KINGS OF THE SUN

Going on record for 1st time & then they did a 2nd time also. Rock guru Neil Rogers from Melbourne Radio 3RRR FM stated on record that Clifford Hoad's KINGS OF THE SUN new album "ROCK TIL YA DIE" is the best hard rock album to come out of Australia in the last 25 years. - MELBOURNE RADIO 3RRR FM

Neil Rogers stated on record for the 2nd time that ROCK TIL YA DIE is the best album to come out of Australia in the last 25 yrs ! 3RRR FM Melbourne Radio with Neil Rogers & Jeff Jenkins interviewing Clifford Hoad on his new album ROCK TIL YA DIE ! - MELBOURNE RADIO 3RRR FM

By STEVE MASCORD
HAVE you ever thought much about the link between rock’n’roll and testosterone?
Is it an art form linked inextricably to teenage lust, with those who persist in making it into old age condemned to just faking it?
Or is that just a convenient excuse for a huge chunk of the genre’s audience that completely loses interest in new music around the same time the obsession fades with getting its collective rocks off?
Clifford Hoad has had plenty of reasons to lose his edge. As a concept this, the first properly released Kings Of The Sun album in exactly 20 years (minimalist Daddy Was A Hobo Man sat in a vault until it was released recently), almost begs you to find tiredness, irrelevance and mediocrity.
The portents are not good. Cliff’s brother Jeff, the flamboyant frontman who delivered “Serpentine” and “Black Leather”, adheres to the second sentence of this review. After a much-publicised court appearance on drug charges, he refused to be involved.
That left Cliff to move from drums (where he was regarded as Australia’s best by the end of the eighties) to vocals and whole new band to recruit. Rhythm guitarist Dave Talon came from Rollerball, guitarist Quentin Elliott from Melbourne.
But the reverse-masked voices and opening beats of “Fire On The Mountain” are enough to wash away your cynicism in seconds. By the time the sizzling guitars chime in, you’re grinning involuntarily.
And when Cliff stars singing, it’s goosebump time. This is rock writ large. Like the volcano in the song, Kings Of The Sun have remained dormant for two decades and are, quite literally, erupting.
The opener is a chugging, riffing, southern rock-twinged anthem. They hit you with a left, then a bone-shattering right from “Rockpile”, which opens like Let There Be Rock-era AC/DC and explodes with the sort of riff that rock bands seem to have forgotten how to write.
This is a paean to what we lost overnight with the advent of grunge and the fate of so many worthy bands. “Don’t end up on the rockpile.” But there’s a happy ending: “the rock came back today”.
Indeed it has.
“Switchblade Knife” is a completely different beast, clipping along at a nice pace, boasting an infectious course and the perfect sentiment for this album – how returning to rock music after a long break allows one to “take back my life”.
“Rock Town” is another epic anthem, nothing short of devastating, propelled by Cliff’s Herculean drumming and a riff that will pin you to the wall of whichever room in which you chose to listen to it. The guitar tone on this album, and the production, is astounding and actually superior to anything Eddie Kramer coaxed out of the band two and a half decades ago.
The gems just keep coming. “Geronimo” is semi-acoustic and heartfelt, hitting exactly the right emotional buttons. And as for “Reach For The Bottle” – well, if ZZ Top were still releasing mescal-soaked songs like this, they’d be still headlining arenas. Absolutely sublime. Gobsmacking.
“Follow You Home” sounds like the long-lost Temple Gods, the Bob Spencer project, and is somewhat mid-tempo, while “Hearts Ablaze” evokes the old KOTS theme of wide open plains, cowboys and indians.
Like the Angels, AC/DC and Rose Tattoo, Kings Of The Sun have a vision that they have never veered too far from, regardless of line-up, commercial success or otherwise. It’s sort of like southern BBQ stuffed in an Aussie meat pie – Skynyrd with a short attention span. This is core rock’n’roll with the pretentious fat trimmed off.
Things get contemplative towards the end. “Tighten Your Grip” is a slightly ambiguous deathbed lament that’s a potential tear-jerker depending on your personal experience.
But the thematic core of the album is in “Never Too Late” and the title track. “It’s never too late to love somebody, it’s never too late to change your mind,” the former preaches.
The latter expresses a realisation that when youthful pursuits and shallowness fade, rock’n’roll becomes even more spiritual and essential, not less so. The answer to the charge that a return for KOTS makes no sense commercially or culturally in 2013?
“You know you gotta do it, you know you gotta try. Fight for what you’re doing, rock hard til ya die”
No other explanation necessary. This is the album of the year, one that you’ll keep going back to and will survive repeated listens and being left to foment for a week or two
Here, over the course of one rollicking hour, is material proof that we were wrong, and that Jeffrey Hoad was wrong.
Testosterone does not beget rock’n’roll. It’s the other way around. - HOT METAL

1. KINGS OF THE SUN – Rock ‘Til Ya Die

BLASTING back after a two-decade absence, Clifford Hoad’s Kings Of The Sun encapsulate in 11 rollicking tracks what is great about unpretentious Australian hard rock. The themes are almost cinematic – life, death, love lost, love gained, Vikings and Indians – and the delivery is honest and incisive. Without brother Jeff, drummer Cliff takes over the vocal duties and handles them with aplomb, assembling an accomplished group of players to surround him. There are echoes of AC/DC, Rose Tattoo and southern rock – but not of anything more than the great KOTS albums of the past. The debut show for the new line-up on February 22 will be a true piece of Oz - HOT METAL

Rock stars need nicknames, right? Ozzy is the Prince of Darkness, Marilyn Manson is the God of Fuck and Blackie Lawless is overweight. Okay, the last one is more of an observation than a nickname but you get my point. Well now you can add another to the list because Clifford Hoad is the Antipodean Phil Collins of Hard Rock. That's right boys and girls much like a dancing bear or a water-skiing squirrel our Cliff is one of those mixed up combos that Mother Nature likes to throw at us now and again just to keep us on our toes. He's a singing drummer!

Now ol' Mother Nature knows that we'll always take a chance on a rhythmically challenged underdog with delusions of grandeur just in case he turns out to be something of a black diamond in the rough like the pussy faced Peter Criss. Rarely is our faith rewarded but this time Clifford saves us from slapping ourselves for falling for it again with a solid collection of songs that rock fairly convincingly.

Surprised? I was. With Clifford not only singing and drumming but also song writing it does look a bit like an ego trip on paper but the songs speak for themselves and as 'Fire On The Mountain' gets the show on the road it's clear Cliff can cut it. Next up we get 'Rockpile' beating a struttin' mid-tempo path. Clifford likes his rock alright and gives us three shots of the hard stuff spread out throughout the album. We're in a 'Rockpile' one minute, passing through 'Rocktown' the next before ending up with the title track, 'Rock Til Ya Die', as the penultimate foot stomper on an album that has more peaks than the Sydney Opera House. That's a whole lorra rock in anyone's book.

After all that rock I need to 'Reach For The Bottle' and midway through this groover I did think I was probably pretty close to the end of the album. Turned out though that I was in fact only about half way through the eleven tracks on offer so you could say that 'Rock Til Ya Die' is guilty of dragging its heels in a few places and 'Reach For The Bottle' with its near eight minute running length certainly doesn't help matters. It's a fine song, don't get me wrong, a quality foot tapper, not too dissimilar to something Bruce Springsteen might knock out, but it could've done with being trimmed a bit. As could the aforementioned 'Rocktown' and the laid back summer haze of 'Hearts Ablaze', two more with seven minute plus running times that I feel could have lost a little fat for the health benefits of the album as a whole.

But ultimately I do have to admit that overall, a few song length issues aside, this is actually a pretty cool album. It's easy to not hate it and that's half the job done when you're trying to win new fans. At no point did I ever want to turn it off, in fact quite a few times I even tried to turn it up only to find I was already at maximum volume, surely a good sign. I think I might be keeping this album around for a bit, I can see it playing out nicely in the summer months.

Nice one, Cliff! - UBER ROCK

Take a trip back in time with me, for a minute, to 1988, and I was perusing our local record store. Remember that there was no Internet back then. We spent hours combing record stores back then. I happened upon an Australian band called Kings of the Sun. Their first album was electric! It was like you took AC/DC, Rose Tattoo and Lynyrd Skynyrd and threw them in a blender on frappe. It was a nice break from the glam shit that was soon to end. I love straightforward, ballsy, bluesy rock and roll played from the gut. I always have and I always will. When their second album, Full Frontal Attack, came out, it was even more impressive! Chock full of killer hooks and songs, I actually wore the cassette tape out. I lost touch with them after that, as my musical interests dove into more underground thrash, death, and black metal.
Fast forward to current day, and original drummer Clifford Hoad has now resurrected the Kings of the Sun moniker and released one hell of a catchy album with Rock Til Ya Die. I honestly had no idea what to expect here, but I am very pleasantly surprised at how well it’s produced, and this style of music never goes out of style.
“Fire On The Mountain” opens up the album with a riff-heavy feast for the ears. The mix is clean and nothing is buried. Clifford not only plays drums here, but he sings all of the lead vocals. I was very curious as to how this would sound since his brother Jeff sang on the albums I was familiar with, but Clifford doesn’t miss a note. He has the same type of tone for which they are known. “Rock Pile” delivers some cool guitar licks and is probably the heaviest song here. It’s delves deep into bluesy territory. It’s catchy, yet simple. “Switchblade Knife” definitely brings back the old feel. “Rock Town” follows a similar suit, but it really brings out the blues lineage of the band. “Geronimo” is more of a ballad, paying tribute to one of Hoad’s heroes from America. “Reach For The Bottle (Mescal 109)” is a booze-laden, blues-soaked homage to alcohol. This song reminds me of George Thorogood, and it is one of my favorites here. The title track is a melodic, catchy and upbeat song. If you can’t sing along to this one, get your blood pressure checked. “Tighten Your Grip” is an acoustic, folky ballad, but it works well.
Rock Til Ya Die is an all out party. It’s fun, and the songwriting and musicianship is a feast for the ears. If you enjoy AC/DC, you will most certainly enjoy Kings of the Sun. I have listened to this album repeatedly now for a few weeks and cannot get enough of it!
Rock Til Ya Die is self-released and out now. Buy it here!
SkullsNBones Rating (Out Of 5) FIVE STARS ! - SKULL N BONES

After a hiatus and a couple of lineup changes, Kings of the Sun are back with their ninth studio album, Rock Til Ya Die. Released last year, this album is classic Aussie rock’n’roll at its best, with powerful vocals, impressive guitar riffs and catchy melodies that will instantly leave you hooked.

