Category Archives: rock

SUNSTORM – Emotional Fire

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With two highly recommended albums under their collective belt already, Sunstorm’s third release is a cut above most twenty-first century melodic rock releases.  With a selection of well-chosen numbers written by well-known melodic rock songwriters from the 80s and beyond, this disc is a sharp reminder of how, when done absolutely right, the melodic rock subgenre can still thrill.   Despite being slightly marred by a woolly production sound,  ‘Emotional Fire’ is barely out of the starting blocks before it adopts a stance which harks back to classic 80s melodic rock – but perhaps just as importantly – delivered with the kind of enthusiasm such a release deserves.  ‘Never Give Up’ sets a fantastic tone for the disc. A fast paced romp straight out of an AOR past, Dennis Ward’s pumping bass coupled with a strong chorus would be enough to make it a more than creditable opening statement, but Sunstorm take things a step further… This well crafted tune is bolstered by some absolutely wonderful guitar work and an equally good vocal outing from the legendary Joe Lynn Turner.  The solos feature a selection amount of arpeggios throughout – though resting just on the side of good taste – while the blankets of keyboards are laid on thickly, adding to the track’s very full-on sound.

‘Wish You Were’ here – a mid-paced stomper, written by Xorigin’s Daniel Palmquist – is a superb number, with an almost perfect blend of choppy guitar chords and bell-like keyboard accompaniment.  Throughout the track, Turner offers another terrific performance, but it’s on a superbly memorable chorus he really comes into his own.  While few would deny the song’s tried and tested formula, it would take a very harsh critic to not enjoy its qualities.  The upbeat ‘Follow Your Heart’ (one of three numbers penned by songwriter Sören Kronqvist) begins with huge amounts of keyboards which, once again, present themselves in a very 80s bell-sounding way, which is clearly a knowing wink to the 80s from Justin Dakey; if you want a decent retro sound, those kinds of keys are the only way to go.  With another harmony filled chorus backed by an incredibly bouncy arrangement, Sunstorm take us back through their musical time machine back to the glory days of 1986. At a time where various band sound like they just going through the motions, Sunstorm make it all sound so easy.  With a slightly chuggy riff and dirty toned guitar solo, ‘Torn in Half’ showcases Sunstorm’s (slightly) harder edges, but there are so many keyboards and vocal harmonies on show, it’s still hugely melodic.  As with so much of the material here, JLT reinforces his position as one of melodic rock’s finest voices; a voice which, when backed by half of Pink Cream 69, sounds as good as ever.  …And on a release as consistent as this, any of his previous career misfires can be easily forgiven.

That handful of songs would be enough alone to ensure ‘Emotional Fire’ a worthy addition to the band’s catalogue, but it’s the three best-known compositions which pushes things up to almost classic status. This time around Sunstorm tackle a few tracks which are possibly already ingrained upon most AOR fans’ collective consciousness: ‘Gina’ [as featured on Michael Bolton’s ‘The Hunger’ – his last half-credible release before old “Two Haircuts” became the housewives’ favourite with his increasingly limp outings] and a couple of choice cuts from Cher’s ‘Heart of Stone’, namely ‘Emotional Fire’ and the terrific ‘You Wouldn’t Know Love’.  Turner appeared on the original Bolton and Cher recordings as backing vocalist, but the opportunity to hear him sing lead on these well-worn tunes is a welcome one indeed.  As one of classic rock’s most enduring voices, Turner absolutely hits the spot on these as you may expect, but Sunstorm’s recording of ‘You Wouldn’t Know Love’ is particularly superb.  Turner’s strong vocal style plus an incredibly professional band of musicians combined with the award-winning pen of Diane Warren is a killer combination.  Make no mistake, it is gold standard AOR, as well as a timely reminder that Cher’s ‘Heart of Stone’ has worn rather well over the passing years.  ‘Gina’, too, is recommended listening, since Sunstorm take an opportunity to approach the song in a slightly tougher style than the Bolton recording from 1987, resulting in a track which sounds like it was tailor made for them.

