LINY WOOD - Liny Wood (CD)

I had never heard about Liny Wood (or Linéa Helge), even though I’ve been at her dad’s guitar shop quite a few times, and she’s from a town only an hour away. The first time I saw her name and heard her outstanding vocals was on the new Brian Robertson album Diamonds And Dirt, where she sings on a couple of songs. Ok, I’ll start by saying Liny’s solo material is nowhere near Robertson’s bluesy hard rock, even though he lends a helping hand on three tracks on this disc as well. There are also some helping hands from Grand Illusion/Code’s guitarist Ola Af Trampe, drummer Peer Stappe, who recorded and played on John Norum’s latest solo-album, plus one track was co-written by Ulf “Chris Laney” Larsson. These are however the only hard rock connections on this disc, even though Liny does look very hard rock herself. The music is very versatile from piano based balladry, almost with an ABBA-touch in Jenny, I also hear a lot of Stevie Nicks in some of the material. Liny however has a greater range and much more power in her voice than Stevie, where Stevie on the other hand has a greater personality in hers. I also hear a bit of Alannah Myles here and there, which is also a good thing. There’s also some more modern pop stuff I personally don’t really care for. Where I think Liny really shines, the moments I really really like on this album is the softer and more acoustic stuff, like Mom, My Love and also Ship, where Robertson does some great soloing. Album closer Leaving You Behind is however my favourite. It’s more of a power semi-ballad with a very big powerful and dynamic sound, where her voice really shines and where Robertson again proves he does still have it. How I wish this would instead have been the softest song on the album. I would love to hear Liny just hang it all out in some powerful melodic hard rock. Her voice would fit like a glove, a studded leather glove with a touch of lace. Maybe next time?

Janne Stark
Label: Polar Studios
Year: 2011
Link: http://www.linywood.com/