Issa, short for Isabel, is a soft rocking chick from Norway who sings her melodic rock with passion and feel. While looking at the cover of her debut CD, one might the impression of her being some kind of Britney Spears chick, but nothing could be further from the truth. Well, to be honest, if miss Spears rocked her earlier stuff up big, she might sound something like this, but as a singer Issa is superior. What we get here is AOR with a hard rock twist, killer melodies and those choruses that should give her all the airplay in the world.
Just give the opening track ”Angels Crying” a shot and you’ll be hooked. The song is a killer and really should be a hit. The same goes for ”I’m Alive”, an AOR rocker that you’ll be humming a long time after you finished listening to the album. ”Unbelievable” is a ballad and a bit on the cheesier side, but it works as it grows on you and turns out be a really good song. ”Give Me A Sign”, ”River Of Love”, ”Closer” and ”Falling Angels” are all great, catchy AOR killers that would fit perfectly in a live situation. The sound, however, is a bit too polished and could do with a bit more attitude and there is a couple of tracks that doesn’t go all the way and for the next album I would like to see the guitars a bit higher in the mix. Still, a very good album and if she keeps on going and keeps releasing good albums as this, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Issa making it big in the near future. She sure has all the attributes for it, both in songs and in looks.
Jon Wilmenius (8/10)
Track list:
01 Angels Crying
02 I’m Alive
03 Give me A sign
04 River of Love
05 What Can I do
06 Closer
07 Unbelievable
08 How Will I Know
09 As I Live And Breathe
10 Flying High
11 it’s Not Me
12 Fallen Angel
CD & Festival reviews 