The only potential weak link here is the closing number, ‘All I Am’, a track featuring a writing credit from Isabell Oversveen.  Although this power ballad has not been recorded by Issa herself at this time, it’s easy to imagine the Scandinavian songstress wrapping her vocal chords around the material.  The result isn’t quite so great for Turner, however.  On this track, poor Joe sounds like he’s reaching a little too far to achieve the required levels of emotion, resulting in a performance that sounds a touch uncomfortable, and certainly not up to the standard of the other ten tracks.  Musically, it’s all solid fare though, as you would expect, with Uwe Reitenauer laying down some rather tasty guitar work.

So, yeah, you’ll have heard it all before, but with so many bands and artists churning out second division albums on what appears to be little more than a factory production line – a lot of which are destined to get forgotten in the mists of time – it’s thrilling when a potential classic is released. ‘Emotional Fire’ is such a release.  Sure, the production should have been slightly sharper, but the material is top drawer stuff.

You need a copy of this album for a variety of reasons: (1) it ranks alongside Rainbow’s ‘Difficult To Cure’, Yngwie Malmsteen’s ‘Odyssey’ and his own ‘Rescue You’ as a career highpoint for Joe Lynn Turner; (2)  the versions of the Cher classics are marvellous and (3) it represents almost every reason you still love an often derided rock subgenre (it’s lacking production by Mike Slamer and/or a mix by the “hand of death” Neil Kernon, but you can’t have everything, as they say).   Honestly, go and buy this album; it’s one you just can’t afford to miss.

February 2012

GARY JOHN BARDEN – The Eleventh Hour

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Best known for lending his vocals to a few of the early Michael Schenker Group’s releases, Gary Barden has been a jobbing vocalist for decades.  Aside from his work with Schenker, his voice can be heard on albums by Silver, Praying Mantis and Statetrooper. 2011’s ‘Eleventh Hour’ is his fifth solo record.

The album begins in a rather unsubtle manner.  The heavy-handed ‘Baghdad’ presents a heavy-ish riff coupled with some already out-of-date political statements (ridiculously simplified to children’s news level).  Although the tune is augmented in places by equally unsubtle effects noises of bombs and the like, the riff itself is a more than reasonable one. Sadly, however the show’s over once Gary Barden starts to sing… Over the riffs, he wails such lyrical howlers as “George W and Tony Blair took years to find the madman’s lair”, after which it’s impossible to even try to take this seriously.  Some of the other lyrics are harder to decipher in places due to Barden’s over-singing, which hasn’t improved much over the years; it’s still full of unnecessary growls, warbles and other potentially nasty elements.  In fairness, it could be said that Barden sounds a little better on parts of this release than on Statetrooper’s 2004 outing, ‘The Calling’ – where he wailed like he was having a kidney removed without anaesthetic – but, most of the time, that’s not saying much.

The following couple of tracks are less bombastic, as if Barden believes he’s made his grand statement and can now settle into something more natural…and perhaps more fun.  With an upbeat pace, ‘Fallen By The Wayside’ is a slice of rock with plenty of drive where the twin lead guitars are the obvious high point, while ‘Child of Sorrow’ is a stomping rocker – the kind you’ll find on any number of Rainbow-esque hard rock discs.  The needle on the cheeseometer is flickering off the end of the scale here, but at least it could be said this number attempts to bring a rousing chorus to the table.  It’s okay, yes, but you’ll certainly find better examples of this kind of thing on hundreds of other melodic rock discs out there.

‘Easy Does It’ offers one of the best riffs on the album, as well as one of the best vocals.  Instead of going for the big rock edge, Barden attempts something soft and soulful (albeit still in a rock style); the slightly gritty element in his voice works well as he hits the longer vibrato-filled notes.  A more than commendable bluesy guitar solo ups the stakes here too, before the track loses its way temporarily.  All bluesy elements are eschewed in favour of a faster paced swagger that’s just horrid.  It may only be temporary, but it’s so ill-judged, as if it was shoehorned in from another work in progress.  Despite this faux pas, it’s a track which showcases what Barden and band are capable of when everything comes together – it’s a shame those times are somewhat of a rarity.  The eight minute epic ‘Before The Eyes of The World’ brings with it another superb riff – the kind which would have been at home on Dio’s ‘Angry Machines’ record of ’96, but aside from a twin lead solo it doesn’t really offer much more of any real interest.  Barden’s vocals are average at best, and even that once-promising riff starts to sound repetitive and leaden before too long.  Bringing in the track at half the length could have been a great improvement…

