Band:
Carsten “Lizard” Schulz: Lead & backing vocals
De Grigo: Guitars
Marcos Peres: Guitars
Rick A.: Bass
Allan Juliano: Drums
Discography:
Debut
Guests:
Doogie White: Lead vocals on “Not In Paradise”
Alessandro Del Vecchio: Keyboards
Paul Logue: Bass on “Wait And See”
Luiz Sacoman: Final guitar solo on “Steel Or Stone”
Nat Lou: Female vocals on “Steel Or Stone (acoustic version)”
Info
Produced by Paradise Inc. and Paul Logue
Mixed by Paul Logue
Mastered by Dennis Ward
Lead & backing vocals of Carsten “Lizard” Schulz
recorded and arranged by Steffen Seeger
Keyboards recorded by Alessandro Del Vecchio
Released 21/10-2011
Reviewed 20/10-2011
I think that musically we can say that it is melodic rock music that is close in style to the more polished and melodic AOR, a sub genre it also dips into in several of the songs on this album even though they are mainly slightly rougher around the edges. The production is modern and melodic, the sound is very good and brings out the songs in a good fashion. The songs can hardly be said to be imaginative or to be breaking new ground as they all feels like nods back in time to other melodic rock bands from the genre’s past glories. Maybe that is a way for the band to show their admirations for their heroes from their youth or it may only be a coincident but I don’t think so. There are eleven tracks on the album and it plays for 53 minutes if you have the european version which has a bonus track in the acoustic version of Steel or Stone.
I do think that déjà vu is a very good description of how this album sounds, not in a negative way but just as a confirmation that the tracks all feels more like nods towards other bands’ music rather than their own. I think the songs are mainly good and the sound as well as everything works really in favour of this band but at the same time I feels as though I am rather wishing I was listening to the songs and artists that did those songs I come to think of when I listen to this album. I think that if you are a fan of melodic rock and has heard a lot of such music for a decent period of time you will feel more or less the same as I, I must say though that even if it is that way I still think it is a good album to listen to, not amazing but good.
There are two tracks I think are really great, track three Who’s Fooling Who has a great melody and the chorus is brilliant which makes it a very good track. Then we have the tenth track Not In Paradise which is an energetic song where well known singer Doogie White is making a guest appearance, those two tracks alone makes it quite worth to check out this album. It also has a very interesting looking album cover artwork if you are looking at those things, which I of course do.
In the end though I must say that I like this album quite a bit, but at the same time I cannot help feeling that I would have liked the band to show more of themselves rather than sounding like some other bands. It almost feels like I am listening to a cover band when I am listening to this album, and for that the general feel is mostly that I feel I could rather hear the originals. So if there is some thing missing for this band it is originality which they seems to have lost somewhere along the line of making this album, that is a bit unfortunate as they clearly show that they have potential. Still, this is a debut and if this is a teaser of what’s to come then we may be in for a treat some years down the line.
HHHHHHH
