Album review : DEGREED – Are You Ready
Frontiers [Release date: 11.02.22]
Are You Ready is Degreed’s sixth album, and their first on Frontiers.
Robin Erikkson, Mats Erikkson, Mikael Blanc and Daniel Johansson have come a long long way in six albums. Their focus is clearly on the road ahead, but they steal frequent looks into AOR’s rear view mirror.
They’ve audibly spent the time since the debut honing their songwriting skills to a razorlike sharpness. Systematically shaping their style into one that makes the New Wave of Scandi Melodic Rock a thrilling sensory experience.
Superb opener, ‘Into The Fire’ is more passion than pastiche. Their songs’ dynamics are more assured now, showing us a band with a firm grasp of the essentials and an eye for the finer points, spinning a web of melody into concise, punchy AOR.
It’s the leading edge of an album that brings us a new set of songs that put them up there with Bro Firetribe (Higher), Leverage (Feed The Lie), and Wigelius (Turn Back).
That said, the Queen-like ‘Radio’ is head and shoulders above everything else here. The production and arrangement are powerful and full on, slowly transitioning the song from thumping rock to a cross generational middle section … an emotional surge of instrumental music that blends rock with film score sophistication.
And still, the headlining hooks just keep on coming.
‘Burning’ and ‘Falling Down’ show us amazingly athletic changes of pace. Both going from zero to hero in a heartbeat, delivering two swaggeringly confident choruses that recall Harem Scarem’s best moments.
It’s no exaggeration to say this is a truly absorbing, entertaining melodic rock album. One that could easily be a gateway drug to the AOR of the eighties. ****
Review by Brian McGowan
Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK
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.
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Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024
ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)
Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024
09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)
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