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Work Of Art - In Progress


Glen

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Would I be the only person who prefers the debut WOA over the up coming album?

 

After a few spins I'd probably agree with Geoff. There's no obvious filler and it's ultra consistent, but doesn't quite have enough killer tunes for it to be up there with Toby Hitchcock....

 

 

I'd agree on the consistancy factor..... but find myself prefering WOA's debut a tad more of the new one as the best songs on the debut are just a bit more memorable than th best songs off the 2nd album.

 

-1

 

I thought that too, but when these songs sink in they are just fabulous.

 

Emelie, eye of the storm, the great fall, Castaway....there are so many brilliant songs. And the production is just awesome.....exactly how an AOR album should sound.

 

Ive still got TH ahead, but its damned close....I think 94% against 91-92%, both pretty special albums.

 

As for WW, Im liking the samples so high hopes thats another stunner too.....end of the year is shaping up nicely.

 

:-)

Yeah, it's pretty hard to judge how memorable an album and it's songs are after listening to a pre-release for a couple of weeks compared to an album that's been in you collection for 5 years or so. :lol:;)

 

I think the new one will stack up very well in time.

 

Can't say it enough times, but I love the WW debut and if everyone is right and the new one is even better, there's no doubt at all that it will compete for high honours in 2011.

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OK I've only listened once but I have a hard time seeing this anywhere near my top 10 for 2011. How is this an improvement over the debut? It sounds practically identical in every respect and as someone wrote above, there is almost no diversity in the songwriting. Nothing sticks out. At least on the debut there were a couple of killer tracks mixed in with the average ones, I don't hear that here. I also noticed they mostly stick to pure AOR here, a shame since the westcoast tracks were some of the best on the debut.

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As for WW, difficult to judge from samples but the first half of the abum sounds killer but the second half doesn't sound strong enough to compete with TH or WoA. Should be a solid top tenner though and very excited about hearing it in full & seeing them at Firefest!!

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The killer question is...

 

"Castaway" or Hitchcock's "Tear down the Barricades" for song of the year 2011?

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The killer question is...

 

"Castaway" or Hitchcock's "Tear down the Barricades" for song of the year 2011?

 

Glad someone else is appreciating TDTB.......totally awesome song to these ears. Definitely better than Castaway, but I do love that chorus!

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The killer question is...

 

"Castaway" or Hitchcock's "Tear down the Barricades" for song of the year 2011?

 

Glad someone else is appreciating TDTB.......totally awesome song to these ears. Definitely better than Castaway, but I do love that chorus!

'Castaway' out of these two for me. Not that it's the song of the year, but it's better than 'TDTB' which I think was one of my least favourite songs on the Hitchcock CD. :)

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The killer question is...

 

"Castaway" or Hitchcock's "Tear down the Barricades" for song of the year 2011?

 

Glad someone else is appreciating TDTB.......totally awesome song to these ears. Definitely better than Castaway, but I do love that chorus!

'Castaway' out of these two for me. Not that it's the song of the year, but it's better than 'TDTB' which I think was one of my least favourite songs on the Hitchcock CD. :)

 

Weirdo.....TDTB is a killer 10/10 song for me....cant see how MHR can sound any better to be honest??

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The killer question is...

 

"Castaway" or Hitchcock's "Tear down the Barricades" for song of the year 2011?

 

Glad someone else is appreciating TDTB.......totally awesome song to these ears. Definitely better than Castaway, but I do love that chorus!

'Castaway' out of these two for me. Not that it's the song of the year, but it's better than 'TDTB' which I think was one of my least favourite songs on the Hitchcock CD. :)

 

Weirdo.....TDTB is a killer 10/10 song for me....cant see how MHR can sound any better to be honest??

 

You guys are arguing over something that's so hard to do when the stuff is so damn good.

 

Sorta like aguing about which one is hotter in this line-up, does it really matter in the end? They are all great! :)

 

tera-patrick-lingerie-models-at-lavo.jpg

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The killer question is...

 

"Castaway" or Hitchcock's "Tear down the Barricades" for song of the year 2011?

 

Glad someone else is appreciating TDTB.......totally awesome song to these ears. Definitely better than Castaway, but I do love that chorus!

'Castaway' out of these two for me. Not that it's the song of the year, but it's better than 'TDTB' which I think was one of my least favourite songs on the Hitchcock CD. :)

 

Weirdo.....TDTB is a killer 10/10 song for me....cant see how MHR can sound any better to be honest??

 

You guys are arguing over something that's so hard to do when the stuff is so damn good.

 

Sorta like aguing about which one is hotter in this line-up, does it really matter in the end? They are all great! :)

 

tera-patrick-lingerie-models-at-lavo.jpg

1. Furthest on the left

2. Second from right

3. Furthest right

4. Third from right

5. Second from left

6. Third from left

 

Easy, just like 'BDTB' is not as good as most of the Hichcock disc. ;)

 

Not that you'd say no to any of them - songs on the Hitchcock CDs, or line-up of whores... uh, nice family girls, I mean, of course.

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Very very good album but I think it's a step backwards slightly from the debut, not sure if that opnion is down to familiarity with the debut or that to me it seems there is less variation than the debut in the songwriting.

