Eric3

On 4/30/2022 at 10:12 PM, melodicrock said:

I think these guys all come together of their own volition, so it might be a more organic sounding release instead of the usual fare.

You were right on the money. This is a very solid album with diverse songwriting that flows like, what a concept, an album! instead of 11-12 songs written by someone else. I didn't think I'd like it but I'm really impressed and wouldn't be surprised if it rises to album of the year contender status.

On 8/18/2022 at 3:22 AM, Stefan said:

 

 

That's a great song. The bridge makes it a lot more interesting, I wish more of these bands would be less afraid to write songs longer than the usual 4-4:30 minutes.

On 8/20/2022 at 6:37 AM, Geoff said:

Yeah, I'd have to agree. And I'd put Magic Dance with these guys too - I don't really think either are "synthwave" more than they're just pure melodic rock artists. Definitely a lot more guitar and shall we say "oomph," compared to a typical synthwave artist... whom I also love. But I don't think they're the same thing either.  

Both of them have taken more of a rock direction. LeBrock's first two EPs had lots of synthwave in them and Magic Dance was pure synthwave/retrowave when it first started.

IMO, LeBrock has gotten better while Magic Dance has gotten worse, but I still like Magic Dance.

On 8/20/2022 at 9:52 AM, Dead Planet said:

Sad to see how far this band has fallen...compared to older HOL music , this is painfully average.....Come To My Kingdom is the last release worth owning imo.....the next 3 had a few decent songs but rarely get airtime from me....I won't be picking up this release....

I'm listening to that one now, actually. What a great album. Awesome production and the vocals and melodies were on point!

Listening to Salute now. I was introduced to La Verdi's vocals through LRS (an album that has not aged very well IMO) and wow he used to be a beast! Much stronger vocal delivery on Salute.

That's exactly what I'd expect an Alessandro del Vecchio song trying to impersonate a Magnus Karlsson song to sound like.

22 hours ago, AlphaMale said:

From what I've read, this is more than 80% Erik written. Ronnie barely had any input.

Standard Frontiers approach. Take a bunch of demos written by one of their go-to songwriters, polish them up, get a popular name to sing on them and call it an album. Or, even more dishonestly, a "band."

On 5/29/2022 at 9:53 PM, The Rocker said:

First Signal
 

How did I not think of this one?!

Brilliant album and the project just tanked afterwards...

Oh no, that production...

Personally, I think Days of Thunder is still their best! It has my two favorite songs by them (Los Angeles and WeMoveForward) and just sounds the most "organic" of all of their albums, I'm not sure how else to put it...

That's a very boring song and yes, the vocals are getting weaker and weaker.

What the heck happened to this band? They were on fire from 2006 to like 2014. Everything since then has been mediocre and it's not just because of the vocals.

On 7/30/2022 at 11:49 PM, melodicrock said:

James has been the weak link in HOL for the last 5 albums. Having Robin blend in her vocals for the high parts is just plain fucking annoying.

I don't know if anyone else will get this but it's starting to sound like Meat Loaf's final album, which was produced in a way to compensate for him completely losing his power. The female vocals were just as loud if not louder than Meat's in the mix and were sung in a way higher register. It sounds beyond terrible.

Christian will never sound that bad, but yeah.

That song could have been on the first Cruzh album.

On 7/19/2022 at 8:20 AM, auslander said:

I have read some reviews that suggest people who hear bad production might be listening to compressed audio files from spotify and not a cd on a decent high-end stereo. Apparently this issue is very noticeable on the YouTube files as well. It may be the reason why people are hearing different things regarding the production.

This is a very common excuse these days. If something sounds bad they just say it's YouTube compressing the file. Which technically does happen but alone should not be the reason for what is actually poor mixing.

Also, if these streaming platforms are so prevalent, why not try to adjust for that in the recording process? Not everyone is going to be able to listen on a hi-def sound system...

On 7/16/2022 at 9:42 AM, Dead Planet said:

Decent song but I wish they would put out a release more like Dead Reckoning as that is their best by far.....but after hearing their discography, it appears DR was a one off....

Really? I find their discography to be very consistent.

I think Dead Reckoning is probably their best album (either that or Subsurface) but IMO their discography has few weak links.

I do agree that this single is far from one of their best songs. I have little doubt that the album itself will be great.

Top Gun: Maverick.

It was fucking awesome.

Not sure who is in this band but it sure sounds like a Wolfclub side project to me.

Album is out today.

He said the upcoming album will be darker in the vein of Night Drive.

I do enjoy his more dreamy and melodic work, for sure. A lot of what made Night Drive great were the stellar guest vocals.

On 7/6/2022 at 10:26 AM, Mr.AOR said:

New single...

 

 

Fucking beautiful.

Well, I guess that answers my question. Karlsson has to be one of the most predictable songwriters in the business but this song is OK.

Definitely not forgotten by anyone in this community, I'd guess. IMO one of the most essential albums of the early 90s.

Nice song, nice production, but I'm not sure if the vocals fit, her voice isn't very strong. I'd have to hear another song, maybe a ballad?

I...actually quite liked that song? Nice sludgy guitar riff and a strong vocal performance.

The snare drum sounds HORRIBLE though. Completely overwhelmed in the mix. For such a driving song, you need to have a better snare production than that.

6 hours ago, Stefan said:

 

Prior to the writing and recording of 2021's "AfterLife", in discussions with producer and songwriter Alessandro Del Vecchio it was decided that moving the musical style of the next Sunstorm album to the more melodic AOR sound of the early records was what everyone wanted.

A classic!