{"id":45302,"date":"2014-09-28T07:28:07","date_gmt":"2014-09-28T12:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=45302"},"modified":"2014-09-30T08:33:08","modified_gmt":"2014-09-30T13:33:08","slug":"eclipse-are-you-ready-to-rock-mmxiv-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/eclipse-are-you-ready-to-rock-mmxiv-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Eclipse | Are You Ready To Rock MMXIV<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist\/News Editor —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"EclipseOriginally released in 2008, Are You Ready to Rock<\/em> was the third album from Swedish melodic rockers Eclipse. In recent years Eclipse, which features singer\/guitarist Erik Martensson (also with W.E.T.) \u2013 has become one of the brightest stars in the melodic rock scene, but in 2008 the band was on the verge of calling it quits. Instead the band regrouped, got back to their melodic rock roots, and released an album that took the scene by storm.<\/p>\n

Martensson, along with guitarist Magnus Henriksson, seems to have grown by leaps and bounds as a songwriter in the years between 2004\u2019s Second To None<\/em> and this album. Are You Ready To Rock<\/em> had all of the insane guitar hooks, irresistible melodies and wild energy that was missing from Second To None<\/em>, and it’s just an incredibly fun album to listen to. It’s one of those albums that is just made for air guitar and singing along. \u201cBreaking My Heart,” “Under the Gun” and especially “Wylde One” are great examples of the revitalized Eclipse sound, and the whole album is at that same quality level. \u201cUnbreakable\u201d and \u201cCall of the Wild\u201d in particular are very similar to what Martensson would contribute to the W.E.T. debut. <\/p>\n

Are You Ready To Rock<\/em> is just a dynamite melodic rock album all around. It\u2019s hard to believe, given just how good this album is, that Eclipse would get even better with their follow-up album (2012\u2019s Bleed & Scream). If you’re into the European melodic rock sound – think bands like Talisman, W.E.T. (obviously), Brother Firetribe, The Magnificent and H.E.A.T. – you have to hear Eclipse, and Are You Ready To Rock<\/em> is one of two must-have releases from them, especially now that it has been so spectacularly reissued. <\/p>\n

Edition Notes: After spending years out of print, Are You Ready To Rock<\/em> is once again available thanks to this band-released special edition reissue titled Are You Ready To Rock MMXIV<\/em>. The reissue has not only been remastered; it was remixed as well, giving it a real boost in sound quality. It also features four bonus tracks \u2013 the song \u201cHaunted Wanted\u201d from the original Japanese pressing of the album and three demo tracks from the album\u2019s early sessions. And if all that wasn\u2019t enough, it features expanded liner notes and brand new cover artwork. Honestly, just getting this long sold-out album back in print would have been enough, but they\u2019ve done such a fantastic job with this reissue that even those who already own the original album shouldn\u2019t hesitate to upgrade to the MMXIV<\/em> version.<\/p>\n

Genre: Melodic Rock<\/p>\n

Lineup:
\nErik Martensson (v) (g) (b) (k)
\nMagnus Henriksson (g)
\nJohan Berlin (k)
\nRobban Back (d)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tBreaking My Heart Again
\n2.\tHometown Calling
\n3.\tTo Mend a Broken Heart
\n4.\tWylde One
\n5.\tUnder the Gun
\n6.\tUnbreakable
\n7.\tHard Time Loving You
\n8.\tYoung Guns
\n9.\tMillion Miles Away
\n10.\t2 Souls
\n11.\tCall of the Wild
\n12.\tHaunted Wanted
\n13.\tRather Be Dead
\n14.\tDestination Anywhere
\n15.\tAnabel Lee<\/p>\n

Label: Self-released<\/p>\n

Website: www.eclipsemania.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven Rating: \tOriginal album: 8.75\/10 — MMXIV version: 10\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines – Senior Columnist\/News Editor — Originally released in 2008, Are You Ready to Rock was the third album from Swedish melodic rockers Eclipse. In recent years Eclipse, which features singer\/guitarist Erik Martensson […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":45303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[10054,2317,2960,2901],"class_list":{"0":"post-45302","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-are-you-ready-to-rock-mmxiv","9":"tag-cd-review","10":"tag-eclipse","11":"tag-melodic-rock"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45302","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=45302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}