ANGELINE – Rhythm Of One (CD)

ANGELINE – Rhythm Of One (CD)

Swedish melodic rockers Angeline are something of an institution. I kinda compare them to House of Shakira. They do their thing, and they are dependable, they have a personal sound and touch, and the quality is always high. Both bands are musically quite close, too – classic high quality melodic hard rock/AOR. “Rhythm of Love” offers no unpleasant surprises, on the contrary, it’s, as usual, a high-class melodic rock product. Dynamic, powerful yet tight production. “Peace, Love & You”, I would have though was named “You live and you learn”, as this is how the chorus goes. Classic melodic rock, just as previously described. “Got Me Running” on the other hand offers some edgy and cool up-tempo riffing with a chorus that goes heavy. Great solos from Jan-Erik Arkengren. What I also like about singer Joachim Nilsson is that he has that typically bluesy British vibe that you hear in singers like Steve Overland or Pete Godfrey, which I really like. “Something’s Gotta Give” and “Now You See Me” are both a bit more traditional light-weight AOR, while ”Hope, Love & Everything” rocks it out a bit more with a great edgy vibe to it. It’s songs like this one I really appreciate with this band and stuff I think sets them apart a bit. This also applies to the title track with the rough edged neck pick-up Strat-intro and its cool hard rocking vibe with interesting rhythmical twists that I love when they do. A KILLER track, indeed! “Can’t Get Enough” is another heavier hard rocking track, with a classic 80s AC/DC-ish guitar riff. Phat and nice chorus choirs almost with a Def Leppard touch. “When We Were Young” takes us back to AOR land, with a strong vintage Bryan Adams vibe to it. “Heal” also offers up some solid hard edged melodic rock with great vocals from Joachim. Album closer “Til The Bitter End” is a straight-ahead, no frills party rocker. Nothing new under the sun, maybe, but when the sun shines, we do like it anyway. A solid album!

Country: Sweden

Label: private

Year: 2025

Artist: Phil Vincent

Title: Today, Tomorrow, Yesterday

Year: 2020

Label: private

Phil Vincent has a number of releases on his conscience. In 2019-2020 alone he has released a bunch of albums with Tragik, Legion and D’Ercole, and here comes his ninth (!) solo album. If his other bands and projects leans in other directions (not too far, though) his solo album is pure melodic hard rock/AOR. This is really a solo album in all senses. Phil handles vocals, bass, keyboards, rhythm guitars and drums, plus he has produced and mixed the album. The truth is he’s very, very good at all of it! The lead guitars are handled by Vince O’Regan. In songs like “Flying High” and “Pictures” I do hear a bit of classic Asia and even a touch of Electric Light Orchestra. This is by no means mainstream AOR, but nicely arranged and composed melodic rock. My only, and yes, the only, complaint would be I sometimes find the programmed drums a bit annoying. It’s works fine in most of the songs, but in faster tracks like “Voices” it’s too stiff and you lose the swagger. The track itself is a killer that would also have fitted nicely on the latest, and outstanding, Tragik album “Faith Healer”. But, as I said, that’s my only complaint on a really good album. I must also point out that Phil is a kick-ass singer who deserves to be heard!  

Janne Stark

WEST HILL – Rockin’ In The West Hill (CD)

Brazil isn’t just Angra and Sepultura. The country does harbor have some pretty good melodic rockers as well. Last year saw the release of one great example. West Hill plays great melodic hard rock/AOR with a strong southern touch. Not overwhelmingly heavy, but with really cool blues guitars and keyboards with a strong 80s touch. Like in One More Night In Heaven, the keyboards could have been sampled from an old Styx album. Singer Alamo Balzer has a clean, melodic and really pleasant voice. They remind me of US 70s band Thunder at times, but with a more contemporary vibe. Highly recommended for fans of melodic rock!

Janne Stark

Label: self-released

Year: 2013

Country: Brazil

Link: www.westhill.com.br

COLORSTONE - Into The Garden (CD)

With their roots in westcoast/AOR-oriented Malmö band Time Gallery, Colorstone attacks from a totally different angle. The band’s self-financed debut kicks off with heavy funk-oriented rocker Into The Garden Of Destruction which reminds me a bit of Dan Reed Network, but with a heavier bottom edge. When I come to think of it, it’s actually more similar to Stevie Salas Colorcode, but with vocals more similar to Dan Reed. Well, whatever, this is right up my alley! Killer song indeed! Second track, Silverspoon, is less funky but more driven and rocks out really well. Another killer track! Intoxicated keeps it up, and starts of with some bluesy harmonica. This one is actually more bluesy with cool neck pick-up Strat work going on. Things then mellow out a bit in Show Me The Way and Flowing, before the heavy rocker One Of A Kind pick it up again. I won’t go into all the tracks, just say that there are 17 tracks on the album. For me personally, I would remove 4-5 tracks I feel don’t really belong there. The Secret, for instance, feels like somewhat of a filler. The same goes for popster Solitude Waiting, which feels a bit misplaced but will probably appeal to fans of Time Gallery. Reducing it to 12 strong tracks would have made this one of the best Swedish releases of 2011. Well, it still is, of course, but that’s just me. However tracks like Silverspoon and Tonight's The Night are the type off stuff that gives me a musical hard-on! also, just realized I need to point out a few things. The band is so solid it's scary, plus I'm totally in love with guitarist Fredrik Bergengren's bluesy, funky and Hendrixy style of playing and singer Johan Dahlström's equally bluesy vocals. Killer stuff!

Janne Stark
Country: Sweden
Label: Self-release
Year: 2011

ANGELINE - Dis Con nec Ted (CD)

Swedish melodic rock veterans Angeline returned last year with one of the better comeback albums. The follow-up is now here. To be honest I’m not really sure what to say about this one, but one thing – if you liked the last one, I don’t see no single reason not to like this one. It’s more of the same, but slightly different. Great melodic hard rock with an edge, but still something that will appeal to AOR fans. What I really like about this band is that they balance on the edge of being very commercial and poppy, but they land on the right side with nice rough edge guitars and a singer in Jocke Nilsson that has the proper roughness in his voice. The song material is just as strong on this album. It’s simply a bloody great melodic rock record.
Janne Stark
Label: Avenue Of Allies
Year: 2011
Country: Sweden