CD´s Reviews
Last Autumn's Dream - Winter In Paradise
Release Date: 2002
The "all-star" group Last Autumn's Dream got a good start with their first album a couple of years ago, but their second album ("II", 2005) was a mediocre effort. The band has probably taken a closer look at what they want to achieve with this one, and sure enough, the song selection is much stronger. As with the previous two albums, I'm not won over by the production though. It sounds a bit messy at times. Still, it's just as good as 90 per cent of these albums released on melodic rock labels.
The line-up on the album is pretty much the same as on "II" - Michael Erlandsson on vocals, Andy Malecek on guitars and the rhythm section from Talisman, Marcel Jacob (bass) and Jamie Borger (drums). There's no keyboard player credited, although there's plenty of keys featured.
Now, let's go though the songs...the band doesn't settle on one particular style, but somehow they make all the songs sound like "a part of the package". There's variety, but the album doesn't sound as much like a mixed bag as the first one. The album opens with one of the highlights, the excellent "Love To Go", which is blessed with serious amounts of melody and a truly terrific chorus. It's a shame that the production isn't on the best level on this track, otherwise we'd be talking about "the song of the year"! Now it's merely a top-20 contender.
"Don't Let Our Love Go Down" should be familiar to AOR fans, as it was featured on the excellent Alfonzetti release a few years ago. A very good feel-good AOR track. The ballad "The Way You Smile" is very good as well, and that goes for the modern pop-rocker "When She's Gone" too. They're both a bit overshadowed by the ultra-catchy "My Heart Keeps Stalling", which reminds me strongly of Kharma, the short-lived band of Göran Edman. There's also a strong ABBA vibe in this song!
"Echoes From The Past" is a short piano-ballad which sounds like a tribute to Queen (the band, that is), with rather impressive vocal arrangement. The album's title track might as well be a distant cousin of first album's "Again and Again", and there's nothing wrong about that - both are killer tracks with killer hooks! The contemporary ballad "I Don't Want To Hurt You" has "radio-hit" written all over it, and Erlandsson sounds a bit like Lauri Ylönen of The Rasmus on this track. "If You're The One" is another ballad with hit-potential, but with a bit harder-edged style than "I Don't...". Two tracks left to be mentioned, and they are the reasons I'm only awarding this album an "8". "All I Want Is Rock'n Roll" and "Love Is The Answer" sound like fillers to my ears, both have monotonous and dull choruses...
I was afraid that the poorly recieved second album might have been the end of this band's story, but I'm glad it wasn't. If you liked their first album, but were disappointed by the second one, I can honestly say that the band is back on track again, and you can go shopping safely!