{"id":39477,"date":"2014-04-18T17:04:40","date_gmt":"2014-04-18T22:04:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=39477"},"modified":"2014-04-18T17:04:40","modified_gmt":"2014-04-18T22:04:40","slug":"aor-the-secrets-of-la-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/aor-the-secrets-of-la-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"AOR | The Secrets Of LA<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska<\/span>
\n– Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"AORThink catchy melodies, fine songwriting, polished production, big hooks, massive keyboard sound and power-chord-heavy guitar riffs. Call it AOR, AOR\/Westcoast, Melodic Rock or lite metal \u2014 whatever the name is, within this particular (and often underestimated) genre you can find some of the biggest voices as well as the most brilliant songwriters and producers in rock music. As for the latter, one of the most creative and versatile is Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Slama, whose incredible star-studded project \u2014 named simply AOR \u2014 continues its journey through the world of guitar and keyboard driven pomp rock sounds one album after another. Another important step in this journey for Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric, this time collaborating again with a renowned guitarist\/producer Tommy Denander, was his last year\u2019s release The Secrets of LA. Endorsed by much important names of the genre \u2014 Jeff Scott Soto, Bob Harris, Robin Beck or the late Fergie Fredriksen, among others \u2014 The Secrets Of LA<\/em> is the twelfth AOR album, dubbed the best to date by its creators. <\/p>\n

It starts with \u201cDeep Whirlpool.\u201d Now, there\u2019s even more to this well-crafted arena rocker than it was just a few months ago, with the late, great Fergie Frederiksen (ex-Toto, ex-LeRoux, solo) handling lead vocals. Apart from being a great track music-wise, it\u2019s a real monument to Frederiksen\u2019s high pitched, crystal clear voice. It\u2019s followed up by \u201cStage Struck\u201d; in this song, enriched with some groovy lead guitar work and a fiery solo, it\u2019s Jeff Scott Soto (ex-Yngwie Malmsteen, Talisman, Axel Rudi Pell, currently of W.E.T.) that takes over the microphone. Yet another singer who doesn\u2019t need neither recognition nor recommendation, does he? <\/p>\n

In \u201cSecrets In The Shadows,\u201d it\u2019s the massive but melodic keyboard sound which takes the lead \u2014 the vocals delivered by the Swede Jim Jidhed (Alien, solo). The next two are \u201cBack To San Francisco\u201d and \u201cOut Of The Past\u201d, another tracks much in the same vein; these dynamic guitar\/keyboard duels are enriched by voices of Bill Champlin (ex-Chicago) and Bob Harris (Axe), respectively. <\/p>\n

A groovy track \u201cThe Name Of The Game\u201d is a showcase to Robin Beck\u2019s powerful but sensual vocal performance \u2014 one of the best female voices of the genre still stands strong! \u201cWeb Of Lies\u201d, featuring G\u00f6ran Edman, is a perfect balance between dynamism and melody, and its follow-up \u201cHollow Triumph\u201d bears resemblance to the sound of the early \u201890s melodic rock acts (such as the German Casanova \u2013 with Mikael Erlandsson, of Last Autumn\u2019s Dream and Lover Under Cover, sounding a lot like Michael Voss). <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Main Attraction,\u201d on the other hand, gravitates towards more contemporary AOR\/pomp rock style, bands such as Brother Firetribe or Work Of Art. These characteristic vocals couldn\u2019t have possibly been delivered by anyone else but Bob Harris, right? It\u2019s Axe frontman behind the microphone again, his performance being of quite obvious quality. And as for the grand finale, a melancholic ballad \u201cVoices In The Wind\u201d is illustrated with the emotionally laden, sonorous voice of Tamara Champlin, an American singer\/songwriter (and Bill\u2019s wife). It\u2019s another AOR\/melodic rock gem among many on the star-studded, absolutely brilliant album.
\nWith The Secrets Of LA<\/em>, what Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Slama and Tommy Denander actually unveil is the best kept secrets to perfection in music. They prove there are amazing talents and years of much valuable experience behind the greatest names in the genre, many of them contributing to this album in particular or having contributed to Slama\u2019s AOR project before. Being the twelfth release under the \u201cAOR\u201d moniker, The Secrets Of LA is a stepping stone between classic AOR sound many of the guest singers and musicians are associated with and the modern-day production and approach to the genre. And for the listeners, it remains a real trademark of quality in this kind of music; there are no fillers to this album, each and every track being worth attention. Highly recommended.<\/p>\n

Genre: AOR, Melodic Hard Rock
\nBand:
\nFr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Slama: guitars and keyboards
\nTommy Denander: all instruments
\nFergie Frederiksen: lead and backing vocals
\nJeff Scott Soto: lead and backing vocals
\nBill Champlin: lead and backing vocals
\nJim Jidhed: lead and backing vocals
\nRobin Beck: lead and backing vocals
\nG\u00f6ran Edman: lead and backing vocals
\nMikael Erlandsson: lead and backing vocals
\nBob Harris: lead and backing vocals
\nTamara Champlin: lead and backing vocals
\nKen Sandin: backing vocals
\nDane Donohue: backing vocals
\nAlessandro Del Vecchio: backing vocals
\nColin Rodgers: guitars and bass
\nPat Thern: drums<\/p>\n

Track List:
\n1. Deep Whirlpool
\n2. Stage Struck
\n3. Secrets In The Shadows
\n4. Back To San Francisco
\n5. Out Of The Past
\n6. The Name Of The Game
\n7. Web Of Lies
\n8. Hollow Triumph
\n9. The Main Attraction
\n10. Voices In The Wind<\/p>\n

Label: AOR Heaven, Rubicon Music (with bonus tracks)<\/p>\n

Website: http:\/\/www.slama101.fr\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 10\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska – Columnist — Think catchy melodies, fine songwriting, polished production, big hooks, massive keyboard sound and power-chord-heavy guitar riffs. Call it AOR, AOR\/Westcoast, Melodic Rock or lite metal \u2014 whatever the name […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":39561,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[8939,9075,2317,2847,9151,9150],"class_list":{"0":"post-39477","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-aor","9":"tag-aor-heaven","10":"tag-cd-review","11":"tag-melodic-hard-rock","12":"tag-rubicon-music","13":"tag-the-secrets-of-la"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39477\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}