First Signal began life as a side project for Harem Scarem singer Harry Hess, but with the arrival of session guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Michael Palace and drummer Daniel Flores for the second record ‘One Step Over The Line’, the melodic rock band took on a little more of its own identity. It wasn’t until 2019’s ‘Line of Fire’, however, that First Signal finally found their feet, but with that record, they became far more than just an extra-curricular hustle – they were now a band to rival some of the scene’s greatest acts. That album even outshone most of Harem Scarem’s work since the mid 90s.
Tag Archives: melodic rock
ROBIN McAULEY – Alive
Robin McAuley’s 2021 album ‘Standing On The Edge’ was unexpectedly good. With that release, the veteran rock singer not only managed to turn in one of the year’s best melodic rock albums, but one of the year’s best albums – period. Although McAuley has only ever taken a sporadic approach to recording as a solo artist, the record’s huge choruses and swathes of late 80s inspired melodies showed his talent hadn’t waned since his heyday, and if anything, it suggested his voice was stronger than ever. The following year found Robin moonlighting with hard rock supergroup Black Swan (also featuring ex-Dokken man Jeff Pilson and guitarist Reb Beach), which allowed him to apply his voice to a few chunkier arrangements on occasion. It wasn’t the kind of album that achieved massive worldwide success, but was well loved by the dyed in the wool rock fans who actually heard it, continuing something of a winning streak.
KHYMERA – Hold Your Ground
Despite featuring no original members, Khymera’s fourth album ‘The Grand Design’ was a solid piece of melodic rock, and 2020’s ‘Master of Illusions’ was potentially even better. That record, although perhaps not up to the quality of the self-titled debut from 2003, showed how Khymera were able to steer their way through some great riffs and big chorus hooks, and they were still a great band under Dennis Ward’s guidance.
ARCTIC RAIN – Unity
On their debut album (2020’s ‘The One’), Arctic Rain largely specialised in classic sounding melodic rock, but weren’t afraid to temper a big chorus with a slightly harder edge on occasion. That record presented a selection of very 80s sounding songs in tandem with some great guitar work, and as such, provided a huge amount of entertainment for lovers of bands like Alien, Last Autumn’s Dream and Miss Behaviour.
Their second LP, ‘Unity’, is a worthy follow up to a great debut, even though it sometimes takes a very different approach. Despite a heavier sound in places, the big choruses retain the same melodic charm as before, and on at least half of the songs, there are still some very broad melodies shining through. This is a record that fans will still enjoy, but it is also the kind of record that shows the band pushing forward.
TEN – Something Wicked This Way Comes
Ten’s fifteenth studio album ‘Here Be Monsters’ was easily the band’s finest collection of songs in many a year. Although a lot of their post-Chris Francis albums are home to some great tracks, Ten’s later output, when taken as a whole, sometimes feels patchy or like a band desperately trying to recycle old glories. ‘…Monsters’ was a cut above. It’s choruses were often great; the music had a sense of fire that had been partly absent for a while, and the vocal contributions from the great Gary Hughes were especially good throughout. With all of that in mind, 2023’s ‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’ had a lot to live up to. The fact that the songs were recorded in tandem with ‘Here Be Monsters’ automatically stood the record in good stead, but would it merely made up from the tracks that weren’t good enough to make the cut almost a year earlier?