Cargo Records

II

The album also includes the song "This Gift" written and performed with Neal Schon as special guest on guitar.

Hardline was formed when brothers Johnny (vocals) and Joey (guitar) Gioeli, originally from the band Brunette, teamed up with Journey/Bad English guitarist Neal Schon. The original plan was for Neal to produce Hardline, but as he was having so much fun that he decided to join the band as soon as he left Bad English for the tensions arosen with John Waite. They immediately added established musicians Todd Jensen (David Lee Roth, Alice Cooper) on bass and Deen Castronovo (also coming from Bad English) on drums to the mix and the result was magnificent. They went on to record their debut album "Double Eclipse" for MCA in 1992 and then went on the tour circuit with such heavy hitters as Van Halen and Mr. Big. The first single from "Double Eclipse" was the song "Hot Cherie". While never popular in the mainstream, various radio stations worldwide started to play it and Hardline's fanbase started to grow. They released a video to MTV, but did not get much airplay. By that time grunge and alternative had already taken over and melodic rock was being pushed aside. Tension among band members, the record company and perhaps certain egos, got in the way of an immediate follow-up album, despite the band having written more than enough material. While Neal re-started his adventure with Journey in 1995 (again together with Deen Castronovo), Johnny stepped out of the music business eventually to return as Axel Rudi Pell's singer in 1998 on the album "Oceans Of Time". But years later Johnny and his brother Joey were ready to give it another go with Hardline after the call of Frontiers Records, with an all new line-up featuring famed drummer Bob Rock (Nelson, Vinnie Vincent's Invasion), lead guitarist Josh Ramos (The Storm, Two Fires), bassist Chris Maloney and keyboard player Michael T. Ross (Accomplice) and all new material. Of course the awesome result is Hardline "II" which was produced by veteran studio man Bob Burch. The album shows a new maturity and edge for Hardline combining powerful and immeditely recognizable hooks coming from the classic hard rock tradition of Whitesnake, Van Halen and - of course - Hardline with all new elements and sounds. This album marks the long awaited return of an hard rock master and creates a landmark for the years to come for the development of this music style ! The album also includes the song "This Gift" written and performed with Neal Schon as special guest on guitar.