CHASING VIOLETS / OUTSIDE HEAVEN (2012)

Singers-songwriters Sarah and Melissa Fontaine are certainly no strangers to small sold out clubs. During the last years they achieved to build a strong reputation around their name with the live performances in the west country of their native France.



They met the well-known Frederic Slama of the AOR fame , who also played with members of TOTO and FM among others, and together they decided to create a new exciting band with the name CHASING VIOLETS. So, what we have here is the band's debut album which is titled "Outside Heaven". For this album, Sarah and Melissa Fontaine have the precious help of big names of the melodic rock/AOR scene such as Paul Sabu, the mighty Tommy Denander, Robert Sφll, Michael Landau, Eric Rango and Pierpaolo Monti (Shining Line) among others!! So with such an impressive guest list these two young female musicians can't go wrong!!!

"I Can't Love No More" is the opening track and it's about a brilliant and extremely melodic tune. A huge melody, an incredible guitar work by Robert Sφll but most of all it includes some really stunning vocal performances by Sarah and Melissa Fontaine. In "No Margin For Error" we find the whole 'new' melodic elite!! Stefano Lionetti, Bruce Gaitsch, the mighty Alessandro Del Vecchio, Pierpaolo Monti and Mario percudani of Hungryheart on guitars! A killer track!! "The Price To Pay" is another brilliant AOR tune which features the 'great' Gφran Edman sharing some vocal duties. A song that could easily appear in any of Street Talk releases. Other highlights here are the up-tempo gem of "When The Darkness Falls", "Above Suspicion", the pop-ish and catchy "No One's Gonna Hurt Me Anymore" and  "Cease Fire".

All in all this is a brilliant release all the way. It contains some excellent tunes in it, a great songwriting, beautiful melodies, superb guitar work, solid performances and some really impressive guest list!!! One of the best AOR releases for this year! Well done!!
HeavyParadise's Rating : 8/10

• Track List :

01. I Can’t Love No More
02. No Margin For Error
03. The Price To Pay
04. When The Darkness Falls
05. Voices In The Wind
06. Above Suspicion
07. Outside Heaven
08. Hold Back The Dawn
09. No One’s Gonna Hurt Me Anymore
10. A Hole In Paradise
11. You’re My Obsession
12. Cease Fire
13. Just Wanna Be Your Heroin