No relation hopefully to any irritating rap artist out there, this Austrian songstress could barely look any different, letting her long silky black hair hang over that amplifier on the sleeve pic.

Only a pure hard rock album of traditional late eighties portions stands to be expected and that is almost certainly what comes. 'Speeding on a Highway' sets that bar in place already- gritty trad metal that Saxon would have given their white grindy things to have written. A nice full-bodied chorus also has you in high anticipations of what follow-up track 'Action Girl' has on offer. A more Lita-like sound, the hookline hits in for as long and everything stays strong in the running with sharp solo widdling from guitarist Steve.

Ballad 'Long Lost Trace' breaks out into the ol' heavy bit for the chorus but seems not to come to the end one expects even though showing off some of Emina's finest singing performance. 'I am The Future' is fast and furious hard rock once again while acousticsville city is finally reached at fifth track 'Don't Need Words' with its mouthwatering Motley Crue/Warrant melody. 'Bitch', unlikely for its title is a relatively laid back track by tempo, beginning with a blues strumming base, crashing into driving grungy chords with the chorus and a succulent serving of o-oh-oh-ohhh! On the end.

'I'm Leaving' is a pop-friendly power ballad with a magnificent chorus part lasting an infinity including after the tune is long over., with more of that ultra-smooth stringmeistery from Steve for backdrop. While 'Carry Me' continues as is but softer and more soul-infested, 'True reason' rocks and rocks hard with a high octave climb then descends without tarnishing the melody as it would often manage to this way. 'That's Why I'm Screaming' is probably the most pogo-friendly track - another bold, trampolining rocker with a rippling chug line leading into Steve's fantastic chorus slide, one of the album's very best.

'Go to hell' ends on the same note she came in, no-messing-about heavy metal attitude with soaring vocals from start to ride-out..and she probably does the latter as a literal when done. Dizbusting hard rock, made female style, played with male angst and all round passion, 'Take #1' is the starting taste of another talented European musical wonder. Can't vouch for the lights, nor camera but certainly its all go for the 'Action!!!'.

A wrap indeed, at first take.

9/10

By Dave Attrill

RECOMMENED IF YOU LIKE: Doro, Lana Lane, Heart & Vixen.

http://www.metalliville.co.uk/bankup/htdocs/CD%20Folder/E-CDS.htm

Emina hails from Austria and is a band full of passion and enthusiasm, fronted by an attractive lass with a love of all things hard rock, who shares the name of her band. This cd features 11 tracks of music that can best be described as rock with a 70/80's attitude. The album kicks off with the number 'Speeding On A Highway', that briefly reminds me of what the UK band Magnum may sound like with a female singer (sorry Bob!). 'Long Lost Trace' has a bluesy vibe, but the sound is kept alive by some awesome guitar work. 'I Am The Future' showcases extremely well the powerful nature of Emina's vocals, while the heart wrenching ballad 'Don't Need Word's' pulls at the heart strings. And as I have said more than once before, I am a sucker for the odd power ballad. The middle portion of the album does in-fact slow down the pace somewhat, but this girl can sure cut it with the ballads most certainly...great stuff! To summarise, what we have here is an energetic sound with powerful awesome vocals, combined with a raw soul ripping sound offering up cutting edge rock and emotional ballads. This also makes a change from all the Gothic Symphonic stuff that is floating around at the moment. I continue to be amazed at all the good music that is out there, so if 43 minutes of female fronted hard rock floats your boat, then check this out by clicking here, and then think about getting this album. It is currently available digitally via iTunes etc, but it is scheduled to pick up a physical release in March!

8.75/10

Emina has powerful, emotionally charged vocals combined with a raw soul-ripping sound. Her voice is husky and strong yet sweet and mournfully tender. Her soulful singing sends chills down your spine and tears to your eyes for you can almost feel her heart being poured out into every song, especially in her song "I'm Leaving".

