{"id":47603,"date":"2014-12-29T10:28:56","date_gmt":"2014-12-29T15:28:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=47603"},"modified":"2014-12-29T10:31:29","modified_gmt":"2014-12-29T15:31:29","slug":"elements-of-frictions-fragile-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/elements-of-frictions-fragile-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Elements Of Frictions | Fragile<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"ElementsWith Voices Of Rock, Wolfpakk or Frederic Slama\u2019s AOR around and releasing one album after another, a studio-based project comprised of numerous big names of the scene is hardly a novelty in melodic rock. However, an idea behind Elements Of Frictions album, conceived by the newly founded Denmark-based melodic rock label Lions Pride Music, was slightly different. The album is a compilation of selected fourteen songs performed by Melodic Rock artists whose names surely ring a bell for anyone who\u2019s into the genre but whom we haven\u2019t heard from since quite a while \u2013 at least some of them! Something new and melodic rock-oriented from the likes Marcello\/Vestry, Matti Alfonzetti, Pete Loran or Paul Laine sounds thus exciting enough to give it a try and find out what the Fragile<\/em> album is all about.<\/p>\n

Marcello\/Vestry go first, their song \u201cWhen You Grow Up\u201d being not too far sound-wise from their 2008 debut. It\u2019s a fine slice of AOR\/pomp rock much in the late \u201880s style, embroidered with a slick lead guitar work and high-pitched melodic vocals. Slightly heavier, yet still melodic to the utmost, the track number two is entitled \u201cLittle One\u201d and performed by a project comprised of musicians known from the likes of Talisman, Thunder, Bad Habit or Treat. It\u2019s a Swedish singer Matti Alfonzetti (Jagged Edge, Skintrade, solo) who delivers a very convincing performance against the background of blistering guitars. With \u201cLove Don\u2019t Live Here Anymore\u201d, one is to enter a territory of polished female-fronted AOR as it\u2019s a female singer Emma Varg who wields the microphone in this keyboard-laden, neat mid-tempo. The song should have become an favorite for those who have a soft spot for the likes of Saraya, Chrissy Steele or Annica.
\nIn comparison with its predecessors, \u201cDon\u2019t Leave Me Lonely\u201d may appear to be a bit too mellow for a rock-oriented listener\u2019s tastes, but there are some certain assets to it, too \u2013 a fine guitar solo as well as Matti Alfonzetti behind the mic again. It\u2019s followed by \u201cMake You Mine\u201d featuring ex-Red Dawn\u2019s Larry Baud on vocals, his performance being convincing enough to make you look for your long-forgotten and worn-out copy of Never Say Surrender album only to give it a spin once again, out of pure sentiment. This love-themed AOR piece precedes a track that gravitates towards a bit different sphere sound-wise \u2013 especially the song\u2019s intro laden with the gritty sound of the distorted guitars seems to testify about its more up-to-date and perhaps heavier sound. However, \u201cDon\u2019t Walk Away\u201d is not too drastic a detachment from the style of the album and not deprived of the catchy, melodic, clearly \u201880s vibe to it. And there is something entirely genuine about Oliver Fehr\u2019s soaring, emotionally laden vocal performance even though the Swiss outfit Transit he fronted faded into obscurity a long time ago (does anyone remember a brothel-themed \u201cNeed My Number\u201d video from 1991\u2026?)<\/p>\n

Even though a thunderous drum intro suggests a heavier song that is going to follow, \u201cWithout Your Love\u201d is surprisingly mellow and, what has to be admitted, quite forgettable a delivery from the Scandi hard rock act Snakes In Paradise. \u201cOnly My Heart\u201d that follows could have been a lost track from any Bon Jovi album \u2013 because of the radio-friendly pop rock vibe to it as well as certain vocal manner of Mats Leven (Treat, Swedish Erotica, Yngwie Malmsteen, Lion\u2019s Share, Dogface). And speaking of New Jersey natives, \u201cTo The Limit\u201d features Trixter\u2019s Pete Loran on vocals as well as Steve Brown on guitar, a worthy representation of the Garden State. The four-minute song screams the late \u201880s hard rock style all along the way \u2013 and the chorus, embroidered with some nice vocal harmonies delivered against the groovy but simple guitar riff is purely bombastic. There is no doubt about it being one of the album\u2019s particularly strong points, \u201cGive It To Me Good\u201d and \u201cOne In A Million\u201d rockers being among those who stood the test of time and still are able to rock and roll.<\/p>\n

Do you remember the tremendous Stick It In Your Ear<\/em>, a 1990 release by Paul Laine? If you do, the mere fact of his participation on Elements Of Friction has a potential to make your hair stand on end. Unfortunately, \u201cAnother Me\u201d is a catchy but noisy piece that somehow corresponds more with late \u201890s pop punk than AOR\/melodic rock music-wise, the background vocals being squeaky and simply awful. Therefore, there\u2019s nothing spectacular about the contribution of the former Danger Danger singer. Another misconceived track of the compilation is \u201cSomebody Up There\u201d performed by 21 Guns\/LRS voice Tommy La Verdi, even though the lead guitar work alone \u2013 with the certain modern vibe to it \u2013 is outstanding throughout the entire song.<\/p>\n

