After five albums, singer Joe Lynn Turner (Rainbow, Yngwie Malmsteen, Deep Purple) turned down the offer to do a sixth one from the Frontiers project – and to be honest, I fully understand that. The three first albums – the self-titled debut from 2006, House Of Dreams (2009) and Emotional Fire (2012) – were all solid efforts while the last two – Edge Of Tomorrow (2016) and The Road To Hell (2019) – were more uneven and it really started to feel like Sunstorm was overstaying their welcome. But Frontiers wasn’t ready to let a successful project die and when singer Ronnie Romero (Rainbow, CoreLeoni, The Ferrymen, Lords Of Black, Vandenberg) said yes to participate all involved went to work. At one hand I really find it interesting to hear Romero take on the Melodic Rock/AOR genre as Metal and Hard Rock being his comfort zone but on the other hand, Sunstorm has always equaled Joe Lynn Turner in my book and without him, Sunstorm feels like just another Frontiers project. That said, it’s the music that’s the important thing and if the music delivers the goods, that’s all that matters.
The album opens with the title-track, the second single. It’s a faster paced number, upbeat and comes across as a mixture of plain Melodic Rock and Rainbow-esque Classic Rock. It’s a real melodic powerhouse of a song on a meaty rhythm and some striking riffage with a strong chorus as the icing on the cake. I might not get a Sunstorm vibe of the track but Romero nails it and I do enjoy this tune. The uptempo pop-rocker would have fitted Joe Lynn Turner’s voice like a charm as it reminds me a great deal of his solo stuff. With smooth melodies combined with some crunchy guitars and a multi-hooked chorus the song is way more on the side of Melodic Rock than actual Hard Rock. It’s a very 80’s sounding track that never sounds dated and it really delivers the goods. Very good.
“Swan Song” was released as the leading single. In a mid pace the track is at one side a traditional Melodic Rock number but also dwells in Hard Rock territories at times and Simone Mularoni also brings on some crispy Classic Rock riffage to the table. A pounding bass-drum also brings on some punchier vibes and the Hammond throws a wink to Deep Purple and Rainbow. While all that is hunky dory, the tune unfortunately lacks some uplifting catchiness and without being bad it doesn’t leave a a lasting impression. Mixing Joe Lynn Turner’s solo albums with 80’s Rainbow and the debut Sunstorm record, “Born Again” takes on a faster tempo and striking live-feel. The big, hooky chorus is catchy as damn with a vibe from early 90’s Arena Rock. Good one.
The mid-paced “Stronger”, the latest single, holds a guitar-line borrowed (read: stolen) from Yngwie Malmsteen’s “Hold On” which ironically enough was sung by Joe Lynn Turner. Otherwise it’s a smooth and slick Melodic Rock piece with a typical Alessandro Del Vecchio vocal melody and at times it reminds me of the Gioeli-Castronovo record. I do dig the twin-leads and the chorus is catchy and the song fits Romero really well. A good song albeit a bit too standard Frontiers project sounding. “I Found A Way” blends a punchy rhythm-section and crunchy, harder edged guitar riffs with a big AOR arrangement. It’s a rocker in mid tempo that brings on a slight older Whitesnake blues-rock influence but the refrain is a throwback to the mid 80’s. It’s catchy enough but it comes across as quite middle-of-the-road and fades from my memory too fast.
In “Lost Forever”, the album’s only ballad shows up. It starts out soft and laid-back with only piano and vocals but gets into a bigger and more bombastic soundscape quite quick. A bit on the dark and saddening note, it’s a melancholic number that lands somewhere between a deeper kind of Rock ballad and a power ballad from 1991. I quite enjoy this one as it brings on both emotion and catchiness and the chorus really sticks. With some chunky riffing and down-beat yet punchy rhythms, “Far From Over” takes on a slower pace. The main riff is very catchy and style-wise, this tune sounds like a left-over from one of the earlier Sunstorm records – and therein lies the problem. Sure, the chorus is pretty catchy but the song never takes off and it feels like an early rejected Sunstorm tune.
For the most “Here For You Tonight” sounds just like another uptempo Del Vecchio-written, Frontiers project Melodic Rock tune but it’s saved by a proggy and pompous keyboard passage. It holds a more prominent keyboard sound but otherwise it’s the same old ball -game – big melodies, lots of hooks and an uplifting chorus. Still, I can’t shake the feeling that I have heard exactly this song before. Not bad, just forgettable. Things improves lots when the full-on 80’s arena-rocker “Darkest Night” comes around. Rough-edged riffing and a hard-hitting rhythm rubs shoulders with smooth melody arrangements, pop-vibes and an AOR-smelling chorus. This one could have hit high rotation on MTV back when MTV actually played music. I dig.
The album closes with “A Story You Can Tell”, an upbeat, more bluesy – the way Whitesnake was bluesy back in 1987 – rocker with some chunky riffage and rhythmically straight forward. Not short on neither catchy melodies or hooks, the tune never goes to cheese-heaven much because of the fact that bluesier Hard Rock interferes with the Melodic Rock template that the tune is steeped in. Let’s not forget the roaring Hammond which helps the Classic Rock touches further. The chorus, however, takes a swing at AOR but it never gets sugary even then. A real good closer.
I can’t say that I don’t like this album but to be honest, without Joe Lynn Turner, this feel more like any Frontiers project out there and to be honest again, Sunstorm has brought those feelings ever since Alessandro Del Vecchio took over the song-writing for this project. He’s not a bad song-writer at all but he has his own style which comes across on every project he writes for and produces which makes many of those albums sound like Del Vecchio solo-albums with different singers. As for Romero, he does a brilliant job as always and this album proves that he masters AOR and Melodic Rock just as well as Metal. That being said, the hiring of Romero is another issue I have. As I said, I think he’s great but the thing is, he’s everywhere. If he’s not fronting the bands already mentioned, he guests on other artists records such as Michael Schenker and now this – he’s very close to getting the “oh not him again” treatment from rockers out there and that’s not a good thing at all. This is an ok album but easily forgotten, I’m afraid.
5/10
More Sunstorm reviews:
Edge Of Tomorrow
The Road To Hell
Tracklist:
1. Afterlife
2. One Step Closer
3. Swan Song
4. Born Again
5. Stronger
6. I Found A Way
7. Lost Forever
8. Far From Over
9. Here For You Tonight
10. Darkest Night
11. A Story That You Can Tell
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