{"id":30929,"date":"2013-07-25T06:09:04","date_gmt":"2013-07-25T11:09:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=30929"},"modified":"2014-02-08T08:36:53","modified_gmt":"2014-02-08T13:36:53","slug":"markus-allen-christopher-hard-rock-101-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2013\/markus-allen-christopher-hard-rock-101-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Markus Allen Christopher | Hard Rock 101<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Derric Miller<\/span>
\n– Managing Editor —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"101\"The man behind Miss Crazy (and a few other bands, like Freakshow with Jeff LeBar, Tony Franklin and Frankie Banali), Markus Allen Christopher, is back at it with a solo effort aptly called Hard Rock 101<\/em>. If there\u2019s anyone producing no frills, straight up kick ass Hard Rock over the past decade, Christopher needs to lead or be a major part of that conversation. <\/p>\n

The Led Zeppelin-inspired \u201cI Want Love\u201d greets you at the onset, a thumping, groovy, sort of menacing composition. When he sings \u201cI want love \u2026 you\u2019re gonna give it to me,\u201d that\u2019s a slab of macho bravado coming your way. While simplistic, it\u2019s one of the catchiest songs on the release and a smart way to set things on fire. <\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t hear some Stone Temple Pilots nuances in \u201cMy Everything\u201d then you are not listening. The alternative sounding track is not something typical you\u2019d hear from his other projects, like Miss Crazy, but it lets the fans know that his vocal toolkit is diverse, and he can sing pretty much any style he damn well pleases. <\/p>\n

\u201cMoonchild\u201d is an acoustic rocker, and whether he\u2019s trying to or not, there\u2019s a Led Zeppelin energy to it again, although updated and not \u201cclassic\u201d based. Say a mellow Blackie Lawless, Great White and Zeppelin decided to write a song together, it\u2019d be \u201cMoonchild.\u201d <\/p>\n

By the time you hit \u201cHello\u201d you are waiting for the classic Miss Crazy sound, and lo and behold, here it is. \u201cHello\u201d is arena rock, a pumping anthem with a quirky, bubbly riff. <\/p>\n

Christopher goes back to the moodier edge on \u201cBaby Girl,\u201d and its leaden pace makes you wish for a heavier vibe, like \u201cHail Bruce Lee\u201d from the most recent Miss Crazy release. (That\u2019s probably unfair since that\u2019s perhaps the best Miss Crazy song ever, though.)<\/p>\n

The brief album wraps up on \u201cFire,\u201d a breakneck screamer that encompasses everything awesome about a Markus Allen Christopher composition. Screams, shredding vocals, anger and menace, all wrapped in a cocoon of sing-along melody. Perfect start, perfect end to Hard Rock 101<\/em>. <\/p>\n

The good news for fans is that Miss Crazy just inked a deal with HIGHVOLMUSIC. The label will re-release their prior album Grip<\/em> with a bonus track, and new music is on the way in September. Hard Rock 101<\/em> can hold you over until then, but look out for big things from Markus and the gang for the rest of 2013. <\/p>\n

Genre: Hard Rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nMarkus Allen Christopher \u2014 lead vocals, guitar, drums
\nGary Paavola \u2014 guitar, drums, vocals
\nJim Tourtillott \u2014 bass guitar, vocals<\/p>\n

Track listing:
\nI Want Love
\nMy Everything
\nMoonchild
\nOn My Knees
\nHello
\nBaby Girl
\nHiding From The Ghost
\nFire<\/p>\n

Online: www.facebook.com\/markusallenchristopher <\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8.2\/10 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Derric Miller – Managing Editor — The man behind Miss Crazy (and a few other bands, like Freakshow with Jeff LeBar, Tony Franklin and Frankie Banali), Markus Allen Christopher, is back at it with […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":30930,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8704],"tags":[336,1103,6761,334],"class_list":{"0":"post-30929","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2013","8":"tag-cd","9":"tag-hard-rock","10":"tag-miss-crazy","11":"tag-review"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}