Children of Bodom – Blooddrunk

{mosimage}Led by guitar wizard Alexi Laiho, the metal wandering souls from Lake Bodom are back on the road!

Children of Bodom has become one of the most exportable Finnish metal band worldwide. Now it is about time to see released a new studio album: Blooddrunk. Being considered as one of the top black metal bands, it is not an easy task to please die-hard fans and more classic metal fans equally. This album is definitely a compromise for COB, trying to spread their music to all kind of publics.

The result is easier to swallow than previous darker albums, so that can be good and bad at the same time. Probably many old fans can feel a bit disappointed with the noise developing to more “thrashy”, but personally I like a lot the new album. It is full of power and great  guitar riffs, with the unmistakable voice of Laiho reigning in every song, but it has also some keyboards that can remind you good old classic metal from the 80s, like in the second track Blooddrunk or in One Day You Will Cry (that counts also with a brutal guitar solo).

A good step for COB to consolidate and amplify his market around the world. If you are thirsty to see the band live, you will have a good chance at the beginning of June during Sauna Open Air Festival in Tampere.

Rating 4/5.

HB – Frozen Inside

{mosimage}You thought that catholic metal did not exist in Finland? Then listen this Frozen Inside and feel the glory of metal surrounding you…

Well, if you have any doubt about the religious preferences of HB, just take a look at the song list that forms their album Frozen Inside, with names like God Has All Glory or Holy Secret, and you can have an idea. I have never been a great fan of mixing religion and heavy metal, but since this is a free world, same than others are devoted to devil, there seems to be also place for God and Love in the heavy metal church.

In the album you can find a bunch of lyrics with poetic messages and good wishes of love widespread for the Finnish guys. Musically the album sounds correct although nothing out of the hook compared to other metal bands; not a bad effort though, and listening to the sweet voice of Johanna Aaltonen is certainly a delight.

If you enjoy bands like Within Temptation or Evanescence, with a touch of religious message, then this album is for you. Not so recommended to people who wear pentagrams, Hell-sinki vampires and blood drinkers…

Rating 3/5

The Damned Are Ready to Thrash!

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Veteran American Thrash metal band Testament is back stronger than ever with a new powerful studio album: The Formation of Damnation, which during these initial weeks is selling a real bunch of copies. 25 years of existence in the metal scene is not anything many achieve. Chuck Billy, his vocalist, is a clear example of this spirit of survival: a man who was able to go through cancer and come back to the music business reborn and still kicking ass. FREE! Magazine talked to him and he kindly explained all what has been going around Testament during the past years.

Finally, after the last studio album for Testament in 1999, The Gathering, here comes the release in 2008 of this new The Formation of Damnation. Chuck, please, could you tell us a bit more about what circumstances were around the band for such a long time waiting?

In 2001 I discovered I had cancer, and then I did not play music in 2 years.  In 2003 we came back again and in 2004 we started working again playing music doing some songs. We knew we had to make a better record than The Gathering and I did not think they were up this good yet so we just kept touring. And we were not very happy with what Spitfire, the record company, was doing.

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And what were they doing?

Nothing, they did just nothing. That is the problem. They never set interviews; they never claimed we were their artists. We were recording a DVD in London and nobody showed up from the company…

So basically lack of interest from them…

Yeah, lack of interest! We were not too excited, working so hard, with a record company that was going to do nothing worthy. Then they were sold to a company called Sheraton Squares, so when we call to Sheraton Squares it was like “hello, good afternoon, so what is the plan?” and they said “well, we are not signing any new bands, we are only going to release gospel music”. So we had to go for the next step, and the next step was the “bye bye step”.

Are you happy now with Nuclear Blast?

Oh yeah! Nuclear Blast had been talking for us for 10 years. They were like “we can be your label, we can do things for you guys” So we signed the papers and released the contract with the old company and we said “hey, we are free”. Nuclear Blast came to the table with the best offer, much better than everybody by the way. We knew we wanted to be with Nuclear Blast so it made sense. They were the best company and they made the best offer so we went for it, and it has been great! We started right away working on the new record after signing with them.

Chuck, having gone through such a traumatic experience as having cancer, how do you see life nowadays? Do you see things with a different perspective?

Well, of course I go through life with a different perspective. I mean, when I was sick, I was not playing music for over a year. I thought “ok, it is done with music. My career is over.” I did not think about music that much, I was making efforts to feeling better and being with my family, so music was not so important for me at that time.

