{"id":50481,"date":"2015-10-19T07:17:03","date_gmt":"2015-10-19T12:17:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=50481"},"modified":"2015-10-19T13:41:31","modified_gmt":"2015-10-19T18:41:31","slug":"nalle-pahlssons-royal-mess-royal-mess-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2015\/nalle-pahlssons-royal-mess-royal-mess-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Nalle Pahlsson\u2019s Royal Mess | Royal Mess<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"royalmess-FULLA musician who\u2019s been recognizable and sought-after for years, touring and recording a lot, but still not able to show all his talents \u2013 until now. That\u2019s Nalle P\u00e5hlsson\u2019s story in a nutshell, as the Swedish bass player has been playing in multitude of bands from Easy Action and Treat to Therion and Vindictiv. Now the time has come for P\u00e5hlsson to speak with his own voice \u2013 literally and figuratively \u2013 as his first solo offering sees the light of day. Recorded under the moniker of Nalle P\u00e5hlsson\u2019s Royal Mess, it\u2019s released via MelodicRock Records. What does it stand for? For certain, it\u2019s one of the most impressive and lengthy guest musicians lists ever, from Kee Marcello (ex-Europe) and his former bandmate Ian Haugland to half of the Therion line-up. It\u2019s Chris Laney\u2019s finishing touches in the mixing stage. It\u2019s Nalle P\u00e5hlsson as a lead singer, songwriter, producer, rhythm guitar player, keyboardist and bassist \u2013 for the very first time. But most importantly, it\u2019s what Melodic Hard Rock should have always been all about.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be fooled by the grandiose intro to the opening track \u201cAces High\u201d. It\u2019s nothing but the \u201880s on your time machine, a journey back in time that is keyboard-laden, melodic and shamelessly infectious. A raw, riff-driven piece number two, aptly titled \u201cHell City\u201d, and its groovy follow-up \u201cMr. Freedom\u201d have Nalle P\u00e5hlsson abandoning Melodic Hard Rock aesthetics for more Sleaze Metal-oriented sound. It\u2019s musical territory occupied by bands such as L.A. Guns he\u2019s gravitating towards. But even with somewhat rough vibe to some of the tracks, the hooks are still unmistakably catchy, a blatant but fine throwback to an era when rock songs equaled earworms and choruses were supposed to be massive. Next is \u201cGold Digger\u201d with perfectly Leppard-esque backing vocals, a melodic interlude of sorts between the two heavier tracks, \u201cMr. Freedom\u201d and \u201cBreakout.\u201d The latter assaults one\u2019s ears with a straight-in-your-face chorus, pumping bass and piercing guitar sound, all much in vein of bands like Shotgun Messiah or the aforesaid Guns. <\/p>\n

\u201cHigher Than The Seventh Heaven\u201d is the sixth track on the album, a dynamic guitar-laden gallop embroidered with a well-crafted chorus. Things slow down a bit with \u201cThe Pieces Of My Heart.\u201d Strangely enough, however, what could have been a soaring power ballad or an AOR serenade turns out to be a bit of an oddity. It\u2019s a slow-ish track with clearly contemporary vibe to it, sounding as a forgotten outtake from Kane Roberts-fronted Phoenix Down album Under A Wild Sky<\/em>. And although such a piece might have done quite well on its own, it doesn\u2019t really match the rest of the material on this particular album. A big relief is that the next songs \u201cTo Hell And Back\u201d and \u201cTrip\u201d abandon mismatched experiments in favor of what\u2019s worked so well earlier on the album. It\u2019s galloping guitar, Leppard-ish choruses and keyboard-laden background, all embedded in an early \u201890s Melodic Rock aesthetics musically. This tendency continues throughout the remaining parts of the record, starting from the feisty uptempo \u201cFrom Rise To Fall\u201d. Next is the powerful musical cannonry of synth-tinted \u201cLoaded Gun\u201d which morphs into the ethereal outro (laden mostly with soothing sounds of nature, only occasionally interrupted with the noise of busy street outside). It\u2019s a prelude of sorts to the very final song on the album, a moving ballad \u201cSee You In My Dreams\u201d dedicated to the memory of a lost brother.<\/p>\n

