ISSA (Brother Firetribe Meets Treat)

[DrumRman]

Wow!

 

Norwegian singer ISSA (full name: Isabell Oversveen) will release her debut album, "Sign Of Angels", on September 14 in Europe and October 10 in the USA via Frontiers Records.

 

Helped by producer Ronny Milianowicz (SAINT DEAMON) and killer musicians such as Peter Huss on guitar, Uli Kusch (ex-MASTERPLAN, HELLOWEEN) on drums, Nobby Noberg on bass and Tim Larsson (NICK LACHEY) on keyboards, Issa has managed to create a superb album which offers soaring and instantly likeable hooklines, solid guitar riffs and a crisp sound. Described in a press release as "BROTHER FIRETRIBE meets TREAT with tons of melodies, class and attitude," "Sign of Angels" features songwriting contributions from Joacim Cans (HAMMERFALL), Thomas Vikström (CANDLEMASS, THERION), Daniel Flores (THE MURDER OF MY SWEET), Soren Kronkvist (CRASH THE SYSTEM) and many more.

 

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=142911

[Geoff]

Not a single person contributing to this album gets me excited, but if this is genuinely meant to sound like Brother Firetribe meets Treat, consider me more excited about this than any other release on the horizon!

[Ytseman]

Not a single person contributing to this album gets me excited

 

Thomas Vikstrom???? Surely along with Stefan Edberg one of the greatest Swedes EVER!

[heaven&hell]

Not a single person contributing to this album gets me excited, but if this is genuinely meant to sound like Brother Firetribe meets Treat, consider me more excited about this than any other release on the horizon!

 

Uli Kusch is an awesome drummer but you wouldn't know him since he comes from Power Metal background however I would of thought you'd mention how good looking Issa is.............

 

[Geoff]

Not a single person contributing to this album gets me excited, but if this is genuinely meant to sound like Brother Firetribe meets Treat, consider me more excited about this than any other release on the horizon!

 

Uli Kusch is an awesome drummer but you wouldn't know him since he comes from Power Metal background however I would of thought you'd mention how good looking Issa is.............

 

Wow, I missed that. You'd eat it.

 

As for Wikstrom. I guess I should be excited, considering all the excellent projects he's been involved in. Like Talk Of The Town's debut only (NOT the follow-up) and Covered Call was kind of okay, I guess and... uh... and... oh, looks like that's it. Sorry Ytseman but the fella's done nothing at all to generate any excitement from me.

 

Greatest Swedes ever? I prefer these ones:

 

[Ytseman]

I'd throw Brazen Abbot and Crash The System in there as well, great singer IMO.

[Geoff]

I'd throw Brazen Abbot and Crash The System in there as well, great singer IMO.

Yeah, the CTS disc is great, but also would have been with or without Wikstrom. His voice is fine, but no better, imo, than most other Swedish vocalists with an accent.

[melodicrockoz]

incredible! where did this artist pop out of, hope to get the album asap!!!

[Glen]

Yeah the promo sounds OK. Difficult to tell from 4 snippets.

 

She looks mighty fine tho.........

[Dave]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vqC2rqR9Lc

[heavyharmonies]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vqC2rqR9Lc

 

Looks and sounds promising!!

 

-Dan

[Jez]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vqC2rqR9Lc

 

Looks and sounds promising!!

 

-Dan

 

VERY promising indeed.

[Dave]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajl_IsdbLZk

[Geoff]

Rather than clog up another thread, let's bring the discussion here:

 

Whereas Issa, whoever the hell she is, is just an awesome album because it has awesome songs, and a lot of them.

 

No it doesnt! That ISSA was a big big disappointment for me. Yeah OK, it has some decent hooks, but fuck me if it didnt seem like I was listening to a Kelly Clarkson album :-( The guitars are so low in the mix Im struggling to even call this a rock album!

 

If you confess to actually liking the song 'Unbelievable', you should watch X-Factor....sounds like the sort of dross Cowell tries to get to No 1 at Christmas here in the UK.

 

I will give it its dues though I did really like 'Im Alive' and 'As I Live and Breathe' was a breath of fresh air as it actually sounded like a rock song ;-))

Okay mate, I haven't been able to push this from my awesome mind since I saw these words which made no sense to me. I have to know. If you struggle to call Issa a rock album, what on earth are you calling albums from Houston, Nelson or Unruly Child this year, for example? Because whilst we can debate about which album is better, there is surely no debating the fact that the Issa album rocks harder than all three of these put together. And I merely use these three as an example, but swap them with any other AOR release you'd like from this year.