‘Would You Wanna Do’ is another of the better numbers (although, as always, better is a relative concept).  A pleasing selection of guitar arpeggios during its verses starts things off well enough, while a good sense of melody during the pre-chorus and a few decent lead guitar moments also help the track stand out.  The chorus doesn’t live up to the promise set out by the pre-chorus, however, and the female vocals on hand instantly make the piece sound dated.  On the plus side here, Barden reins in his voice a great deal, making it much less of an endurance on the listener.  On the negative, yet again, it sounds like a recording from a third generation cassette dub, thanks to the slack production values.  That production just mars many of the good moments on this album – often sounding like you’re listening on the morning after a particularly loud gig.  It’s a pity; a much slicker (ie: more expensive) production could have improved this album’s general feel, even though it would never have saved us from Barden’s terrible lyrics.

Bulking an already not especially enjoyable disc out to eleven songs, Barden offers his own recording of ‘Don’t Take Me For A Loser’ – an early 80s co-write, originally featured on Gary Moore’s ‘Corridors of Power’.  Lacking any of Moore’s effortless style, Barden and band chug their way through the tune in a workmanlike manner: the lead guitar work never rises above average, the lead vocals are okay at best and the female backing voices are lost somewhere in the sludge.  On the plus side, it’s still a well constructed tune – a hundred times better than most of ‘Eleventh Hours’ paltry efforts.

With ‘Eleventh Hour’, Barden adds yet another pretty ropey release to his expanding legacy of mediocrity.  Generally speaking, his backing band is okay, but Barden himself proves to be a wholly second division talent in both the vocal and song-writing stakes – someone rarely worth the admiration he seems to gather.   This is an album for his devoted fans only; other melodic rock aficionados would be best advised to spend their hard-earned cash elsewhere.

November 2011

CROWN OF THORNS – Crown Of Thorns

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If you meet people who were fans of melodic rock in the 80s, chances are, they’ll bang on tirelessly about how alternative music killed melodic rock at the beginning of the nineties.  However, in 1994,a small UK based label called Now & Then Records provided a wave of genuine excitement with their first bunch of releases.  After releasing an album by Gary Hughes (later to become the frontman with pomp/melodic rock giants Ten), the label released a string of fantastic melodic rock discs, some of which had been rescued from the vaults of major labels, destined to potentially never see the light of day.

One of these early releases was the debut album by Crown of Thorns, a black rock band made up of a handful of cult musicians. Featured in the band’s first line-up were ex-Plasmatics/Little Steven man Jean Bouvoir, drummer Tony Thompson, who’d previously worked with the Duran Duran/Robert Palmer vehicle The Power Station, and bassist Michael Paige.  Rounding out the quartet was a rather unexpected musician: Micki Free, who’d previously been a member of Shalamar’s final line-up.

Right from the opening bars of the first track – the band’s self-titled song – there’s a sense that Crown of Thorns are a really tight unit.  After a brief drum intro from Tony Thompson, lead guitars drive the track into its first verse where Beauvoir’s soulful vocal style adds plenty of melody, while retaining enough bite to still be very much a rock performance. While the chorus is strong and the band’s gift for solid arrangement should never be undervalued, it’s Micki Free’s lead guitar work which makes this a killer opener, as he strikes a perfect balance between melody and squealing rock chops.  Lead single ‘The Healer’ offers similar rock stylings, though it’s perhaps a little punchier all round.  Beauvoir’s vocal is turned up to eleven, hitting more high notes than elsewhere on the disc, but remaining totally professional, he understands the importance of melody and never overplays those rock elements. Again, the chorus comes with a big hook, but it’s the harmonies which really drive it home.

The album’s big ballad ‘Standing On The Corner for Ya’ is a match for many of the big, arguably more famous 80s rock ballads, with huge chords and fantastic use of harmonies throughout. Understated verses, featuring Beauvoir with piano accompaniment allow that big chorus to really make an impact.  As with many other tracks featured here, Micki Free’s guitar solo – this time full of long, string-bent epicness – provides one of the high points, even though it’s fairly short in duration. ‘Winterland’ (co-written with Kiss man Paul Stanley) gives the impression of a track that’s more atmospheric at first, due to a soft intro featuring Beauvoir delivering a modest performance, backed by a clean sounding guitar.  However, after a few bars Free chimes in with a few hard, rhythmic chords, which help give the number an extra bit of oomph.  The verses are decent enough, but a chorus featuring Beauvoir in good form, singing against some great harmonies really lifts the track even farther.  With such a simple and memorable chorus, it’s easy to forgive a guitar solo that includes a couple of odd, really jarring notes.

