Album review: HEARTS ON FIRE – Signs & Wonders

June 14th, 2025 by jason

Pride & Joy Music [Release date 25.07.25]

Seven years after their debut album, 2018’s ‘Call Of Destiny’, Hearts On Fire are back and have a new vocalist, non-other than Mark Boals (Yngwie Malmsteen, Ring of Fire, Royal Hunt and many, many more).

Jean Funes (guitars) and Joel Mejía (drums) – both members of Silent Tiger – remain at the heart of Hearts On Fire, with keyboardist Eric Ragno (Khymera, The Babys) also back. Dennis Ward also returns to master and mix the album, as well as playing bass guitar.

A solid and talented line-up who deliver an album not unlike their debut, one that is full of classy melodic hard rock/AOR. Eric Ragno adds his keyboards wizardry throughout, although special mention to his playing on ‘Signs In The Sky’, an instant hit on the ears tune!

A song like ‘Restless Heart’ is the sort of tune Europe should be doing instead of that band’s instantly forgettable past few albums. Full of melody and a short, but sweet, guitar solo. ‘Stay In This Moment’ is one of those songs perfect for blasting out on a summer’s day, whilst ‘Lights & Shadows’ has plenty of guitar heft – plus a cool keys riff.

There are a lot of similar bands out there and as a lifelong fan of all things melodic rock, they can become tiresome very quickly or too cliched in the first place. However, Hearts On Fire have that little bit of musical magic that makes the listener come back for more, plus having a pedigree vocalist like Mark Boals is another bonus.

Hearts On Fire know what they want to achieve musically, and they do it with ease on this album. One for any fan of highly polished melodic hard rock. ****

Review by Jason Ritchie

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Power Plays w/c 1 December 2025

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09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
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14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)

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