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"That
angelic, yet tough voice you hear in your head finally
has a name. Her name is "Pamme". The music she plays is
the one thing you can't escape from. She's searching
just like you".
Subject: HAVEN Signs with Major
Euro Label!
Now & Then/Frontiers Records is
proud to announce that 'HAVEN' has signed a 2 record
deal with an option for a 3rd. The first release titled
'The Road' is scheduled for August, 27th 2001 on the
Frontiers Records Label. An October
release is
scheduled for Japan. An A&R rep with Now and
Then/Frontiers Records actually discovered HAVEN by
going through the charts on Mp3.com. HAVEN has been
topping the Classic Rock charts at Mp3.com. 'Hold On', a
track on the upcoming album, is currently in the Top 10
on the Classic Rock Charts where HAVEN is keeping
company with other great classic artists such as David
Bowie, Christopher Cross, Roxette and Joe Lynn Turner of
Rainbow and Deep Purple fame.
Now and
Then/Frontiers Records is the market leader in Italy in
the distribution of Classic Hard Rock and Melodic Rock
labels. The label has the best distribution throughout
Europe and Asia. The artist roster includes such
noteable artists as Kip Winger (Winger), Brad Gillis
(Night Ranger) Giant (Dan
Huff), Asia and Jimi
Jamison (Survivor).
Haven is the first female
fronted act to be signed to the label in 5 years and is
only the third in total, following Jaime Kyle and Dante
Fox. This shows just how much potential NOW &
THEN/FRONTIERS believes Haven has within the
band.
Here is what Now and Then/Fontiers has to
say about HAVEN:
Songs range from Power Rock Ballads
to Mid and uptempo Rock, with sultry acoustic guitar and
piano ballads mixed in. Pamme the singer has an amazing
voice which has been compared to Ann Wilson (Heart),
Lita Ford, Vixen, and even Celine Dion on the ballad
"Face The Day". Special guest players include Matt Sorum
on drums, (Guns n' Roses and The Cult), Robin McAuley,
background vocals, (MSG-McAuley Schenker Group), and
Jimmy Hotz, Hotz Midi Translator, (Worked with Yes,
Fleetwood Mac, Dave Mason, Gary Wright, and others).
Haven explores and provides a solid offering of
lifegiving lyrics and introspection, woven amidst a
melodic storm of high powered vocals and guitar work.
The band says, "We write from the heart, based not upon
calculated efforts to clone the latest trend, but to use
our music as a vehicle to uplift, heal and entertain,
never forgetting why we started making music in the
first place... We love it!"
The band has many
diverse musical influences. Pamme the Lead Vocalist and
Lyricist was inspired by Kansas, Heart and Journey. She
was inspired by these bands because of Steve Walsh, Ann
Wilson and Steve Perry; three great singers and
performers.
Michael the Bass and Keyboard player
was inspired by Paul McCartney, The Beatles, Kiss, Rush,
Sting, and various Pop bands.
John the guitar
player was inspired by UFO (Michael Schenker), Black
Sabbath, Rush, Deep Purple, Robin Trower, The Beatles,
and classical music. Mix all that together and you have
a pretty wide influence of musical styles which all add
up to... Haven!
Hear are some reviews of the
Cd!
"You gotta check this band out! They are great...
loud... Whoever snags this band, you better be ready to
sell some records. They were featured on Regional Riffs
and The Heavy Bloc, and the phones are still ringing!" -
Terrie Richards DJ, KXBS.********
This review is
from Melodicrock.com, the biggest site for Melodic and
AOR rock music. ******** Haven is fronted by lead
vocalist Pamme - quite a revelation indeed! She has
quite a presence on this material and as a vocalist in
general is one of the best female leads I have heard in
a long time. She has that touch that turns a straight
ahead rock song into a more gut wrenching emotional
experience and I shudder to think how much better she
will become!
Haven recorded and released this album
independently and a copy made it to the desk of Now
& Then Productions chief Mark Ashton. He also saw
the potential in these guys and signed them up, with
this debut release now featuring new artwork and
packaging, but the same song line up as the indie
release. What I expect Mark will do gives me great cause
for excitement.
