In a commercially dark decade for classic hard rock, Bulgarian-born musician Nikolo Kotzev brought a breathe of fresh air for the genre creating in 1995 the international outfit BRAZEN ABBOT. For the first album Kotzev (guitars, songwriting) recruited stars for the genre; Swedes Mic Michaeli (Europe) on keyboards, drummer Ian Haugland (Europe) and bassist Svante Henryson (ex-Yngwie Malmsteen, Glory), with the lead vocals handled by Glenn Hughes, Goran Edman and Thomas Vikström.
The likes of Joe Lynn Turner, Jørn Lande, Tony Harnell and more talented musicians graced the following BRAZEN ABBOT albums.
The ”20 Years Of Brazen Abbot” celebrates two decades of the band’s existence, containing 15 studio tracks compiled from the five studio albums released to date: Live And Learn – 1995, Eye Of The Storm – 1996, Bad Religion – 1997, Guilty As Sin – 2003, and My Resurrection – 2007.
There isn’t a single filler here, all really good classic, traditional hard rock with melody and the aforementioned impressive vocalists.
The compilation is a balanced blend of rockers and ballads, offering many of the most memorable songs created by the band throughout the years and will certainly be a delight for all fans of the genre.
Brazen Abbot has produced some superb hard rock / melodic metal along the way. It’s great to hear Hughes, Edman, Lande, performing with fire, especially Joe Lynn Turner on heavier music he was accustomed to, demonstrating how good he is singing edgy heavy rock.
”20 Years Of Brazen Abbot” is out of print, with copies being sold for over $200.
Highly Recommended
01. Eye of the Storm
02. Mr. Earthman
03. Miracle
04. Bad Madman
05. Nightmares
06. I’ll Be There for You
07. Line of Fire
08. A Whole Lotta Woman
09. Love Is on Our Side
10. When November Reigns
11. Wings of a Dream
12. Restless in Seattle
13. Godforsaken
14. The Whole World Is Crazy
15. Live and Learn
The singers are:
Glenn Hughes
Joe Lynn Turner
Goran Edman
Thomas Vikstrom
Jorn Lande
Tony Harnell
The players are:
Nikolo Kotzev – Guitars, violins, keyboards, percussions
Ian Haugland – Drums
John Leven – Bass
Mic Michaeli – Hammond
Nelko Kolarov – Keyboards and Hammond
Svante Henryson – Bass
Wayne Banks – Bass
Mattias Knutas – Drums