Emina showcases best on songs like "Speeding On A Highway" (for all you bikers out there) 
and "That's Why I'm Screaming" because of her powerful, tight, crisp vocals that create an aura of great intensity, unbelievable excitement and conviction.
Emina's music has high-powered rock recording with power ballads mixed in. An edgier collection of songs such as "Bitch" and "Go to Hell " have a harsher, harder edge (almost a Ann Wilson-like vocal feel) to them and show Emina's strong, opinionated side.

This only proves how versatile she can be and her band is definitely " ... a monster, when unleashed on stage". So when the daily grind has bled away your passion, Emina's Rock and Roll music is the antidote.

Source: http://www.indmusicmedia.com/

EMINA is a very young female rock singer from Austria who is making her debut with the CD ’Take #1’. Musically speaking it sounds a little heavier than for example the much praised ISSA on the FRONTIERS RECORDS label, but overall there are a lot of similarities, because the music of EMINA is mostly Melodic Rock/AOR based, with clear similarities to early PAT BENATAR and ROBIN BECK besides the already mentioned ISSA. I have to say that the first track on the album, the heavy “Speeding on a highway” impressed me less due to the somewhat too-much-out-of-control vocals of EMINA. Happily, this is completely corrected on the following track “Action girl”, which is a catchy Melodic Rocker with strong chorus and above all, quite impressive vocal melody lines of EMINA. It seems she is even better when going for the more calmer soul approach, such as can be heard during the slower “Long lost trace” where she shows she is a really great singer, because halfway this song when it gets rockier, she screams out really perfectly in a Classic Rock mood, recalling classic DARBY MILLS of HEADPINS. Shame the song doesn’t last longer, because it could even resemble a Classic 1970s Rocksong if it had been stretched with a long guitar solo and some more screams from EMINA. Slight let-down is the simple rocker “I am the future”, but following track “Don’t need words” shows the emotional ballad side of EMINA and this song really asks a lot of attention in the upper vocal range, but she succeeds definitely. “Bitch” is nothing that special, but this is gladly followed up by another strong Melodic Rockballad entitled “I’m leaving” that once again shows some really good vocals of EMINA. I am quite sure if this girl is coached by the right person, she is able to become a superrockstar in the future, because as already pointed out, during a couple of songs she sings really perfectly (“Long lost trace” and “I’m leaving”). The remaining 4 songs are “Carry me” (Gospel ish acoustic tingled ballad, vocals seem a little off here), “True reason” (catchy 80s type of early PAT BENATAR/DONNA CRISTY uptempo Melodic Poprock/AOR, could’ve been sung by an American female rocksinger, one of the strongest songs on the album, also featuring some nice guitar licks), “That’s why I’m screaming” (nice tough Melodic Hardrock, vocally a bit less interesting) and closing track “Go to hell” (good uptempo Melodic Rock piece). Concluded, EMINA delivers an interesting debut CD, which is not 100% perfect, but considering the fact she is still quite young, she can definitely learn in the coming years and I am positive to say that in the future she might even be able to release a very sensational record. For now, a good debut with a few really excellent tunes, but also some tracks that fall in the so-so category. If you’re starting to become interested, then please go to: www.luansa80.top and e-mail her at: office@emina-rock.com andoffice@sixtysixrecords.at

(Points: 8.2 out of 10)  

review by Gabor Kleinbloesem, Strutterzine

Emina is a female singer that has released an album filled with (hard) rock with some modern melodic influences. Her influences are Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and Deep Purple, but I must say that this is more a mixture of Alanis Morisette and Anouk (the Dutch girl that had a big hit with Nobody’s Wife) and on the hard parts a spoon of Lita Ford in the bottom. The production is very clear and fresh and the album sounds very good. I think this album is to up and down and therefore the grade stays at three. The good songs are really good ones, but there’s couple of average ones as well that don’t work for me. The album opens up with the great melodic Speeding On A Highway with rich melodies and good hooks. Emina has a great emotional voice and she gives prove to that on the lovely ballad Don’t Need Words. The groovy Bitch is a weak one, here she wants to sound like Alanis, but don’t manage to do that. The power ballad I’m Leaving is much better and here her voice comes to the right again, the chorus is a hit. A solid album with some highlights and a girl with a strong voice. Too bad that couple of songs fails of the frame, but still worth checking out if your into rough female fronted (hard) rock.