Spitfire, our old record company, did nothing for us!" -Chuck Billy. Vocalist of Testament-

So now, when you are on stage, do you enjoy the same or more than before, having this “second chance” to play?

Well, I enjoy it more than then. When I started playing again with the group it was such a good feeling!  We were on tour again playing in places we had not been before, and that made it so exciting again! We are playing better than ever, we are better musicians than we ever were, we enjoy the company out there and a lot of things look better than it used to be.

How does it feel to have Alex (Skolnick) in the guitar again?

Oh, it is a great feeling, to have Alex and Eric. They have a special unique style together. They always have a special formula when they play together.

And in Testament you have also had along your career great drummers, which have been good luck and bad luck at the same time, since you changed them quite often. Now, you have Paul Bostaph. Why is not Nick Barker playing with you?

Well, Nick Barker wanted to be in this record, but he had different issues in America. We could not wait for Nick. so we actually had to make a decision about what we wanted to do, so at first we thought to invite Paul just to play with us, and he did a great job, so we decided that he did such a good job and worked so hard and we asked him if he was interested to do the record with us. We needed him because Nick was not going to come back for about six months, so at that point it made sense. Paul was close and he used to be in the band.

About the new album, is there any song you would have any favorite song to recommend to our readers?

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I like all of them. I would not be able to recommend just some.  I think all the record is very strong, all the songs stand on their own.

Last year you also created other project called Dublin Death Patrol, playing together with your brothers and with Zetro Sousa collaborating there too. Are there going to be more DDP´s albums in the future?

For the time being, it is just done for it. With the record just done, I have to focus a bit more about Testament. Maybe next year, you know, or in the end of the year, Dublin Death Patrol could come with something. Dublin Death Patrol is not such a big project, we sell the record through our own website, and… that is really.

Was it fun to play all in family, with your brothers?

Last year we had the chance to go to play some gigs to Holland and England, and the other guys of the band had not been there before. We had the lucky chance in one festival to play in the main stage after Heaven and Hell, we were the last band on the main stage, and I was so glad to be there with my brothers and friends! It was a real great feeling!

How do you see the thrash metal scene lately?

I have heard many new bands that I think are better than the last Exodus album. It is a good album but I enjoy more new thrash metal.

Selected Testament Discography commented by Chuck Billy

{mosimage}-The Legacy (1987) It is a classic thrash metal record. I was starting to be fascinated really by what thrash really was, it was very influential to me to be bound as thrash metal singer.

{mosimage}-The New Order (1988). It was when I really started finding my own voice with my own style. ; learning a more natural style, singing the high speeded songs, feeling very comfortable playing thrash,  bringing my style and my songs to Testament. That is where we started crossing to lyrics about the environment, politics…  getting more involved with the environment around.

{mosimage}-The Ritual (1992). It wasn´t a good time for us.  It ended our career together for a time. We had different opinions on music and different music taste at that time. That affected when doing the music It was also the time of new styles, of grunge music, with better companies, radio stations, MTV, so that album did not come at a very good time.

{mosimage}-The Gathering (1999) It was totally a revival. It exploded with energy.  We had Steve DiGiorgio, James Murphy and Dave Lombardo; an outstanding band, a great band! We were inspired by our feelings. Andy Smith did a good job with that record. Testament started to get popular again. I was reborn. It was one of the best Testament records.

{mosimage}-The Formation of Damnation (2008). The best is that we have Alex and Eric playing together again. The structure of the songs is like the old days, what we used to do. It is really a combination of all the music we have created all over our career.    

Testament will be playing in Finland the 6 of June at Sauna Open Air metal festival in the city of Tampere.

For more information:

http://www.testamentlegions.com

http://www.sauna-open-air.fi

Teräsbetoni through to Eurovision final

During the first semi-final, held on Tuesday night (21.5), frontman J. Ahola
and the other members of the warrior-style metal group brought
explosions, flames, leather, muscles and warrior weaponry to the
Belgrade Arena.

Their song
in Finnish, with lots of “huh hahs“, will be among the 25 entries
participating to win this year‘s pan-European contest. The other
countries that managed to get through the first semi-final are Greece,
Romania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Russia, Israel, Azerbaijan, Armenia,
Poland and Norway.

Big financial contributors Spain, Germany, Britain and France and host
country Serbia are already certain of a place in the final, which will
be held on Saturday (24.5). The live broadcast will start at 10 p.m.
Finnish time (9 p.m. Central European Time).

