Back in 2016, PALACE presented its debut opus, through Frontiers Music, and left us hungry for more; for more melodies, for more classic 80's AOR stuff, for more edgy melodic rock music. Nowadays, PALACE is back with a new record which is entitled "Binary Music".
The band of PALACE is fronted by Michael Palace, a Swedish musician (vocals/guitars) that has also participated in many bands/projects such as ERIKA, Find Me, Jim Jidhed, Big Time and Code Red to name a few.
Michael Palace began working with Frontiers as a songwriter and guitar player for First Signal (featuring Harry Hess of Harem Scarem fame), Cry of Dawn (with Goran Edman), Kryptonite (featuring Jakob Samuel), and Toby Hitchcock. The successful collaborations led to a worldwide record deal with Frontiers for his own musical output.
The opening tune of "Binary Music" is just a simple sample of Michael Palace's love to the mid 80's pop-rock music. Plenty of synths, classic 80's AOR, great arrangements and strong vocal lines. The same goes with the excellent "Tears of Gaia" while in "Promised Land" we have another yet highlight out of the new opus. This song reminded me a bit of early Strangeways albums and that's a thing that I loved the most here (I just love the first Strangeways records). The groovier and in some parts edgier "Dangerous Ground" is just great melodic rock with attitude while in "Queen Of The prom" Michael is movin' to some more pop-ish, Queen-esque paths and that's a thing that makes this track extremely interesting. "Julia" includes some 'heavier' guitars, a bigger sound and a more modern vibe in it.
Approved!!! Yes PALACE is back with album number two and it's a great one! It's a more diverse regarding the classic debut but the sure thing is that will please the AOR mafia out there. I think that Michael Palace wanted to make a step forward (musically) regarding "Master Of Universe" and at the end he achieved it in a very special way!! Highly recommended.
Rating : 8,5/10
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