The title of
Far North's album "What!?" describes quite accurate the circumstances that lead to their short lived career. The record company to release "What!?" went bankrupt right after the release with
Far North just about to embark on a planned tour to Japan, which never happened.
This is the first release on MTM CLASSIX. The original
Far North album "What!?" was released in around 1993, but this version is completely remastered. Still the CD sounds old fashioned. I was actually surprised to learn that it originally was released in the nineties, since my first guess would have been the mid-eighties
Far North are from Sweden and they have a Scandinavian/Europe (Europe the band) sound to their music, but stylistic they are hard to categorize. Overall it's mostly melodic Hard Rock with a solid keyboard platform, but there are several tracks with a touch of neo classical.
Overall
Far North's sound is too keyboard layered for my exclusive taste. Sometimes
Far North succeed by creating great emotions with the keyboard as on
Take Me Home.
Far North also uses sound clips form films to create atmosphere. There are sound clips in a few songs, I
Need My Child for example
. Speaking of films,
Far North use
the
theme to James Bond as bridge to the guitar solo on
Yes I'll Try.
The vocals from Patrik Jonsson sound good, but the artistic experience of guitarist Jan Andersson is the highlight of the album. Andersson's solos are entertaining -especially on
Yes I'll Try, my personal album highlight
Why Are The Children Dying and he duels with the keyboards on
I Just Need Your Love. The guitar playing almost reaches Malmsteen heights on
Never Trust a Stranger.
However, the instrumental track
What is terrible. The sound is early eighties and the use of massive feedback on the uninventive guitar melody makes it boring.
Far North are not justified for a re-release in my opinion. The purpose of MTM CLASSIX is to reissue certain CD's one can only find via Internet or at certain locations for abominably high prices. I think most
Far North fans already got the CD when it was first released. Maybe there are some Swedish Rock fans that still look for this CD, but I cannot imagine a market for this otherwise.
I looked forward to this Classix initiative, since I am a sucker for 80's hard Rock/Early 90's. However, this release is a disappointment. Not a bad record, but truly neither a record that stands out either and thereby justifies a re-release.
Written by
Michael Wednesday, November 19, 2003
Show all reviews by MichaelRatingsMichael: 5.5/10Members: No members have rated this album yet.
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