Last Autumn’s Dream Yes

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by Ron and Don Higgins
Staff Writer

Yes is the latest studio album from the Swedish/German hard rock band Last Autumn’s Dream. This band has been described as rock, hard rock, melodic rock and AOR. If this is your first exposure to this great band then you’ll discover that they are in fact, all of the above.

Last Autumn’s Dream released their self-titled debut in 2004. The band was formed by successful solo singer Mikael Erlandsson and successful hard rock guitarist Andy Malecek from the band Fair Warning. It also consisted of three members of the successful Swedish rock band Europe. After Europe reformed, these three members left and the band continued by adding drummer Jamie Borger, bassist Marcel Jacob and keyboardist Thomas Lassar and they recorded a second album. Lassar left after this album and Last Autumn’s Dream became a quartet. The four remaining musicians recorded four more great albums. Unfortunately due to Marcel’s death in 2009, the band needed a new bass player. They added the talented Nalley Pahlsson who recorded their seventh album, Touch of Heaven as well as this new album.

So can a band that’s gone through several band members and released eight albums in about as many years still put out good material? The answer is YES! This album is classic Last Autumn’s Dream. It contains catchy choruses, good songwriting, excellent musicianship and is well produced. The album is diverse in that it has a little of everything for the fan. Some songs are radio-friendly AOR much like the first few albums and some are harder rocking like their subsequent releases and there are a few ballads too.

The album starts off strong right out of the gate with a great hard rocking song called “I’ve Fallen Into You”. It has a little of everything: passionate vocals by Mikael, a nice chorus with good backing vocals, solid guitar work and present, but not overpowering, keyboards. It’s great melodic rock and one of the standout tracks. It’s a good lead into the next song, “The Sound of a Heartbreak” which has a cool piano intro but morphs into an up-tempo rocker. It has a lot of the same qualities as the first track but with more dominant drums and has an early Bon Jovi vibe.

They switch things up on track three, “Another Night” which is a mid-tempo ballad and another one of the best tracks on the album. It’s just a great song and you can really hear Nalley’s contributions on the bass on this one. They pulled the next one out of the stratosphere and did a cover of an old Michael Bolton rock song titled “Fools Game”. This was a top 100 hit for Bolton in the early ‘80s before he became a soft-rock superstar. This new version doesn’t differ significantly from the original but does sound fresher, and although Bolton is undeniably a talented singer, Mikael’s vocal style seems to work better on this enjoyable pop song. Next is a full-on ballad called “If I Could Change the World” and it’s another amazing track. The whole band shines on this one. Lyrically, it’s more of a love song, well a lost love song, as opposed to a song about changing the world itself. The main character is changed and if he could change the world, he’d make the girl love him too. The lost love theme recurs throughout the album. They get back to rocking on “To Be With You” which is what great melodic rock should be. It’s another standout track and Jamie Bolger’s drumming is excellent.

Track seven, “Michelle Don’t Live Here No More” starts off the second half of the album with a nice mid-tempo ballad about lost love again. This is a great AOR song featuring fantastic vocals. “In This Thing Too Deep” is a melodic rocker that’s somewhat reminiscent of the best work by Danger Danger and features a cool guitar solo by Andy.

The next song, “Still Standin’ Where Ya Left Me” is one of the more interesting tracks. The chorus isn’t quite as catchy as some of the other songs but the guitars and drums really stand out. The guitar parts range from sounding like Steve Howe, to Hendrix, to flat out metal — all in one song! And the drums are somewhat jazzy at times. Very cool! Next is “Kissin’ Goodbye My Tears” which is another up-tempo song featuring some ‘80s sounding keyboards and a chorus you can’t help singing along with. All in all a very upbeat, fun song. The 11th song, “Survivor” is a bit heavier and has a different style than the rest of the album. The chorus is more moody than catchy but the song features some passionate lead vocals and great guitar work. The final song, “Alive” also sounds different from the rest of the album but that’s not a bad thing. It is a sad, moody ballad and the slowest song on the album. The guitars shine as Mikael sings again about a lost love and confesses that she’s the one who’s got him feeling so alive. It’s a nice closer to another fine album by this band.

In summary, this is a very satisfying melodic rock album by one of the top groups in the genre. This album ranks up there as one of their best. Will Last Autumn Dream fans like this album? Yes! Will fans of melodic hard rock like this album? Yes! Should you go buy this album? YES!

Band:
Mikael Erlandsson – Lead vocals
Andy Malecek – Guitars
Jamie Borger – Drums
Nalley Pahlsson – Bass
Track Listing:

01) I’ve Fallen Into You
02) The Sound of a Heartbreak
03) Another Night
04) Fool’s Game
05) If I Could Change the World
06) To Be With You
07) Michelle Don’t Live Here No More
08) In This Thing Too Deep
09) Still Standin’ Where Ya Left Me
10) Kissin’ Goodbye the Tears
11) Survivor
12) Alive

Website:
www.myspace.com/lastautumnsdream

Label: GMR Music group

Hard Rock Haven Rating: 9.1 / 10