Thursday, July 21, 2011

ALYSON AVENUE / CHANGES (2011)

ALYSON AVENUE is a female fronted melodic hard rock band and "Changes" is the band's third effort. Anette Olzon was the band's lead singer till' 2007, she went to Nightwish, and in 2009 Arabella Vitanc were Alyson Avenue's new singer. Even with a new vocalist, the band continued to deliver some excellent and solid melodic rock stuff. In "Changes" the band collaborates with some really impressive set of guests such as Michael Bormann (ex-Jaded Heart, Redrum, solo e.t.c.) and Rob Marcello (Danger Danger).

Except of Arabella Vitanc on lead vocals, the band consists of Tony Rohtla on guitars, Thomas Lφyska on bass guitars, Fredrik Eriksson on drums and Niclas Olsson on keys. The band delivers some excellent tunes like the 'crunchy' opener tune of "Liar" which has some Nightwish elements mixed perfectly with Euro melodic hard rock sound. A really stunning track! "Will I Make Love" is the second song and features some vocal duties from the mighty Michael Bormann. This is one of my personal favorites from this album. It contains a huge melody and passionate performances from both singers!  "Don't Know If Love Is Alive" is a very good mid-tempo rocker with a sweet melody and a melodious chorus. This song is co-written with Fredrik Bergh (Street Talk, Bloodbound). "Into The Fire" is another highlight from this release. It's a modern melodic hard rocker with a catchy as hell chorus line and some excellent guitar work.

Bottom line is that "Changes" is a well-crafted melodic hard rock album. It's a release that has it all; passionate performances, an impressive set of guests, it's up-tempo and most of all it's well-played! Well done!!!
HeavyParadise's Rating : 7,5/10

TRACK LIST : 01 - Liar, 02 - Will I Make Love, 03 - Changes, 04 - Amazing Days, 05 - Don't Know If Love Is Alive, 06 - Fallen, 07 - Into The Fire, 08 - I Will Be Waiting, 09 - I'll Cry For You, 10 - Somewhere, 11 - Always Keep On Loving You

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