UPDATE: The countries that got through the second semi-final on
Thursday (23.5) are: the Ukraine, Croatia, Albania, Iceland, Georgia,
Denmark, Sweden, Latvia, Turkey and Portugal. Finland's Teräsbetoni
will be the 8th to perform in Saturday's final.

The Bellrays – Hard Sweet and Sticky

{mosimage}Rock & Soul prophets are here, led by the beautiful and charismatic voice of Lisa Kekaula.

The Bellrays is a band made to be tasted in small clubs, with the smoke of cigarette, the sweat and the taste of alcohol mixed in the atmosphere with the hypnotic voice of Lisa Kekaula.

Some of you maybe were lucky to see them on live during their recent visit to Finland some days ago. For the others, you always have the chance to listen to their new album: Hard Sweet and Sticky, and get immersed in a particular musical experience where rock and soul seem to melt with no effort. After the starting track The Same Way, that is maybe not the best election to open the album, comes a festival of good music and vibes with little jewels like One Big Party, the Motown soul of Footprints on Water, the rockin´ Psychotic Hate Man that flirts with punk  or the sensual The Fire Next Time.

Maybe with guitarist Tony Fate, the band has lost some ferocity, but all in all, the album is a little masterpiece, mastered by the throat of Lisa, an ebony goddess able to steal your heart samely whispering or screaming into your ears.

Rating 5/5.

American Gangster

{mosimage}Based on true events, Ridley Scott narrates the story of Frank Lucas, the first afro-American who managed to become boss of a massive mafia organization.

Everybody expects every new Ridley Scott´s movie with high expectations, including me, and this time, I must say I was not disappointed. The work of both lead actors, Washington as Frank Lucas and Russel Crowe as the incorruptible detective Richie Roberts are immaculately superb, credible and well-measured.  

The action catches you immediately, and you really feel identified following the steps of Lukas while escalating in the crime American sphere and Crowe messing up his personal life, but never giving the back to honesty as policeman. Josh Brolin, although not the young guy from The Goonies anymore, seems to be living a second youth choosing successfully his last appearances (you may remember him from the recent Robert Rodriguez´s Planet Terror too) and is perfect for the balance of the film as the corrupted Detective Trupo. The trips of Lukas to Far East to deal with the importation of the drugs add an exotic note to the action, and help to develop the personality of the character, who will not step back against any difficulty. Also the shooting in the street when Lukas shoots his rival is a memorable cinema moment due to his rawness and realism.

If you like mafia and gangster movies do not miss this American Gangster. Scott was able to achieve a difficult task: to show that not everybody is already written in the genre.

Rating 5/5.

The Golden Compass

{mosimage} First of the three movies based on fiction writer Philip Pulman´s epic trilogy.

New Line Cinema studio is back with another fantasy trilogy (after Lord of the Rings). But this time, although also visually shocking, the essence from the books has been partly lost. Ingredients are good, the cast has been meticulously chosen and Nicole Kidman as Marisa Coulter, Dakota Blue Richards as young Lyra or Daniel Craig in the couple of moments he is on screen as Lord Asriel look perfect in their roles, but the result tastes insipid.

Nonetheless, the pace of the action seems a bit forced, like if things are pushed to happen around the film without a natural explanation, and in the end the adult spectator gets bored and the final is too predictable. A couple of glorious moments like the battle of the armored polar bears to become the king or the nice introduction of Oxford´s Jordan College where Lyra studies get melt with a product and a failed script that turns too much artificial and is not able to capture the magic of the original books.

By the way, the Finnish spectators will find a curious wink to their culture, since Eva Green´s witch character is named Serafina Pekkala (does it ring a bell such a surname?). 

Let´s wait if the following parts of the trilogy improve the general result. For the moment, surely the children will enjoy the display and plasticity of scenario and characters, but for the rest, it will be difficult to forget that Lord of the Rings is still our favorite fiction trilogy.

Rating 3/5.

Peter has a sense of purpose

{mosimage}Swedish metal heads In Flames has been one of the few European bands able to jump the Atlantic Ocean and get also a recognition and big success in America, where they are currently touring. They recently released a new studio album: A Sense of Purpose, and FREE! Magazine had an interesting talk to the bass player, Peter Iwers, who called us from Gothenburg. 

 

 

Peter, the previous album Come Clarity was a big hit even in USA. Were you feeling pressure when facing the release of this new record: A sense of Purpose?