Fire on the Mountain starts off with a bang, setting the tone for the rest of the album. Favourites are the groovy Switchblade Knife, which can easily get stuck in your head,and rock ballad Geronimo, which pays tribute to Indian heritage. Title track Rock Til Ya Die is another gem, and the album closes out nicely with acoustic number Tighten Your Grip, which showcases Kings of the Sun’s versatility. Clifford Hoad’s drumming is excellent, as is his lead vocals, which he took over from brother Jeff, who is no longer with the band. Hoad is also a powerful songwriter, which is evident throughout the album.

Clifford Hoad’s Kings of the Sun have created a polished, memorable rock album that will leave a lasting impression. Rock Til Ya Die needs to be heard and should quickly become a standout in your music collection.

BY ALI BIRNIE

Best Track: Switchblade Knife
If You Like This, You’ll Love This: AC/DC
In A Word: Powerful - BEAT MAGAZINE

Aaaah Cliffy,Just fabulous!!!!!!

Beautifully spoken, and l love watchin' y' play drums!! Style and panache!! Untouchable!!An' l just love that kit!!!Best lookin' kit l've seen f' decades!!And y' singin' is mighty!!l love ya!!And th' band sounds fuckin' grouse!!

Yes, l know this "ROCK PILE" place well indeed mate!!This music biz has certainly given me an enormously sound thrashin' over th' years, as well as unequalled, unparalleled pleasure!!Th' head space one gets in, when one feels totally unwanted musically is somethin' l've been dealin' with f' sometime myself!!Beyond frustration is my situation here in Adelaide, as l can't find people who play th' way l like, t' play th' stuff l write , and have written!!Original is illegal mostly, and there are fuck all gigs that l could play, unless, of course, l played covers or fuckin' blues!!Fuck that shit l say!!l've always played my own stuff, and will defy any other approach!!

Hence my buildin' of my studio!!Only took me 50 odd years t' figure out l need a place of my own t' play, rehearse, write and record what l deem constructive!!l still have mighty aspirations t' get out there and rock th' joint bigtime, and soothe th' souls with some sweet countrified krang!!!!!!

Hopefully l'll be underway early in th' new year with some arse kickin' new shit!!Th' plan is record and film, bash it up on you tube, and see if anyone salutes it!!One can only have a shot, repeatedly l'd imagine!!

l'm gunna have a listen t'night, with a few cool ones and a coupla hot ones, t' y' new record mate!!l just know l'm gunna love it!!

You, and y' brother Jeff, have always been an inspiration t' me!!Th' finest showmen l've had th' pleasure t' see!! Fanfuckintastic!!

Love love loves from y' biggest fan mate!!

Kick fuckin' arse, and, ROCK 'TIL YA DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - ROSE TATTOO - Rockin Robin Riley

Out of the blue, a bloke named Peter Pis (thanks Peter) on Facebook sent me a message after I had interviewed Jesse Fink (Author of The Youngs: The Brothers Who Built ACDC) and Toni Currenti (Session drummer on all but 1 track on ACDC’s debut album) suggesting I should try and get an interview with a bloke named Clifford Hoad who had resurrected a successful 80’s band, ‘Kings Of The Sun’. Now, I knew a little of Kings Of The Sun with their hit ‘Serpentine’ – but the band had not really been on my radar (sorry Cliff). I had a spare night coming up on my radio show ‘Purple Haze’ so I thought lets see what Cliff has got – so I contacted him, he agreed to an interview, sent me a link to download the new album ‘Rock Til Ya Die’ and I set about doing my research. This is where complacency sometimes comes in – I had been interviewing such Australian greats as Richard Clapton, Grace Knight, Rick Springfield, Beeb Birtles, Graeham Goble, Jeff St John, Diesel, John Swan and many others, so who the hell was Clifford Hoad? Cliff turned out to be my most successful interview at that time. He is one of the most genuine persons that I have ever interviewed – we had a great time, and I instantly made a friend. He was honest. He called a spade a spade. He deserves to be considered one of Australia’s finest purveyors of Rock. He had some fantastic stories and was more than happy to discuss his career as sticks-man for ‘Kings’ during the 80’s and beyond – but more importantly now as frontman, lead singer and drummer for ‘Clifford Hoads Kings Of The Sun’.
Up until 2013 Cliff’s life was like a highway, strewn with the highs and lows of a music career, with lots of musical roadkill along the way. Something clicked inside of him – with a bucket load of help, love and enthusiasm from his partner (and soon to be wife) Lisa Marie that made him go back to his rock roots and produce the finest Australian rock album that I have heard. Since getting this album it has not been off my iPod in my car, or my iTunes on my computer. It is an instant classic. As my wife says – ‘there is something about Cliffs voice that is soothing’. Heavy and hard rock soothing? Maybe Cliff has found the answer and cure for depression and anxiety. (and no – that is not a joke).

So now to the album ‘Rock Til Ya Die’. Opening with the brilliant ‘Fire On The Mountain’ this collection starts on a high and never comes down – not once. The thumping drum work – the raunchy almost distorted guitars. Cliff knows how to construct a song that just keeps you rocking – and this one carries a nod to our fire-fighting heroes.

The rock keeps coming at you with ‘Rock Pile’. Cliff has been on the rock pile – but now he is on top again and it is a view he likes. This song is almost prophetic and great rock advice for anyone looking to the music industry as a career. The words ‘Rock Came Back Today’ are wrong here Cliff – the Rock never left you.

‘Switchblade Knife’ draws again on life experience for Cliff. Taking back his life from the demons that would destroy or deprive you from aspiring to your goals. At this point you are about 12 minutes into this album and the tempo is exhausting – but a very good ‘exhausting’.

‘Rock Town’ starts off slower – but only for a short respite. Until the growling guitars and Clifford’s thumping stick work come in. Only Cliff could get away with the line ‘Lets All Get Shit-faced’. I am sure he sings it with a trademarked grin.

It is not until track 5 that the attack on your senses slows up. ‘Geronimo’ is brilliant and still my favourite track from this album that could be a ‘Greatest Hits’ exercise. An Aussie band singing about an Apache Indian? Why not? It works – and kicks some serious arse. Cliff may just be the new ‘revolutionary’ of Oz Rock.

‘Reach For The Bottle’ sounds like a live take late at night- full stomachs, empty bottles – this is a great anthem for any late night rocker trying to forget all their woes, or create new ones. Mescal 109 could be the new elixir of life! (please use responsibly and according to directions).

Cliff counts in ‘If I Follow You Home’ which is a classic rambling rock song. The mood for this album is now set – there is no room for ‘fillers’ or under-performers. Each track has to stand on its merits and it does not falter at all.

‘Hearts Ablaze’ is a brilliant rock anthem about the Vikings. Opening with a howling wind moving into haunting guitars, this track will become a show stopper when performed live. I can imagine the audience joining in the chorus – fists in the air – Hearts Ablaze! You get so lost in this track that you don’t even realise it is over 7 minutes long.

‘Never Too Late’ is tributed to Cliff’s Mum Judy. This song shares an affinity with my own wife – it is never too late to search for love and happiness. Love knows no age or barrier. It is never too late to love somebody. Wise words.

Title track – ‘Rock Til Ya Die’ – this one is destined to be the show closer or encore. It is Cliff’s life story – listen very closely. This is not just words put together randomly to a formula, it is carefully crafted by a word-master to get his point across.

The album is closed out with the acoustic ‘Tighten Your Grip’. This one holds a special spot in Cliff’s heart as he recounts a celestial moment involving his son ‘Zen’. You realise that no matter how tight you hold on to life – it is never tight enough in the end. This may be the perfect closer – actually giving you time to come down from an intense rock high and roller-coaster ride you have just been on!

Cliff may be ‘new’ to the frontman business – but I swear you would not know it. He carries off this album with sincere creativity and a heavy dose of rock. His voice works incredibly well, and he should have done this a long time ago but maybe the time just was not right. It is now.

Cliff has surrounded himself with some magnificent musicians that make this album rock –

• Clifford Hoad – lead vocals, drums & percussions
• Quentin Elliott – lead guitar
• Dave Talon – rhythm guitar
• Govinda Doyle – bass guitar

You can listen to my 2 hour podcast featuring Cliff talking about and playing the entire album here – http://www.southernfm.com.au/general/clifford-hoad-from-kings-of-the-sun-on-purple-haze-podcast/ - Mark Naumann - Purple Haze 88.3 Southern FM

When the news broke that Cliff Hoad was going to step out from behind the drum kit, pick up the mic and handle all lead vocals for Kings Of The Sun, there were those that greeted this announcement with a fair degree of caution. No mean feat stepping into the shoes of Jeff Hoad – the former flamboyant frontman who was rock star personified. Yet Cliff has managed to pull it off – leaving egg on the face of any doubters. ‘Rock Til You Die’ is the new CD from Clifford Hoad’s King Of The Sun’ and it is as good as anything in the KOTS back catalogue. Don’t make the mistake of pigeon holing Cliff with the one dimensional ‘just a drummer’ shtick either – for he is a multi-talented musician who sings the songs, write the songs, produces the songs – and still plays the drums like a man possessed. And the songs themselves ? Memorable slices of classic Aussie rock, in fact, one listen to ‘Rock Til Ya Die’ proves that in 2013, KOTS are still a rock n roll force to be reckoned with. Flying the loud n proud Aussie rock flag in the tradition of the Angels /Rose Tattoo etc, ’Rock Til Ya Die’ might just be candidate for best Aussie rock album of the year. Man, this album smokes! First thing you notice is that Cliff has a GREAT rock voice – and makes me wonder why he only sung lead on one tune of previous KOTS albums. Yes, his voice is similar to his brother’s, but in my books that is only a good thing, for each song still retains that distinctive KOTS sound. Straight out of the gate, the album opens with a ball tearer, ‘Fire On The Mountain’. Talks about rock anthem. Big catchy chorus, crunching riff and hooks aplenty. ‘Rockpile’ is another great tune, memorable chorus and big riffing ala John Brewster / Malcolm Young. That’s the good stuff folks! ‘Switchblade Knife’ sees the momentum continued, with Cliff demonstrating his appealingly rich vocal range on this one, projecting his voice a bit further out on another hard rockin’ tune. Lots to like here. ‘Geronimo’ could be the song of the album though for mine. A song writer who can paint a lyrical picture in the listeners head is also a great story teller. Not all song writers have that skill. Ian Hunter has it spades, and as evidenced here, Cliff Hoad has it too. In fact ‘Geronimo’ would sit neatly on Hunter’s recent highly acclaimed album ‘When I’m President’. (which I reviewed here). High praise – but justly deserved. In fact, all eleven tunes on this album are blue ribbon quality, and I find it hard to highlight individual tunes when all are top shelf. In summary, ‘Rock Til Ya Die’ does not disappoint, and scores an emphatic 10 out of 10 from Cowboy Col. Kings Of The Sun are back – and with ‘Rock Til Ya Die’, show all and sundry that they mean business! Crank it up ! Mucho recommended. Check it out here - ROCKBRAT

I’m really delighted to have received the new Kings of the Sun album “Rock Til Ya Die” in advance of its release; at a date still to be confirmed. The line-up may have changed with former lead singer Jeff Hoad no longer being in the band, but Clifford Hoad has done an excellent job taking over on lead vocals as well as retaining the drummer’s seat. The band promised to deliver “high voltage Aussie rock” and that is exactly what they’ve done. The album has a real classic, gutsy, no-nonsense rock n roll vibe.



