REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Day: May 6, 2023

FM – Indiscreet

Now Britain has always produced great bands who play the harder stuff. In the 80’s, great metal bands were coming from all directions but when it comes to slicker, more polished aor sounds then the UK struggled. That is, until FM came along.

Fronted by the voice of Steve Overland and his brother Chris on guitar, FM finally proved that the UK had a bonafide killer aor/melodic rock band. This is the band’s debut album, released in ’86.

Opener That Girl is a superb tune and was released as a single. Everything about it is just class, you will be singing it for the rest of the day, it is my favourite tune. Other Side Of Midnight is up next and follows in its predecessor’s footsteps. A super slick melodic groover that feels as though you are driving down the pacific coast highway with the top down. In fact, all this album is worthy of your attention.

Nine songs of grade A melodic rock/aor, I’m sure if they were from the US they would have been stars. Over nine years they put out five quality albums and then nothing until 2010, then they resurfaced and have released eight albums since. If you are a fan of 80’s melodic rock then this is a must have.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

TREAT – Dreamhunter

This is album number three from one of Sweden’s finest exponents of aor/melodic rock and the first to feature Jamie Borger on drums, who later went on to drum with Talisman (one of Sweden’s best ever hard rock bands) and also Jeff Scott Soto. The production is stellar, capturing that big eighties rock sound perfectly.

Soul Survivor opens up the album in fine anthemic style. Big hook and matching monster chorus. That blueprint slides on into You’re The One I Want, but more. Massive hook and a chorus that just gets stuck in your head. Great tune and my favourite! Take Me On Your Wings takes the listener into super slick aor territory, plus big bonus points for a killer melodic solo. Next up is Best Of Me and it’s big ballad time. Side 1 closes out with Dancing On The Edge, a kick ass uptempo rocker. Great riff and man do they know how to write a catchy hook and chorus.

Over to Side 2 and Outlaw. Superb harmony guitars at the intro, although the song reminds me of Pat Benatar. World Of Promises follows and they seem to like the big intro as nearly every song has one. The main verse is a nice little gallop and then it’s big hook and chorus time. I wonder if they go to school for this in Sweden?One Way To Glory has a big keyboard intro that feels a bit like ABBA but that disappears as soon as the band kick in, and yet another infectious sing-a-long anthem. Save Yourself starts with a huge Deep Purple style intro, as does the hook and chorus. The album closes out with The Winner. A big hair, rock, mid tempo anthem with a great riff.

No new ground being broken here, but this is a very classy release.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.