Treat are exactly that. Just a treat to listen to as they further enhance their status as one of the world’s best and most consistent anthemic melodic rock acts.
Their golden run of high energy, harmony drenched, AOR anthem filled albums that began with the classic Coup De Grace, followed by Ghost Of Graceland and Tunguska. Add this in and its 4 essential albums for 4 in a run going back to 2010.
The album follows the slightly more modern edge of the last 2 albums, fitting seamlessly into their catalogue.
The Swedish melodic rockers deliver another 12 songs to digest, most of which are uptempo and layers deep in harmonics, guitars and groove.
I’d place this album third of the last 4, with Tunguska in 4th place, but that’s still rating all 4 albums above 95%. For the record, Coup is #1 and always will be!
They just don’t get better than the songs, style and production delivered by Treat.
This doesn’t require a long review, as there is no reason to debate brilliance. Just be assured that if you are a fan of the band in the last decade, this just serves to continue their glorious run. Essential!
The debut First Signal album was a conceived partnership between Dennis Ward and Harem Scarem frontman Harry Hess, with a band formed around the duo including Eric Ragno on keyboards and German drummer Chris Schmidt. It was a very classy affair, with songs from Erik Martensson, the Martin Brothers, Mark Baker and some covers.
The follow up One Step Over The Line came after Dennis Ward’s co-operation with Frontiers came to an end, with Swedish producer Daniel Flores stepping in. The album wouldn’t reach the heights of the debut, but it was very good.
The third album was again solid, this time with songs from the likes of Stan Meissner, Harry Hess, Andreas Johansson, Carl Dixon, Bruce Turgon and others, it stood up well. And it sounded well produced.
Sadly, for album number four, the situation has changed again, and Frontiers roll out their all-too-familiar crew of in-house writers to deliver an album that not only lacks the distinct vibe of the debut, but any originality whatsoever.
Daniel Flores own production lacks the crispness of past efforts, the emphasis again here is on an in-your-face audio onslaught of keyboards and guitars just flood your ears, with Harry struggling to be heard underneath. But to be honest, there’s not a lot to hear within the songs. It’s another dose of paint by numbers Euro-AOR, that the label has spent the last few years saturating the market with.
You could almost take my recent review of the upcoming Skills project and substitute the text here.
Bland, lacking personality and much like the Find Me album, if it wasn’t for the lead singer in question, musically speaking, the album wouldn’t raise the attention of anyone.
Half an album of decent songs that are only borderline ok thanks to the keyboard saturation, but the rest of the songs could be anyone, anywhere, anytime.
The label’s PR for the album lists only Hess and Flores as part of the lineup. I guess fans have to wait to actually purchase the album (and risk being disappointed) to see who else appears on the album.
Whoever is responsible for the guitars should be immediately removed from any future recording opportunities. Just so bland and uninspired and totally derivative of an already well-milked sound.
In fact, the press kit only contains 8 pictures of Harry Hess. And there’s your problem folks. Rather than a band project, this new First Signal is just another faceless, nameless project, fed to fans of the strength of the frontman alone. But without the songs or soul, it falls flat. Again.
Take a listen to the brilliant debut or either of the two that followed. Just so far ahead of this record in every sense.
The Frontiers Records’ patented Random Band Generator was put into action once again, this time spitting out three new rock star names to be partnered together in another silly name project and dished out to the masses, with songs all written by Frontiers’ current favourite writers.
This week’s band is SKILLS and it features bass legend Billy Sheehan, guitar legend Brad Gillis and fan favourite drummer David Huff. On vocals is Brazilian singer Renan Zonta (Electric Mob), a guy with a huge set of lungs, but the least appealing look. Especially up against the other 3 guys. Big voice, but hardly distinct – he’s from the Ronnie Romero school of raspiness and not really suited to this project.
With a lineup like this, you could be forgiven for expecting something truly special. But there is nothing organic or magic about these projects and the way they are assembled gives no room for chemistry or natural comradery to grow. Especially when the band aren’t given the opportunity to write any material themselves. It’s just a paycheck to play a set of songs delivered by the label. Like one of many.
I’d be surprised if any of them met during this whole process. The videos and lineup pictures are pasted together to look natural, but they’re far from it. But that’s just the way it is and as long as the buying public accepts it, they’ll keep coming.
