You like AOR? Great so does Kent Hilli, I’m sure you’ll get on. Don’t like it? Yeah maybe give this one the swerve. The Perfect Plan frontman has brilliant AOR vocal, rich in soulfulness and melody, it’s ripe for fans of Foreigner, Journey etc where the themes of love, romance and relationships are what comes on the lyrical content. Backed by bouncy, poppy, synth heavy compositions tracks such as A Fool To Believe and Could This Be Love are the best examples of what Hilli does on this second solo record.
Having released four albums with Perfect Plan and previous solo record, he’s got bags of experience behind the mic and as with most Frontiers releases, he’s got some help, as Jimmy Westerlund of One Desire co-produced the album with Hilli and Ulrick Lönnqvist, with Westerlund playing most of the guitars, keys, Ulrick Lönnqvist on bass, Felix Borg on drums, Pete Alpenborg on rhythm guitars and keys.
This is of course the core membership but there’s a few guests too, playing solos, keys, organs and even sax on the big second number Nothing Left To Lose which has Rick Altzi (At Vance/Masterplan) on backing vocals. As I said in the intro if AOR isn’t your thing then Nothing Left To Lose will do nothing, however if some shimmering, slick melodic pop rocking is your bag, Mr Hilli does it again. 7/10
Rian – Wings (Frontiers Music Srl)
More Swedish melodic rock as Rian release their third album Wings. Formed in 2017, Rian enter a very saturated genre, as the Swedes take the lead in melodic rock, but Rian take things in their stride aiming their sound at that late 80’s/early 90’s breed of melodic rock where things got a little harder, a little bluesier but still featured plenty of synths matched by virtuoso guitar playing. It’s the guitar playing that impresses most here, Tobias Jakobsson, a shredder that can balance when to unleash his two hand technique.
Rian – Wings (Frontiers Music Srl)
More Swedish melodic rock as Rian release their third album Wings. Formed in 2017, Rian enter a very saturated genre, as the Swedes take the lead in melodic rock, but Rian take things in their stride aiming their sound at that late 80’s/early 90’s breed of melodic rock where things got a little harder, a little bluesier but still featured plenty of synths matched by virtuoso guitar playing. It’s the guitar playing that impresses most here, Tobias Jakobsson, a shredder that can balance when to unleash his two hand technique.
Mixed by the legend Dennis Ward (which is probably why it sounds of that era), Wings gets going with two big rockers, Carry My Wings built on lots of fretwork flare as We Ride is dirty and riffy with a bit of Autograph, Dokken, Bon Jovi and Winger. Rian vary their approach on this record, with grit for Don’t Wait For The Fire, a bit of atmospheric balladry on Dance The Night Away (not a Van Halen cover) and acoustics on One In A Million which is quite modern in sound (think Shinedown). Look At The Stars shimmers with AOR poppiness while War Is Over is quite heavy in the scheme of thing, reminding me of The Cult.
Freshly blending modern and classic melodic rock, Rian have brought a lot of good stuff to this record. Richard Andermyr (vocals/guitar), Jan Johansson (drums), Jonas Melin (bass), Tobias Jakobsson (lead guitar) make up Rian, joined by Eric Ragno on keys, together they make melodic hard rock seem easy. 8/10
Hell In The Club - F.U.B.A.R (Frontiers Music Srl)
F*cked Up Beyond All Recognition, any engineer will be familiar with this acronym, but I'm not sure what it has to do with Italian hard rock. I suppose it's a comment on the world today. Whatever it is, Hell On In The Club, which features members of Elvenking and Secret Sphere, have released their sixth album F.U.B.A.R. and it's another loaded record of sleazy hard rock in the vibe of G'N'R, Reckless Love and Steel Panther, that coming from vocalist Dave.
With a tracks such as Total Disaster, Hell In The Club really wear their influence on their sleeves, grooving rhythms from Andy (bass) and Mark (drums) are designed to get you grooving and singing along, on Undertaker they will definitely do that. Big hooks come from Dave, backed by gang vocals, who sneers and screams with Picco bashing out the breezy riffs on Cimitero Vivente or the Extreme-like fluidity on Sleepless. F.U.B.A.R is a summer rock record, it'll do away with the mood this current rain can cause. Everything may be f*cked up but let's party! 8/10
Streetlight - Ignition (Frontiers Music Srl)
More Swedish AOR now with Streetlight who pile on the synth and sunshine with their debut album. Very much inspired by bands like Journey, Toto or FM, vocally Johannes Häger has a diction and style very much like Steve Perry, the massive choruses, backed by some guitar driven melodic rocking on Hit The Ground and smooth synthy numbers like Closer, it's on song like Caught Up In A Dream where they go into Toto or Foreigner, while Malibu Pier comes from the Kansas catalogue.
Streetlight is the brainchild of Häger, he is a full time producer so that's why the record it sounds the way it does while vocals lead the way as his guitars are joined by Filip Stenlund, both in unison on Words For Mending Hearts. The rest of the band rounded out by keyboardist John Svensson, bassist Johan Tjernström and drummer Erik Nilsson, all make this album as authentic to that American AOR sound as they can. Sun-drenched and emotive, Ignition gets Streetlight shining bright. 7/10
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