{"id":54028,"date":"2017-02-11T09:37:21","date_gmt":"2017-02-11T14:37:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=54028"},"modified":"2017-02-11T09:37:21","modified_gmt":"2017-02-11T14:37:21","slug":"palace-master-of-the-universe-music-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2017\/palace-master-of-the-universe-music-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Palace | Master of the Universe"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Ron Higgins<\/span>
\n– Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"There have been many great bands named after their founding members. Van Halen, Dokken, Vandenberg, and Vain, come immediately to mind. Now you can add another one to the list — Palace. Michael Palace is the founder, lead singer, guitarist, and co-producer (along with Frontiers favorite, Daniel Flores). Other members include bassist Soufian Ma\u2019Aoui, drummer Marcus Johansson and another guitarist, Rick Digorio. <\/p>\n

Palace is a new Melodic Hard Rock band from Sweden and if their debut release is any indication, they\u2019re going to be around for a long time. Other bands toy around with the 1980\u2019s sound, but this release sounds like a time warp straight back to the late \u201880s. And that is definitely meant as a compliment. There are many ways to describe this release. Utterly fantastic would be one of them and it would be most appropriate.<\/p>\n

Michael Palace began working with Frontiers as a songwriter and guitar player for Harem Scarem vocalist Harry Hess\u2019s project, First Signal, as well as Cry of Dawn with Goran Edman, Kryptonite, and Toby Hitchcock. Thanks to these great collaborations Frontiers Records offered him a record deal and this is the impressive result. <\/p>\n

The album kicks off with the spectacular title track \u201cMaster of the Universe\u201d. There\u2019s a heavy keyboard intro so it\u2019s not immediately clear if it\u2019s headed for harder Journey\/Europe territory or straight up New Wave but it\u2019s definitely situated in the \u201cMe\u201d decade. Once the guitars kick in, it\u2019s clear that this is going to be the ’80s inspired Hard Rock. The only thing that could tank it at this point are the vocals, but once Michael starts to sing everything clicks into place. The chorus is very memorable and you\u2019ll catch yourself singing \u201cMaster of the Universe\u201d at unexpected times throughout the day. If someone overhears you, just smile at them and proudly proclaim that you are, in fact, the Master of the Universe. If nothing else they\u2019ll leave you alone to continue listening to this great album.<\/p>\n

The next song, \u201cCool Running\u2019\u201d is another keyboard-heavy rocker with strong backing vocals. It\u2019s a little slower tempo but has another great, catchy chorus. The third song, \u201cMan Behind the Gun\u201d makes it three-for-three with respect to memorable choruses. This one features a nice guitar solo and harkens back to classic Lou Gramm era Foreigner. The fourth track, \u201cPart of Me\u201d, is a ballad but, wouldn\u2019t you know it, has yet another great sing-along chorus! The rhythm guitar is a little more upfront in the mix than the keyboards this time and it\u2019s a really nice love song with another great guitar solo. <\/p>\n

After four straight impressive songs, it\u2019s becoming apparent that there simply might not be any \u201chighlights\u201d per se. As it turns out, that\u2019s exactly right. There\u2019s no single highlight because, basically, the entire album is a highlight. Just when you think you\u2019ve heard the best song on the album, you hear the next song and like it just as much, if not more. The songwriting is top-notch, as is the production.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo Exit\u201d and \u201cMatter in Hand\u201d both have great choruses. \u201cPath to Light\u201d has beautiful backing vocals and an impressive guitar solo\u201c. Rules of the Game\u201d is a beautiful acoustic guitar ballad. \u201cShe Said It\u2019s Over\u201d is a song about lost love that channels The Outfield and Loverboy with a Neal Schon inspired solo. And \u201cStranger\u2019s Eyes\u201d is a lighter rock offering that would be right at home on any Little River Band, Steely Dan or Doobie Brothers record.<\/p>\n

The album wraps up in fine fashion with what\u2019s sure to be a concert staple ala the KISS classic \u201cRock and Roll All Night.\u201d The song \u201cYoung\/Wild\/Free\u201d is a classic summer road trip song. If you cruise down the road with the top down while cranking up this song you will no doubt be singing along, \u201cIt\u2019s time to be young, wild, free. Just a little dangerous. Young, wild, free. A bit spontaneous!\u201d It actually sounds like it could\u2019ve been included on Mecca\u2019s incredible debut album. It\u2019s definitely a top-notch coda to this fine album.<\/p>\n

Overall, this is a spectacular debut release. Other bands have done the \u201880s thing well too, but this release is superb from the opening title track all the way through until the final note of the impressive closer. This album must be listened to in its entirety without skipping past a single track. If this release is any indication, we\u2019re going to be hearing from Palace for a long time to come. And that is a very good thing. The melodic rock world eagerly awaits their follow-up.<\/p>\n

Band:
\nMichael Palace – Vocals, guitar
\nRick Digorio \u2013 Guitar
\nMarcus Johansson \u2013 Drums
\nSoufian Ma\u2019Aoui \u2013Bass<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1. Master of the Universe
\n2. Cool Runnin\u2019
\n3. Man Behind the Gun
\n4. Part of Me
\n5. No Exit
\n6. Matter in Hand
\n7. Path to Light
\n8. Rules of the Game
\n9. She Said It\u2019s Over
\n10. Stranger\u2019s Eyes
\n11. Young \/ Wild \/ Free<\/p>\n

Label: Frontiers Records<\/p>\n

Website:\thttps:\/\/www.facebook.com\/palacesweden\/<\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: [usr 9.5 size=20]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Ron Higgins – Columnist — There have been many great bands named after their founding members. Van Halen, Dokken, Vandenberg, and Vain, come immediately to mind. Now you can add another one to the […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":54035,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15128],"tags":[374,1103,13138,2266,13139,2368,13137,334],"class_list":{"0":"post-54028","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2017","8":"tag-frontiers-records","9":"tag-hard-rock","10":"tag-master-of-the-universe","11":"tag-melodic","12":"tag-mike-palace","13":"tag-music","14":"tag-palace","15":"tag-review"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54028","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=54028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54028\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}