The Jolly Company – 10 Acts To Astound And Amaze (CD)

There has come quite a bunch of high-class progressive acts from the little country of ours such as ACT, Jono, Kharma, Add The Jolly Company to the list. “Hear The News” kicks off in the true pomp/prog mode with hints of bands like Klatuu, Queen, ACT, City Boy. “Paris Summer Love” certainly has some severe Queen overtones with multilayered harmony vocals from the extremely talented Göran Edman (Madison, Malmsteen, Kharma etc). The project was initiated (and written) by former Crossroad Jam/Backwood Spirit keyboardist Peter Emilsson. The line-up also features Peter’s former Crossroad Jam colleague Joje Lindskoog on drums, Jonathan Lindskoog also on drums, Stefan Jonsson on guitar, Niclas Boson on bass and Anneli Axelsson on backing vocals. If you’re into intricate, orchestrated, theatrical, melodic proggy pomp rock, this album is a MUST. The songs are top notch, the musicians brilliant and Göran’s vocals are really the icing on the cake. My only disappointment is in myself and that it took me so long to really listen to and review this masterpiece!

Janne Stark

Country: Sweden

Year: 2021

Label: Self-released

Air Raid – Freedom Ring (CD)

 

No, this is not the Swedish heavy metal band, this the original Air Raid, the 1980s US pomp rock band fronted by Arthur Offen and with Rick Hinkle on guitar. Yes, they are back! Air Raid only made one self-titled album back in 1981, but boy what an album. After some silent years Arthur came back (quite silently, though) with the pomp project Flag, with whom he released three killer albums in the same vein as Air Raid. He then did a solo album under his own name, also in the same vein. All of them well worth checking out if you’re into high quality pomp rock! Well, Now Arthur and Rick have re-united to produce a new Air Raid album. Starting out with a track named Air Raid, they show they are back, and that without missing a beat! Same style and sound, same powerful, guitar oriented powerful pomp rock with great melodies. Arthur still has the voice, slightly aged and matured, but with the same power and attitude. Let Your Freedom Ring continues in the same style, and I must say, what I find a bit intriguing with Air Raid, and that was even on the first album, is that their sound is anything but polished. The drums sound acoustic, the guitar is rough edged, there are even wah solos, which is not every day you hear in this genre, and there are no extra layers of “shimmer”. It sounds like the album could have been recorded live in the studio. I love that! Island Song starts out quite slow and quite heavy, picks up the pace, goes back down, and Arthur makes an almost dystopic vocal delivery. Quite theatrical, and with lots of interesting twists and turns. It is followed by Derby Bay which on the contrary is an up-tempo quite light weight piece to balance it out. A Place In The Northland starts out sounding like an intro to an old movie about knights in shining armor, and the lyrics may even describe that scene. A very theatrical, pompy and orchestral piece, with an almost Phantom of the Opera kind of touch where Arthur is not holding back on the keyboard delivery. Surprisingly short, though. Los Horizon starts out with yet another big and orchestrated keyboard delivery and now we are going down to the dark corners of the theatre, before heading into space (at least lyrically). Another well-arranged and highly interesting opus. I complained about the previous track being short, but here I do get what I ask for, a long and intricate epical opus in six parts with different moods and vibes, from slow and gloomy, to up-tempo and rocking to mid-tempo with some raw edge guitar riffing, to almost chamber style music with acoustic guitar, violin and piano and back into pompy power rock territory. We’re talking a near 20-minute opus here! A masterpiece indeed! The album ends with The Silvering which does feel like a perfect ending song, like a “Goodbye and thanks for all the fish” (sorry couldn’t help it – this did give me a Douglas Adams vibe for some reason). There’s no doubt – Air Raid are back, and they have done a masterful album indeed!

Janne Stark   

Shaggy – Destination Nowhere (CD)

Anybody remember the Swedish 70s band Shaggy? They were formed in in 1972 and released one LP in 1976 entitled “Lesson For Beginners”, one hell of a record it was. Classic Uriah Heep style hard rock. It’s now a rare item and it has never been officially re-issued on CD. But, suddenly, out of nowhere, a new album appeared in 2015! According to the liner notes it was a result of six years of recording. The songs were written in the late 70s and the album is also a tribute to original bass player Jan Destner, who passed away the year before the release. The line-up features original members Fidde Rognås on guitar and Thomas Ryan on keyboard. The vocals are handled by former M.ill.ion singer Ulrich Carlsson. Listening to the album, it doesn’t sound dated at all. Opener “All Around” is a mid-league melodic hard rocker, while the title track is a really good slightly heavier installment. “Magic Horses” continues on the heavy path, but with a more semi-soft progressive touch, which made me think of German band Anyone’s Daughter. “Lady Of The Hill” continues on the same path and I must say I really like this! It’s definitely a bit different from the debut album, why it’s a bit surprising that the songs were written in the same era. Thing is, different can be good, and it IS good for this album. It’s a really nice development into a slightly more eclectic vein with a more progressive and pomp-oriented genre. Just listen to a masterpiece like “Poem”. Heavy, proggy and melodic with killer vocals and playing. The rest of the album continues on the same path and I must say I was positively surprised! I was expecting… well, I’m not really sure what I expected, but I thought it would be more hard/heavy rock. Highly recommended!