 Album - hard rock 

Emina is a female rock singer who has formed her own band and released this, her debut album.  Her biography on her website is fairly vague – she moved to Europe (from somewhere unspecified, but presumably the USA as her home town was into folk and line dance).  So really there’s not a lot that can be said about who Emina is.  What can be talked about though is her music, which is great rock music.

Whereas many female singers in the rock and metal scene at the moment go in for a more operatic vocal style, there are still some great singers who are sticking to the traditional rock style, and Emina is one of them. She has a powerful voice that is well suited to a classic heavy rock sound, and works very well on slower ballads too.  Emina’s music is heavy rock – no fancy sub-genres, just good old fashioned heavy rock – and it sounds great.

Brief comments on a few of the songs..

The album kicks off with “Speeding on a highway”.  Good solid guitar riffs plus powerful vocals give this song plenty of power and energy

“Carry me” is a ballad and gives Emina a chance to show off the emotional side to her voice.

“Bitch” is a slow more melodic song and the gentler music contrasts nicely with Emina’s voice which has a nice snarl to it in the chorus.  During the verses she softens her voice slightly and the music and vocals work nicely.  It’s a realy good song that shows some of the versatility in her voice.

“True reason” stands out for the guitar work which is really good with a nice solo.

Emina’s CD came to me in a pile of albums to listen to, and after a quick listen to them this one really jumped out as one that I needed to listen to more, so for the last day or two it’s been played heavily (and loudly), and I have to say this is a damn good album – it’s good solid rock music with some great vocals, and is an album I would definitely recommend to anyone who likes female vocals with their rock music.

Rating: 8.5/10

“Take #1″ is out now on SixtySix records

‘Take # 1′ is the new album from the Austrian hard rock band Emina who take their name from their lead singer. It is the follow-up to last year’s EP ‘I’m Leaving’.

What stuck me first during the opening track ‘Speeding On A Highway’ was the power of Emina’s voice and her impressive vocal range. Think Gwen Stefani but with more classical vocal training…Emina offers the full package of hard rock with a great singer and skillfully executed, catchy guitar tunes. There’s even a touch of groove/blues rock on here such as the guitars at the start of ‘Action Girl’ and the slow intro to the ballad ‘Long Lost Race’.

Then there’s the catchy, energetic rock tracks like ‘I Am The Future’ and ‘(That’s Why) I’m Screaming’ where the vocals work well in conjunction with some good guitar solos resulting in very enjoyable and memorable songs. Even the ballads on here are not without merit. Take ‘Carry Me’ for instance, the slower pace of the acoustic guitar adds more emphasis to Emina’s vocals proving that she is just as good at singing ballads as she is at fast and catchy hard rock.

Hard rock fans take note: Emina is no teenage, softly spoken girlie-rock, this is the real deal!

4/5

Die hübsche Frau, die mir – einen Amp umarmend- vom Cover entgegenblickt, lässt der bevorstehenden Hörsession schon einmal positiv entgegenblicken. Ob die Dame aus Österreich mit dem schönen Namen Emina aber auch mehr zu bieten hat als nur ein hübsches Gesicht, wird sich in der nächsten Dreiviertelstunde zeigen.

Kraftvoller Sound, erstklassige Musiker, markige Riffs, tolle und eingängige Melodielinien, bluesige und balladeske Töne und eine Hammerstimme sind die Attribute, die TAKE #1 auszeichnen. Hier sind beim besten Willen keine echten Schwachstellen auszumachen. Beeindruckend sind die durchweg gutklassigen und facettenreichen Kompositionen die Emina für ihr Debüt-Album zusammengetragen hat. Ihr mal kraftvoller, mal gefühlvoller und mit viel Seele dargebotener Gesang lässt den geneigten Hard Rock-Fan, der ein Faible für ausdrucksstarke weibliche Stimmen mitbringt, genüsslich mit der Zunge schnalzen.