 

Stuff like 'River of love', 'Closer, 'How will I know', 'Flying High' or 'As I Live and Breathe' just sounds awesome to me. And it all "rocks" too. Throw in a few great ballads like 'It's not me', 'What Can I Do' and as you say, 'Unbelievable' (which imo is one of the weakest songs on the CD and definitely the weakest ballad) and you have a fantastic CD, imo. The first 2 songs, 'Angels Crying' and 'I'm Alive' are admittedly kind of average, almost Avantasia sounding rockers, but not bad at all.

 

I really don't know either what I'm missing, or everyone else in the world is missing... but by my calculations this is an awesome melodic hard rock CD.

 

Out of curiosity, is there anyone else out there enjoying this CD?

[Swazi]

 

Out of curiosity, is there anyone else out there enjoying this CD?

 

Don't worry, my friend ! We don't agree too often on music, but here we certainly do ! I LOVE this disc !!

[Geoff]

 

Out of curiosity, is there anyone else out there enjoying this CD?

 

Don't worry, my friend ! We don't agree too often on music, but here we certainly do ! I LOVE this disc !!

Excellent. Good to see. I was starting to wonder if she'd made an especially sexed up version of the album for me personally with all these awesome songs that no one else got to hear.

[Swazi]

 

Out of curiosity, is there anyone else out there enjoying this CD?

 

Don't worry, my friend ! We don't agree too often on music, but here we certainly do ! I LOVE this disc !!

Excellent. Good to see. I was starting to wonder if she'd made an especially sexed up version of the album for me personally with all these awesome songs that no one else got to hear.

 

And I wouldn't exactly throw her out of my bed either !

[Geoff]

 

Out of curiosity, is there anyone else out there enjoying this CD?

 

Don't worry, my friend ! We don't agree too often on music, but here we certainly do ! I LOVE this disc !!

Excellent. Good to see. I was starting to wonder if she'd made an especially sexed up version of the album for me personally with all these awesome songs that no one else got to hear.

 

And I wouldn't exactly throw her out of my bed either !

No, certainly not.

[KarpetRydOFunk]

Whereas Issa, whoever the hell she is, is just an awesome album because it has awesome songs, and a lot of them.

 

No it doesnt! That ISSA was a big big disappointment for me. Yeah OK, it has some decent hooks, but fuck me if it didnt seem like I was listening to a Kelly Clarkson album :-( The guitars are so low in the mix Im struggling to even call this a rock album!

 

If you confess to actually liking the song 'Unbelievable', you should watch X-Factor....sounds like the sort of dross Cowell tries to get to No 1 at Christmas here in the UK.

 

I will give it its dues though I did really like 'Im Alive' and 'As I Live and Breathe' was a breath of fresh air as it actually sounded like a rock song ;-))

Okay mate, I haven't been able to push this from my awesome mind since I saw these words which made no sense to me. I have to know. If you struggle to call Issa a rock album, what on earth are you calling albums from Houston, Nelson or Unruly Child this year, for example? Because whilst we can debate about which album is better, there is surely no debating the fact that the Issa album rocks harder than all three of these put together. And I merely use these three as an example, but swap them with any other AOR release you'd like from this year.

 

Stuff like 'River of love', 'Closer, 'How will I know', 'Flying High' or 'As I Live and Breathe' just sounds awesome to me. And it all "rocks" too. Throw in a few great ballads like 'It's not me', 'What Can I Do' and as you say, 'Unbelievable' (which imo is one of the weakest songs on the CD and definitely the weakest ballad) and you have a fantastic CD, imo. The first 2 songs, 'Angels Crying' and 'I'm Alive' are admittedly kind of average, almost Avantasia sounding rockers, but not bad at all.

 

I really don't know either what I'm missing, or everyone else in the world is missing... but by my calculations this is an awesome melodic hard rock CD.

No, no, I've been waiting for a response, too. Not only does this album ROCK, like a ROCK album should ROCK, it's also ROCKed its way into my top ROCK albums of the year list. 'Cause it ROCKs!

[Jez]

I like it a fair bit, but I'm not completely raving over it to be honest - A good, solid album for sure, but no awards from me this year. Oh! and it does rock to a certain degree, certainly compared to the Houstons and Nelsons of this world.