‘Dyin’ For Love’ moves away a little from the melodic hard rock sound and offers something closer to classic AOR.  This is due to a more mid-paced approach and a keyboard giving an extra depth of sound in places.  Tony Thompson’s drum line and Michael Paige’s bass work both provide solid simplicity, giving the band a fine anchor.  The arrangement is spot-on throughout and the chorus one of the album’s absolute best.  ‘Hike It Up’ is a track full of mid-paced paunchiness; while it doesn’t bring anything new to the genre, it’s a brilliant driving rocker featuring great harmonies, a couple of great key-changes and a whammy bar solo.  If ‘Standin’ On The Corner’ and ‘Dyin’ For Love’ provide the album’s best examples of rock balladry and solid melodic song writing respectively, then ‘Hike It Up’ stands as one of the best examples of Crown of Thorns “the hard rock band”.

With an almost mechanical bassline, ‘Til The End’ has all the hallmarks of a Jim Vallance penned Bryan Adams number, though rather strangely, although Vallance is credited as co-writing a couple of numbers with Crown of Thorns, this particular track was written without his assistance.  Jean Beauvoir can be heard in particularly strong voice here, and although his performances on this release are all good in their own right, it’s on the slightly softer numbers he really comes into his own.  The harmonies used within this track are especially good.  If there’s a weak link on this debut album, then ‘Are You Ready’ pulls the short straw.  With its mix of hard rock, retro grooves and a tinge of funk metal, it was obviously designed as a live crowd-pleaser (and in the live setting it’s certainly rousing enough) but on record, its contrived efforts at creating good times do not translate quite as well in your average living room. That said, it’s definitely not a skipper.

Boasting so many strong numbers and decent production courtesy of renowned studio man Beau Hill, this debut is not only one of the best melodic rock discs of its time, it could possibly rank as one of the finest melodic rock discs ever.  It still sounds great so many years later.  Like a few of the other early Now & Then Records releases, it’s an album no decent melodic rock/AOR collection should be without.

June 2011

VARIOUS ARTISTS: ZZ Top: A Tribute From Friends

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At the beginning of ZZ Top’s fifth decade as recording artists (still featuring the original three guys as of 2011), the band have finally scored their own tribute album. The unimaginatively titled and poorly packaged ‘A Tribute From Friends’ is better than it initially appears and includes contributions from a couple of rock heavyweights alongside a couple of artistes you’d never expect to find on such a record.

With a steady blues-pop groove that’s so unmistakably the work of 80s ZZ Top, it’s out with the big guns first, for an all star rendition of ‘Sharp Dressed Man’. In the rhythm section are the incomparable John McVie and Mick Fleetwood. The pair get to rock harder than they have in many a year, but still bring their usual stately and solid approach to this session. Fleetwood’s drums never break from their groove – adopting the kind of slow pounding as heard through the band’s ‘Rumours’ – abetted all the way by McVie’s bass, similarly elephantine in its unshakable style. The pair have never felt any need to be flashy, always believing a rhythm section are exactly that – and this is no exception. Combined, they really are a force of nature. What band could befit such a pair? Step up blues prodigy Jonny Lang on guitar and Steven Tyler on vocals! Lang adds some gritty lines in the Billy Gibbons tradition while the Aerosmith mouthpiece clearly relishes yelping his way through the classic number. Rounding out the makeshift band is keysman Brett Tuggle, whose electric piano work brings with it plenty of flair. All-star collaborations don’t always work, but this band – credited as The M.O.B. – sound like a natural combination on a track which would make a near essential collection filler, especially for Aerosmith devotees.