 

The songs are darn good but the lack of any variation irritates me a little as it gets a bit samey, as do a lot of AOR albums these days but after the debut I didn't expect such, plus there's no real song that grabs me on this whereas the debut had absolute classic songs like Why Do I, Maria, Cover Me. I'd still give it a good 75 maybe 80/100 though. I think maybe I was expecting too much (the old hype thing) I should just accept it for being a damn good album, maybe I need to stop reading pre release bumf.

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Very very good album but I think it's a step backwards slightly from the debut, not sure if that opnion is down to familiarity with the debut or that to me it seems there is less variation than the debut in the songwriting.

 

The songs are darn good but the lack of any variation irritates me a little as it gets a bit samey, as do a lot of AOR albums these days but after the debut I didn't expect such, plus there's no real song that grabs me on this whereas the debut had absolute classic songs like Why Do I, Maria, Cover Me. I'd still give it a good 75 maybe 80/100 though. I think maybe I was expecting too much (the old hype thing) I should just accept it for being a damn good album, maybe I need to stop reading pre release bumf.

 

Im the other way actually, I think there are at least 3 or 4 songs on this better than anything on the debut....tastes eh??!

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Very very good album but I think it's a step backwards slightly from the debut, not sure if that opnion is down to familiarity with the debut or that to me it seems there is less variation than the debut in the songwriting.

 

The songs are darn good but the lack of any variation irritates me a little as it gets a bit samey, as do a lot of AOR albums these days but after the debut I didn't expect such, plus there's no real song that grabs me on this whereas the debut had absolute classic songs like Why Do I, Maria, Cover Me. I'd still give it a good 75 maybe 80/100 though. I think maybe I was expecting too much (the old hype thing) I should just accept it for being a damn good album, maybe I need to stop reading pre release bumf.

 

Im the other way actually, I think there are at least 3 or 4 songs on this better than anything on the debut....tastes eh??!

True, true. Strangely though (I've been playing it at least once a day over the last week or so since it arrived) and today it just sounded great, I mean I really liked it anyway but I think today it just went up a notch in my opinion.....maybe the hooks are a little less obvious but are starting to sink in properly now. Still a little samey in parts BUT it's not bothering me anywhere as much as it was the other day.

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  • 1 year later...

Figured I'd reply to the existing thread with my own review rather than start a new one...

 

For the Genre: ***** (5/5)

Compared to the Era: ***** (5/5)

 

Summary: Just three words for this one… Oh. My. God.

 

I love the classic rock act like the next guy… Treat, Stan Bush, Nelson, Whitesnake, Night Ranger, Journey, Grand Illusion. When they can pull it off, and pull it off right, not caving into the stripped down tendencies of the dark decade (you know, the 1990s), I’m usually thrilled with the results. However, there’s only so many late 80s and early 90s Rock Candy releases I’m going to be interested in because I’ve heard it all before. My library is an extensive collection of what used to be Top 40, hard rock by the likes of Living Colour, Winger, Ratt and others. I don’t feel the need for any re-issues or more classic bands like Warrant or Styx to try to make a come back. It’s almost depressing to see my childhood idols in their 50s and sometimes 60s still try to rock it. I want to see guys my age, in their 20s and 30s, doing what I love. Heavy drums, hard rock guitar, intricate solo work and soaring, harmonic vocals. Apparently, Sweden is the answer to my prayers because Oh My God, Work Of Art—the next big thing out of the Scandinavian country—delivers every single piece of what my ears have craved since I was a little boy wearing out my father’s Quiet Riot cassette tapes.

 

Left-handed guitarist, keyboardist and main composer Robert Sall teamed up with drummer Herman Furin years ago in music school according to their website. However, it wasn’t until they landed upper-stratospheric vocalist Lars Safsund that Frontiers would cut a deal with these guys to bring us their debut album, which I’m about to purchase due to the genius it brings in its own right. To be clear, there is so much right with this release that I hardly know where to begin.

 

I can try to start with the fact that out of 12 songs, I love 11 of them. It’s an album for true lovers of Album Oriented Rock. Specific examples of that include the way “Eye of the Storm” seamlessly blends into “Until You Believe” or the way the clearly Toto-inspired “Fall Down” transitions into Castaway. Then there is the production exemplified by the absolutely enormous sound on the final track, “One Step Away” and on “Never Love Again,” which gives a die-hard 80s-rock fan like myself the sonic power we’ve been so utterly hungry for in new music for years. Then there is the highly creative single “The Great Fall” that when you close your eyes, you can imagine a dark arena with the lights coming on one at a time as the song gets ready to begin. It’s so catchy, just like “Nature of the Game” or the lead-off track, “The Rain.”

 

So many songs on this disc make you want to sing along, like “Call On Me,” which is my absolute favorite on this CD for some reason—I wouldn’t call it the heaviest track, it’s just so catchy. Another sing-along ear-worm is the remarkable “Emelie,” by Sall and inspirational lyricist Hanif Sabzevari and further enhanced by the great low-end work by bassist Henrik Linder. Even though there was a huge number of people that worked on the production, from Safsund running the mix on six of the tracks and the other six by Bo Reimer to the local mastering hero Mats Lindfors mastering the record, it comes out like a solid piece of work. And I was so happy that Frontiers didn’t go cheap, and provided purchasing fans with a gorgeous jewel case with outstanding artwork by Mr. Carl-Andre Beckston.

 

Even today, two years later, this CD has been spinning in my car almost non-stop since the moment it arrived in the mail and I can hardly think of a finer musical purchase that I’ve made in recent times. No one who loves Melodic Rock will regret getting this one. It’s an instant classic.

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