Hardline

Hardline came together at the dawn of the 1990s, blending the powerful structures of heavy metal with the expansive hooks and polished production typical of glam and melodic hard rock. The group was started by brothers Johnny and Joey Gioeli, who had earlier performed together in Brunette, alongside renowned guitarist Neal Schon, known for his work with Journey and Bad English; their first album, Double Eclipse, came out in 1992. Although the lineup shifted repeatedly over the years, with Johnny Gioeli remaining the only consistent presence, Hardline sustained activity across nearly thirty years, putting out records such as Leaving the End Open (2007) and Life (2019) while upholding the tradition of classic melodic guitar rock.

Vocalist Johnny Gioeli, guitarist Joey Gioeli, guitarist Neal Schon, bassist Todd Jensen (David Lee Roth), and drummer Deen Castronovo (Bad English) established the band in 1991. Hardline delivered their initial full-length, Double Eclipse, on MCA Records in 1992. Two singles emerged from the set, “Takin’ Me Down” and “Hot Cherie,” each registering modest airplay on mainstream rock radio, yet the ascent of grunge and hip-hop prompted the group’s initial disbandment.

In the early 2000s the Gioeli brothers revived Hardline under a revised configuration that added Josh Ramos on lead guitar, Bobby Rock on drums, Christopher Maloney on bass, and Michael T. Ross on keyboards. They signed with the Italian melodic rock imprint Frontiers and issued their second album, the straightforwardly titled II, in 2002. During the gap before the next release, Joey Gioeli stepped away from music to oversee the family enterprise. Leaving the End Open arrived in 2009, again through Frontiers, and featured Johnny Gioeli, Josh Ramos, and Michael T. Ross alongside new members Jamie Brown on bass and Atma Anur on drums.

Keyboardist and producer Alessandro Del Vecchio (Edge of Forever, Eden’s Curse) from Italy collaborated with Gioeli on the fourth album, 2012’s Danger Zone, which also incorporated guitarist Thorsten Koehne, bassist Anna Portalupi, and drummer Francesco Jovino. Human Nature, released in 2016, brought Ramos back into the studio while retaining Portalupi, Jovino, and Del Vecchio. The following year the band performed live to promote that record and to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of Double Eclipse. Their sixth studio album, Life, surfaced in 2019 with Mario Percudani replacing the previous guitarist.