A somewhat confounding band name is not always to be dismissed. Myland is one of those cases where the music turns out to be inconceivably better than the impression I got when I went through the promo pile. Lush keyboard arrangements and massive choruses with layered vocals provide a very welcoming first impression. The production is warm and full, a main force of the album. Myland is from Italy and there is an innocent joy of playing as well as a positive attitude flowing from the music and lyrics. Melodic rock with lots of keyboards is the order of the day. The guitar playing is surprisingly in-your-face and the album has several great solos and small detail that makes the music more interesting. Where the album truly shines though, is in its melodic nature. Every single song has a strong melody line, chorus or rhythm section. The best songs combine these elements and make for a stunning first impression. The music also invites air keyboard in both the serious and ironic kind, depending on whether you like this kind of music or not. I have come to join the first group and for those fortunate ones "No Man's Land" will deliver a highly enjoyable AOR rush. The close to 7 minute opener Anytime impresses from the first note and has an almost epic atmosphere. The way the chorus rises an extra notch at 5:14 is an example of the small things that lift the album above the "nice enough" category and into something greater. The wind of late September opens surprisingly aggressive with an almost heavy guitar leading the way. That was almost heavy. The chorus is again amazing and clearly the highlight of the song. It flows slowly but firmly into that inner recess of the mind where the songs you go around humming trough the day stay. (Someday) Love leaves you lonely has one of those jump inducing rhythms, secured by good cooperation between drums and keyboard along with a superb bridge section that rises and builds momentum for the even better chorus. Unfortunately the bridge section shows the one major shortcoming of the band.Lead vocalist Guido Priori sometimes sounds like he is breaking in a new set of balls. My ears hasn't gotten used to his frail highpitch yet. It feels too shrill and uncontrolled. He goes "aaaiiiiaaaa" too many times to keep it from grating on my ears and bends some tones in a way that feels out of place. 95% of the time Guido's vocals suit the band perfectly and his accent is not too strong to bother me, but the last 5% where he goes ultra high pitch have a strained feel to them and in the end it gives the album an unfinished feel. Some examples of this include Voices around 0:50 "Ready and willing tonight", the bridge section of (Someday) Love leaves you lonely, the first section of Heat of Emotion and several other short passages. This doesn't ruin the album for me at all, but how much this bothers you will depend on your taste in vocals. How much love is another highlight and one of those songs that circle the ear the first few times but suddenly stands out and becomes another "look forward to" moment. The chorus is like soothing kisses on a windswept autumn day. Age of My dreams caught my ear right away with a mix of uptempo verses, short bridge and energized chorus. A straight ahead, positive song that delivers. The above are my absolute favorites. The rest of the album supports and builds upon the overall impression with Running in the night standing out in particular with another strong chorus. Only album closer Prisoner of love fails to stand out.
The lyrics are mostly dealing with love and haven't made a major impression. The music is the focuspoint. Myland has been a great surprise. The huge first impression waned a bit after the first 10 listens, but "No Man's Land" is a strong album that should be discovered by anyone with a weakness for AOR. A few vocal shortcomings aside this is a great collection of songs.Written by
Steen Thursday, May 22, 2008
Show all reviews by SteenRatingsSteen: 7/10Members: No members have rated this album yet.
This article has been shown 2743 times. Go to the
complete list.