I was a fan of Kings of the Sun in the late 80s, even before seeing them play The Kings Hall in Belfast when they supported Kiss. Jump forward about 20 years to 2006/2007 and I found The Rich and Famous which featured the two Hoad brothers on MySpace. In fact, for a long time “Stand Back” by the latter band was my profile song on MySpace (for those who remember those days!!). In 2010, Clifford Hoad was the first person I ever interviewed for Rock Radio NI (http://www.rockradioni.co.uk/interviews/662-clifford-hoad-kings-of-the-sun-interview.html). Now, in 2013 we finally we get the first new material from Kings of the Sun since 1993 and indeed the first new recording in any guise since “Stand Back..Prepare To Be Amazed” in 2007.
The album was recorded in March 2013 with Clifford on vocals and drums, Quentin Elliott (a member of the band in the late 90s) on lead guitar, Dave Talon (from Rollerball) on rhythm guitar and Govinda Doyle (who engineered and produced the album) on bass. An official release date is still to be confirmed, but keep an eye on the internet for details. The album is released independently through Clifford Hoad Music but there has already been interest from European record labels.
There are 11 tracks on the album and it’s hard to pick favourites, but if forced I might go for “Fire On The Mountain”, “Rocktown”, “Geronimo”, “Reach for the Bottle (Mescal 109)” and the title track “Rock Til Ya Die”.
About “NI Rocks Recommends”
I'm not a reviewer but wanted to acknowledge some of the great music being submitted to Rock Radio NI by artists, promoters and labels both within and outside of N Ireland. That was the idea behind “NI Rocks Recommends”. I'm not giving marks or ratings, trying to categorise bands or compare artists. The albums that I’ll be recommending would be those I’d buy myself, so there’ll be a strong focus on “classic rock” sounds; however you wish to define that! What you won’t get is death metal or similar genres. Each to his own, but that ain’t what I choose to listen to!
To be honest I’m not really a big fan of the whole idea of “Reviews” as they’re simply one person’s opinion!! “NI Rocks Recommends” is therefore just my personal recommendation. Let's just say that if I've went to the bother of writing this, I think it's worth taking a listen to and you’ll be hearing it played on my shows on Rock Radio NI!! - Rock Radio NI (Northern Ireland)

Can't copy , have to go the link instead. - My Global Mind

PLEASE GO TO LINK INSTEAD - One of the great bands of the 80's, Kings Of The Sun is back with the release of Rock Till Ya Die , which is yielding excellent reviews of the Australian press and in this exclusive interview with Brazil, drummer and founder Clifford Hoad told us about the return, the band's plans for the future and the possibility of coming to play in Brazil.

Readers who do not know or do not remember the band the Kings Of The Sun , know that your Hard Rock Australian won the American charts in the late '80s, especially with the hits Serpent and Bottom Of My Heart you this first interview to Brazil you can know more this brilliant band that such humble employee is quoting: Legend returned . - ROCK ON STAGE (Brazil)

Australian rockers KINGS OF THE SUN return with their first new material in 20 years with the forthcoming release of Rock Til Ya Die and Rock Radio NI talked to singer/former drummer Clifford Hoad about the album, future plans among other topics. Here are a few excerpts from the chat:

Rock Radio NI: The big change is of course that you’ve taken over on lead vocals from your brother Jeff. Was that a bit daunting for you? Having heard the album, you’ll actually very similar in sound and I was really impressed.

Hoad: "Absolutely. I’ve never thrown myself into such deep water before. I’ll never see myself as a great vocalist but someone had to sing to keep it all going. It was a point of do or die! Brothers can sound similar though I have a different style to Jeff but the familiarity that you hear, was my voice in all the harmonies of all our past albums. Now it’s upfront, I don’t know how people will hear it."
Rock Radio NI: How healthy do you think the Australian rock scene is? Bands like AIRBOURNE, OCTOBER RAGE and LAURA WILDE seem to spend a lot of time in the USA playing.

Hoad: "People talk about a changing scene but I can remember the music biz has always been difficult, living on a wing and a prayer trying to get people to hear your music and like your show, its never been easy. We have all played countless gigs for nothing but the love of it, the music, is what keeps us going. We don’t have the population out here to sustain a band all year round, so I understand how bands can end up playing overseas more often, like Kings Of The Sun did in the early days. Aussies love their rock and always will, its a cycle that keeps revolving out here, rock n roll keeps re-inventing itself, eg the two bands you’ve just mentioned, which are both great young bands. I’ve met the two lads Joel and Ryan O’Keeffe from Airborne and have nothing but admiration for their perseverance and dedication to the Aussie sound. Some of their tracks are really kick arse and with a name like O’Keeffe, they must be carrying some spirit from the late Johnny O’Keefe, one of Australia’s first rock n rollers, hell yeah!"

Rock Radio NI: In the past few years you’d re-released the Kings Of The Sun album Resurrection as part of the Airborn Love Spirits CD and finally released the previously recorded and un-released Daddy Was a Hobo Man. Did those releases help confirm and re-establish the Kings of the Sun fanbase and pave the way to the recording of Rock Til Ya Die?

Hoad: "Yes, reuniting our back catalogue with all the old fans kinda gave it a rebirth. People just needed to be able to get the music after all these years Resurrecting the myth and legend of the band that was so instrumental in paving the way for the Australian sound overseas. People who saw and heard us hadn’t forgotten us in 20 years. This defiantly gave me the confidence to take the next step with the new album.

Read more at Rock Radio NI. - BRAVEWORDS

Radio Interview, please go to the link ! - PURPLE HAZE 88.3 SOUTHERN FM RADIO

Please go to the link. - PURPLE HAZE 88.3 SOUTHERN FM RADIO

This article (or to be more precise an e-mail on which this one is based) was originally intended for Fil & Franz only. But since I was asked to write something for the whole solodallas.com community and I accepted – here it is then. To you all (Krokus, anyone?).

The whole story began over 2 years ago. Killing time (Starfighters, anyone?) at work, I was reading one of my favourite music blogs. Author was talking in superlatives about one (for me then) unknown Aussie hard rock band called Kings of the Sun. I have never heard about them, so I checked their (old) website, which also had the KOTS Radio – a web player with all songs from their first 3 albums. I hit play and… was instantly hooked! It didn’t matter which song was on, I was tapping my feet within a few seconds (they passed the so-called “shit test”). No wonder that among the fans of the band are such heavyweights as Gene Simmons, Billy Gibbons, Steven Tyler, Eddie van Halen, Jon Bon Jovi and even O’Keeffe bros (Airbourne) were inspired by them.

Fast forward a few months and I was sitting in a pub in Surfers Paradise on Gold Coast, QLD – having a nice chat with the band’s founder Clifford Hoad and his family. I was in Sydney to see the last three gigs of Heaven’s Twenty Twelve reunion tour after 30 years and took advantage of an opportunity while down under to meet my idols.

Btw. Mark Evans was once a member of Heaven band as a rhythm guitarist (!). And if some of you wondered, yes, I met him – actually he introduced himself to me after Allan Fryer (Heaven’s singer; btw. he almost got a gig in AC/DC after Bon died), who was having a chat with Mark, called me to join them! Talk about a surreal event – same feelings as Fil meeting Angus or anybody else meeting his/her idol.

Did I mention that all these blokes are great guys, too?
But let’s get back to KOTS. At that time of me meeting Cliff, the Kings were disbanded and he had an accident with a broken jack and almost lost his finger (a falling car cut his finger badly). However, since then he managed to recover, resurrected his band and wrote and recorded an amazing new album called “Rock Til Ya Die” which was released last September and heralded as “the best hard rock record coming out of Australia in the last 25 years” and “album of the year 2013.” I strongly recommend it to every Aussie rock fan – check it out and you will hear for yourself (yes, this is a shameless plug)!

Fast forward to 2014 and Kings of the Sun won a voting competition and got a 45-min slot to open the Friday string of gigs at Sweden Rock Festival 2014.

The TSR pedal that was purchased for the band was delivered to Sweden in advance, so it could be used during the rehearsals and guys had some time to get familiar with its features and capabilities.

Below, you can see some photos from the soundcheck.
As you can see on the picture, the final setup of the pedals that Q used was a TSR and a custom-made wah-wah pedal (and a tuner). He usually uses more pedals, but as he personally told me, while we had a chance to chat during the soundcheck, he was going to keep it simple for the gig. Rock ‘n’ roll – he should know better as an Australian.

Q’s main axe is a custom-made Taipan loaded with Mick Brierley’s hand-wound PAF pickups. The other one that he plays is also a custom-made Mongrel guitar loaded with the hand-wound B-90 pups (Mick Brierley’s take on a P-90 pickup in humbucker size). Both guitars were made by Ray Carlton. Australian guitars, Australian pickups.

Dave Talon, band’s rhythm guitarist, plays his beloved Ibanez Destroyers and also a Gibson Explorer.

Both plugged their axes into the Festival’s backline of amps. Q into a Marshall JCM2000 (with “too many knobs” as he remarked) and Dave into a JCM900.

The TSR was turned on for the whole gig. I had a chance to hear when Q turned it off and on during the soundcheck and I would describe it as getting from “clean to mean.”

