Album review: AUTUMN’S CHILD – Starflower

Pride & Joy Music [Release date 20.01.23]

Autumn’s Child return with their fourth album ‘Starflower’, the second one released by Pride & Joy Music. The band still features Michael Erlandsson on vocals, keyboards & guitars, Pontus Åkesson on lead guitar, Robban Bäck on drums, Claes Andreasson (who co-produced the abum along with Erlandsson) on piano and Magnus Rosen on bass. Autumn’s Child are fast becoming as regular and prolific as Erlandsson’s previous band Last Autumn’s Dream, who releasefd fourteen albums before going on hold.

‘Gamechanger’ gets things off to a melodic hard rock start as you’d expect from Autumn’s Child, yet by the second track, ‘Aphrodite’s Eyes’, the listener can tell we are getting more progressive elements added into the musical mix, including a tasty keyboard solo.

‘Welcome To The Show’ is a proper heads down, no nonsense rocker, as is the lead song ’1995′. ‘I Can’t Get Enough’ is fairly run of the mill hard rock. Luckily the passionate ballad ‘Love From Tokyo’ compensates and features the album’s stand out guitar solo.

Snatches of Brian May approved guitar on ‘Opera’, the album’s big showpiece and one with a distinct Queen influence. Keen Queen fans listen out for the lifted Queen solo on this one… ‘Dorian Gray’ is the other ‘kitchen sink’ production number and again the song uses plenty of harmony vocals and Micheal Erlandsson on good vocal form.

The album has a theatrical theme running through many of the songs as Autumn’s Child perhaps deliver their ‘Paradise Theater’? Albeit with less pomp and more rock than the Styx’s album.

Easily the best Autumn’s Child album to date and a great way to kick off 2023 melodic rock wise. ***1/2

Review by Jason Ritchie

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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)