Is Back”, “Devil's Highway” e “Let The Good Times Roll”), la band mette sul piatto della bilancia un disco davvero convincente. Buonissime la power ballad “I Cry For You”, le ballate acustiche “Angel” e “Diamond”, la più easy e diretta “Let's Party”e la rivisitazione del classico degli Eagles “Life In The Fast Lane”. Un album ben fatto, anche a livello di packaging, con un booklet semplice e dal gradevole layout, con i testi chiari e leggibili. Dopo i pur validi lavori di Homerun e Hungryheart, ecco arrivare il miglior disco di melodic hard rock partorito da una band italiana in questo 2008: gli estimatori di Gotthard, Mr Big, Europe, Bon Jovi e Firehouse dovrebbero avere pane per i propri denti. Consigliatissimi.

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http://www.myspace.com/lizhardband