Production and keyboards come from Alessandro Del Vecchio. The mix is fairly even, but the sound lacks punch and once again, Frontiers Records have a huge issue with overall sound and song blandness and the lack of a killer drum sound.
There’re 4 or 5 great songs here, but there are more that simply slip by without much notice. I’ve played this record a lot in the last week or so and I probably won’t go back to it now the review is done.
The album is expertly played, that was never going to be in doubt, that’s what you get when you pay for the likes of Sheehan/Gillis & Huff. But the individual personalities of these great musicians rarely shine through. If you are going to hype a band on its members, then those members better stand out.
On all but 3 or 4 tracks, anyone could have been on bass here and I only hear Brad Gillis really break out of his shell a few times. Drums I’ve already mentioned as an issue with most of these projects.
I think the two songs released to date have been pretty average to be honest – there are better within the album.
But this isn’t Mr. Big or Night Ranger. It’s not a whole world away from the sound of the new Giant record or Revolution Saints or any of the other manufactured supergroups of late. It doesn’t have the personality of either of those bands, nor its own identity.
Fans must accept it as another European sounding hard rock project from the Frontiers production mill. Do that and you’ll probably enjoy it. Look for something special from the sum of the ingredients and it falls completely flat.
Perfection and the swan song for Erik Gronwall and the band. If it was 1988 they’d be million selling superstars.
02. Harem Scarem - Change The World
The most reliable writing duo in the melodic rock sphere, another perfect example of how to do classic melodic rock with a modern touch.
03. One Desire - Midnight Empire
Upping the intensity and the quality all-round. A brilliantly impressive modern melodic hard rock album.
04. Perfect Plan - Time For A Miracle
These guys are already firmly at the head of the pack for the ‘new meets old’ wave of young kick ass bands modernising the old school sound. Foreigner meets Giant and Survivor, wrapped in big songs and even bigger vocals.
05. Brother Firetribe - Feel The Burn
Four of the 5 this year are from Scandi-acts. A little change up from these guys. Less in your face anthemic, but rather more mature and perfectly constructed. Another example of the Scandinavians doing it better than anyone.
06. Jeff Scott Soto - Wide Awake (In My Dreamland)
JSS teams with Alessandro Del Vecchio for the first time, which brings out the best in both guys. A time-capsule career spanning album of new songs that find inspiration from Jeff’s past.
07. Vanishing Point – Dead Elysium
Outstanding new progressive rock masterpiece from the Aussie band that delivers the progressive highlight of the year for me and my favourite prog album since Threshold.
08. Dennis DeYoung - 26 East Vol. 1
Dennis and Jim Peterik make magic together in the first of two volumes of classic pomp-AOR, exactly what you’d expect from the duo.
09. Arctic Rain - The One
Of course they are from Sweden. A simply outstanding debut album crammed with high energy melodic rockers in the vein of Winger, Danger Danger and HEAT. Would have to be my Debut Album Of The Year.
10. Vega - Grit Your Teeth
The British rockers just keep rolling and keep adding more great tunes to their impressive catalogue. Another great example of the ‘new meets old’.
11. Dynazty - The Dark Delight
Proving that the heavier direction suits them perfectly, the band delivers yet another high-octane melodic metal winner.
12. Revolution Saints - Rise
It seems to be the forgotten album of 2020 if fan Best Of lists are to be believed. It came out in January, so it has been a while and 2020 did last 27 months. But their third turns out to be their best so far!
13. Tokyo Motor Fist – Lions
A sensational sophomore release that is packed with heartfelt melodic rock anthems and a couple of ballads. I think the title track is in the wrong position though and kills mid-album momentum, but the material is unquestionably good. One of the few project ideas that works a treat.
14. Tony Mitchell - Church Of A Restless Soul
Following up the mighty Beggars Gold with more moody British melodic rock brilliance. Very personal record for Tony and brilliant at every turn.
15. Fee Waybill – Rides Again
Yes he sure does! And once again with Richard Marx in tow, the great Mr. Waybill delivers an energetic 9 song set that rocks more than expected with the trademark Fee sound.
