THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “John Diva & The Rockets Of Love, the dynamic, hugely talented young rock ’n’ roll quintet who definitively bring a massive breath of fresh air to ’80s-style classic rock, have released their glorious second album American Amadeus.
John Diva & The Rockets Of Love’s debut album Mama Said Rock Is Dead, which crashed in to the German National Album Chart at number 24 in 2019, spawned a slew of triumphantly sold out headline tours all around Germany and Europe. What, therefore, could have been more natural than them adhering to exactly the same ’80s glam rock inspired recipe for success for their sophomore offering? But no. As John Diva, whose powerful, expressive vocals layer the band’s humorous lyrics with intelligence and onomatopoeic innuendo, points out: “That was never even an option for us. On the contrary: the challenge lies in growing, testing boundaries and inventing yourself over and over again on an artistic level. Stagnation means regression, so with ‘American Amadeus’ we are definitely going one step further.”
Guitarist Snake Rocket reflects that “Our major tour for Mama Said Rock Is Dead’has had a positive impact on us. Thanks to the thoroughly positive feedback for our first album and its great reception at concerts, we’re going out on a limb even more with American Amadeus: our hard songs are even harder and faster, our flashy pieces even flashier.”
Like its predecessor, American Amadeus is packed with killer, stick-in-your-head-for-days melodies, riffs and choruses, but the new songs go even further, cross referencing not only stalwarts such as Van Halen, Mötley Crüe or Def Leppard, but also ’70s rock legends like The Who, Kiss in their early years, and Black Sabbath. Never is this more evident than on the epic title track American Amadeus, which is brimming with pomp, pathos, glamour and decadence. This flair is also expressed in the accompanying video clip, which can only be described as opulent. “To us, American Amadeus is the perfect title track because it demonstrates the whole range of our stylistic repertoire” John Diva explains, continuing, “the song is glamorous, playfully electrifying and combines European high culture with American trash culture.”
