According to Melodicrock.com (www.melodicrock.com), PAUL MANGONE reports back with his first solo CD after his departure from hit-machine EXTREME.

As a founding member of Extreme, Mangone showed his skills on their debut CD as a song writer and musician. His involvement in the harmonies that made Extreme stand out was significant. Paul presented his follow up Pat Badger to leave and expand his horizons as a pilot.

When Nuno Bettencourt called him in 1995 to jam and join his new band project MOURNING WIDOWS, he picked up his guitar and the flame was ignited once more. Although he never laid down his pen, he wanted to make his way back into music, where his heart was.

Fly By Wire is the fruit of his hard labour and years of work. It revives the vibes of Extreme and his singer songwriter feeling. Matt McKay, Paul's former guitarist from MONTAGE (and former ADRENALINE guitarist) sat in for the acoustic solo on ‘Wish You Had Someone Now’, and with the exception of the harmonica and drums, remarkably Paul plays all his own instruments. He co-produced Fly by Wire with Mike Pietrini and performed all of the vocals, as well, wisely inviting Gary Cherone to join him on harmonies with ‘Fly Like A Bird’.

The songs that make up Fly By Wire represent what was happening in his life, at the time he wrote them. Paul explains, “I've included different songs that mean different things to me. My grandparents were a very important part of my life and ‘The Rain’ was written after the loss of my grandmother.”

Paul wrote, ‘Fly Like A Bird’ on July 16, 1999, in memory of John F. Kennedy, Jr. That's the day JFK, Jr. died which, ironically, is also Paul's birthday. “I always felt like he was my kindred spirit. I mean, we were very close in age, liked a lot of the same things and had an immense respect for our own fathers…and he loved to fly. I really felt terrible when I heard his plane went down and writing this song was one of the ways I coped with the grief.”

It seems for now Paul has reconciled his feelings towards the recording business, explaining, “Releasing an independent CD has allowed me the artistic freedom and individual control I felt was lacking when I was with Extreme.”

For Paul, releasing Fly By Wire is not only a personal achievement, it shows he's finally consummated the two major forces that drive him his music and the wild blue yonder.