16. Black Swan - Shake The World
A Frontiers project with a sound of it’s own! Yes indeed…it is possible! A really fine project lead by Jeff Pislon with Robin McAuley in fine voice.
17. Pride Of Lions - Lion Heart
Jim Peterik strikes again. Nothing we didn’t expect, but everything we hoped for. Not their best, not their worst (which is still a great record anyway). Just more consistently good and enjoyable melodic rock with a natural pomp flair.
18. Magnus Karlsson's Free Fall - We Are the Night
A true return to form this year, with 2 great albums from Magnus, but this is the winner – a sublime selection of high octane melodic metal with no shortage of killer hooks and choruses.
19. The Unity - Pride
Hard and (melodic) heavy, just a powerhouse of great songs, great production and killer delivery. For fans of Masterplan meets Eclipse (for one example). Huge record!
20. Magnum - The Serpent Rings
Continuing their return to form and consistent output, the veteran British melodic hard rock band turned up the keyboards and added more harmonies and the result is another memorable record.
21. House Of Lords - New World New Eyes
The production was well below average for the guys, but you can’t deny the songs were exceptionally good and recaptured some of the swagger missing from the last couple of records.
22. Rob Moratti - Paragon
One sweet anthemic AOR song after another. Maybe Rob’s best work yet and recommended to anyone that loves Journey, The Storm, Hugo and artists with a high vocal, but a rich melody.
23. Unruly Child - Our Glass House
The guys turned up the guitars but turned down the production quality. Would have been rated higher if it had the same production quality as earlier records. Great to see them still creating new music though.
24. Khymera - Master Of Illusions
Once again, a very familiar sound and style and nothing unexpected, which is probably a good thing for fans of these guys. Dennis Ward sounding a cool as ever on vocals.
25. Lionville - Magic Is Alive
Could easily have been higher in my rankings, but some good competition keeps them just out of the Top 20. More marvellous pink and fluffy AOR.
26. Sons Of Apollo - MMXX
Heavy, intricate, powerful, grade A production and even better then the acclaimed debut. Plus Jeff Scott Soto in his natural habitat. Class all-round.
27. Jessica Wolff - Para Dice
A surprise just how good this record is – killer melodic hard rock with a big female lead vocal performance and some really catchy songs. Her best effort to date.
28. Stan Bush - Dare To Dream
This could be more Stan Bush if it was a Stan Bush record from 1988. Stan defies age with his earnest feel good anthems of never giving up and going for gold!
29. At The Movies - The Soundtrack Of Your Life Vol. 1
Almost flawless selection of 80s soundtrack songs, all rocked up nicely, mixed beautifully and performed in lockdown…and now released!
30. Deep Purple - Whoosh
Strongest album of the last few with some tasteful new licks and songs within the band’s M.O. and some sometime restrained vocals from, Gillan, but always classy.
31. Pinnacle Point - Symphony Of Mind
More Kansas than Kansas? Certainly, close… as these guys – formed around the partnership of Jerome Mazza: Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Keyboards Torben Enevoldsen: Guitars, Keyboards – deliver one of the year’s best (progressive) AOR records.
32. Landfall – The Turning Point
Another huge debut from Brazil featuring former Auras singer Gui Oliver. A heavier brand of melodic rock than Auras, it still has the melodic integrity of that band and a tougher hard rock edge that makes for a strong debut that should be investigated!
33. Newman - Ignition
The ever reliable and fabulous Mr. Steve Newman delivers yet again. You know what to expect and so it is delivered.
34. East Temple Avenue - Both Sides Of Midnight
Formed in various studios across the world featuring Aussie songwriter Darren Phillips; bass player Dennis Butabi Borg (Cruzh), lead guitarist Philip Lindstrand (Find Me, Arkado) and drummer Herman Furin (Work of Art) with knockout vocalist Robbie LaBlanc (Find Me, Blanc Faces).
What is delivered is exactly as hoped – a world class AOR album with some melodic rock touches.
35. Axel Rudi Pell - Sign Of The Times
Another return to form – nothing different here (no surprise there), but just genuinely good and likable songs.
36. Night Flight Orchestra - Aeromatic
Another retro-themed album in a modern package. Some truly talented musicians involved here.