This is one of the best female
fronted AOR albums in a very long time. As good as this
album is for fans of sultry female vocal lead melodic
rock, under the guidance of Now &Then they are bound
to get even better. Scary fact that!
Haven is
Pamme, Michael Brody (Bass, Guitars) and John Vanselow
(Guitars). Joining them on the album is melodic rock
heavy weights Matt Sorum (drums) and Robin McAuley
(backing vocals).
The band plays a mix of mid tempo
rockers with sultry heartbreaking ballads. The vocal
power of Pamme is something to get AOR fans excited. The
sound of the band and of Pamme herself most closely
resembles fellow melodic AOR rockers Fiona and Robin
Beck - with even more guts and raw emotion! Comparisons
can also be made to Heart - especially with the musical
direction and vocally also to the very cool Carol Decker
of T'Pau. Any music fan with albums from these ladies in
their collection needs to add Haven. I doubt you will be
disappointed. The harmonies and backing vocals and song
arrangements keep the listener interested and
entertained throughout. I rate these guys above Dante
Fox and Robin Beck.
There is a little room for
further improvement in the production quality, but that
will come with an expanded production budget. The
delivery and passion of the songs far out weights any
minor point there.
BOTTOM LINE: This is a great
album of emotion filled rock, with a great new discovery
leading the way on vocals. The album has a varied pace -
from melodic rockers to sultry pop to powerful emotion
filled power ballads - all with a very AOR twist. For
fans of female fronted melodic rock, there is a new
Queen in town.
SONGS: 93% VIBE: 85% ATTITUDE:
90%
ESSENTIAL FOR: All fans of powerful, female
fronted AOR tinged melodic rock. Fans of Fiona, T'Pau
& Robin Beck.
This review is from Gabor
Kleinbloesem, Editor of Strutter'zine. HAVEN-HAVEN
(SLICE OF REALITY RECORDS) "The latest Female Fronted
AOR sensation comes out of Thousand Oaks, California and
is called HAVEN. This three piece band has released a
terrific debut CD that will appeal to everyone who likes
the sound of PRIVATE LIFE, WITNESS, HEART, RADAR &
HELLIP. The band consists of lead singer Pamme,
bassist/guitarist/keyboardist Michael Brody and lead
guitarist John Vanselow. Additional musicians include
drummer MATT SORUM (THECULT/GUNS'N'ROSES) and singer
ROBIN MCAULEY (MSG). The production of Michael Brody and
John Vanselow is excellent and so are the 12 AOR/Melodic
Rocksongs on the album. The CD starts with "The
curtain", a great semi melodic rockballad like HEART
meets PRIVATE LIFE. Next up is "Can you hear us", a
fantastic semi AOR/Melodic Rockballad. The lovely AOR
ballad "All I ever need" follows. Things slow down with
the acoustic ballad "Halfway home" (a la CHALLENGE). The
first real rocker is "Strange premonition", a nice
uptempo melodic rocker with a catchy hookline and a
sound comparable to WITNESS. The calmer piano led AOR
ballad "Face the day" is up next. Then comes the
fantastic classy uptempo AOR/Melodic Rocker "Show them"
that combines HEART, TONE NORUM (first two albums) and
WITNESS, so a must for fans of that typical female AOR
sound. In the same style is "Hold on" that also sounds a
lot like the wonderful debut of PRIVATE LIFE. In between
these two songs is the acoustic ballad "The road".
