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Artist: Frederiksen / Denander |
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Flying the flag for Melodic Rock once more are Italian Label Frontiers Records who remain true to their word by bringing the very best in the genre to a wider audience, and with the scene somewhat dwindling once more it's only the likes of Frontiers, Escape, Lion Music and dare I say it Z Rock Records that are keeping things going. The scene has seen many collaborations over the years with the likes of Hughes/Turner, Allen/Lande, Shaw/Blades to name just a few and now a new combination is set to carry on this trend with Fergie Frederiksen and Tommy Denander uniting for their album ‘Baptism By Fire’. The pair aren’t without a history together as Frederiksen did lay down some vocals for Denander’s Radioactive project and so this union has seen the fruits of its labour before and with good results, so this new album is more a meat and bones union rather than an appetizer. 'Baptism by Fire' is pure Melodic Rock as it has been for so long, not much new here but the fans of the genre don’t like change and so this album meets all of their needs. Things get underway with ‘Let Him Go’, this is straight up Melodic Rock if there is such a thing, with Denander’s keyboards and guitars leading the way for the superb vocals of Frederiksen, which remain the highpoint of this track and most of the album. The momentum is kept going with ‘Right Heart Wrong Time’, although it starts off a little slower, things soon build when the chorus kicks in as Frederiksen’s vocals soar above the rest of the track and when the guitars of Denander kick in mid section, the show has already been stolen by Frederiksen’s vocals. Things pick up once more with one of my favourites off the album the straight up rocker ‘Silver Lining’ and carry on through to my personal favourite off the album ‘Crossing Over’, with its heady keyboards and bass driven by Fergie’s faultless vocals. Another track were Frederiksen really shines is on the TOTO like ‘Written In Stone’ before bringing the tempo back up with the guitar fuelled excellence of ‘Saving Grave’, this is one where Denander comes into his own. The term dark doesn’t always appear on a review of a Melodic Rock, but the title track ‘Baptism of Fire’ comes pretty close to being to this analogy with the meaner guitar sound wrapped around the mystical vocals of Frederiksen and the thumping drums of Eric Z Daniel bringing it all to life and what about Denander’s guitar solo half way through the track, great stuff. ‘Cant Get Enough’ is a rip snorting piece of Hard Rock that really sets the album aflame. This is dirty rock that the purist’s will not like but this is where the scene has to go for me, more sleaze, less snooze. Speaking of the purist’s then the next one is aimed at them, ‘Never Try To Love Again’ is AOR bliss with the vocals of Frederiksen reigning once again and will probably be one of the favourite tracks from many Melodic Rock fans, but it’s the sleazier side of the album that really does it for me with ‘Dead End’ carrying on where ‘Cant Get Enough’ left off, with some streaming guitar solo’s by Denander adding that extra something to an already impressive track. Another
track that will meet with approval by the AOR crowd is the up tempo
‘Keep A Light On’, which for me lacks a certain something but still
rocks along steadily, this lead nicely into the final track ‘Left With
Nothing’, a real melodic heart warmer that rounds off a good album
that will surely warrant the pair uniting for a second round. |
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Tracklisting:
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