37. Cats In Space - Atlantis
Epic! And would probably have gone higher if released earlier in the year, having the benefit of being able to grow over time, which all Cats albums do. 70s melodic pomp glory!
38. Toto - Old Is New
Not really a new album, but not entirely an old one either. But…some great songs and the usual Toto flair.
39. Wildness - Ultimate Demise
Just extra good Scandi-AOR goodness once again.
40. Stardust - Highway To Heartbreak
Classic 80s Euro-AOR with a distinct Kevin Chalfant style lead vocal. Very likable and very enjoyable, but whoever made the decision to run with the Pat Benatar cover of Heartbreaker at track two should be immediately removed from any further decision making.
Plus:
41. Mike Tramp - Second Time Around
42. Storm Force - Age Of Fear
43. Dukes Of The Orient - Freakshow
44. Gathering Of Kings - Discovery
45. Champlin / Williams / Friestedt - 2
46. Gotthard - 13
47. Heartwind - Strangers
48. Palace - Rock N Roll Radio
49. Kansas - The Absence Of Presence
50. FM - Synchronized
Not quite (but very worthy of checking out):
- Grand Design - V - Patty Smyth - It’s About Time
How to create a modern hard rock masterpiece by Kissin’ Dynamite.
Not The End Of The Road is indeed not the end of any road for these guys. It could just be the on-ramp to superstardom, thanks to recent placement in the TV series Peacemaker and the blinding quality of this platter of high-energy anthemic European melodic hard rock.
12 tracks and 50 minutes of glorious anthemic, in your face, immaculately produced classic hard rock right here.
It’s the band’s best album to date and their biggest sounding record too. Plenty of variety in the songs and an energy that’s hard to capture in the studio.
“Only The Dead don’t give a damn…” is one of my lyrics of the record, a song begging itself to be chosen for Peacemaker Series 2.
But there’s plenty more gems too and you can’t go past the mid-album feel good melodic rock of Coming Home to nominate for rock radio all over the world.
Quite often confused as one of the block of bands from the glorious Scandinavia, these German rockers have completed their conversion to multi-national super stars. They simply demand the attention of fans worldwide with this exquisite slice of classic hard rock.
The Find Me project has always been popular with fans. Coupling powerhouse AOR vocal superstar Robbie LaBlanc with Swedish producer and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Flores and songs written by various member of the Frontiers recording family.
This time around Flores thankfully turns down the keyboards a touch, but it is still a flurry of layers and layers of instrumentation behind the vocals. The production is over the top, but that’s the nature of his style and all Find Me records to date.
I’m not sure why, but for the first time in the 4 Find Me albums, Frontiers’ song-generating machine Alessandro Del Vecchio is given the sole task of crafting all the songs for this album, which further risks stretching his resources to breaking point. But while there is nothing here we haven’t heard before, I do credit where credit is due – there are some very likable songs here.
Stand out is the appearance of Vince DiCola who plays keyboards on a cover of 'Far From Over', a song by Frank Stallone from the "Staying Alive" soundtrack. A roaring version here.
I like the tempo of the album, being mostly up and free flowing, even if it is all very familiar for fans of this genre.
The absolute star of this album is undoubtedly Robbie LaBlanc. His roaring vocals lift these songs to another dimension and his always passionate and energetic vocals are a joy to listen to.
So if there is one ‘standard melodic rock’ album you must hear this month, it is this one.
I was a big fan of Rust N Rage’s last album – so much so I released it on my own label at the time. So I was eager to hear this, their third and probably most important outing.
Now on Frontiers - the label with the most bands on the planet, the band needed to up the ante to further their mission, but also to ensure they stood out from the pack of other Frontiers releases, where it is all too easy to get caught up in the mayhem and missed.
Thankfully the quality of this album should fend of both challenges, as the material here easily ups that of ‘Tales From The Wasteland’.
Bigger songs, bigger choruses, bigger guitars, bigger vocals, and most importantly, not only bigger, but better songs.
The pace is also quite fierce. The guys know how to rock and with this album should put themselves on the map with other Scandi hard rockers like H.E.A.T, Treat and US rockers like Dokken and Motley Crue.
