Markonee were formed in Bologna by guitar player Stefano Peresson (ex-Danger Zone) back in 1999 together with guitar player Carlo Bevilacqua. Adapting their band name from the Italian radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi their aim is to perform in the style Winger, Ratt, Warrant, Skid Row, Pink Cream 69, Firehouse and Gotthard. This is the band’s third album, and marks the recording debut of singer Alessio Trapella, who joined the band in 2011. I don’t think that they have the real hard edge of some of the bands they list, much more Warrant than Skid Row for example, but all in all this is an album that fans of American style hard rock will certainly enjoy. There is of course the obligatory power ballad, but it manages to stay just on the right side of being cheesy. The same can’t be said for “Rock City”. Now, anyone into hard rock knows that there is only one ‘Rock City’, and that is Detroit. So when one hears in the background what do the letters ‘B-O-L-O-G-N-A’ spell (I kid you not) all the listener wants to do is to curl up into a ball and ask them to stop.
It is a real shame, as this album contains some really good melodic hard rock numbers and I can see why they have been making such an impression on the live circuit where they have been performing with the likes of Winger, Gotthard, White Lion, The Sweet, Molly Hatchet, Tyketto, Soul Doctor, Y&T, L.A. Guns and House Of Shakira. This is definitely worthy of further investigation, so have a look at the website at www.markonee.com