"Someday soon" is maybe the best song of the whole CD,
because this song is a superb AOR ballad. Next track "Be
the one" is a nice calmer AOR/Poprocker, a bit like
ELLEN FOLEY and RACHEL SWEET. The CD closes very nicely
with the uptempo melodic rocker "Forgiveness". HAVEN is
really a big recommendation to every fan of female
fronted AOR/Melodic rock, especially if you liked RADAR,
then you're gonna love this one too! More info at:
http://www.mp3.com/haven and e-mail them at:
pammeland@earthlink.net. Look for an interview on our
site soon. (Points: 9.0 out of 10)
*******Haven
- HavenRock Reunion Webzine Review
http://www.heim-e.uni-sb.de/~rage/havenreview.htm
Haven is a threepiece consisting of singer
Pamme, Michael Brody (bass, keyboards and guitars) and
John Vanselow (lead guitars). You can see it's a mere
studio project. And that's a shame! Haven should perform
in big stadiums packed with screaming chicks (and boys,
since the singer is a girl). Ok, this ain't the 80s
anymore. But ten years back, Haven would have got a
major deal in a second. On their self titled debut, they
play over-the-top melodic pop rock in the vein of the
early Vixen albums. Anyone remeber the four chicks
playing songs written by Richard Marx, Jeff Paris, Fee
Waybill etc? And Haven singer Pamme exactly sounds like
Vixen singer Janet Gardner. That's a compliment, because
I really dig the hyper-melodic first and second Vixen
CDs. If you also like them, then you should definitely
check out Haven! Oh, before I forget it: there are two
guest stars on the album: Ex-Guns N'Roses / Cult drummer
Matt Sorum and ex-MSG singer Robin McAuley.
Unfortunately the latter is only doing backing vocals on
two tracks. Would have been really nice to hear him in a
duet with Pamme. But her voice is strong enough to make
this CD a masterpiece. With a decent record deal, Haven
should be huge! I don't mention any tracks, because
they're all on the same high level, mostly midtempo
rockers with great guitar playing and fantastic
harmonies. The best melodic rock album with female
vocals since the Vixen debut! Contact:
www.mp3.com/Haven. Rating: 9 Review by: Rage******* This
review is from Bruno Van de Velde editor of Angelfire
'zine. HAVEN-Haven Through the years I heard some great
singers female and male. My favorite rock singer has
always been Ann Wilson (Heart). Since I received this I
have a new name on the top of my list. Pamme does not
only look awesome, she has also an amazing voice. On the
CD I received are twelve songs. She got the help from
Matt Sorum (Guns n' Roses & The Cult) on drums.
Robin McAuley (MSG) did some backing vocals and Jimmy
Hotz who worked with Yes and Fleetwood Mac helped out on
the Hotz Midi Translator. The CD starts with "The
Curtain" a mid tempo song which showcases the powerful
and emotional voice of Pamme. The next eleven songs vary
from ballads to harder rock songs. All songs also
feature the excellent guitar work of John Vanselow. I'm
really amazed that this band is unsigned. Haven may not
be the heaviest band in the world but what they do is
from a very high level. Just listen to songs like "All I
Ever Need", "Strange Premonition" or the amazing ballad
"Face The Day". E-mail (9 out of 10)******* This review
is from Andrea Bertamino of Flash Magazine. HAVEN
"Haven" (Slice Of Reality Records) Rating:85 Coming from
California, Haven is made of Pamme (vc), Michael Brody
(bs, keys, gt) and John Vanselow (gt), but they have
guests like Matt Sorum (dr - The Cult, Guns N'Roses)and
the singer Robin McAuley (Grand Prix, MSG).The fans of
female fronted bands cannot ignore this band that
courageously puts four ballads at the begininng of the
cd, that are "The curtain" (a passionate song with
influences of Heart and Private Life), "Can you hear us"
and "All I ever need"(even more evident the presence of
the Wilson sisters in songwriting), and the acoustic
"Halfway home", graced by a magnificent guitar work of
Brody and Vanselow. The first real rockers are "Strange
premonition" (among Deep Purple and Witness), and "Show
them", with hints of Heart and Witness. After the dreamy
and seducing slow "The road", we have more AOR songs
like "Hold on" and "Someday soon", a mighty semi ballad
performed with great class."Forgiveness" is a melodic
hard rock uptempo, not so original in the instrumental
department, but will easily find lovers. Haven is a good
band worth the interest of some serious label.
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