There was a time – like 10-15 years ago – when Frontiers all-star projects were actually fun. Back then they weren’t that common and many of them were really good. One of those projects was First Signal. Built around Harem Scarem singer Harry Hess, the self-titled debut was full of hooky and driven AOR/Melodic Rock songs and was instantly a success. Of course, a successful album needs a sequel and even though One Step Over The Line (2016) wasn’t exactly as good it was still a good record and another success. When the third album Line Of Fire (2019) was released, these projects were popping up every month and quite frankly, said album was a big disappointment. It wasn’t crap but it sounded like all the other projects from the label and now with album # 4, an album that brings on the usual suspects as song writers and producer – Pete Albenborg, Alessandro Del Vecchio, Daniel Flores etc. I think I know beforehand how this record will sound – if not something out of the ordinary has happened.
The album opens with the first single “Don’t Let It End” and it sounds pretty much as expected. It’s a very smooth yet upbeat AOR number, slick and clean with silky pop-melodies. Big keyboards with both feet in the mid 80’s blends with a crunchy guitar riff and an uplifting refrain. It’s a pretty good tune but oh so predictable. Even slicker is the 1987 smelling “I Don’t Wanna Feel The Night Is Over”, a keyboard driven pop-tune in a mid pace and lots of AOR melodies all over. It reminds me slightly of Hess’ day-job Harem Scarem in the chorus but unfortunately, the chorus never really takes off and it leaves me underwhelmed.
Latest single “Show Me The Way” ups the quality in a big way. Not that the song is out of the ordinary style-wise, it’s also quite predictable but this uptempo AOR-rocker grabs a hold from first spin with a strong main-melody, lots of hooks and a magnificent chorus. The crunchy guitar-riffs and vocal-lines reminds me of Harem Scarem’s debut album. Very good. Just as good is the guitar-driven yet keyboard slick “Don’t Look Away”. It’s a smooth and colorful pop-rock-AOR stomper with contagious melodies and another infectious refrain that bears Hess’ cachet of Harem Scarem’s olden days.
We get some standard AOR-isms in “Irreplaceable” albeit in a good way. It’s easily recognizable as a Frontiers written tune and it’s poppy, glossy and 80’s fluffy but it also contains effective melodies all over with another refrain that’s predictable but oh so catchy – it’s impossible to get the damn thing out of the head and I dig it. “One More Time” is a slow and mellow tune that comes with piano and acoustic guitars and goes for a held back and low-key vibe but later turns into a late 80’s power ballad when the rest of the musicians comes into the mix. It’s big and bombastic with smooth vocal melodies and huge chorus that would have been all over MTV back when. Good one.
The title-track brings the tempo up with a steady and tight rhythm and some crunchy guitars, very straight forward and direct. It’s a chunky rocker yet quite glossy where the chorus is catchy enough but never reaches its goal fully. A decent tune. A true early 90’s power ballad comes with “Angel With A Rose”. It’s very slick yet big and poundy with an enormous vocal melody and a massively catchy chorus right out of Harem Scarem’s back-pocket. The pace changes again with “Mystery”, an uptempo AOR track, quite straight ahead and distinct yet a bit forgettable, like Harem Scarem on autopilot if you will. It’s not crap but way too middle-of-the-road and goes in one ear and out the other.
We get some clean-cut Pop in “The Hurting One”, a song that breaks the mould some by throwing in some late 60’s Beatles influences into the slick AOR. It’s an upbeat yet mellow number with an underlying melancholy that contrasts fine with the huge AOR chorus’ endless stream of hooks. A tune outside the AOR box a least a little and if I din’t know any better, I might have thought it was co-written by Hess and some Enuff Z’Nuff guy. Good one. Closing track “Got To Believe” starts out laid-back and sparse with only a piano and vocals but when the band joins in it turns into a big, overblown power ballad albeit still melancholic and mellow. The chorus is quite impossible to shake and I like it but again, it’s also a bit standard and obvious.
As a whole, it’s not a bad album per se but the highlights are too few and the fillers too many – and even the really good songs feels like you’ve heard them before too many times. Maybe you have. It’s competent, well played, well produced and Harry Hess’ vocals are superb as usual but it’s also safe, clean-cut and to be honest, soulless and bland. Compared to the rest of the First Signal catalogue, this album is the weakest – most of it just won’t stick and after it’s done, I just don’t get any urge to play it again. Maybe it’s time to let this project rest.
4/10
More First Signal reviews:
One Step Over The Line
Line Of Fire
Tracklist:
1. Don’t Let It End
2. I Don’t Wanna Feel The Night Is Over
3. Show Me The Way
4. Don’t Look Away
5. Irreplaceable
6. One More Time
7. Closer To The Edge
8. Angel With A Rose
9. Mystery
10. The Hurting One
11. Got To Believe
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