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Cabana Blue 6:430:00/6:43
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Set In Stone 4:050:00/4:05
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Love For Rock 3:460:00/3:46
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The Town Lounge 4:040:00/4:04
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Motor City Electric 5:150:00/5:15
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Get It Around 3:020:00/3:02
“Classic rock solo artist John Vlasic is originally from Detroit, but currently lives and performs in Denver. Vlasic handles the vocals and guitars and he has various musicians performing the other instruments on the album. He has also produced the record and designed the artwork, and you know something, it still amazes me when an artist’s takes everything hands on for his craft and releases material, musically and visually that is better than some of the major label release bands and artists who release under par records with poor quality package, I mean as an artist, you have spent money making an album so you got an album and music to sell and your selling your art, so every effort possible should be made as an artist to sell yourself and by that going to the efforts of a decent package, at the end of the day, someone is going to be buying this, so you want it to be as attractive as possible, sure one could say it should be about the music, but every little helps to be a pro as poss and make your band stand out, and John Vlasic has done that with a simple but effective cover design and fold out sleeve with illustrations for each song, one of course could argue that its extra expense, but if you are going to record music, then do the whole package properly, rant over, and now over to the wonderful music this album offers. 'Love For Rock' cranks open with crispy melodic guitar riffs, this is a catchy song with a Ted Nugent, Billy Squire, Status Quo, Coney Hatch, strong 80's vibe and very electric. Vocally John sounds like a mix of Phil Lewis from L.A. Guns, Stephan Pearcy from Ratt and Ted Nugent. Next up is the fantastic stomping and fuzzy retro rock of 'The Town Lounge' which has a slight vintage blues rock groove a'la ZZ Top/Deep Purple/George Thorogood, I can imagine that this song would smoke in the live setting. 'Set In Stone' is a solid harder ditty that has a New York Dolls/Hanoi Rock vibe, it's a very strong song with a solid electric feel and one of my favourite tracks, the guitars are raw with a retro blues vibe. I love the whole vibe of this song and it is very catchy. 'Xxxcess' keeps the retro vibes high with an almost punk sleaze feel a'la L.A. Guns and The Ramones and has a little more guts and mood. 'The Endless Threat' kicks off with air raid sirens, followed by chunky rocking guitars, and we are off, the guitars purr in a similar vein to Joe Satriani, I love this song, it's very melodic and atmospheric and drives along with a slightly raspy retro punk/grungy feel whilst staying melodic, very good strong catchy track. 'Rave' adds diversity to the album and starts off as it says on the tin, not a track I care for, and feels a little strange smack bang in the middle and spoils the albums feel, although in fairness it has a pseudo 80's pop vibe a'la The Human League and hints of The Doors and a little Inxs, it’s ok. 'Into the Unknown' kicks off with cool guitars that are in a Ry Cooder kind of style, this is a massive song, almost progressive in style, very atmospheric in structure sometimes coming across like a John Carpenter movie soundtrack score, a powerful track and defo the albums best track, I love the whole feel of this one and the way it glides around your head, the vocals are crunchy and really carry the song, the guitars build into a fine storm of melodic power, yet have a subtle charm to them once again the explosive guitar work has a Joe Satriani/Gary Moore/Rory Gallagher vibe, just awesome. 'Cabana Blue' goes for the psychedelic retro vibe with cool 70's style synths and guitars, a little funked up again adding diversity to the album and coming over a little Bowie in style crossed with say George Clinton, Focus, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Nick Cave and Eric Broughton Band, another superb and very catchy track. 'Midnight's Ours' is a hooky melodic track with a cool moody electric vibe and last track 'North Star' once again goes for that retro psychedelic vibe and is a cracking strong and forceful number and is one of those songs you can get lost in. So there we have it music fans, there is so much to enjoy from this album, I am impressed. The great thing about this album is that it's a varied solid album that will please fans of all rock genres. I'm really excited about this artist as John Vlasic has delivered a strong unique album that holds up all the way through with very little to find fault with, it's sounds creative and full of energy, go on indulge yourselves. If you like your music with challenge and with thought provoking atmospheric rock and classic rock songs you can get lost in, then I am sure you will enjoy 'Love For Rock', the album is filled to the brim with fantastic well written, well produced and performed material that begs the question, why isn't John Vlasic signed? Nicky Baldrian Fireworks Magazine” - Nicky Baldrian
— Fireworks Magazine
“Here at My Global Mind we are all about keeping you guys informed about all of the major releases in the rock and metal genres, and as much as that stretches our time almost to breaking point we also try and make sure there is a constant stream of information about lesser known talent across the globe. As I was sifting through my latest pile of albums to be reviewed I was stopped by an album titled LOVE FOR ROCK by a guy named JOHN VLASIC. With a picture of a black Gibson guitar on the cover and the LOVE FOR ROCK title I was pretty much expecting a no-frills straight down the line rock record, and while Vlasic’s influences feel a little varied here, I got what I was expecting. Imagine a slightly rawer version of say the STEVE MILLER BAND jamming on AC/DC and SEX PISTOLS songs with members of MOTORHEAD while playing on a dirty beer-soaked stage in the very back of a dark and dingy bar on the sunset strip on garage band night…well that’s the vibe I get when listening to this album anyway. Vlasic is a pretty basic vocalist, but like all smart pure –rockers he plays to his strengths here and never seems out of his depth, though if you listen hard enough or it you can spot the certain moments where he is right on the line ability-wise. Vlasic is also in charge of the guitar work, and while the simplistic riffing works in this format I would have personally enjoyed a couple of really juicy solos, even if they had to be guest contributions or something along that line. The lyrics on LOVE FOR ROCK are an interesting talking point too… Songs like LOVE FOR ROCK, XXXESS and RAVE show the more typical side of dirty rock music, but on occasions like THE TOWN LOUNGE, CABANA BLUE and NORTH STAR, Vlasic flexes his songwriting chops further than he should be able to and comes up with some really well written gems. Occasionally this little album suffers from a bit of inconsistency and a lack of coherence from song to song, but as a show-piece for what sort of artist John Vlasic wants to be there is plenty here to like. Another couple of years of guitar playing will help where the lead breaks are concerned, and getting out there and seeing what works live will help with the songwriting cohesion and the settling of a more consistent style. That being said, I’m glad to have spent a few nights with LOVE FOR ROCK, and will definitely be looking forward to seeing what Vlasic does next.” - Zee Zee Dawson
“ROCK at its best! Are you tired of pansy rock bands and sell outs? Do you long for the day of classic rock- with hard riffs, great vocals and choruses you can sing along too? John Vlasic's first release will have these cravings satisfied. Nuanced, hard rocking and displaying a deft love for the 'real' rock of ages past.”
— Amazon.com