Something of a supergroup formed by Swede, Uno Sjostrum.
Ex Candlemas, Johan Langquist on vocals and keyboards.
Marcus (Royal Hunt) Jidell on guitars.
The late Marcus (Talisman) Jacob, bass and Tomas (GKR/Electric Boys) Broman, drums, with guests, Robin Beck, James Christian, Pandora, Pontus Norgren (who also does a fabulous engineering job) and Tommy Denander.
It's not a uniformly outstanding album, but there's some very strong material here, especially openers,
'Fly Away' and
'Rosa Lee'.
On the first, Robin Beck's muscular vocals are robust enough to withstand the backing band's powerful, metalised accompaniment, and in fact by the second half they're beautifully tuned in to each other's wavelength.
Skillfully produced and arranged this track swings from barbed axework and vertiginous, power ballad crescendos, to sighing cellos and whispered vocals, bringing the song, lyrically and musically, to an intriguingly inconclusive finish.
This second track,
'Rosa Lee', I absolutely love. No matter that it's a blatant rip off of Whitesnake's ''Here I Go Again". Langquist has all the appropriate vocal mannerisms, and the song emits the wistful, yearning tone of Coverdale's worldwide hit. What's really great about this track, what stops it from being simply an unimaginative copy, is the arrangement. Marcus Jidell makes sure the guitar tones sound contemporary and classic at one and the same time. Some achievement.
But it's when the twin guitars join hands with the subtle keyboard frills on the chorus that the song truly soars, gaining its own identity en route.
Showing either huge ambition or a "to hell with it" approach, Langquist's and Sjostrom's cover of Clapton's
'Layla' is classic. It's rousing and reverent, adding a few new nuances and a bagful of twists and turns, in order to grab the attention of today's audience.
The big ballad,
'Alone' (no, not that one), sung by Beck is something of a let down, musically and lyrically.
Langquist steps away, very impressively, from his Coverdale stance on the bluesy rock of
'Slow Down' and '
Move On', emoting gracefully, proving just why he is a highly regarded vocalist in Europe.
Producer, Jidell always makes sure that the steely, melodic guitars are well up in the mix, giving what is frequently a symphonic rock styled production a harder, sharper edge.
This stylistic approach is particularly prevalent on
'Oceans Of Love', while '
Too Many Heartaches' will remind you of the mighty Norwegian melodic rock band, Hush.
The album effectively closes (though there are a couple of "bonus" tracks) with the exotic, heavy rock of '
Dream On', if anything recalling Robert Plant's solo stuff, circa 'Now & Zen' / 'Manic Nirvana'.
Something of a mixed bag then, a little unsure of stylistic direction. But when these guys get it absolutely right - and they do on several tracks - it's a worthy addition to the genre.
Written by
Brian Tuesday, April 13, 2010
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