Bruce Mee is one of the better-known personalities behind the scenes of the melodic rock world. Starting with Now & Then Records he moved into his role as owner and editor of the now iconic Fireworks Magazine, which has dedicated fans worldwide.
Circle Of Friends is the moniker given to this project, put together by Bruce as a tribute to his late mother, who died of cancer in 2020. The majority of the singers and musicians appearing on the album are personal friends of Bruce’s and were all willing to help bring this wonderful concept to life – hence the title.
Of the 13 tracks featured on this wonderful slice of melodic beauty, four are covers and the remaining 9 are originals, most written by Sweden’s Mikael Rosenberg. Mikael has delivered some terrific songs here and his presence throughout gives the album a certain connectivity and consistency that some various artists projects don’t manage to pull off.
The lineup is really a who’s who of the melodic rock world. The rhythm section is supplied by drummer Josh Devine (Levara) and bassist Wayne Banks (Saxon etc) while Fredrik Folkare and Steve Morris provide guitars with Joel Hoekstra (Whitesnake) and Steve Mann guesting. Backing vocals come from Mick Devine (Seven), Gary Hughes (Ten) and Kevin Chalfant (Storm). Eric Ragno is here on keyboards and there’s many more. Read the full bio for all the credits!
All this has been meticulously put together by producer Khalil Turk of Escape Music with a phenomenal mix by Fredrik Folkare.
To the vocalists. There is the Queen of Metal, Doro Pesch, delivering the high energy opener ‘Little Piece of Heaven’, Jaime Kyle brings her own song ‘Take My Love To Heart’ to the CD, with backing vocals supplied by Kevin Chalfant (The Storm, Two Fires). James Christian gives one of my favourite pomp-friendly vocals on ‘Never Gonna Make Me Cry’; Jeff Scott Soto goes full melodic on ‘Bad Blood’ and Robin Beck (with James Christian on backing) does a ripping version of the Abba classic ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You’.
New star to the scene, Tao’s Karen Fell delivers the moody AOR of ‘Truth Or Dare’ and Robin McAuley knocks the big ballad ‘Alone’ right out of the park.
Canadian great Darby Mills delivers what she calls one of her favourite vocals on the big 80s anthem ‘Trick Of The Light’.
There are no fillers here, so discover the rest for yourself. Credit to everyone involved for making a really consistent, ‘contemporary’ classic 80s melodic rock record with plenty of keyboards, layers of harmonies and some outstanding lead vocal performances.
Production and mix are spot on and the songs are enjoyable from start to finish. The dominance of female lead vocals will give fans of that genre something extra to smile about.
Kraemer is another vehicle for Frontiers’ man for all occasions Alessandro Del Vecchio, this time pairing him with Finnish vocalist Erik Kraemer, a singer and performer who has years of experience touring in his homeland of Finland with different bands and musical productions. He is also known for being one of the singers of Finnish progressive metallers Simulacrum, which explains the metal edge to his voice on this, his step into hard rock/melodic rock territory.
Featuring songs written by all the usual Frontiers names, you might expect something very similar to the usual formula employed, but I’m pleased to say this album offers a lot more than that.
The heavier edge that borders on melodic metal at times helps it stand out from the usual fare, with a crunchy guitar sound dominating proceedings.
The vocals or Mr. Kraemer must be praised with a great deal of enthusiasm and credit given to Del Vecchio for a tight production and mix.
Heavy, but melodic, with some strong choruses delivered by a cracking guitar sound. An album that is being promoted as a step into the melodic, but perhaps should be investigated by fans of Magnus Karlsson style projects.
As I’ve followed these guys from demos to their debut and each album thereafter, I have seen the progress Sweden’s modern melodic rock masters Degreed have made. It started high and has been sustained over the last decade, making them one of the most consistent and reliable bands on the planet.
They are at the absolute top of their game and deserve to be mentioned amongst the superstars of the Swedish scene.
Every album has melodic bliss to these ears and their output as always been near the top of my annual Best Of lists. I expect this will be the same come Jan 2023.
The last record featured 3 or 4 ballads, which I thought were major class, but on this record, it is one rocker after another from start to finish. One anthem after another, all in that unique modern rock friendly style the guys have. Big choruses, big melodies and a near-perfect mix and production.