Janne Stark

Year: 2015

Label: Self-released

Country: Sweden

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Link: www.shaggytherockband.com

Steve Walsh – Black Butterfly (CD)

When singer Steve Walsh left Kansas I didn’t expect to see him return in a few years. Well, wrong was I. His new solo album is already hot off the press! Opener “Born In Fire” sounds like a left over Streets track, which is great in my book. Steve sings great and it’s actually hard to hear the difference between Steve’s voice and guest singer Jerome Mazza! The have a very similar tone, where Mazza does still have his high register in place. They do sound great together and the song is a kick ass rocker! When I first heard “The Piper”, it had something familiar about it. I soon realized this song actually appeared on the album by Radioactive. Some of the guitars have been re-amped, but it’s still the same song. “Grace And Nature” is a more pomp oriented track with a chorus that sort of takes the song down in intensity, which is an interesting move. “Dear Kolinda” continues in the pomp oriented vein with a chorus that does touch on the old Streets/Kansas nerve. In “Winds Of War” Jerome Mazza takes over the lead vocals. His voice sounds quite close to Steve’s actually. Sounds like something that also could have been on the Radioactive album. “Tanglewood Tree” starts off a bit Yes sounding. The vocals are a bit thin and strange in the opening, but soon gets better. An ok track, but not really a favorite. “Now Until Forever” again features Mazza on lead vocals. A good semi-ballad type track with a big chorus. “Warsaw” would also fit on the aforementioned Radioactive album. Quite Toto:ish.

“Black Butterfly” sounds quite different from “Shadowman”, both in sound and style. I honestly think “Shadowman” had more of a unique identity, while “Black Butterfly” sounds very much like several other projects involving the song writers. “Nothing But Nothing” starts out pretty cool and promising with an interesting guitar riff and even though it never really lifts off the way I expected, it’s a really cool track with an oriental touch in the chorus. Good one! “Winds of War”, also featuring Mazza on lead vocals is a mid-tempo melodic AOR track, a bit anonymous, but decent enough. “Billy Carbone Is Dead” is another track with a slight Streets touch, where I so wonder what Mike Slamer would have done with the guitar parts. “Mercy On Me” is one of the best tracks after the opener, also featuring Mazza on lead vocals. All in all a pretty good album, in deed. My first impression was actually better than what I feel after 5-6 times of listening. I’m a bit torn regarding Mazza handling the lead vocals on several tracks. He’s a great singer who deserves his own album, and I’d rather hear Steve sing all the songs and Mazza do his own thing, in the same style though. The production is clear and good, but I do miss a bit of the fatness of “Shadowman” which on the other hand misses a bit of the clarity found here. Well worth checking out.

Janne Stark

Label: Escape Music

Year: 2017

Country: USA

FAITHEALER - Welcome To The Edge Of The World (CD)

Ivan Gunn, former keyboard player of UK’s melodic semi prog unit Balance Of Power and melodic band Pride, is back in action with his new melodic union – Faithealer. This time he is co-operating with phenomenal singer Jason Marks (Forever, S.I.N). There’s definitely a touch of Balance of Power, but with much better sounding drums and a more AOR-oriented vibe. There’s really an array of strong choruses on this album, starting with opener “Who Will Stop The Rain” and continuing with the outstanding “Stronger”, which actually reminded me a bit of long lost AOR-gods Touch. The layers of voices in the chorus must have taken up half the ProTools tracks. Fat and juicy indeed. Despite Ivan foremost being a keyboard player, there’s still lots of guitars, solos provided by the excellent melodic shredder Chris Green, formerly of Pride and now found in the outstanding heavies Furyon. “Welcome To The Edge Of The World” is actually a bit more than your ordinary AOR-album, I’d actually place it in the rarely used category “pomp”, together with classic bands like Boston, Styx and the aforementioned band Touch, where there’s a bit more than just a catchy chorus and simple chorus patterns. There’s definitely a twist to it without being progressive, great arrangements which builds the songs up nicely and brings the listener through different phases and moods. This is definitely an album to check out – a great piece of melodic rock!
Janne Stark
Label: private
Country: UK
Year: 2010
Link: http://www.myspace.com/faithealerocks