When I later asked Q what his settings were like, his reply was:

“Just a Mal cleanish bite with a touch of gain, then schaffed the rep ON.”
I think he might have invented a new term: “to schaff the replica on.” What do you think Mr. Schaffer?

He also added: “I can’t wait to try it with my other amps.” Those are: Metropoulos 10,000 series, a couple of Sligo amps and a Marshall 2203 if I remember correctly. Talk about tone heaven.

Now, let’s get down to business.
Here is the official video made by the Festival with an opening track of the KOTS show called Rockpile. I must say, that the sound of it doesn’t do a justice to the real thing I was listening to live. It was effin’ awesome and 45 min they got went really quick.
P.S.: There are more articles in the works and also a new section that should be introduced this summer. Stay tuned!

P.P.S.: Support your favourite bands. Go and see them live, buy their music and merchandise, because that’s the only way they can keep going.

…and remember: “ROCK TIL YA DIE!” - SOLO DALLAS

There was a time in the late 80’s and early 90’s when Kings Of The Sun – the band formed by Brisbane native Clifford Hoad in Sydney, and fronted by his younger brother Jeffrey – almost crossed over into the big league in America.
They came very close – near hit singles Bottom Of My Heart, Serpentine, Drop the Gun and Black Leather (complete with raunchy video clip) all remain great examples of their unique style, combining U.S. arena hugeness with Aussie pub grit and in-your-facedness, and are still well loved and remembered.

After four albums, Kings Of The Sun realised the music industry was trending in a different direction, and the Hoad brothers let the band go, releasing three albums in the next few years as The Rich And Famous, exploring different musical styles but still rooted in their distinctive sibling chemistry and love of rock n’ roll.

Fast forward to 2013 and Kings Of The Sun are back – albeit in a modified form. Jeffrey has opted out of the music business altogether, but rock burns hot in Clifford Hoad’s heart, and after auditioning a stack of singers, he opted to take over the microphone himself whilst remaining on the drum stool.

While Clifford’s vocals don’t boast Jeffrey’s raw hair metal sexuality, they bring an authentic blues rock groove to the band, and the new album – Rock Til Ya Die – is a fantastic record which rocks hard from start to finish, and rated #4 on this writer’s end of year best albums list.

Hoad has relaunched Kings Of The Sun – the band whose famous logo was based on the Australian Army badge first used in 1902 – with the clarion call to ‘keep Aussie rock alive’, and it’s a phrase which he repeats a few times through our half hour interview, and a theme which runs strong within him.

For instance, a discussion about a recent Buffalo reunion show leads him to describe singer Dave Tice as “one of my favourite rock singers out there – keeping Aussie rock alive… [he has] the voice of a young man!”

And of the news that this interviewer’s six year old daughter was digging on the new tunes, “when you told me your little daughter was rocking to it, I thought I’d made the right move somewhere!”

This is Clifford Hoad 2013 – a man who is legitimately excited at being back in the driver’s seat of the band he loves, and is eager to take it to the world, even if the music industry and the way music is consumed by the fans has changed dramatically since his last record.

More on that later – first, we need to know if Clifford was mindful that the new Kings Of The Sun wasn’t going to be just a rehash of past glories.

“Oh absolutely,” he states emphatically. “I wanted to make an album that encumbered everything I’ve ever learnt over the years, including the little sojourn of the band Jeff & I were in called The Rich And Famous, where we took a departure from Kings Of The Sun and we were a little more alternative, a little more punky, a little more uptempo.

“After that,” he continues, “in the decision for this album, I wanted to make a classic rock album from my memory – like when I first heard [AC/DC’s] Highway To Hell. It took it’s time, it just sat in the corner and ROCKED, and you just went with it. That’s a magic that’s very hard to get to without boring people to tears, because it’s simplicity, but it also has something which draws you in.

“I think over the years, with the four albums we made with KOTS we hit the nail on the head a few times, and rather than repeat yourselves – like, you do your first album, then with your second album artists get scared to repeat the magic of the first, and then the third one comes along and it’s a confusion… unless you go triple platinum, and then you just follow the same method! But when your albums don’t do that great, you’re trying to find ways to find somewhere to go.

“But I always knew where to go with this album – I wanted to come back, and there was never a thought about whether it was gonna be successful or not, it was about what I wanted to hear, and what I wanted the band to sound like, and about the nature of the guys in the band – I knew how they played and I just wanted to put it all together in a great big, ahhh… soup, and have it murky and sounding like a live band on CD, without the rush and the anxiety of live – and I got that.

“So that was the first thing in my mind, to take my time with it all. As a drummer, I sat down with it and when we were rehearsing I rehearsed with a metronome – an old fashioned pendulum one. And I put a glass blender over the top of it, and I would just hook it up and watch it. Eddie Kramer, who did Zeppelin and Hendrix taught me that. Because I don’t like click tracks, which modern drummers usually follow recording digitally, and if you get out with the click track all hell breaks loose. So I wanted that consistent feeling but I also wanted it to be sort of swaying – and that’s what the metronome gave me, ‘cos I played a lot of metronome when I was a kid. So I actually played to the metronome, just watching it and remembering the words, as the band played – that was my guide, they didn’t really know it was on, but that was my guide, that pulled me through and gave the album it’s stability and its old fashioned feeling.”

Yes, Clifford has a lot to say – but rest assured he is never short of fascinating, and has the experience under his belt to justify any name dropping and that self confidence which some may misinterpret as arrogance.

I love an album that’s a grower – one which burrows inside upon repeated listens rather than something superfluous which loses your interest after a handful of listens. As Cliff has stated, he wanted to make an album which held the attention, and “took it’s time.” In the modern world of disposable downloads and instant gratification, it’s an old fashioned conceit to think you can make an album which listeners could assimilate with over time – but that he has succeeded is the real triumph of Rock til Ya Die.

On first listen Rock Til Ya Die sounds pretty good. Then second day you’ve got Rockpile and Switchblade Knife and Geronimo all spinning through your head – they have hooks that burrow deep. Who doesn’t love a record that can really build on your initial listen!

“Yep, I’m the same Shane,” says Hoad, “I’ve got two thousand albums and there’s certain albums I put on and keep going back to, and you wonder ‘what is the magic that’s holding you there?’ And really, it is just magic – it’s not necessarily something you can put into words – it’s either there or it isn’t. Everyone goes into making a record thinking it’s going to be great, but so many things can go wrong or right.

“So, I think I really went back into KOTS and got the best parts of it all and brought it back into today, and with all that I’ve learnt and all that I know now, and put it together as only someone with a lot of years of experience could do. ‘Cos when you’re young, you know, you’re in a bit of a rush, and you’re impressionable and you have other people around you telling you this and telling you that, but I actually had the luxury of the years of waiting around doing nothing, just dabbling with this and dabbling with that, to know what’s good – no different to, say, a doctor or a mechanic, who later in life just knows what to do. That’s the thing with rock music, well, any kind of music, really.”

Surprisingly, Hoad didn’t realise that his Kings Of The Sun comeback coincided with the 30th anniversary of the band’s formation.

“I had no idea – even until today.” He remarked. “You just enlightened me. Is that what it was?”

Yeah, Wikipedia says you formed the band in 1983…

“Yeah, wow – I didn’t know it was that time signature! It’s strange… my Mum’s into numerology and she’s made me aware of numbers and how they reoccur in your life…”

Track 2 on the album, Rockpile, is about bands that fall by the wayside, give up or get forgotten. Was the ‘Master Drummer’ afraid at any point in the past ten or fifteen years, that that might happen – or had happened – to KOTS?

“Well after we did our stint in America,” Hoad breathes deeply, “which went for 6 years on and off, and then we came home and played around a little bit and did a thing with Barnesy and here n’ there, and we felt like, because we hadn’t gone gold over there, and music had changed so much, we felt like we couldn’t continue with it…”

There’s a pause before he continues. “No, it had to stop where it stopped… and I’m kinda glad it did, because I was exhausted with it all.”

With that six years in the States, focussing on the much bigger American market, KOTS remained a cult band here at home rather than, perhaps, elevating to the level of a Jimmy Barnes or Noiseworks or something along those lines. In hindsight has that worked against the band as far as this regeneration is concerned?

“Mmmm…” he ponders a moment. “No, our decision to go to the States wasn’t made by us, we went to where we had interest. We had an English guy come out here and saw a couple of our last shows we were doing in Sydney, and he basically said ‘I wanna take you to The States’ and of course, we didn’t have much of a future out here. At the time we were playing music that was very, very different – you had bands like Eurogliders, bands were very reminiscent of new wave.

“So we were rocking, there was us and Heaven, a couple of other bands like Choirboys, The Angels. There were only a couple of heavy bands – we were kinda looked on as dinosaurs back then – it’s quite funny! So when the opportunity came up to go to The States, we couldn’t get on the plane fast enough! Not to turn our backs on Australia, but when someone says ‘we’re gonna make a record’, we’re gonna go wherever we have to, to make that record, and it just so happened to be the USA.”

Clifford wrote all the lyrics and songs on the album, and did a great job too, successfully continuing the sound that the band was originally reknowned for. Back in those days, though, writing was far more collaborative.

“Of course Jeffrey was part of that,” says Hoad, “we wrote the songs, it was a 50-50 thing. This time I had to write the lot. I always helped Jeffrey with the lyrics – he might say ‘what do you think of this?’, and then I might come up with a guitar riff, we’d arrange things together – it was very Lennon/McCartney, Jagger/Richards, it was a very 50-50 thing down the road.

“We BOTH wrote the songs – there was no ‘I wrote this’ or ‘I wrote that’, or ‘I’m bringing in a song you might not like’ – every song was written together and we all had our fair share of interplay into each tune. That’s all of the KOTS albums, and all of the R&TF albums.

“I had some songs for this album, and I hadn’t made the decision I was actually gonna sing – I was still looking around for a singer. Which was very difficult for me, ‘cos I thought ‘how am I gonna replace my brother’s voice as the sound of KOTS?’, and I realised I’m gonna have to do it myself because I just couldn’t see anybody singing the lyrics I’d written, with any conviction. You’ve almost gotta write them yourself to get any conviction out of them, otherwise you sound a bit, I dunno, not real. Even though there’s plenty of people out there who sang covers, Elvis [for starters], but from where I was coming from, I didn’t really want to hand a whole bunch of lyrics over to someone who might interpret them differently…”

Hoad is right, of course – the likes of finding a Roger Daltrey or Glenn Hughes who can take someone else’s song and still deliver the emotion accurately and powerfully is highly unlikely.

