Mikael Erlandsson
Capricorn Six

He is an old geezer this Erlandsson fellow with over a quarter of a century experience from the world of music, he has done plenty of albums with his band Last Autumn’s Dream and this is his sixth under his own name. We have written about Last Autumn’s Dream here at Hallowed and not been overly impressed by one of the albums and more impressed by another album by that band. It has been a bit hit or miss for Erlandsson’s work here at Hallowed. This new album has a nice artwork at least, I like the colour and it looks good. And who can resist an album that ends with Alice in Wonderland? Or starts in the eye of a hurricane for that matter?

AOR is the genre, perhaps no surprises there and fairly according to format with catchy songs, some power ballads and that sort of variation. If you have heard Last Autumn’s Dream you will know fairly well what to expect as there are many similarities, like Erlandsson’s vocals. The sound is very good, good production and good vocals are things to add to the plus count for this album. The sensible playing time is another plus, as is the fact that most of the songs has a fresh touch to them without really standing out much. Familiar, yet with a hint of novelty; is probably one way to describe what you get to hear on this album.

Really strong album, I would say that it is a great AOR release. The songs are all good and there are no major flaws. The penultimate song is closest to a weakness, a fairly standard AOR ballad that I can do without but in the grand scheme of things it isn’t such a major thing. Tracks like Alice in Wonderland, Why, Break Another Heard and the ballad Had to Let You Go are the standout tracks on this album and four reasons to have one more go at the album. And I have to add that the vocal performance is probably the best one I have heard from Erlandsson – although I have to point out that I have not heard everything by him.

Fans of Erlandsson will recognise and enjoy this new album, and it is an album that most likely will appeal to most fans of the more melodic side of the rock/hardrock music. I know I have enjoyed this one and can recommend it, it both sounds and looks good. Great stuff!

HHHHHHH