One Desire is: Andre Linman (lead vocals, guitars), Jimmy Westerlund (lead guitars, backing and occasional lead vocals), Jonas Kuhlberg (bass guitar) and Ossi Sivula (drums). Whether you like the sound of this band or not, you'd be hard to find a group that plays this tightly. They are a well oiled machine hitting on all cylinders. The lead single from their sophomore album Midnight Empire is called "After You're Gone". Lyrically this is a band that wears their hearts on their sleeves. You can hear the angst and lament as Linman delivers his crystal clear vocal above a wall of acoustic and electric guitars. Linman has limitless range and can evoke emotion which in turn drives these lyrical themes to higher ground. "Shadowman" turns the melodic rock paradigm on it's head with a modern dark urgency vocally and with many musical ingredients, including a guitar solo that sounds exactly like something Neal Schon might play. "Down and Dirty" combines pop and progressive elements for a unique softer romp into new terrain. The modern elements in One Desire are less telegraphed and far more evolutionary than other bands in this genre. This is truly an evolution that doesn't offend those who embrace the past.
"Godsent Extasy" plays more to the 80's model but has many flavors and colors that make this an uptempo hybrid of many different forms. In any event, the guitar solo rocks. "Through The Fire" is a stunning acoustic guitar ballad that completely jumps out of the album in a unique way. As if the band suddenly realized Extreme or Mr. Big, but with bigger, loftier progressions. "Heroes" builds majestically into a progressive rocker with piercing guitar leads and a deluge of vocal textures. This would be MY single if I were picking them. "RIO" is a soft rock slow burner that gradually builds into full blown an original sounding power ballad that feels very retro, but with new melodic textures. This ends up being one of the best written songs on the record.
"Battlefield of Love" starts acoustic but then goes big. Big keyboards, guitars and vocals. Borrowing from modern rock and late 80's synth based pop and rock. "Killer Queen" is a relentless rocker with desperate lyrics and modern rock soundscapes that compliment the story line. "Only When I Breathe" is a bit of a showstopper. Linman finds a sweet spot vocally with the rest of the band providing emotional support and passion.
There is a lot to digest here. The album combines a powerful mix of melodic rock, modern rock and pop. The album has a high level of confidence where the playing, writing and arranging is at a level that few artists will get to. This is the music that should have arrived decades ago as the natural next step after the 1980's. It's 30 years in the making, but here it is. The potent mix of acoustic and electric guitars make this a real ear candy sensation. But it's the consistently great singing, songwriting and somewhat bombastic production that make One Desire the "one" album to seek out this year for new melodic rock fans.
Album Rating 9.1
Again, no previous exposure to this band other than perhaps seeing some
ReplyDeletebanner ads on a couple of other melodic rock websites, but very impressed by the few tracks I've checked out so far, especially the key track "After You're Gone". Vocally, the singer kind of reminds me of Robin McAuley, say, circa that great MSG track "Anytime, circa late '89, but that just might be my ears playing tricks on me? Regardless,
love the carefully considered balanced between guitars and keyboards,
and happy to know that this great style of music is still being perfected and lovingly-honored by such vastly talented Nordic musicians.
Very astute comments as usual sir.
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