“Well that’s why Elvis was so incredible,” he continues, “he used to be able to immerse himself in the emotion of every song, and you bought every single one no matter how corny it was. And me sounding similar to my brother – siblings sound the same – and all those years I’d sung harmonies on everything.

“If you listen back to KOTS, you’ll hear a lot of the time two voices – I’m up high in the background, ‘cos we love The Everly Brothers… so part of the old sound was me in the background singing, but nobody took any notice ‘cos I was up the back drumming. But when they finally heard my voice now, it’s slightly familiar to people but it’s actually singing the lead vocal.”

I suggest that it must have been weird for the first time in a 30 year career to sit down to write songs without his brother there to bounce ideas back n’ forth with.

“Oh it was,” he agrees, “I started out in music as a kid, I’ve been drumming since I was ten, and I started out playing music alone, and then Jeff picked up the guitar a bit later. I’d been going eight years, ten years and then he picked up the guitar in his teens, but he’d always been more-so a bit of a singer and entertainer. So to go back into my music on my own wasn’t a great shock… I can’t say I was looking forward to it, but it brought something out in me that I never knew I had, which is to dig deep, pull those riffs out, pull those words out, express myself musically in another arena which wasn’t just on the drums playing the songs he and I wrote.

“It’s fresh and new for me,” he continues excitedly. “I’m a new act in a sense – no-one’s heard me sing until now. I’m not jaded, I’m not sick of trying, I’m committed, and what people I think are hearing in the music is my enthusiasm for it to work, and that’s something you usually only have when you’re young – it’s strange coming from an older guy! If anything, I wanna give that impression that when you do get on, if you don’t give up on yourself you can still keep doing the things you did, when you’re older – you just have to have them mindset to do that. Once we get older we have all these distractions for why we can’t do this or do that, and they’re usually good reasons.

“And if it’s not you [being distracted by life], then its someone else that you know, you get caught up in their problems and their life – there’s always something there. But when you’re younger, you don’t care, you’ve just got those three or four guys around you who wanna be in a band and you can all live together and live out of a suitcase, and there’d [only] be a mars bar and a frozen meat pie in the fridge and no-one cares!”

Stepping from behind a drumkit to centre stage is pretty scary for anyone, but Clifford has handled it in his stride and seems gregariously confident during our time talking. Jeffrey’s long blonde haired rock god persona through the 80’s and 90’s will be well remembered by any who saw them, so perhaps there is a confidence and extroversion that runs through the whole Hoad family? Clifford is not so confident, suddenly.

“The family?” laughs Hoad quietly, “Ummm, haha… I think the opposite to extroverted is shy, and for me to see the family as being extroverted – that side of us…

“My sister’s similar, it comes from my Mum. She’s very, very flamboyant and that side of us comes from there, but my father is very, very quiet and to himself – and we have that side to us as well, where we’re almost, like, reluctant [to do anything]

“There’s times when you have to go out on stage,” he finally confesses, “and you really don’t feel like it, and you’d go ‘Oh my God – we’ve gotta go out there!’ and Jeff and I would look at each other and we’d go ‘Ahhh… fuck it – we’re on’,” he laughs again, “and the other side would kick in. But that’s rock n’ roll – I think that’s for a lot of performers, you know.”

Hoad has surrounded himself with tried and tested players for the Rock Til Ya Die album. There’s Govinda Doyle who produced the last Roch & The Famous record and reprises that role here as well as playing bass. Lead guitarist Quentin Elliot played in the last incarnation of Kings Of The Sun. Rhythm guitarist Dave Talon is another Brisbane native well known for several albums with Rollerball. Despite these connections, Hoad says they were all chosen for their sound rather than any friendly allegiance.

“It wasn’t so much people that I could rely on,” he explains, “I wasn’t so sure I was relying on myself at the time! But I knew that they had the organic sound that I was after. They weren’t caught up in fashion so much, as a lot of guitar players that I knew.

“Dave, who I’d always admired through his work with Rollerball, he just had this rambling freedom in his playing that was similar to my brother’s.

“Quentin is such an unusual guitar player and his lead had never been heard – he’d never been recorded, and it got to the stage where I felt like I had to step in and say ‘man, you gotta get recorded – I’ve got just the songs for you to be showcased on. Come up, I’m gonna play ’em to you, and see what you think.’ And he came up here and visited his Dad’s – ‘cos he lives in Melbourne – and he came round and I showed him basically what was going on on acoustic guiutar and he’s just got the touch… he almost sounds, I told him on the phone just before, ‘you remind me almost of a new Angus’ – he’s got lots of other elements in his playing too, but his touch and his sound, he just reminds me of Angus, even though he doesn’t really try to be like him. He’s a different player altogether, but I just hear his bends like Angus, and he just goes for [it], takes it to the edge and pulls it back a bit.”

Which brings us to the elephants in the room – firstly, with the record sounding so huge and cohesive, the songs so worthy to stand next to the band’s back catalogue, will Kings Of The Sun play live? They have since announced a Melbourne date – 22nd February at Cherry Bar – but Clifford at this stage was less committal and instead drifted headlong into the second elephant… his brother’s absence not only from the band but also the music business.

“I can only think positive things [about how the songs will sound live] from the overwhelming reception that we’ve had. When Dave went back to Switzerland – ‘cos he lives over there, and we had a two week window to record the album – I said ‘man, I’ll see you when I see you, ‘cos I don’t know what’s gonna happen here, people are either gonna love it or they’re gonna hate it!’

“Because [KOTS] isn’t what in people’s memory it should be. But it could never be that – because that was twenty years ago. Different people, different relationships. Jeff & myself – parting of the ways. Things happen, like Lennon & McCartney – it just happens to people. You spend so much of your life pushing for a certain ideal, and then when it doesn’t happen as you expected it to happen, you share each other’s disappointment. It gets to the point where you’re looking at each other going ‘God, let’s see how we go on our own’. And that’s what happened to me.

“I possibly needed it a little more than my bro,” he admits, a tinge of sadness in his voice. Sadness for his brother perhaps, or for having to plough ahead alone, but he’s not about to dwell on the past for long and his voice peps up again almost instantly, “even though I don’t like speaking for him. I needed to get out there and quench this insatiable desire to play again, and I had so much more to say as a musician, and the album was the only way I could say it.

“And I’ve obviously touched a lot of people who had the same sentiment, saying ‘where’s that great old sound gone that we all know and love?’ It’s such a sound that I think [only] us Australians really, really know – however I think people overseas are starting to get it now. Not overdone, not oversaturated, it’s just the sound that this country produces, and I wanted to really get that down. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I wanted an album that – as you were saying – lured you in, rather than an album that came in and busts your ear drums apart and you got sick of it after the fourth listen.”

Not wanting to labour the point, but I would be remiss if I didn’t ask Cliff why, in his opinion, Jeffrey no longer wants to be involved in music.

“Ahh Shane,” he sighs, a glimmer of that sadness showing through the cracks briefly, “as I said to the guys, it’s too… ahhhh… it’s too complicated and too long a story for me to tell. He’s his own man and he has his own reasons for stopping at this point, but ummm… he loves his music and… I’m sure he will revisit it, and his own talent and ability, it’s just… [it will have to be] when he wants to. I don’t know.

“As I said to the lads from Triple R the other night, that’s something I cannot answer, and… ahhhhh… I can just hope he doesn’t completely turn his back on his own talent and ability – because he is such a talent. And I decided – look at the lyrics in Rockpile – never to do that.

“Even though I screwed round for a lot of years, not knowing what I wanted to do, but I ALWAYS had my drums, I always stayed in this dream world of rock. You know, I taught myself the saxophone for a few years and I was in a band playing hand drums – I kept it going in different arenas, but I always longed for getting the big kit back out. The NEW kit… that’s the old kit, the KOTS kit, the one on the cover of Rock Til You Die – I bought that in America. And I repainted it all by hand, to have it re-come back to life. I dunno how I hung onto it for all those years but it’s been in cases for twenty years – I pulled it out, repainted it all by hand, gave it a new feeling and recorded it properly with the ingenuity of Govinda Doyle, who loves classic old Ludwig drums – the Bonham sound, Carmine Appice… all the old classic recordings had Ludwigs on ’em. And he recorded them really hollow and loose, like they should be sounding – there was no dampening – he’s got his techniques… and to top it off he’s just the most sensational bass player.

“Govinda, he just locked into my – because he plays drums as well – he just locked into my feel and just glued the whole thing together and what you hear is what you hear: it’s fat! I was so sick and tired of not hearing any bottom end, and now there’s plenty of it on there. It’s a matter of getting the bottom end right with the bass drum, if you’re gonna have a dampened sort of clicky bass drum, you’ve gotta have the bass below that. But on my album the bass drum’s below and the bass is above that, sort of like a layer cake.” He chuckles at his allusion, “a layer cake, yeah!”

Is the door open for Jeffrey Hoad to rejoin Kings Of The Sun if he wanted to?

“Ummm, well, what’s the point now? What’s the point? I’m not gonna say… For me, I would say that we’ve done our time. More so, from his point of view – I think he has to go make his own statement [in another band], I really do. I think our time of being… I never say never, but I feel he has to go and discover himself, and not have me there going ‘do this and do that’, and ‘maybe we should and maybe we shouldn’t’. He needs to have his independence, and whether he pursues that, I don’t know – I can’t even think in those terms now, this is all so new for me. It’s not as if I’m going ‘oh, sounding great’… I don’t know how… it’s too early days for me to answer that properly Shane…”

There’s obviously a lot of love between the brothers Hoad, and while Clifford doesn’t appear to be avoiding these questions deliberately, he simply doesn’t feel he can answer for them. In fact the next day he contacted me to say that the answer to this last question “actually should have been NO. I just don’t want anybody getting any false hopes either! I’m very happy with my present band & it’s accomplishments & want to move forward into the future with all due respect for the past & the old band & it’s great history.”

For whatever reason, Clifford Hoad is Kings Of The Sun now, and Jeffrey – who was given a 12 month suspended sentence in the Brisbane Supreme Court in October 2011 for growing marijuana in his Gold Coast home – is no longer part of the equation.

Moving on, it’s time to discuss the inspiration for the magnificent and uniquely Australian cover art for Rock Til Ya Die.