Having started their journey into the Elements Of Frictions album with keyboard-backed and guitar-driven anthems, and being largely disappointed by the numbers ten and eleven, a tormented listener doesn\u2019t get his share of feisty melodic rock also with the song that follows. \u201cAll About You,\u201d sung by Stephan Kaemmerer, is a typical, sugary AOR-ish ballad hardly a soul finds rousing. \u201cLet Me Down Easy\u201d with Rich Cox of Sic Vikki taking over the mic, still has a poppy feel to it in verses and choruses, but its rootsy blues-tinted guitar solo is simply fantastic. The final track is \u201cPieces Of The Action\u201d with the funky groove to it that\u2019s reminiscent of the Electric Boys. Laden with feisty vocals and nifty guitar work, this piece of rock excellence could have easily been conceived in the glorious era sometime between 1987 and 1992 and it\u2019s this period indeed that\u2019s been most successful for its performers, Reggie Wu and Mark Evans of Heaven\u2019s Edge. It\u2019s a fantastic finish for a rugged patchwork album that has its faults, but also its grand moments.<\/p>\n

If you ever wondered how would it sound if sometime back in 1990 a bunch of important names in Melodic Hard Rock\/AOR would have decided it\u2019s fun to share the recording studio together and that Heaven\u2019s Edge sounds better if accompanied by Trixter and Red Dawn \u2013 Fragile by Elements Of Frictions may hold the answer. However, the album is not a mother lode of fantastic ideas and music gems, not all a \u201cgreatest hits\u201d compilation from some vaguely remembered \u201880s MTV darlings. The \u201cpatchwork\u201d quality to it results in Fragile being hardly a cohesive album and putting classy, perfectly crafted AOR anthems next to the bland third-league pieces that would have better stayed undeveloped from their demo forms. There are some really impressive moments on this record, though, with songs such as \u201cWhen You Grow Up, \u201cTo The Limit\u201d or the final \u201cPieces Of The Action\u201d proving the Lions Pride\u2019s idea wasn\u2019t all that bad. This having been said, it\u2019s hardly believable that anyone who wasn\u2019t into melodic rock before will go for Fragile and convert themselves to the staunch follower of the genre. Still, Melodic Rock\/AOR aficionados may certainly give it a try as a \u201cskip\u201d button is to be used only once in a while anyway.<\/p>\n

Genre: Melodic Hard Rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nMarcello\/Vestry \u2013 all instruments (track 1)
\nMatti Alfonzetti \u2013 vocals (tracks 2, 4)
\nSven Cimski \u2013 guitars (track 2)
\nMicke Hoglund \u2013 bass (track 2)
\nJamie Borger \u2013 drums (track2)
\nPasi Oxman \u2013 keyboards (track 2)
\nEmma Varg \u2013 vocals (track 3)
\nLarry Baud \u2013 vocals (track 5)
\nOliver Fehr \u2013 vocals (track 6)
\nSnakes In Paradise \u2013 all instruments (track 7)
\nMats Leven \u2013 vocals (track 8)
\nPete Loran \u2013 vocals (track 9)
\nSteve Brown \u2013 guitar (track 9)
\nPaul Laine \u2013 vocals (track 10)
\nTommy La Verdi \u2013 vocals (track 11)
\nStephan Kammerer \u2013 vocals (track 12)
\nRich Cox \u2013 vocals (track 13)
\nMark Evans \u2013 vocals (track 14)
\nReggie Wu \u2013 guitar (track 14)<\/p>\n

Track List:
\n1.\tWhen You Grow Up.
\n2.\tLittle One
\n3.\tLove Don’t Live Here Anymore
\n4.\tDon’t Leave Me Lonely
\n5.\tMake You Mine
\n6.\tDon’t Walk Away
\n7.\tWithout Your Love
\n8.\tOnly My Heart
\n9.\tTo The Limit
\n10.\tAnother Me
\n11.\tSomebody Up There
\n12.\tAll About You
\n13.\tLet Me Down Easy
\n14.\tPieces Of The Action<\/p>\n

Label: Lions Pride Music<\/p>\n

Website: http:\/\/www.lionspridemusic.com\/<\/a> – https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lionspridemusic<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 6\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska – Senior Columnist — With Voices Of Rock, Wolfpakk or Frederic Slama\u2019s AOR around and releasing one album after another, a studio-based project comprised of numerous big names of the scene is […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":47606,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[2317,10461,10462,10463,10466,2847,10464,10465],"class_list":{"0":"post-47603","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-cd-review","9":"tag-elements-of-frictions","10":"tag-fragile","11":"tag-lions-pride-music","12":"tag-matti-alfonzetti","13":"tag-melodic-hard-rock","14":"tag-paul-laine","15":"tag-snakes-in-paradise"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47603","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=47603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}