Recension Pride - s/t 2011

Swedish melodic rockers of Pride and their self titled album gets another chance from Yesterrock a label that finds the hidden gems for us, at least according to their marketing. Last time out they released this album in 2008 in just 500 copies which all sold out almost before getting out from the printers. Therefor Yesterrock feels that this album ought to be released again so that the people will have the possibility to get the album. We should also state that the cover of the album is changed, I am not sure which one is the best though as they are both quite bad to be honest.

Musically we find this band in the very melodic rock genre which is sometimes called AOR. They have a fairly typical sound for that genre with a very melodic approach to things, and that with distinctive choruses and music that is easy to take in. Then of course you will notice the keyboards that is probably the most noticeable thing of all when it comes to the sound of pride. The production is polished in a genre typical way, nothing to fancy there.

This band never did catch on despite a lot of touring and two singles, the material for this album was recorded in 1989 but was never picked up by anyone. The thing is that this band has a sound that is really good but it is also the textbook sound of how to make AOR which gives them a massive competition since they were hardly alone as a band of the genre and not even so in Sweden who had lots of these band which probably made it a bit too tough for this band to be picked up. Still the chance is never really off as we can see. I will not say wether or not the band deserved to be picked up from the rest of the crowd but the thing is that there was a lot of similar music back then making it hard to be noticed and too be honest Pride is not that good.

They are very good but not fantastic in anyway. You’re the Only One is the first track on this album and it was also one of the two singles I spoke of earlier. The other one is the second track Dreamer in the Night which is the best track on the album in my opinion. Really nice feel to it and a good song with a really good chorus. Another track worth mentioning has to be track four Someone is Calling Your Name which also is great. It is these tracks that really stand out from the rest, the other tracks are quite good as well but not as named trio which is a class above the rest of the album.

I must also add a small note about the singer whom I do not think do this band complete justice. It is not that he is bad in anyway, rather the opposite but he cannot lift the band to a higher level like for instance the singer of Bad Habit or Dennis in Styx to name a few.

These songs by Pride are mainly good songs, no doubt about that but as I stated earlier it feels a bit like it is something an everyday band would have done and it is not really strange that they were passed over, many other bands probably were and some as good bands were released and became successful. I think it was just random that Pride was not picket up but that just leads to more fun for Yesterrock.

Catchy songs, textbook music and typical atmosphere keys make this a textbook example of how AOR sounds, the thing missing for it to also be good is a bit more of the soul of the people inside the band. It feels just like something quite sterile and typical that many bands have done before. I can assure you though that I will probably play this band again at times since their music is really good.

I think Pride can be proud of what they achieved with this album, the sound and music is great, the originality is not and in the end I feel like this album is more of the same, very good but more of the same as I have heard so many times. I like the music but I do not like the sense that it feels like they are trying hard to make AOR rather than their own music.

HHHHHHH

Pride s/t

Pride
s/t