Perversely, the often questionable Nickelback offer another of the best covers here with a really chunky version of the tres hombres’ world-wide hit ‘Legs’. The southern groove and general spirit of the original cut is still very much present; the only major change Nickelback have made is to play it about three times heavier. Shifting the tune away from its original mechanical eighties muscles and giving it a bigger crunch works strongly in its favour. Whether Nickelback chose ‘Legs’ because it suited their style or whether Chad Kroeger was amused by its blatant levels of sexism remains to be seen, but let’s not knock it too much, a good cover is a good cover. Balancing out the sexist elements of ‘Legs’, the even more sexist ‘Tush’ gets the once-over by the female led Grace Potter & The Nocturnals. Most of the swagger of ZZ Top’s 1975 cut is evident, but isn’t always quite as natural sounding when delivered by this Vermont based blues outfit. To make up for a slightly stilted drum part, Potter’s lead vocal comes with plenty of charm, stretching her range with relative ease. It’s good to hear a woman tacking this song; it would have been better if Heart’s Ann Wilson had recorded a cover instead, but as they say, you can’t have everything.

Duff McKagan’s upfront bass style and gravelly rock vocals put so much of a his stamp on Loaded’s version ‘Got Me Under Pressure’, it’s hard not to imagine this track appearing in their live sets from time to time. It’s meaty, it’s trashy – it’s not especially sophisticated, but then neither are most things by ZZ Top. In all, though, it’s another job well done. ‘La Grange’ is left in the hands of country rocker Jamey Johnson whom, thankfully, really delivers the goods on an eight minute extended workout of what could perhaps be the finest of ZZ Top’s tunes. The groove hits the mark consistently, over which Johnson’s slurred vocals are top drawer. Most importantly, during the instrumental parts, he and band really sound like they’re having a great time, especially once the two guitars trade solos with an old fashioned organ and harmonica. The eight minutes just zip by and, with at least five of those dominated by solos, you’ll wish this boogie rock tour de force had gone on for longer – perhaps even much longer.

Heavy-hitters Mastodon trade in their usual monolithic riffs for plenty of fuzzy southern grooves throughout a rendition of ‘Just Got Paid’ which showcases a loud drum kit, plenty of slide guitar work and a gravelly vocal. It’s like listening to seventies ZZ Top re-worked by a particularly aggressive Molly Hatchet and certainly none the worse for that. They ought to tackle southern rock more often, since it really suits them…while never losing the feel a band you’d never want to mess with. ZZ Top’s eighties pop hit ‘Rough Boy’ gets the once-over by one time Fugees man Wyclef Jean. As you’d expect, he takes the track and casts it in his own black pop style. The mechanical music is soulless empty – emptier than the now dated original version – so you’d hope that a decent vocal would balance things out. Sadly, you won’t get that either, since Wyclef’s voice has been horribly autotuned. It’s just nasty. Yes, there are a couple of non-rock inclusions to be found on this tribute, but how Wyclef made the cut with this atrocity is just baffling. There are a couple of artistes not represented here whom could have fit the bill nicely – and either Black Stone Cherry or Black Label Society would have been a more than welcome substitution for the woefully misplaced Wyclef.

Elsewhere, you’ll find enjoyable offerings from Coheed & Cambria (terrible vocal, top tune) and US talent show winner Chris Daughtry (a man with a great voice), alongside the seventies-inspired Wolfmother and industrial merchants Filter. All four acts achieve relatively decent results with their chosen covers, though not always reaching the peaks of this album’s best results. On the whole, as tributes go, ‘ZZ Top – A Tribute From Friends’ is all fairly respectful. That’s not to say that ZZ Top’s fans would like this tribute of course, but then, it wasn’t really created with them in mind. It could be argued that perhaps more of the bands could have remodelled these tunes into their own image – as per Wyclef Jean and Duff McKagan – since it may have made things more interesting, but that wouldn’t have necessarily made the album any better. Even if you’re not entirely convinced by this album as a whole, at least check it out for the Jamey Johnson track – you won’t regret it.

November 2011

CHRIS OUSEY – Rhyme & Reason

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His input on the Virginia Wolf albums and Heartland’s debut release back in the 80s would have been enough alone to secure Chris Ousey a place in the AOR hall of fame. However, Chris Ousey’s musical journey did not end there: although from that point on, his career moved toward more of a cult following, throughout the 90s and beyond, Ousey continued to be one of the UK’s hardest working voices in melodic rock.  Heartland’s career moved apace, releasing various albums for the Escape Music label throughout the 90s and beyond, and in addition, Ousey also embarked on a side project with Pokerface’s Kenny Kaos entitled The Distance (not to be confused with the similarly-named American band featuring Robert Hart).