“Well, I have to say that a lot of things inspired that.” He says effusively, “The artist, Dean Freeze who created [the cover], [took] our love of vinyl, and those old Seventies albums that you could fold out and as you listened to the music you could just lose yourself in the cover… all those great Roger Dean album covers for bands like Yes – you could go on forever! So I wanted something like that, and I told him my ideas, I had the drums, and the idea of the band being on the cover, and then I said ‘The Australian outback – make it look like a fantasy’, and he just came up with all of that in his own mind, and he just blew me out!

“He knew how to sell it to me – he made up a record cover… [then] went to my albums and pulled out five or six records and hid it at the back, and said ‘just go through your records’. So I went blink-blink-blink-blink-blink – and there he had it at the back, in record size, and that was it. I just went ‘this is it, that’s unreal!’”

Famously, in 1988 KOTS supported Guns n’ Roses – a show which ended with the band’s set cut short and Axl Rose having them evicted from the Sydney Entertainment Centre and then bagging the band out from the stage. I can’t resist asking what happened to prompt all that going down.

“Nothing happened backstage, so much.” Hoad shrugs, “It was what was suggested – or presented to them a day before. We had done an on-the-street interview, and I had come back saying they owed a lot to Rose Tattoo in their image and blah blah blah blah, and they should be more forward in saying [that] and giving praise to the guys that had inspired them. I didn’t think that was coming through, and I basically said something like, uh, they should mention that they got a lot of their image from Rose Tattoo – I basically said it to an Australian interviewer ‘cos I was upset with the Australians loving [G’n’R] and having the real thing out here [being ignored].

“You know, I love Angry, and I love Peter Wells, and all those guys – at the time I just felt terrible that we were revering a band that had come from The States when we basically had our own, REAL Rose Tattoo here, and they were being neglected. That’s what that was all about – I basically just said he should be basically ashamed at himself for not mentioning them, and it was too close to the bone, and he went crazy…

“Even at that time he had his own wardrobe and backstage area, the band was separate from him, [he was throwing] temper tantrums and all that. So I think we got four tracks in [to our set], he heard what had happened and he came out and had a guy pull the plug. I think it was [during] Drop The Gun from Full Frontal Attack, and we were halfway through that and all of a sudden it all went.. all the amps stopped and it all went quiet – all I could hear was the acoustic sound of my drums, it was really quite bizarre. It went from this thundering PA down to [makes quiet drum noises].

“I thought, I’d better just keep playing – I think that the guitars had all dropped out, and someone will fix the problem – but it never came back in, a roadie came up and said ‘you’re off, you’re off’… and we got backstage and he’d organised us to be escorted out to the back of the car, kicked out of the Entertainment Centre. And the rest is just history!”

We wrap up our long talk with a few tantalising hints for where 2014 might take Kings Of The Sun – a collaboration with Perth’s own Badpiper (“something like Long Way To The Top, with the bagpipes”) has been discussed. A national tour might eventuate. It all rests on how the album performs, and with reviews being consistently great – #4 album of 2013 in my opinion – it is definitely one every hard rock fan should have in their collection.

ROCK TIL YA DIE album review

https://www.facebook.com/CliffHoad.KINGS.OF.THE.SUN

www.kingsofthesunband.com - 100 PERCENT ROCK MAGAZINE

In 1988 I remember coming home from Friday nights out, switching on the TV and enjoying Raw Power, a great Rock video programme which showed bands old and new, AOR, Metal and everyone mentioned had huge amounts of hair! Ah, those were the days!
I discovered many bands on that show, but one of the ones that stands out in my mind is Kings Of The Sun, an Australian band who I never in a million years thought I’d get to see, and certainly not in Sweden!
Having watched the band and met the very wonderful, talented and charismatic drummer/singer Clifford Hoad and his family, I thought it only right that we have a catch up with him and a chat about the album ‘Rock Til You Die’, which was released in October.
You guys look like you have been having an absolute ball in Europe?

I tell you what; I didn’t think Europe could be this wonderful. Most of the time in the past when we were here, we were just rushed in and rushed out as bands do and I didn’t get to see anything. I was just inside motel rooms and stages, then gone. This has been a great opportunity to check everything out in a slower time.

Back when the first album came out in 1988 and you had two absolutely fantastic singles, you had a lot of success. What made you stop in 1996?

Well what happened was, during our third album RCA, which is the record label we were on, changed hands and was bought out by BMG. We were doing our third album for them and then during that album they got a new President and he wanted to change the face of the record company. So he started firing all the old bands. We had been on there for that period and we had no choice but to finish the album, (‘Resurrection’) which wasn’t released in the States but it was released in Australia. Then we had to go home, but by that stage music had changed so much. Rock was sort of a dirty word and then it turned into Grunge then Metal and the melodious Rock like we were...unless you were an established band like Aerosmith...we all sank. We had no choice but to go home, we came back to Australia and just started playing in Australia. At the end of about a year out there, Jeff (Hoad) and I were disheartened with it all and we had a break for a year or two. Then we resurfaced in a little project called The Rich And Famous, which we did three records with, and that took us up to about 2007; so we were still dabbling with music and still writing. There was a fourth Kings Of The Sun album that was never released called ‘Daddy Was A Hobo Man’ which we did when we came back from overseas. I only just put that out two or three years ago and it’s on our website. That’s a great album that never saw the light of day and I was going through my Mum’s boxes under the house and I found it. I dragged it out of the dust, cleaned the spiders webs off all these tapes and I recently just put it back out there because people had never heard it and I thought it needed to be heard. That is basically what happens, you know, because KOTS had done their utmost with the three albums and then when music changed to Hip Hop and God knows what else, we felt we couldn’t continue like a lot bands did. We went into hiding for a long time and then as fashions changed, things come back around and now people are just loving Rock again. It’s been wonderful to have people’s awareness.

So you reformed in 2010, why did Jeff decide not to do that?

I can’t answer for Jeff but he was probably as disillusioned as anyone could possibly be. He had given his all to music, just like I had, and we had only ever worked together as brothers; that’s always a volatile relationship but we were very, very close. I think it got to the point when nothing happened for us with TRAF, which was our second try; he just threw his hands in the air and went “I have had enough”. I said “well I’ve had enough too” but I went away and thought about it and I was a little bit more keen to get back out there and play my drums than he was to get back out on stage. I said “I want to do this” and he said “I don’t”...we had a few words and I said “I want to continue” and he went “good fuckin’ luck” ha-ha...
How has that been for you since you reformed? Have you only really been playing in Australia?

Yeah well I have had invites to go to the States and things like that, but I mean America is a very hard place to crack at the best of times and I figured we hadn’t done it back then with a record company and a great manager; Freddy DeMann who managed Madonna and Michael Jackson... But he didn’t really...I don’t think he knew how to manage a Rock band...let’s put it that way. So we eventually parted company with him. But he was fantastic and he got us onto the Kiss tour and a whole lot of things and if it wasn’t for DeMann, we would never have gotten over to The British Isles and done the gigs that we did in England, Ireland and Scotland and everywhere else. So everything happens for a reason and I’m back here. Sweden Rock Festival was like the start of the band bringing the old music and the new music back to the fans that saw us back then I guess.

When did Sweden Rock contact you?

There was talk about whether we wanted to go into this competition and I sort of said well okay. Then people started voting and I put a thing up on my Facebook page saying if anyone wants to vote for the band, do it now blah blah blah. And there were all these other bands and I didn’t think another thing of it...I thought “yeah well that’s not going to happen”. Then all of a sudden the votes started coming in and all the people started coming out of the woodwork and surprise surprise...they said you guys can come over if you want. We said “we would love to” and that was it, we were in. The organisers have an uncanny ability to uncover interesting bands from the past like John English and now he’s looking at bringing The Angels and Heaven out which are two Aussie bands which I know very well from back in the old days. So, I think it keeps it interesting. If he hadn’t put that up, we wouldn’t be here you know, or we would just be out there playing in Australia trying to get the groundswell up for this new album which was what we were doing before we came out.

How has the album been received so far?

Well it’s been received wonderfully as far as I am concerned because it was recorded in the vein of the classic sound. I wanted to make an album that was something out of...that had the feeling of the late 1970s and early 1980s. That’s a difficult thing to do because we now live in 2014 but I knew how to do it. I knew how to get the sounds and I had a great friend who helped me record the album and getting Dave Talon and Quentin Elliott in being the right guitar players for the sound I wanted; which was the old sound of KOTS...I wanted to get back to our classic sound. Eddie Kramer did our first albums so I learnt a hell of a lot of him; he did Kiss, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix...he went right back. He had something to do with The Beatles at one point. So I sort of knew how to pull it all together, I wrote the songs in about eighteen months. I had no intention of putting a live band together; I just wanted to make a great record. Then once I made the record, a couple of DJ’s – Neil Rogers and Jeff Jenkins – heard that I had brought an album out and after not hearing from KOTS for such a long time, they put it on and ‘Switchblade Knife’, one of the tracks off it, everyone just sort of jumped and went “this is fantastic - let’s see the band” and I went “good God...ha-ha...how am I going to do this?” Then other radio stations picked it up and then we got some great reviews by a couple of magazines. Hot Metal magazine claimed it was Number 1 and we got “Best Album of The Year Award” from them and we got Indie radio station Triple R saying it was the best Aussie Rock album to come out in twenty-five years. So when I heard that I thought all my efforts were not in vain. So with the strength that gave me, I went and did some shows down in Melbourne and that gave me the confidence to actually say yes to Sweden Rock. Because, of course, my brother used to do the singing and I used to the harmonies so it wasn’t that hard for me to start singing. I thought I didn’t want to get another singer in because no one could really replace Jeff, he was so flamboyant and such a fantastic presence on stage...I thought I am going to sing just out of respect for the sound of the band and maybe our old fans will accept the brother singing and I will try and sing and drum at the same time which is kinda unique. But that’s what I have been doing and people have been observing us pushing the kit up the front and it’s different; it’s sort of like Don Henley of the Eagles or I suppose even a Phil Collins sort of thing. People are loving it you know.

So you are in good company.