No, no pressure. We have been very lucky that every time we do a new record the record company leave it into our hands, because they know they cannot change the kind of music we are going to make. The only pressure there can be could come from ourselves, that we think we have to be better than last time. We do not want to make a record that we could think “well it is good, but not as good as the last one”.

How was the process of recording the album?

We recorded here in Gothenburg. We were making demos for 2.5-3 months and it was nice because we could take the time we needed and then go home to our families.

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Roberto Laghi also collaborated in the production with you, didn´t he?

Yes. He is an amazing producer. He made me play extremely well together with Daniel and I think he found our energy in the way we had had before so we were very satisfied with working with him.

 

"Finnish people have an excellent taste in music!" -Peter Iwers. Bass player of In Flames-

 

In the official In Flames website you are the only guy who has his own blog: “Peter´s corner”. Did you want to strengthen the relation with the fans or why you are the only member doing that?

I don´t know why. I love doing it. I just felt I wanted to communicate a little bit more.

I noticed reading there that seem like one of your passions is gambling and playing poker… {mosimage}

Yeah, I like it very much!

Do you usually win or lose?

A little bit of both I guess… I try to have fun anyway. I do not play for winning or losing money. I just meet sometimes with some friends, have a few drinks and play a bit, not big sums, like 50 euro an evening and we can play a long time with that.

We have talked to many different Swedish bands in the last months, and they all happen to be very good in their genres. What is the key for this success of Swedish rock and metal? Years ago we used to have these Youth centers where you could go and practice. You could meet a lot of people and play a lot of instruments.  Everybody played and everybody worked and everybody enjoyed the shows. We had a good system back then where they were helping kids who wanted to be creative. But they took away all the funds. It is a shame!

Years ago you released a DVD whose title was Used and Abused. I was wondering of what have you used and abused more in your life?

I would say I used my family and my friends. I used everybody in a way not to feel lonely, because I need people around me. I have not abused that many, because I like to consider myself a “good person” and treat everybody with respect.

You are going to play on summer in a couple of festivals in Finland, apart from other big ones like rock Am Ring and Rock im Park in Germany. What is your feeling when you play here in Finland?

I like Finland. It is a bit darker than Sweden and people with a little bit more of coldness but people seem to have a very good taste in music. Finland seems to be more “metal country” than Sweden. 

Selected In Flames discography commented by Peter Iwers: 

 

{mosimage}-The Jester Race (1995). It was before my time but I was a good friend of the people in the band. I was not still in the band but they needed rehearsal space and they used my space, and that was basically the contact we started to have for when I joined the band later.

 

{mosimage}-Whoracle (1997) When it was recorded, just after their bass player left and I was recruited into the band. I started doing the touring with them and it was really a weird thing because I was waiting for the record to come out!

 

 

{mosimage}-Clayman (2000): It was the second record I was with the band. I am very proud of that record. We connected very well all of us and musicians and were able to bring it on in the performances. 

 

 

{mosimage}-Reroute to Remain (2002): We switched the studio and producer to Daniel Bergstrand.  He pushed us all to the limit. Peter made us do a good album. It was a very good time. It was the first time we were away from home recording. It was the time when we started touring with American bands. Some people were criticizing that we were going to sound like American bands, so it did not matter what kind of music we did, because some people were going to hate it anyway. It is the way it is, we are musicians and we do the music we feel to do. Some people like it, some don´t.

 

{mosimage}-Come Clarity (2006). It was a bit differently recorded.  Jesper and me recorded it in Gothenburg and then Daniel worked with it. Vocals were then added so we really did not hear anything until it came out. The result was really good.

 

{mosimage}-A Sense of Purpose (2008). I love all the tracks. It is a record that shows us together being in the studio at the same time again; everybody having a good time playing better than ever. I think that shows in the music also, that the songs are really “wide”, the influence of something that is recorded united and songs have something in common. 

 

In Flames will be playing in Finland on summer in Nummi Rock the 21 of June and in Rockperry Festival the 18 of July.

For more information: www.inflames.com    

StSanders shreds it!

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Have Steve Vai, Clapton or Gary Moore forgotten how to play guitar? Many people asked themselves the same question after watching some videos in YouTube with awful performances by top rock guitarists, and the answer is: Santeri Ojala aka StSanders, the master of shredding the best solos of our guitar heroes. 

