Eclipse – Are You Ready To Rock
ECLIPSE
ARE YOU READY TO ROCK
Released in 2008 (Frontiers Records/Blistering Records)
Track List:
01. Breaking My Heart Again
02. Hometown calling
03. To Mend A Broken Heart
04. Wylde One
05. Under The Gun
06. Unbreakable
07. Hard Time Loving You
08. Young Guns
09. Million Miles Away
10. 2 Souls
11. Call Of The Wild
Band Members:
Erik Martensson – vocals, guitar, bass and keyboards
Magnus Henriksson – guitar
Robert Back – drums
Johan Berlin – keyboards
Production:
Produced by Fabrizio Grossi.
Review:
First off I have to say that Sweden’s Eclipse reminds me of an early Steelheart / Europe mix with a touch of Hardline. Which is in my opinion great, and the CD itself does have a few killer tracks.
Are You Ready To Rock, the band’s third release, kick-starts with the fantastic rocker “Breaking My Heart Again” and I could swear that Mike Matijevic is the man behind the microphone up to the chorus. It is definitely one of the best songs of the 2008. “Hometown Calling” is a good follow-up, keeping the same fast rhythm with a great chorus, which reminds me of Europe. So far, so good… but the next one, “To Mend A Broken Heart”, is… well, I’ve heard a million songs like this one before. That’s not to say that the song is bad, just that is very predictable. Next up is “Wylde One”, which is great, but there is nothing really groundbreaking here either.
Up to this point, I started to worry that this CD would be another very predictable, cliche-driven rock record, but then “Under The Gun” started. I was pleasantly surprised as it starts off with a gentle piano intro and then grows into this big, no-bullshit song and it kicks some major ass! “Unbreakable” is a good follow-up and is a great melodic hard rock song that is a little bit slower than “Under The Gun”.
I’ll end my review here as Are You Ready To Rock is just the same rehashed formula from here on in… no ballads, just balls-out rockers with the final track, “Call Of The Wild”, being the best of the bunch.
The problem I have with Eclipse is that their songs are very similar (though good and well-written); fast drums, fast guitar licks, and powerful vocals with cliched lyrics. Understand what I mean? It is good, very well produced, recorded, mixed and all, but it just needs that little something to be great. These guys have talent, loads of it, they are just not the most original dudes out there. If you like bands such as Steelheart, Europe and Hardline you’ll enjoy this one.
www.eclipsemania.com – www.myspace.com/eclipsemania – blisteringrecords.se – www.frontiers.it
Reviewed by Sleaze Glammer for Sleaze Roxx, December 2008.
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