I had another drummer who was a friend of mine and had been a friend for a long time. He did some gigs with us in Australia, so occasionally, if I got him in, I could come out the front and do a little bit of a...you know get into the crowd and do that and that’s what I’d ideally like. But he couldn’t make it to Swedish Rock so I had to do it on my own and get it up the front and sing all the songs from behind the kit. It’s fantastic, its different but its...when you drum like me...and I am over the top, I am sort of an extreme drummer like Keith Moon...it’s hard to sing and play at the same time. If I just sort of drummed like a normal drummer I wouldn’t have any problems with it. So I have got to be ultra fit, so I have been running up and down the hills here and getting my lungs and my voice happening. That’s been good but it came as a shock, especially when I got to Sweden Rock, ha-ha. The old me came out which is like over the top drumming and then I realised I had to sing amongst it. Then like second or third song in, I went “hang on I am running out of steam here” and I have got all this time to go to finish the set. So I pulled back and then I tried to pace myself; I came out the front and said a couple of things and got my breath back then went back to the kit, ha-ha. But it’s all good...it’s all good.

Were you surprised at the reception that you got from people from all over the world as opposed to what it’s like in Australia?

Absolutely, because those people that I got a lot of interest from hadn’t even heard of us first time round. There were new fans who had just stumbled across the band as it was, so that for me was wonderful. Then the old fans, we were like a cult band with a cult following of people. I have got plenty of records myself at home and there’s a lot of bands in there that no one would know but that doesn’t mean that I don’t love them. They may not see the light of day but they mean the world to me. You don’t have to be one of the giant bands for people to love you...people just find you and love you and that’s the beauty of the internet now. They can search and they can put on the things that they might just accidentally stumble across; a lot of that has happened too. But this new album, it’s barely nine or ten months old now; we released it last September/October so it’s not even a year old and it’s still pretty fresh and exciting. With the wonderful response I have had to that, I have started to write some new songs hopefully to record a new album...definitely going to record another album because I have enjoyed so much making this last one. But I would love more than anything to come back over to the U.K. I have great memories of the Hammersmith Arena with Kiss, the Marquee Club, Edinburgh, Belfast, driving up the coast. I would love to see it again and I would love to run into the people that we meet all that time ago when we toured with Kiss.

Well, it all seems to be stacking up nicely for Cliff and the guys. Here’s hoping there’ll be enough interest for them to come back to the UK after such a long time. I’m sure they’d be pleased to see each and every person who turned out.
How has that been for you since you reformed? Have you only really been playing in Australia?

Yeah well I have had invites to go to the States and things like that, but I mean America is a very hard place to crack at the best of times and I figured we hadn’t done it back then with a record company and a great manager; Freddy DeMann who managed Madonna and Michael Jackson... But he didn’t really...I don’t think he knew how to manage a Rock band...let’s put it that way. So we eventually parted company with him. But he was fantastic and he got us onto the Kiss tour and a whole lot of things and if it wasn’t for DeMann, we would never have gotten over to The British Isles and done the gigs that we did in England, Ireland and Scotland and everywhere else. So everything happens for a reason and I’m back here. Sweden Rock Festival was like the start of the band bringing the old music and the new music back to the fans that saw us back then I guess.

When did Sweden Rock contact you?

There was talk about whether we wanted to go into this competition and I sort of said well okay. Then people started voting and I put a thing up on my Facebook page saying if anyone wants to vote for the band, do it now blah blah blah. And there were all these other bands and I didn’t think another thing of it...I thought “yeah well that’s not going to happen”. Then all of a sudden the votes started coming in and all the people started coming out of the woodwork and surprise surprise...they said you guys can come over if you want. We said “we would love to” and that was it, we were in. The organisers have an uncanny ability to uncover interesting bands from the past like John English and now he’s looking at bringing The Angels and Heaven out which are two Aussie bands which I know very well from back in the old days. So, I think it keeps it interesting. If he hadn’t put that up, we wouldn’t be here you know, or we would just be out there playing in Australia trying to get the groundswell up for this new album which was what we were doing before we came out.

How has the album been received so far?

Well it’s been received wonderfully as far as I am concerned because it was recorded in the vein of the classic sound. I wanted to make an album that was something out of...that had the feeling of the late 1970s and early 1980s. That’s a difficult thing to do because we now live in 2014 but I knew how to do it. I knew how to get the sounds and I had a great friend who helped me record the album and getting Dave Talon and Quentin Elliott in being the right guitar players for the sound I wanted; which was the old sound of KOTS...I wanted to get back to our classic sound. Eddie Kramer did our first albums so I learnt a hell of a lot of him; he did Kiss, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix...he went right back. He had something to do with The Beatles at one point. So I sort of knew how to pull it all together, I wrote the songs in about eighteen months. I had no intention of putting a live band together; I just wanted to make a great record. Then once I made the record, a couple of DJ’s – Neil Rogers and Jeff Jenkins – heard that I had brought an album out and after not hearing from KOTS for such a long time, they put it on and ‘Switchblade Knife’, one of the tracks off it, everyone just sort of jumped and went “this is fantastic - let’s see the band” and I went “good God...ha-ha...how am I going to do this?” Then other radio stations picked it up and then we got some great reviews by a couple of magazines. Hot Metal magazine claimed it was Number 1 and we got “Best Album of The Year Award” from them and we got Indie radio station Triple R saying it was the best Aussie Rock album to come out in twenty-five years. So when I heard that I thought all my efforts were not in vain. So with the strength that gave me, I went and did some shows down in Melbourne and that gave me the confidence to actually say yes to Sweden Rock. Because, of course, my brother used to do the singing and I used to the harmonies so it wasn’t that hard for me to start singing. I thought I didn’t want to get another singer in because no one could really replace Jeff, he was so flamboyant and such a fantastic presence on stage...I thought I am going to sing just out of respect for the sound of the band and maybe our old fans will accept the brother singing and I will try and sing and drum at the same time which is kinda unique. But that’s what I have been doing and people have been observing us pushing the kit up the front and it’s different; it’s sort of like Don Henley of the Eagles or I suppose even a Phil Collins sort of thing. People are loving it you know.

So you are in good company.

I had another drummer who was a friend of mine and had been a friend for a long time. He did some gigs with us in Australia, so occasionally, if I got him in, I could come out the front and do a little bit of a...you know get into the crowd and do that and that’s what I’d ideally like. But he couldn’t make it to Swedish Rock so I had to do it on my own and get it up the front and sing all the songs from behind the kit. It’s fantastic, its different but its...when you drum like me...and I am over the top, I am sort of an extreme drummer like Keith Moon...it’s hard to sing and play at the same time. If I just sort of drummed like a normal drummer I wouldn’t have any problems with it. So I have got to be ultra fit, so I have been running up and down the hills here and getting my lungs and my voice happening. That’s been good but it came as a shock, especially when I got to Sweden Rock, ha-ha. The old me came out which is like over the top drumming and then I realised I had to sing amongst it. Then like second or third song in, I went “hang on I am running out of steam here” and I have got all this time to go to finish the set. So I pulled back and then I tried to pace myself; I came out the front and said a couple of things and got my breath back then went back to the kit, ha-ha. But it’s all good...it’s all good.

Were you surprised at the reception that you got from people from all over the world as opposed to what it’s like in Australia?

Absolutely, because those people that I got a lot of interest from hadn’t even heard of us first time round. There were new fans who had just stumbled across the band as it was, so that for me was wonderful. Then the old fans, we were like a cult band with a cult following of people. I have got plenty of records myself at home and there’s a lot of bands in there that no one would know but that doesn’t mean that I don’t love them. They may not see the light of day but they mean the world to me. You don’t have to be one of the giant bands for people to love you...people just find you and love you and that’s the beauty of the internet now. They can search and they can put on the things that they might just accidentally stumble across; a lot of that has happened too. But this new album, it’s barely nine or ten months old now; we released it last September/October so it’s not even a year old and it’s still pretty fresh and exciting. With the wonderful response I have had to that, I have started to write some new songs hopefully to record a new album...definitely going to record another album because I have enjoyed so much making this last one. But I would love more than anything to come back over to the U.K. I have great memories of the Hammersmith Arena with Kiss, the Marquee Club, Edinburgh, Belfast, driving up the coast. I would love to see it again and I would love to run into the people that we meet all that time ago when we toured with Kiss.

Well, it all seems to be stacking up nicely for Cliff and the guys. Here’s hoping there’ll be enough interest for them to come back to the UK after such a long time. I’m sure they’d be pleased to see each and every person who turned out.
http://www.rocktopia.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5496%3Afireworks-magazine-online-65-interview-with-kings-of-the-sun&catid=903%3Afireworksmagazine&Itemid=474 - ROCKTOPIA by Sue Ashcroft

It's hard not to liken them to AC/DC in some ways, but they're so much more than that.

I remember watching Black Leather by Kings Of The Sun on Raw Power in the wee small hours of the morning back in the day and thinking what a great band they were. Vocalist Jeff Hoad was an awesome sex god of a front-man and his brother Clifford Hoad was one of the best drummers around. 'Rock Til Ya Die' is the latest release after a break of twenty years and now features Cliff Hoad, who is the only remaining original member, on drums and vocals.

A mix of down and dirty Rock songs and anthems, this album has been receiving critical acclaim around the globe. He may not be quite as polished as Jeff Hoad, but with his Bluesier and rasping delivery, Cliff Hoad has this album sewn up. He has, quite rightly, re-titled the band Clifford Hoad's Kings Of The Sun and has assembled some great musicians for the album in guitarist Quentin Elliott, rhythm guitarist Dave Talon and bass player/producer Govinda Doyle.
It's hard not to liken them to AC/DC in some ways, but they're so much more than that. Songs like 'Reach For The Bottle' and 'Switchblade Knife' are towards the simpler Rock 'n' Roll style, but the opener 'Fire On The Mountain' just oozes class and 'Rock Pile' is made for dancing to. 'Heart's Ablaze' is epic from start to finish with the title track 'Rock Til Ya Die' being yet another classic with an awesome guitar solo from Elliott.

It may not be an album that you instantly warm to, but trust me – take the time, play it in the car a few times on a hot, sunny day, get to know the songs and you'll love it.

