Silver – Metal Express Radio

SILVER – Gold

September 26, 2005 Scott Jeslis

Silver is the collaborative force of vocalist Gary Barden (MSG, Statetrooper, Praying Mantis) and guitarist Michael Voss (Demon Drive, Casanova, Mad Max, ex-Bonfire). When Silver put out their debut, the self-titled Silver in 2001, most people probably assumed that this was a one-off studio collaboration. Well, four years later and the duo are releasing their fifth CD, entitled Gold. Seems it was only a matter of time before a band named Silver would put out a release named Gold. Just the thought may bring back memories of Yukon Cornelius, the miner in search of riches (i.e., Silver & Gold), from the 1964 Rankin-Bass Pop icon classic, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer. Michael Voss states, “The album entitled Gold reflects the 5th coming, and, of course, Gary’s birthday August 27th, 2005, which is his 50th. So it is a bit of a celebration.” Ironically, the title opens itself to a whole plethora of plays on words … a reviewer’s dream. For example, will Gold lead to rags or riches? One thing is certain, Gary Barden has one of the most distinct voices in Rock, and even at the age of 50, this guy can still sing. On the opening, rocking track, “Creep,” Gary sounds as strong as he did during his MSG days, which leads to the second highlight, the release’s mix and production. The sound is crisp, clear, undistorted, and all recorded instrumental and voice tracks have a nice distinct separation to them. The production on this album ranks up there with some of the best of music’s Pop icons (e.g., David Bowie, U2, Madonna, Dave Matthews Band, etc.). Don’t get scared off by the mention of some of those bands! The Production is as top notch as the aforementioned bands and not necessarily the same type of music. This CD’s …READ MORE

SILVER (Live)

October 29, 2004 Anne-Lene Rodahl

Silver is finally back in Norway after 5 gigs in the USA; playing the legendary CBGB and leaving New York with positive reviews. Silver started off with “Funeral Class One” from their White Diary album, definitely an exploding start! Seemed like Garage was filled to the rim with everything from their fans, their friends, and their congregation… just one big, happy family! For those who have seen Silver play bigger scenes like the Oya Festival in Oslo or Schools Out (mini festival with Alice Cooper, Turbonegro, and Brides Of Destruction) in Oslo Spectrum this summer, Silver in a small club like Garage is so much better. The tension in the club was electric, everyone was jumping and singing out of excitement. Silver delivered all of the favorite tunes from both of their official albums, and also their more unknown releases. Of course their T.V./Radio hits “Angels Calling” and “Intimate Cussing” were the highlights. It’s not often you can say that a band plays better live than on CD, but Silver is one of the exceptions! The only bad thing about this concert was that that it was just too Goddamn short! This is a band that looks good, plays well, and has the right image. Their singer, Blanco Summer, is the most charismatic blondie since Vince Neil (of Mötley Crüe) and the most “brat-like” punk since Johnny Rotten (of The Sex Pistols), so the future indeed looks bright for these five young guys. Silver also are nice Christian Church-goers, so they are truly “the candy coated irony” …

BRIDES OF DESTRUCION/SILVER (Live)

June 19, 2004 Per Olav Heimstad

On Friday, the 18th of June, Alice Cooper brought the Skool’s Out party to Oslo, Norway. He and the arrangers didn’t settle with one support act, but three. So Silver (N), Brides Of Destruction (USA), and Turbonegro (N) were given the task to make the night something extra before the rock and roll grandfather, Alice himself, entered the stage. SILVER Norwegian shoe-gazer rockers Silver started the Skool’s Out party with a 30-minute act, focusing on the material from their debut long-play album White Diary. To them, it must have been a blast being given this gig, prolonging an already successful half-year of album promoting in Norway. Existing for several years, they have been playing on quite a few stages all over Europe, but I doubt they were very familiar to concert halls the size of Oslo Spectrum. But the band, led by the charismatic Blanco Summer on vocals, performed their set as if they were fueled by experience. BRIDES OF DESTRUCTION What more people had come to hear was Brides Of Destruction. Not because their album Here Come The Brides has put the world on fire, but primarily because the Bride’s guitar player is Tracii Guns from L.A.Guns, and because Nikki Sixx from Motley Crue plays the bass. London LeGrand sings, and Scot Coogan beats the skins. Dressed like a mix between the stone age, the eighties, the nineties and 2004, the band entered the stage and kicked off their set with the first single track from their CD; “Shut The Fuck Up.” Their whole approach sounded at first a little reserved, but they tried as hard as they could, and good old Nikki and Co. proved at last, by running and jumping all around the stage, that they physically were in impressively good shape. Even though “Natural Born Killers” …READ MORE