Released almost two and a half decades after the Virginia Wolf debut put Ousey on the map, you could say his solo debut was a long time coming – and you’d be right.  Some things, however, are worth the wait.  2011’s ‘Rhyme & Reason’ is not simply a continuation of the Heartland saga; it presents something far better.  For this record, Ousey pits his instantly recognisable voice against some of melodic rock’s other premier talents.  The respected Tommy Denander joins Ousey’s band on guitar alongside the absolutely legendary guitarist/producer Mike Slamer, while ex-Whitesnake bassist Neil Murray and sometime David Lee Roth/Joe Satriani drummer Gregg Bissonette fill the rhythm section.  As far as session bands go, that’s quite a line up.  Across this album’s dozen tracks they sound truly inspired, as if this bringing together of various talents yielded the kind of spark long lost in some melodic rock quarters.

There are no weak songs to be found here – all twelve tracks on ‘Rhyme & Reason’ offer something enjoyable for the discernable melodic rock fan.  Naturally, of course, there are a few clear standouts.  The stabbing keys and overdriven guitar riff which provide the heart of the opening track ‘The Mother of Invention’ are in a style which sets the tone for the rest of the record.  Ousey’s lead voice sounds powerful and the music, in melodic rock terms at least, comes with a big presence befitting of such a vocal.  The keyboards bring a mechanical muscle in places, and although this gives a late 80s feel to the track, it never feels fake in any way.  The lead guitar work is of a great standard – as you’d expect from both Denander and Slamer – showy, but not too showy; these guys know that, first and foremost, this is Ousey’s record.  The bar gets raised a little higher still on ‘Motivation’ which features some clean guitar lines during the intro which in turn give way to another great, slightly dirtier riff.  The overall mood is funky without opting for a full-out funk rock workout and the band sounds tight throughout.  Despite the dominant guitars, mechanical keys still provide the musical glue which holds everything together.  Ousey doesn’t hit as many big notes as he is capable on this number, but in some ways there’s no need – the choppy rhythms speak for themselves and carry everything well enough.

Something softer, ‘A Natural Love’ really highlights Ousey’s top vocal skills as he stretches his lines with relative ease.  Backed by a by a fairly predictable – yet still great – AOR arrangement, his voice sounds wonderful on a number which could have graced any number of Heartland albums in the past, except for one key difference: Mike Slamer is a far better guitarist than Heartland’s Steve Morris (sorry Steve!) and here, with the help of Tommy Denander he adds some great sweeping guitar lines which are absolutely perfect for the piece.  Those looking for something punchy need look no farther than ‘Give Me Shelter’, a three minute burst of rock, which aside from carrying another driving, arpeggio filled riff, has plenty of pompy keyboards.  Not to be outdone by such a solid musical backdrop, Ousey goes all-out here, delivering a vocal which could proudly stand alongside his best.  His voice has held up well over the years and this only proves it.

‘Watch This Space’ offers something a little lighter in places once again, as Ousey lends his voice track which wouldn’t have sounded too out of place on Toto’s ‘Kingdom of Desire’ album with its slightly fuzzy guitar riffs.  When it’s Ousey’s turn at the microphone, the guitars take a back seat as he places his vocal across a keyboard based groove – his voice every bit as strong as his more famous peers.  As a piece of music, this uses all the hallmarks of classic melodic rock – the featured guitar solo providing another high point, while the clear separation between guitar, keyboard and voice allows Slamer’s almost faultless production a chance to really shine.  In a similar vein, ‘The Reason Why’ showcases perfect performances from Ousey and band – the riffs and harmonies peaking in a great AOR chorus, topped yet again by a immaculate guitar solo, brimming with huge notes.  Looking beyond melodic rock’s well worn (but still well loved 80s hits), this is a good example of why some people still love what is an often derided musical genre.  ‘Rhyme & Reason’ is a great album all round, but this track is just fantastic.

Almost everything involving Mike Slamer is melodic rock gold, and this album is no exception.  Although most of Chris Ousey’s output is of a reasonably high standard, parts of ‘Rhyme & Reason’ are a cut above, and certainly far sharper than a lot of the post-1997 Heartland releases.  While Ousey’s fans are sure to lap this up, there are enough guitar chops here to potentially reel in a fair number of Slamer and Denander devotees too.  With such a winning combination of musicians and some genuinely great songs (given a decent production job), ‘Rhyme & Reason’ is a melodic rock album that’s not to be missed.

November 2011