[Glen]

OK then let me explain - heres the blow by blow account -

 

1. Angels Cry - Big produced vocals is the main stay here. Decent hook, style wise reminds me a bit of a softer Allen/Lande. Guitars fairly low in the mix though which is a disappointment. Ok ish solo (7/10)

 

2. I'm Alive - Big hooky chorus which I love - really reminds me of Robin Beck this one. Again softer verses and pretty much all about the vocals with most instr low in the mix. V good song though (8.5/10)

 

3. Give Me A Sign - Ballad - typical styled ballad you hear from the likes of Kelly Clarkson or Pink. Nice enough but just not what I'd choose to listen to....skip (6/10)

 

4. River of Love - Much better riff here - this is a good tune...nice hook and good solo. (7.5/10)

 

5. What Can I Do - Very Evanescence in style. Dull verse if Im honest, no real hook in the chorus either...just a bit boring really. No solo. Skip (5/10)

 

6. Closer - Decent pop/rock song but again sounds like Kelly Clarkson or similar artist...just too sticky sweet - not really my thing. No solo (7/10)

 

7. Unbelievable - X-factor no 1 written all over it! lol. I can see the winner singing this on the live show - all hugs and tears. YUK. (4/10)

 

8. How Will I Know - Evanescence again...esp in the verses. Decent hook but again this is just not my thing. At all. NO SOLO again! (6.5/10)

 

9. As I Live & Breathe - My pick of the album! Great intro...instantly more uptempo and rocking. Verses almost suffer the same fate as earlier, but then step-up a gear - nice. Good hook and an urgent second verse and then WOW a solo. And the sort of solo I would expect on an album like this - seriously cool stuff. At last ISSA has found her claws! (9/10)

 

10. Flying High - Nice pre chorus - decent hook....quite high tech and reminds me of Crash The System. Yeah I like this tune...although misses a chance with the solo which is dull and plods towards the end. (7/10)

 

'11. Its Not Me - Slow paced ballad. Suits her style and there is a nice melody in the chorus but is a bit safe. By the solo I'm hitting skip Im afraid :-( (7/10)

 

12. Falling Angel - Urgent riff and good verse, but to be honest the chorus is a let down again. Decent but just repeating 'Falling Angel' doesnt cut it in a musical year as awesome as 2010! Sounds like an Evanescence b-side to me. A surprise solo at the end does save this a little and all in all it's not a bad end to the album (7.5/10)

 

so there you have it - I make that a 68%.

 

Overall its not a bad album and there are some decent hooks in there, but I stand by the fact that on most songs the guitars are low in the mix to over enthasise the vocal.

 

Also I guess that Im just not a huge fan of female vocals in rock music. There have been some artists over the years which have been brilliant like Saraya, Witness, Sass Jordan, Robin Beck, Nightwish, and more recently Halestorm.....but overall its not something which appeals to me.

 

Over and out!

 

Cheers

[Geoff]

If you insist. Here's my awesome version:

 

1. Angels Cry - Nice hard rocking opener. As you say, has a kind of Allen/Lande or Avantasia feel to it. Good opener, though if the album was all like this it'd fall into the traps that so many of those types of albums do. All very solid, but no true highlights to set it aside from the pack. And a large pack it is, when it comes to similarly styled releases.

 

2. I'm Alive - Another big rocker that keeps the tempo alive and upbeat. I like this song and it's got a nice huge chorus, but again it's pretty dime a dozen kind of stuff when it comes to projects like Allen/Lande and Avantasia and the like. Nice song, though.

 

3. Give Me A Sign - Nice ballad. Nothing amazing, but a very good hook and I do like this tune a lot. Nothing I can fault here, that's for sure.

 

4. River of Love - To me this is absolutely stunning and part of the main reason I'm so erect over this album. It seems that anyone these days can make an album full of good consistent songs, but so many are missing those few tracks that put the album at that next level. This is exactly the kind of song those albums need. I think I actually fall in love with her a little bit when the chorus hits in this song. Far and away one of my favourite songs of the year and sheer perfection to me.

 

5. What Can I Do - Another fine ballad. Big chorus hook and one of my favourite of the slower tracks on the album. I really dig it.

 

6. Closer - You can pretty much copy and paste my comments for 'River of love' and apply them to this song. Again, to me this is pure perfection. Awesome riff, wonderful chorus... just the kind of song I listen to music for.

