I usually don’t like these made up bands that Frontiers keep putting together, with the brief to write the ultimate melodic rock record. I will make an exception for this project, as it has the amazing talents of Jeff Scott Soto on vocals, and Eclipse main man Eric Martensson. I’m not sure if you are all aware , but Sweden is the melodic rock capital of the universe. When the rest of the world gave up on it for grunge and post grunge (and whatever other nonsense came after that), Sweden still believed in writing and putting out great rock records. Soto has sang with Yngwie and the amazing Talisman (who are dearly missed), as well as fronting Journey for a brief moment. So Jeff’s vocal credentials are top drawer and it’s just the same here. He has a great power, range, and tone that I really love. Think power/melodic/rock and you you will be on the money.
Every song is fantastic, and superbly played and written. If any of you have heard Eclipse, then you know what a great songwriter Martensson is, and if anything, the songs have more melody on this album. My favourite tracks are: Boys Don’t Cry – an epic way to open an album, The Call Of The Wild – in a similar vein and really drives along, How Far To Babylon – an absolute belter of a track, from the native drumming, to the killer riff and vocals – I would buy it just for this tune alone, How Do I Know has a killer riff and brilliant vocal from Jeff singing at the higher end of his register. I would have loved to have heard a Journey album with Jeff singing.
It’s amazing to think that this is just a project and not their day job. If you don’t believe how good this album is, just nip over to poo tunes or spoti-scrote and give it a quick listen – then go and buy a physical copy so the artist actually gets some money.
9/10 from The Grooveman.
