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Artist: Grand Illusion |
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Well
after a four year hiatus Swedes Grand Illusion are back and back with a
bang, with the aptly titled 'Brand New World' and not only do the band
return with a fine slice of Melodic Rock, but this album sees the bands
return to AOR Heaven, where the very first Grand Illusion album was born. Four
years away have hardened the band and brought forth fruit in the form of
one of the bands best albums to date. The core element of the band are
still here, Anders Rydholm is still pounding out the bass lines, Per
Svensson and Peter Sundell are still providing the vocals, but this time
round the boys have enlisted the talents of Greg Bissonette on drums.
Also appearing on this album are a couple of guest guitarists with none other than
Mike Slammer and Tim Pierce joining the fold. The result is a great Melodic /.Hard Rock
album. This
album will please the bands fans who’ve waited the six years since the
bands 'Ordinary Just Won’t Do' and bring in new fans, because this album
is the complete package as regards to Melodic / Hard Rock. From the
opener ‘Never Find Year Alone’ you’ll be hooked, and I mean hooked,
as the guitars soar away from the off and the vocals are just towering
above it all. A great start which is just the beginning. The
classy melodic rock just keeps on coming with ‘All Out Of Love’,
before one of the tracks of the album for me, the superb ‘157th
Breakdown’. A real gritty Hard Rock track that just ignites from the
off and never stops burning. Those of you who loved the hard rocking of
'Ordinary Just Won’t Do' will love this one, with Bissonette pounding
out the back beat on this great up-tempo rocker. After
the tenacity of the last track the tempo is brought down a touch with
the gentle ballad like tones of ‘Emily’. This isn’t a ballad in its
true form, a gentle vocal wrapped around a heady bass, a modern rock
ballad if you must put a title to things, a great track which ever tag
you put on it. The
last track might have been hard to label but ‘I’m Alive’ is pure
bred Hard Rock, big licks, big rhythms and a great vocal, enough
said. It's more of the same with the funk filled ‘Burning Bed’ before
the title track ‘Brand New World’. A slow burning sensation that
highlights more keyboards than the previous tracks, giving this one a
slight progressive edge, but not so much so to divert from the albums
core sound. We’re
back to the meat and bones sound of the album with ‘Evil And Pain’, a
great multi layered rock opus, but one of the tracks of the album for me
has to be the guitar infused rock of ‘Warning Signs’, a track with
more swagger than a bar full of John Wayne wannabes. One
good track follows another with the excellent ‘Playing With Fire’,
this is Grand Illusion at their very best. Soaring melodies and powerful
rhythms, top notch stuff indeed, which is followed by the majestic and
track of the album ‘Sacrifice’, again a little heavier than the usual
AOR fair, but there's a tremendously bold epic feel to this one.
It's a song that shows the band
have taken on board what was felt with their previous album and built on
it and produced one of the best tracks the band have ever done. The
album closes with the beautiful ballad ‘Forever With You’, which closes
an album that will once again put name of Grand Illusion back on the lips
of fans when they're talking about great albums of 2010.
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Tracklisting: 1.
Never Find Her Alone |
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