I meet Santeri in a cafeteria in the centre of Tampere. He makes a short escape from his work as multimedia artist to attend the questions of FREE! Magazine. What started as a hobby became a question of discussion in music and guitarists forums all over the world. Was it right to spoof the original work of artists like Steve Vai, Slash, Van Halen, Metallica…? Well, the person himself behind the nick of StSanders, Santeri Ojala, can give his own opinions about the videos circulating in YouTube: 

Santeri, tell us a bit about this phenomena, you started to shred the famous guitarists. How the idea did the idea come up?

It has something to do with the particular faces that the musicians do when they play. So I thought it would be interesting because they really seem to put a lot of effort into their playing, so make it appear badly would turn into very funny.

So this started like a hobby, totally different from your normal everyday work?

Yeah. Well, I do play guitar although my work is as visual artists. I work with pictures, music, visual effects and I also worked in the multimedia installation you can see in the main square here in Tampere. But I am happy with this, and it is fun, when I have free time to do it. I have to record every part of the video once and again, so in the end I spend many hours in the making of every video. And lately I was also very busy with interviews, etc, so I had a bunch of work accumulated.

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Were you expecting the huge response to the videos featured in pages like YouTube?

Well, not at the beginning but I thought that it could become something big very soon.

YouTube has banned your personal account under the nick StSanders, thing that obviously does not make you happy. Did they give you any reason?

Well, they said that they had received emails from 3 different artists and record companies giving complaints about what I do. So when your account receives 3 different complaints, it is automatically shut down. I have sent them many messages, but well, it seems there is nothing to do, so I cannot publish more videos there with that account.

When you choose the artists that are going to suffer this “Shredding experience”, do you follow any kind of procedure; are there artists you especially like or dislike?

Well, I try to pick the famous artists, and also the ones who “make faces”.  Those are the 2 main requisites. 

YouTube has banned my account after receiving complaints about my videos from 3 different artists and record companies” – Santeri Ojala aka StSanders-

So you say you play guitar yourself for quite many years. Do you have to concentrate yourself for playing the songs “convincingly bad”?

Well, if you try to do something like this with singing, it is impossible. For making these videos, it takes in the end as much effort as good playing, because in a way it is good playing, it is intentionally bad. I try to make it sound convincingly bad.

Do you consider yourself a good guitar player when you play normally?

Yeah, I think I can manage.

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Steve Vai took with good sense of humor your spoof. He said something like if he would be able to play like that, he would appear more often on MTV. Are there more artists that contacted you personally to give you feedback?

Not the ones I made the videos about, but other artists contacted me and gave me good feedback, people like Scott Thunes who was bass player with Frank Zappa (and he believed the videos were real) or Mike Patton and some others.

You were invited to Jimmy Kimmel´s TV show in USA. How was the experience there, sharing stage with Slash?

Actually turns that Jimmy himself is a great fan of my videos, so he wanted me to be in his show. They called me to fly there very fast because Slash was coming to the show too and I arrived so tired that I almost did not have time to feel excited. We chatted a bit after the show and yeah, he liked the video, he had no problem with it.

And you even had the chance to share stage with him!

Yeah, we played together a bit at the end. I was not even sure if I had to play good or bad or how…

For more information:

http://www.santeriojala.fi

Brother Firetribe – Heart Full of Fire

{mosimage}Were you missing those catchy melodies of the American AOR of the eighties? Brother Firetribe’s members certainly were!

When you hear from first time the name of the band: “Brother Firetribe” you imagine just another heavy metal project as the other thousands that try to gain ground in the competitive Finnish and European market. But probably you will get shocked, if not at least surprised, when you see behind this project names like Nightwish´s  guitarist Emppu Vuorinen or Leverage´s vocalist Pekka Heino involved in one of the purest AOR albums that you can have seen released in Finland in the past… history?

Certainly, if you loved that period of music when everything seemed to be more easy going, when groupies adored musicians who looked ambivalent like girls and when Jon Bon Jovi still had a long hair that could make jealous to any model from a Vidal Sassoon ad, then certainly this album is for you.

In their second studio album, the band pays tribute to all the classics of the genre (there is even a genial cover of Mike Reno, Chasing the Angels) and display some epic moments in songs like Heart Full of Fire, with a memorable vocalist duel between Heino and Annete Olzen, the vocalist of Nightwish, or in the catchy I Heard It on My Radio to add the cherry on top of the cake with the final track I am Rock, that totally with blow you off; I played the song 3 times in a row in my CD Player first time I put my hands on the album, being one of those songs that will make you feel like listening to a rock classic instantly.

