I really like
Seven Wishes. Their sound is very 80s nostalgic and not a lot of modern twists, besides the benefit of production and some of the slicker studio tricks that are up musician's sleeves these days, but that's also part of the problem. There's not a great deal about them that makes them stick out, so their albums are always highly enjoyable pieces of a decade gone by flavored hard rock, it's not something I will go out of my way to fish out of the pile for a refresher course. While other bands stay close at hand,
Seven Wishes gets a few weeks of hard constant play and then is banished to the back of the collection to the point their existence is even forgotten til the next album is revealed and the process can be started all over again.
With that being said, "Destination: Alive" is their third album, and best yet. Which makes sense because the guys have taken more time to compose, record and refine this disc to achieve something that perhaps will get rediscovered again years after it's initial outing. The comparisons to
Dokken and the glam tinged L.A. melodic hard rock scene are becoming more distant and have been replaced with a thicker European vibe that puts them more along the lines of their countrymen. They are from Sweden, afterall. Pelle Anderson retains his hold on the frontman position and his vocals are as heavily accented as ever, making him really stand out from the crowd. Personally I'm happy they haven't attempted to Americanize him, for his vocals matched with the Sunset Strip-lite vibe of the music is a nifty match that wouldn't come across as well otherwise with just another run-of-the-mill average singer.
The opening title track has the power to break me out into a goofy ten mile wide grin, and also made me realize why I liked this band in the first place. It has a nice groove, some super sweet rhythm guitar that makes a nice catchy foundation and a kicky chorus that has just the right amount of uptempo enthusiasm without going overboard. There's enough melody to align them with melodic rock and it has been tweaked to the perfect level, so it doesn't sound overly gooey but then again doesn't strip them down to early Ratt, thus putting them about at
Dokken-ish knee level. Fire in the basement of course, but enough rock'n'roll to successfully unchain the night.
"Cross My Heart" lulls you into a comfort zone and then smashes the soundscape clean open with some seriously kicking drums and loud, high pitched vocals that approach air raid siren levels, all while steeped in that accented charm. Good stuff, especially with the unexpected twist. It fools you once and might even do so again. Expect the unexpected which is not like the L.A scene at all.hmmm.
"Won't See Me Cry" moves a few steps away with those comparisons and brushes up with progressive rock to the point that it could be pocketed with some of Queensryche's more melodic moments from the latter half of the 80s.
"Fortuneteller" has a lovely chorus that is 100%
AOR and the whole song has a nice midtempo rhythm that is pierced with bittersweet electric guitar.
This just about drove me insane trying to figure it out, but
"Follow the Stars" has Pelle sounding very much like Timo
Kotipelto from Stratovarius. Just listen to the way he puts that vibrato on the word "stars" with a very pronounced "ah" sound on the "a". Another melodic bent tune but with plenty of hard rock stylings as well. There's just enough melody to keep it flowing and smooth and enough bite to keep it hard and rocking as well. It goes down like a teaspoon full of sugar. Sugary sweet but those little crystals can dig in too.
"See Through the Lies" has a twisted chorus and some distortion in the verses.
"Goes Around Comes Around" is very 80s metal in structure but the vocals are a little bit too brittle for the musical matter at hand.
"Time to Say Goodbye" is a ballad with a heavy-hearted Euro feel. Not exceptional but you won't want to say goodbye to it immediately either.
On
"All That I Wanted" Pelle now sounds a bit like Tobias Sammet, as he morphs once again and tries for a huskier delivery in places.
Speaking of Tobias,
"Gone With the Wind" is a bit like an
Edguy ballad in spots and other sections it is pretty pure
AOR. Again, not a blockbuster ballad but an interesting one, that won't break hearts but is a nice divergence.
"Like A Cardhouse" ends the album on an upbeat note, but not too upbeat, don't want to overdo things of course. It's a fitting end to the album, coming through as a nice medium to balance between heavy and melodic with a dash of the Strip hidden inside.
So
Seven Wishes has cranked out yet another decent rock album that likely this time will get some play beyond its initial appearance. The first half of the disc is tighter and more inspired than the latter half but it's still a solid offering overall. This one is for fans of harder melodic rock that would like a taste of the Sunset Strip meets Euro metal at the crossroads.
Written by
Alanna Saturday, April 9, 2005
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