The respected American metal vocalist Mark Boals has announced the forthcoming release of a 2xCD collection, ‘All The Best!’, that includes his work as both a solo artist and with his band Ring Of Fire. The musicians who have recorded with him on these projects over the years are Doug Aldrich, Tony MacAlpine, Jeff Kollman, Neil Citron, Vitalij Kuprij, Vinny Appice, Virgil Donati, Erik Norlander, Chris Brooks and Steve Weingart.
Says Boals: “I am very happy and proud to announce the release of this collection! It includes songs from my first solo album, which was only released in Japan and is very hard to find, with guitars by the great Doug Aldrich. My second solo album later turned into the band Ring Of Fire. The line-up was too good to work together on only one album and I wanted it to continue, which it then did for three more studio albums. With Tony MacAlpine and Virgil Donati working together, there was a chemistry of genius, and with the addition of Vitalij Kuprij, it made for a magnificent blend of magic!”
He continues: “On my ‘Edge Of The World’ solo album, I worked with several other great musicians and a hero of my childhood and the best hard rock drummer in history, Vinny Appice! When I listen to all those very high notes I had sung, and the incredible amount of virtuoso notes played per song, I sometimes surprise myself, hahaha! We were all pushing ourselves to new heights of excellence in those days. A lot of good memories come back when I listen to these songs, like riding motorcycles around LA with Tony MacAlpine and always ending up hanging out on the beach drinking beers until the wee hours. Or having Snoop Dogg in the next room of the studio we were recording in [Paramount], and having him listen to our music and telling me that I needed to smoke something with him, LOL, and it DID help, hahaha. Also, recording keyboards in a Beverly Hills mansion belonging to a famous movie star friend, with Vitalij Kuprij, and drinking rare whisky together after the sessions and talking all night.”
Concluding, he adds: “I really enjoyed making these albums and I hope you enjoy listening to them too! Wishing good times, good health, and happy listening to all!”
Mark Boals is one of the signature voices of neoclassical metal, which will come as no surprise to fans of the genre given that he fronted Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force from 1986, releasing the now legendary ‘Trilogy’ album that year, plus three further studio albums with the Swedish guitarist prior to leaving following the 2000 album ‘War To End All Wars’.
Boals released three solo albums: ‘Ignition’ (1998), ‘Ring Of Fire’ (2000) and ‘Edge Of The World’ (2002), before launching his band Ring Of Fire with Tony MacAlpine (and later George Bellas) on guitar, drummer Virgil Donati, bassist Philip Bynoe and Vitalij Kuprij on keyboards (Bellas was keyboardist on the first ROF album, ‘The Oracle’). The band released four albums and a Japanese live set.
Boals has recently released a melodic metal album via Frontiers under the name Shining Black (with guitarist Olaf Thorsen of Italian prog metallers Labyrinth) and has also recorded with another Italian act, Vision Divine.
A classically trained singer, Boals has also performed classical concerts with several orchestras as a solo Tenor and has occasionally recorded and performed opera arias on his albums and tours.
2xCD career collection
out 09.10.20
(Frontiers)
pre-order link
orcd.co/allthebest
includes the song
RING OF FIRE
audio
youtu.be/hCTP9OeKQk0
ALL THE BEST!
TRACKLISTING
CD1 – MARK BOALS
1 Jane
2 Broken Heart
3 I’m Sorry
4 My Turn
5 Find Our Way
6 Ring Of Fire
7 Death Row
8 Keeper Of The Flame
9 Alone
10 Battle Of The Titans
11 Betrayed
12 Lady Babylon
13 Between Two Mirrors
14 Through The Endless Night
15 Up To You
16 Garden Of Pain
CD2 – RING OF FIRE
1 Circle Of Time
2 The Oracle
3 Take Me Home
4 My Deja Vu
5 Blue Sky
6 Ghost Of America
7 Invisible Man
8 Lapse Of Reality
9 You Were There
10 Perfect World
11 Darkfall
12 Mother Russia
13 Land Of Frozen Tears
14 Our World