Many virtues ornate this excellent work by Brother Firetribe, and it is a pity that probably there won´t be many chances to see the band alive, being the members involved in their other projects. Do not give love a bad name, and run to get this excellent Heart Full of Fire!

Rating 5/5.

Blondie coming to Helsinki this summer

This year, it’s 30 years since the release of the band’s classic album Parallel Lines. A new special edition of the long player will be released during the tour.

Blondie was formed in 1974, initially billed as Angel and the Snake. Renamed to Blondie in 1975, the band was successful in the New York underground scene until the release of Parallel Lines, which brought the group international fame. Blondie disbanded in 1982 after core band member Chris Stein
had been diagnosed with a serious illness and the band’s latest album
had flopped. The band reformed in 1997 and scored another world hit
with ‘Maria‘ in 1999. Blondie was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.

Tickets for the band’s Helsinki concert cost 50 euros and will go on sale on Monday the 19th of May via Lippupalvelu.

My Blueberry Nights

{mosimage}Won Kar Wai, the internationally awarded Asian director, is back with a film “Made in Hollywood” in its cast.

I have followed with interests the previous works of Won Kar Wai. Although not falling in love with his films, I was finding quite fascinating the atmospheres that he was able to create and put together and his particular way of mastering the narration. Blur camera movements to condense all the diluted spirit of neighborhoods, small shops and coffees in some Chinese city like could be Hong Kong or Shanghai. Now, it is certainly shocking to see the similar kind of atmospheres and camera movements extrapolated to USA, mainly New York, city where Jude Law (Jeremy) owns a not very popular restaurant.

There, his way will cross with Norah Jones, who after tasting the Blueberry cake (and Law´s lips), starts a trip around the American land working as waitress, saving for a car. Both main actors are far from being convincing in the film. Jude Law is excellent when about being an Englishman gigolo, but far from the image of a hard-working waiter tired of the world around. Norah Jones looks lost and with not many brains during the film, and it is more interesting to see the people she is meeting around her particular tour, especial mention to David Strathairn in a great perfomance as the alcoholic and jealous policeman, who saves good part of the movie. But not even Rachel Weisz and Natalie Portman are credible enough in their twisted roles of "Femmes fatales".

A plot with shadows and lights, but honestly, I still prefer Kar Wai surrounded by the lights of Hong Kong instead of the Big Apple of NY.

Rating  3/5.

Orpokoti

{mosimage}Directed by J.A. Bayona and supported by Benicio del Toro, here comes the last hit from Spanish film industry.

Orpokoti (originally titled El Orfanato) continues with the good tradition of international attention and promotion for Spanish films set the previous years by Del Toro´s Pan´s Labyrinth. Belen Rueda is the main star of this thriller with touches of drama and terror, and we cannot say less than she is splendid. Well known for her work in TV series, she has been able to adapt perfectly to working in the big screen (you can see her also in the superb Meri Sisälläni with Javier Bardem) and in her maturity, she still looks naturally beautiful and delightful, but with a strong presence on screen and a big inner force.

Fernando Cayo and Roger Princep in the Laura´s husband and son roles are fresh surprises, although the special mention goes for the short but shocking guest appearance of Geraldine Chaplin.

If you like the same kind of movies than The Sixth Sense or The Others, where the real world and the dimension where ghosts wander get mixed and cohabit, surely you will enjoy with this Orpokoti. Solid acting skills, solid script, solid scenarios and some breathtaking moments that surely will make you feel goose pimples.

Rating 4/5.

Tom Fuller Band – Abstract Man

{mosimage}From Chicago comes a good breeze of Beatlesque pop/rock released by the legendary US label Mesa/Bluemoon Records.

This is the first rock album released by Mesa/Bluemoon, well known in the past for their jazz artists. And obviously, it could not be any average album, but a little masterpiece called Abstract Man. Opposite to its title, the album is very focused on a pop/rock classy style that can remind you The Beatles or more contemporary bands from the British invasion like Oasis.

Easy going songs that catch you without effort,  uptempo songs that mix ballads with good doses or rock.  Radio Man is an excellent starting for an album well measured, and with a definitive personality and some taste from the new continent in tunes like Lollipop Guild or Only in America.

A little masterpiece that makes you travel to an unique Universe that exhales freedom, passion and sensibility. A must have for lovers or good rock with roots.

Rating 5/5.