Frontiers  [Release Date 26.08.16]

No relation (sadly) to the footballing pride of South London, Palace is the eponymous project of poodle-haired Swedish singer Michael.

I remember his band Big Time showing promise when they supported Houston in London in 2014, but having cut his teeth as a writer and guitarist on several recent Frontiers releases, he is now leading his own band- although of the three bandmates pictured, only guitarist Rick Digorio contributes to the album with a few solos, with another prolific labelmate Daniel Flores supporting Michael with all instrumentation.

This is an album with a big production which pays suitable homage to the great days of the eighties when melodic rock filled arenas. It begins with a stunning opener in the title track which could easily have been the soundtrack to a blockbuster  Hollywood adventure film of the time, and will go down as one of the anthems of the year.  ‘Cool Running’, with a great guitar solo reminding me of John Norum in his original Europe tenure, is a bit more laid back but no less impressive, as is the moodier ‘Man Behind The Gun’.

Eighties-style keyboards add colour at every turn and the wall of sound is made even bigger by  backing vocals. However Michael’s rich, booming voice stands comparison with other Coverdale-inspired Scandis – from Joey Tempest to Stefan Berggren and Matti Alfonzetti – and gives the music a bluesy edge to prevent it descending into fluffiness. The album is up-tempo though ‘Part Of Me’  is a stately semi-ballad with a great mid-song synth solo.

On the downside, on occasions the hooks sound promising but tail off (such as on the Giuffria-esque ‘No Exit’) while there is a noticeable dip in quality in the middle section of the album.

But it picks up later on with the pure AOR choruses of ‘She Said It’s Over’ and the Toto-like strains of ‘Stranger’s Eyes’. ‘Young Wild And Free’ is an uptempo closer with loads of keyboards and another it would be easy to see gracing an eighties movie, perhaps this time a teen flick starring the Brat Pack.

While a bit of an uneven album this confirms Michael Palace’s promise as a star to watch in melodic rock circles and, like his footballing namesakes, Frontiers Records could soon be left feeling ‘glad all over’.  ****

Review by Andy Nathan

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.

In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

Latest session: Sunday 14 April

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 7 April 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 2 April 2024.

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com

ENMY The Ledge (FiXT)
KAROBELA Get Hard (indie)
KATH & THE KICKS Neptune (indie)
THE BEE TELLERS River Poem (Black Sand Records)
LAUREN FREEBIRD Like A Bomb (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 15 April 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023
14:00-16:00 KATARINA PEJAK – Pearls On A String (Ruf Records)

To see our Tweets you need to be logged in to a Twitter account

Tweets by Get Ready to ROCK!

Popular (last 10 days)

Album review: LEE AARON – Tattoo Me

Feature: Rock: Rewired – STEVE MARRIOTT Part 2 (Peter Frampton interview)

Feature: Rock: Rewired – STEVE MARRIOTT (Part 1)

Album review: 25 YARD SCREAMER – The Memory Cheats (The Pictures Within 2023)

Album review: D’ERCOLE – Near Death Experience

PDF - you can delete unwanted sections