There’s a simplicity to opener ‘Never Look Back’ that draws you in immediately, but “Oh no” I hear you say “not another Melodic Hard Rock band from Sweden?” Well yes but this is actually a little different. Whilst your bands like Eclipse and Craxy Lixx rely on an 80’s Arena Rock ‘huge chorus and highly polished’ template to great effect, these guys have a little more of a hint of the Alt Rock/Pop of that era too. And whilst production isn’t as crisp as those contemporaries – it actually kind of suits the music having a vocal led mix that lets the back end shine as much as the guitar at times.
So whilst ‘Never Look Back’ is the Hard Rock hook there’s more to it than that, it may now blow you away instantly but a touch of Lillian Axe in the mix makes you want to see where this one goes. Where it leads is intriguing: there’s more of a bouncy groove and a little more Metal in the dial of ‘Too Much Water Under the Bridge’ and ‘Running Out of Time’ is far more early 80’s Rock with touches of The Alarm. It’s interesting even if not completely hitting home runs.
‘Under The Gun’ opens like early Def Leppard of the first two records but manages to lose that refreshing edge. Whilst half way in ‘Easy Come Easy Go’ attempts a smoother approach backed by a nice riff and decent chorus. It’s the song for me that elevated the album from interesting to something more. Don’t get me wrong the musicianship here is top notch and the record as a whole ticks a lot of boxes but it just lacks the sharpest of hooks.
‘On the Radio’ is built the same way, a solid riff, smoother sound and a lyric that explores days of yore when dreams were possible, it’s ticking all the boxes but again when you wait for that hook to land it’s far too subtle. Sonically sounds great though.
‘Talk to Ya Later’ injects a little more urgency into proceedings and builds nicely layering in some nice harmonies in the pre-chorus but the chorus itself is just perfunctory and whilst the song is one of may favourite here you just feel that it’s again just missing that something. ‘The Angels Cry’ that follows comes back to that rolling groove, a little heavier with a bursting verse but a chorus that again hides away a little. It’s so close man! So close.
‘Fly Away’ which backs of a little in tempo and explores a more AOR path works nicely even if it is a little out of step with the rest here; and immediately after that ‘Last Men Standing’ which again explores those harmonies finally nails it despite the most cliched lyric on the record. Closer ‘The Higher You Rise the Harder you Fall’ takes that harder edge again, and that aforementioned bounce and lands another punch. It might well be one of the best here and despite the dreamy interlude prior to the chorus which just kills the tension it proves that they can put it all together.
If I had to slap a label on this one it would read ‘huge potential’.
7 / 10