 

7. Unbelievable - I can actually totally embrace your comments about an Idol / X-Factor song here, Glen. That said, it'd be a good one. Yeah it's mushy and admittedly maybe pushing the limits having the 3rd ballad already, at track 7... but I'm not too phased. All things aside, I think it's a good song and I like it alot.

 

8. How Will I Know - And again, back to perfection. This one, along with 'Closer', 'River of love' and 'As I live and breathe' are the main reasons this album rates so highly for me. Four utterly perfect tracks, in my eyes. Huge, HUGE chorus hook and just a wonderful melodic hard rocker. Love it.

 

9. As I Live & Breathe - And here's the 4th piece of the sexy, sexy puzzle. Huge pre-chorus, bigger chorus... as Glen acknowledges, just a perfect track. Faultless.

 

10. Flying High - Something about this song... it's as close to the other 4 as can be. I really love this one... big anthemic chorus. Yeah, just gets me in the mood. Another stand-out and my 5th favourite on the disc.

 

11. Its Not Me - My favourite of the ballads. Like the others, big strong chorus with a great hook. I'm going to pull something crazy out of my hat now, but in this regard Issa actually reminds me of Hinder. Not stylewise in any way shape or form... but they both have a great ballad formula and there is a lot of it on this CD, but all 4 of them work for me. So yeah, whilst the number of ballads may be large, all that really matters at the end of the day is that they're all great.

 

12. Falling Angel - Good closing track. Similar to the first two. Nice way to end the album on a good hard rocking note, but there are better tracks on here. Still, an album full of stuff like this would be a dream for a lot of artists.

 

And there we have it. I can't really appreciate the Evanescence comparison too much, because Evanescence were never this uptempo. Sure there are 4 ballads, but most the other stuff is at a pace not familar to their albums.

 

Personally, for me, the only album from this lot - Saraya, Witness, Sass Jordan, Robin Beck, Nightwish, and Halestorm - that compares to Issa's debut is the debut album from Robin Beck. As a whole I too am not too into female fronted bands either, and it's probably a big reason why this isn't my favourite release of the year. But as far as female fronted releases go for me, this is right up in the top 5 of all time for me, I dare say.

[Socratic Methodist]

There is nothing even remotely interesting about this release....at least *I* couldn't find anything. YAWN.

[Glen]

Personally, for me, the only album from this lot - Saraya, Witness, Sass Jordan, Robin Beck, Nightwish, and Halestorm - that compares to Issa's debut is the debut album from Robin Beck. As a whole I too am not too into female fronted bands either, and it's probably a big reason why this isn't my favourite release of the year. But as far as female fronted releases go for me, this is right up in the top 5 of all time for me, I dare say.

 

Not even taking into consideration the classic releases like Witness (how could you possibly even compare a song like 'Show Me What You Got' to ISSA?? That one song blows this whole album away IMO) , I would say that Halestorm's debut absolutely murders ISSA and then some.

 

And just in case this thread is sapping the rock n roll spirit out you like a dementor from Harry Potter, here's what proper female fronted rock can sound like.....lest we forget!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsmICepLdGc&feature=related

[Geoff]

Personally, for me, the only album from this lot - Saraya, Witness, Sass Jordan, Robin Beck, Nightwish, and Halestorm - that compares to Issa's debut is the debut album from Robin Beck. As a whole I too am not too into female fronted bands either, and it's probably a big reason why this isn't my favourite release of the year. But as far as female fronted releases go for me, this is right up in the top 5 of all time for me, I dare say.

 

Not even taking into consideration the classic releases like Witness (how could you possibly even compare a song like 'Show Me What You Got' to ISSA?? That one song blows this whole album away IMO) , I would say that Halestorm's debut absolutely murders ISSA and then some.

 

And just in case this thread is sapping the rock n roll spirit out you like a dementor from Harry Potter, here's what proper female fronted rock can sound like.....lest we forget!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsmICepLdGc&feature=related

Yeah, Witness never did that much for me to be honest. Very good, consistent album that I like most of the way through, but I even prefer stuff like Heart's 'Brigade', or Vixen's 'Rev It Up' to that one. Laos. Yeah, there's a few others I'd take over Witness, and I surely wouldn't compare it to Issa.

 

As for Halestorm, mate, you know I loved that CD too. But let's be honest. There was a decent patch on the 2nd half of that CD where the band and their songs went missing. Take a few of those songs off, switch them with the bonus tracks that surfaced later... or keep up the momentum of the first three songs... I dunno. Something. Perhaps they could have made a better album, but as it is I much prefer the Issa one comfortably.