Sue Ashcroft
http://www.rocktopia.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5965%3Akings-of-the-sun-rock-til-ya-die&catid=910%3Acd-reviews&Itemid=485 - ROCKTOPIA by Sue Ashcroft

TRANSLATED IN ENGLISH (but not very good english)
Clifford Hoad is back ... But the fact is that this guy? Little background. Clifford Hoad founded KINGS OF THE SUN (www.kingsofthesunband.com) with his brother Jeff Hoad in 1982 in Sydney, Australia. The first two albums of the band, "Kings Of The Sun" (1988) and "Full Frontal Attack" (1990), were the cannons. Yet we are not so many of the kicking foot on "Serpentine", "Black Leather" or "Drop the Gun".
Still, at the time, Kots opened for GUNS N 'ROSES, ROSE TATTOO or THE SCREAMING JETS. With his successful Southern KINGS OF THE SUN is the same party to conquer the world and played with KISS in Europe, Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani or Lita Ford in the US ... anyway. After recording the third album "Resurrection" in 1993, yet Kots bow out. Worse, their fourth CD "Daddy Was A Hobo Man", recorded in 1997, only came out in 2011. The king had just died.
In 2003, Clifford Hoad and his brother did not give up and throw THE RICH & FAMOUS with which they will record between 2004 and 2011, four discs quite commendable ...

Today, the friend is back at the head of a project called Clifford's Hoad KINGS OF THE SUN (https://www.facebook.com/CliffHoad.KINGS.OF.THE.SUN). Under the ashes, still warm embers were waiting for a light blush breath again ... "Rock Til Ya Die" has been recorded this year with new musicians. Clifford wrote all texts. Hostilities begin with furibard "Fire On The Mountain". This ball head attack continues with "Rock Pile". How good it is to plunge into the world of Koz. The fan of the band I'm not into the unknown. Rhythmic fire, battery latch and riffs ... the recipe that made ​​the success of albums Clifford is the same: a Rock Hard muscled that honors the Australian Rock. But beware, Clifford's Hoad KINGS OF THE SUN is not a copy of AC / DC as AIRBOURNE, SIDEBURN or '77, for example. "Rock Til Ya Die" is much more varied. If "Rock Pile", "Rock Town" or "Switchblade Knife" eyeing the side of Young brothers (we never change ...), "Reach For The Bottle (Mescal 109)" with the solo or the Shadows " Hearts Ablaze "with its epic final to MOLLY HATCHET are highlights of Rock 'n' Roll ...

There are no weak songs on the album. Except maybe the title track, and again. Even the acoustic ballad "Tighten Your Grip" which ends "Rock Til Ya Die" is very cool. Ideal for soft finish ... This album should not be distributed in Europe ... then in France, not even in dreams. Only legal downloads on the web (amazon.fr) that give you access to the music of Clifford.
So the King is dead, Long live the King! - HARDFORCE

I STARTED writing this review after my beloved Cairns Taipans had suffered a loss at home to the Adelaide 36ers…so could Clifford Hoad and crew lift my ailing spirit (complemented by some amber ale??)

Of course Clifford could! After all, this is a seasoned performer and recording artist in which the DNA of Australian hard rock is embedded- in short… Clifford’s the man. From charting singles on the US Billboard Hot 100, supporting Guns N’ Roses at their prime to recruiting members of Ozzy Osbourne’s band, this is a man with a story to tell!

Razed on Rock as an album is a somewhat of a greatest hits of rock. Musically, the album is drawn using a canvas containing the Bon Scott fronted AC/DC at their gnarly best (supported by John Bonham behind the drum kit) then heavily contoured, painted and textured with rock music’s “best of the best” from 1968 to 1995. As far as I could tell Clifford wrote all the music and lyrics, as well as contributed vocals and drums. One talented fella!

“Black Dog” (ironic title!) starts the album with its Black Sabbath-esque guitars. Given this is the first song, Clifford’s Bonham inspired drumming is immediately apparent. “Braveheart” is a Deep Purple meets Janes Addiction inspired jam with a wonderful female vocal contribution. This is also the first song the female vocal appears throughout the album to great effect.

“Van Diemen’s Land” is the most interesting song on the album- From the creaking ships over Jon Lord (Deep Purple) style keyboard opening, to the Jack Bruce (Cream) Bass line. You’ll hear a Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins) rhythm guitar buzz all complimented by the excellent J. Mascis (of Dinosaur Jr infamy) style guitar outro- this is a track that covers a lot of rock n roll history!
There is a lot more detail that I could offer about the album, however I think you will catch my drift when I proclaim that Clifford has crafted a record that will appeal to the broad church that is rock music fandom. From the already mentioned 90’s influence, to 70’s Kiss (“Whips Me Like A Horse”) and the Paul Di’Anno fronted Iron Maiden (“Struck By Lightning”). The heroes of the 80‘s in Def Leppard and Bon Jovi (“Razed On Rock”), to the southern-flavoured Steve Earle and Lynyrd Skynyrd strains of “Shot Fired Out”… this is one of those albums that feels both familiar and comfortable but keeps you interested enough to warrant multiple listens.

The only issue with the album is that the Clifford’s vocals are a bit processed…but you get used to that through the album.

If you’re a fan of rock’n’roll this is highly recommended! - Hot Metal - Andrew MckaySmith

The Sun Still Shines Brightly Down Under.

When talking about bands from Australia it’s hard not to have AC/DC pop up in the conversation, but let’s just forget them for now. The tiny continent has quite the hard rock and metal selection aside from the famous “Acca Dacca”. Australia has much more to offer. Rose Tattoo have been around seemingly forever, although remain in the dark for many. I discovered heavy metallers Taberah through their Necromancer album. The Radio Sun provides some juicy melodic rock. And Vdelli? Well go and read my recent review (Vdelli – Out of the Sun Album Review). There are more, of course, but Kings of the Sun reach the furthest back in my feeble memory, remember we discounted AC/DC. Kings of the Sun are a part of my days of youth. Quite a decent part actually.

I fondly recall, as I sit down to write this, outplaying the Full Frontal Attack cassette in my first car. That 1990 released collection became a hit amongst my group of friends. But it was actually the previous album that initially attracted us, on the strength of the song “Serpentine”. We had heard it on the music television channels I imagine. That track still holds up very well today btw. I know, I just cranked it this morning while getting ready for work! Things moved into the CD age, cassettes got packed away, long forgotten dust collectors. To be honest, along with the cassettes I had all but forgotten Kings of the Sun as well.
Reunited with Kings of the Sun

In 2014, during my second wondrous Swedish adventure to what I stand as the greatest festival in the world, Sweden Rock, K.O.T.S. came flooding back to me. Not knowing much at all about them aside from their hailing from Australia, I highly anticipated their event. Kings of the Sun were opening a dismal, gloomy, rainy day #2 at the festival that amazingly gave way to sunshine and blue skies for their set. I wrote this about their SRF performance: “Kings of the Sun were the first band of the day. There were quite a few K.O.T.S. shirts around and I was surprised at the following that this Australian band had here in Sweden. With the drummer handling the vocals and proclaiming that Kings of the Sun brought the sun for us, their spirited songs, “Rockpile” and “Switchblade Knife” started off a great day of rock!”
Apparently, Kings of the Sun have continued to release throughout the years, although none of which I have any familiarity with. Now I have just recently received Razed on Rock from the band themselves for review. The album came out back in October, all self-done with no label. Now I know a little more about K.O.T.S. Like drummer Clifford Hoad is the main man. Drummer, singer, songwriter and producer. Younger brother Jeffrey Hoad originally handled lead vocals and guitars and the band moniker came from a classic Yul Brynner film. For 2013’s Rock Till Ya Die album, Clifford took on double duty as drummer and also lead vocalist. The band alongside Hoad this present day includes bassist Laurie Marlow, guitarist Rowie Riot and keys and guitars supplied by Shar Roxxon.
Kings of the Sun – Razed on Rock

The Razed on Rock album leads out with the title track. Right from the first few lines, it suggests that it’s an autobiography of sorts now that I know a little more of the history. “I was born and raised with drumsticks in my hands. My Mama and Pappa told me to rock this southern land.” And further on “They love to hate ya, love to hate ya, record companies tryin’ to rape ya”. This track seems to be plucked directly from their back catalog. Although a slower paced track, it’s got some beautiful heaviness to it and features the riff style that I recall from Kings of the Sun. It’s a real grower of a track, getting better with every spin.

Next up we find “Struck By Lightning”. This one is a real a real gem that has the foot tapping right off the hop. Definitely, contains everything that I recall of Kings of the Sun like the bombastic beat and tasty guitar solo. I really have to search out those first 2 CDs!

Now we switch pace a little. “Fallen Rockstar” is a real slower, ballad-ish affair and not in my usual listening wheelhouse at all. I prefer my blood pumping with my music and avoid anything ballady. Now that doesn’t mean that it’s a poor song by any means, just not my usual preference of fare. However, the more it pops up in rotation the more it embeds itself in my consciousness and has worked its way into a spot as a favorite.

The six and a half minutes of “Braveheart” follow in the same vein. Again, not a bad song, just not my flavor of ice cream. It does, however, begin to wane my attention span until the pace picks up part way through for a little jam style session. After returning to the starting tempo it ramps up again featuring some Deep Purple-ish keyboards. A real rollercoaster that again grows with repeated spins.

Things really hit the upswing again once again as we get into “Black Dog”. No, it’s not a cover of the song made famous by Led Zeppelin. A fantastic chugging groove, head nods, feet start to tap. This one epitome’s the definition of an earworm. This is certainly the “Serpentine” of Razed on Rock that I imagine everyone is looking for.

We uncover another epically lengthy composition now in the eight-plus minutes of “Van Diemen’s Land”. The sounds of waves crashing and a ship’s creaking greet the ears before the music slowly kicks in. I would believe the lyrical subject matter to concern the original name used by most Europeans for the island of Tasmania, now part of Australia. Enjoyable history lesson, but with its length, perhaps this one would be better served placed closer to the conclusion of Razed on Rock.

Hoad‘s vocals really sell this next track. I can just imagine fans clapping along with “Shot Fired Out” in a live setting. The acoustic foot stomping beginnings never let up throughout in what is, unfortunately, the shortest track. Without listening for a few days I found it rolling around in my head a couple of days later while at work. The sign of a great hook!

“Whips Me Like a Horse” rolls through at a pounding, almost breakneck pace. So much so that you don’t really comprehend that it’s nearly seven and a half minutes long!

Overall, Razed on Rock required a few spins before it really took a hold on me. Right out of the gates I liked the faster songs and they really grew on me with each rotation. But not being a large fan of slower fare I am rather surprised at how these style tracks like “Fallen Rockstar” and “Braveheart” have affected me. A fine effort from Hoad and company that I think will please Kings of the Sun fans. I know I am! Now to do some shopping!

BUY: Razed on Rock

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Cheers,

The Meister - The Meister from Decibel Geek