Emina verfügt über eine formidable Röhre und veredelt damit ihre fast durchgängig erstklassigen Songs. Besonders gut zur Geltung kommt diese bei dem temporeichen Hard Rocker "Speeding on a Highway", den bluesigen Nummern"Long lost Trace" und "Bitch" sowie der hymnischen Power-Ballade "I’m leaving", die den Hörer umgehend nach dem nächstgelegenen Feuerzeug fingern lässt.

Ein wirklich starkes Debüt einer begnadeten Sängerin sowie talentierten Songwriterin. "Definitly more than just a pretty Face!!!"

Fazit: TAKE #1 bietet Female-Rock im Stil von Alannah Myles, Joan Jett, Melissa Etheridge, Lee Aaron und wie die Damen nicht alle heißen mögen, die schon seit längerer Zeit kein Bein mehr auf die Erde bekommen haben. Jedoch könnte es Emina tatsächlich gelingen, diesem Genre neues Leben einzuhauchen. Ihre powervolle und variable Stimme pusht die überwiegend im Hard Rock der Achtziger Jahre verwurzelten Songs locker über durchschnittliches Niveau. Aber auch bluesige Nummern und kommerziell angehauchte Balladen findet man auf diesem wirklich schönen Debütalbum wieder. Eine sehr facettenreiche erste Werkschau einer talentierten jungen Künstlerin also, die hoffnungsvoll in die Zukunft blicken lässt, was das Genre "Female Rock" angeht.
Anspieltipps:

"Speeding on a Highway", "Long lost Trace", "I am the Future", "Bitch", "I’m leaving".

Starke, weibliche Rockröhre aus Österreich. Classic Lady - Hardrock mit dezenten Biker-Allüren, sowie teilweise guten Songs.

Es geht mächtig ab mit dem Biker-Opener 'Speeding On A Highway'. Die Gitarren brüllen schön durch die Landschaft, da möchte man gerne mit dem Mofa auf der Route 66 cruisen. Ab und an anhalten, die Aussicht genießen und anschließend wieder mit 55 mph losbrausen. Wwrrooommm!

'Action Girl' dann leichter in der Härte, dafür lässig-melodiöser mit gutem Refrain. Es fehlen jedoch die letzten Kirschen auf der Sahne, will sagen: der Kick bleibt aus. Dafür müssten Co-Songwriter internationaler Güte ran, um den letzten, aber entscheidenen Schliff beizusteuern (wie z.B. bei 'Long Lost Trace' oder 'Bitch'). Die Songs, sowie die Gitarren, sind abgestimmt auf EMINAs Gesangsumfang. Es fehlt vielleicht der objektive Input von Außen. Der Produzent, der sich traut, zu sagen: "Das geht ja gar nicht". Bruce Darnell vielleicht? - Kleiner Scherz zur Aufheiterung! Ihr merkt, die Platte ist durchwachsen und ich ringe um Contenance.

Etwas stakkatohaft dann 'I Am The Future'. Es folgt die erste Powerballade 'Don't Need Words' - sehr kitschig, sowie vorhersehbar konstruiert, dezent langweilig. Der siebte Songs, 'I'm Leaving', ist so richtig gut geworden: gefühlvolles, stark akzentuiertes Gitarrensolo. Das macht Spaß! Recht druckvoll dann '(That's Why) I'm Screaming'. Das geht gut ab, die Vocals kommen gut, EMINA schreit sich hier ihre Seele aus den Lungenflügeln. Es geht doch!
Auch 'Carry Me' ist ein eher durchschnittliches Beispiel aus dem Balladen-Schrank. Das nächste Lied, 'True Reason', verliert sich im Nichts.

Fünf recht gute Songs ('Speeding On A Highway', 'Action Girl', 'Long Lost Trace', 'I'm Leaving', sowie '(That's Why) I'm Sreaming'), die starke Rockpower EMINAs - da sollte nächstes Mal mehr drin sein. Bin diesbezüglich sehr zuversichtlich!
Diesmal eher im Mittelfeld.

Note: 6.50