Even though there comes a moment when the journey back in time is over, the lasting impression is that Nalle P\u00e5hlsson under the Royal Mess moniker has done his job of a guide particularly well. A seasoned musician that he is, he didn\u2019t have much to prove in terms of musicianship. From Treat to Therion, one knows well he\u2019s the one to be reckoned with. But the dreaded pattern for such a renowned rock musician would have been to step out solo to be seen only as a pale shadow of one\u2019s former self. P\u00e5hlsson\u2019s avoided it altogether with a solid Melodic Hard Rock album divided into polished Leppard-esque moments and Sleaze Metal-tinted intensity. If you\u2019re into such music, Royal Mess may introduce some serious changes into your yearly Top 10 album list. Highly recommended.<\/p>\n

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

Band:
\nNalle P\u00e5hlsson \u2013 vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards, bass guitar<\/p>\n

Guest musicians:
\nKee Marcello
\nIan Haugland
\nMats Olausson
\nJamie Borger
\nDanne McKentzie
\nMats Lev\u00e9n
\nSnowy Shaw
\nLinn\u00e9a Vikstr\u00f6m
\nJohan Koleberg
\nPontus Norgren
\nPatrick Appelgren
\nKristian Niemann
\nZinny Zan
\nStefan Bergstr\u00f6m
\nChristian Vidal
\nMicke Hujanen
\nIgna Jover
\nNicci Notini
\nLove Magnusson
\nStefan Lindholm
\nMax Lorentz
\nHenrik Bergqvist
\nMikael Erlandsson
\nLasse Andersson
\nPontus Larsson<\/p>\n

Track List:
\n1. Aces High
\n2. Hell City
\n3. Mr Freedom
\n4. Gold Digger
\n5. Breakout
\n6. Higher Than Seventh Heaven
\n7. The Pieces Of My Heart
\n8. To Hell And Back
\n9. Trip
\n10. From Rise To Fall
\n11. Loaded Gun<\/p>\n

Label: MelodicRock Records<\/p>\n

Website: http:\/\/www.royalmess.se<\/a> – https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/ROYAL-MESS<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 9\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska – Senior Columnist — A musician who\u2019s been recognizable and sought-after for years, touring and recording a lot, but still not able to show all his talents \u2013 until now. That\u2019s Nalle […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":50482,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12394],"tags":[11759,11749,11766,11746,11761,11748,11753,11745,11756,11768,11752,11763,11750,11747,11765,2847,1643,11760,11767,11757,11744,11742,11762,11755,11769,11754,11743,11751,11764,11758],"class_list":{"0":"post-50481","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2015","8":"tag-christian-vidal","9":"tag-danne-mckentzie","10":"tag-henrik-bergqvist","11":"tag-ian-haugland","12":"tag-igna-jover","13":"tag-jamie-borger","14":"tag-johan-koleberg","15":"tag-kee-marcello","16":"tag-kristian-nieman","17":"tag-lasse-andersson","18":"tag-linnea-vikstrom","19":"tag-love-magnusson","20":"tag-mats-leven","21":"tag-mats-olausson","22":"tag-max-lorentz","23":"tag-melodic-hard-rock","24":"tag-melodicrock-records","25":"tag-micke-hujanen","26":"tag-mikael-erlandsson","27":"tag-n","28":"tag-nalle-pahlsson","29":"tag-nalle-pahlssons-royal-mess","30":"tag-nicci-notini","31":"tag-patrick-appelgren","32":"tag-pontus-larsson","33":"tag-pontus-norgren","34":"tag-royal-mess","35":"tag-snowy-shaw","36":"tag-stefan-lindholm","37":"tag-zinny-zan-stefan-bergstrom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50481","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=50481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}