Michael Flexig/The Voice of Zeno - Keeper Of The Flame (CD)

The great music mogul David Geffen, who spotted so many now-famous figures in the music world, said upon hearing Michael Flexig's voice that it was the best singer he had heard since Queen's Freddy Mercury. He has never heard a singer who is as good, as talented and as unique as Michael Flexig. Michael Flexig is the vocal figurehead of the band ZENO, which shook up international rock music in the mid-eighties. With high-class songs, their own unique music mix and a then new, unmistakable sound, ZENO achieved one of the best-paying record deals in the last 30 years globally - after an extraordinary bidding war between the world's most well-known premium brands such as EMI, Warner Bros., CBS and others David Geffen's Geffen Records (e.g. "Foreigner" or "Guns & Roses"). ZENO's Nucleus consisted of three young musicians from Hanover: guitarist Zeno Roth (younger brother of legendary guitarist Uli Jon Roth), bassist Ule W. Ritgen and vocalist Michael Flexig. After the release of their debut album "ZENO/Zeno" in 1986, which spent 3 months in the US Bilboard charts, tours in Europe and the US followed, including with bands such as Black Sabbath and Queen. Roth and Flexig have been working together again as a duo since the 1990s, after Ritgen had set up his own hard rock formation "Fair Warning".
The result was 3 more albums under the joint project name ZENO until 2005, as well as one more solo album each by Zeno Roth (2007) and Michael Flexig (2011). Zeno Roth died on February 5, 2018 as a result of a long, serious illness. On the occasion of the funeral service, which was organized by Zeno Roth's brother Uli Jon, the idea arose to perform some of Zeno Roth's songs live as part of Uli Jon Roth's 2019 world tour. Michael Flexig took part in it in Japan as a guest singer with overwhelming success.
In honor of his long-time friend and companion Zeno Roth, Michael Flexig - as the "voice of ZENO" - produced the present album "Keeper of the Flame". This album is packed with 19 songs and a playing time of almost 80 minutes and also contains some previously unreleased tracks. In Japan, the disc was released in a special edition on December 27, 2019 and immediately reached number 1 in Japanese hard rock / heavy metal CD sales for more than 2 weeks. The European edition of "Michael Flexig - The Voice of ZENO: Keeper of the Flame" differs from the Japanese in the selection of three songs, and the sequence also differs interestingly. Michael Flexig: “In ZENO we all pulled together and on an equal footing. I am grateful and proud to have contributed my part. The uniqueness of our music was and still is the fundamental focus of the entire adventure. It went all over the world and even after 35 years it still hasn't lost any of its radiance. With this album I would like to show the classic ZENO songs - for the first time in their original version: authentic, original, elementary... and yet with the sound of today! It's also a thank you to our friends who did the recordings with us and I credit everyone in the line-up by name. Let's all be brave torchbearers in a world of darkness!"
Uli Jon Roth: "Michael, thank you for keeping the mystical flame of my brother Zeno's great music alive - with your strong vocal charisma! These are some of the best rock songs ever written and they deserve to live on!" Ule W. Ritgen: "Keep it up, dear Michael! Don't let these songs fall into oblivion. Love, Ule".

01 Don't Count On Me
02 Good Game Bad Game
03 Far Away
04 Signs On The Sky
05 Don't Tell The Wind
06 Eastern Sun
07 A Little More Love
08 Love Will Live
09 Heat Of Emotion
10 Is It Love