Album review: CROSSING RUBICON – Perfect Storm

July 1st, 2022 by brianmc

Frontiers [Release date: 08.07.22]

Crossing Rubicon is a marriage made in the world of post Grunge AOR. That world might look and sound just like it did in the eighties, only much smaller, but there’s a greater expectation now especially among a sizeable core audience.

Cenk (Winger) Eroglu plays guitar, writes and produces. John (The Babys) Bisaha is the vocalist.

The duo rummage through the genre’s past in a way that will provide aural comfort food for many. The big hitters ‘Scar’ and ‘Too Late’ sound like forgotten hits their parent bands left behind on the cutting room floor.

And that’s taking into account a couple of lightning bolts of melodic rock brilliance that open the album. ‘Perfect Storm’ (an Unruly Child/Signal lookalike) and ‘Reason To Die’ (if you forgive the dodgy lyrics).

There’s still an irresistible sense of riding the Eighties wave of popularity that was enjoyed by Winger and The Babys, even if neither Eroglu or Bisaha were members at the time.

Unfortunately that momentum doesn’t carry them all the way into the here and now. The polished simplicity of ‘On The Run’ and ‘Cry Me A River’ make them feel more like run of the mill melodic rock in today’s world of heightened expectations.

Right on cue, romantic ballads ‘Never Again’ and ‘Get Away’ light up the second half of the album. Both sound lifted directly from eighties’ nite time radio airwaves. Two cheek to cheek dancefloor fillers looking for that awesome melodic moment… the one that’s always tantalisingly out of reach.

Very much the definition of the “AOR dream”.

Apparently Eroglu has many more songs written, so we’re bound to hear these two guys again soon. ***

Review by Brian McGowan

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