Hear the Desperate Cry of Johnny Gioeli visiting the Circus Of Rock
As previously reported here at Stargazed Magazine, Circus of Rock is a musical project started by Finnish drummer Mirka Rantanen (King Company, Thunderstone, Raskasta Joulua, Kotipelto, Warmen, Northern Kings, Revolution Renaissance) that involves singers from the likes of Amaranthe, Tyketto, Hardline, Nightwish, Leverage, and musicians from bands such as Stratovarius, Brother Firetribe, and Masterplan.
Frontiers Music Srl will release the Circus Of Rock debut album, “Come One, Come All” on August 6, 2021. The debut single, “Desperate Cry”, features Johnny Gioeli (Hardline, Axel Rudi Pell) on lead vocals and it can be heard in the music video below:
Rantanen explains, “‘Desperate Cry’ was called ‘Why’ at first, but when Johnny got it, he wanted to change the lyric a little bit and it became ‘Desperate Cry’. This was the first song that came together for the album. It is written by songwriter/guitarist Ade Manninen and as soon as I heard the demo of it, I was absolutely sure it would go to Johnny. It fits his voice perfectly. Unfortunately, Ade died of cancer May 9th and will not be able to see the release of the song or the entire album. The guy in the video is a “stunt guitarist” because Ade was no longer able to participate in the video shootings due to his health. But he’s in our memories now here and a few other songs he plays on. The song is about a relationship ending between two people and the pain involved with that, but after Ade’s death, the story took on a whole new meaning, at least for me.”
“My musical influences in making “Come One, Come All” come from a mix of artists I’ve been exposed to over the years. My own bands which I’ve been involved in and, of course, my own musical idols. In music, I love more than anything classic melodic hard rock and that shows on this album. I wanted to make the kind of music I could stand behind completely. The intention was just to have fun with musicians I admire and have everybody perform great songs,” says Rantanen. “As for the recording of the album, last summer we had all the songs and demos ready. I recorded the drums in early autumn and then everyone else did their part in different studios or at home during autumn and end of the year. Since the album has almost 40 musicians, it was a bit of a challenge to keep everything in order when it comes to sessions. Dozens of tracks could arrive to me on the same day. I worked closely with mixer Kimmo Ahola so that we both kept up to date with what was coming in, what had been transferred, etc. It was quite a job and I still have to tip my hat to Kimmo for putting this puzzle together,” continues Rantanen.
Confirmed singers and musicians appearing on the album include:
– Jarkko Ahola
– Rick Altzi (Masterplan)
– Kimmo Blom (Leverage)
– Johnny Gioeli (Hardline)
– Marco Hietala (ex-Nightwish)
– Erik Kraemer (Simulacrum)
– Mark Quee
– Antti Railio
– Pasi Rantanen (Thunderstone)
– Elize Ryd (Amaranthe)
– Tommi “Tuple” Salmela
– Riku Turunen
– Danny Vaughn (Tyketto)
