As the name of the band’s Record Label suggested might happen, my Fez has been well and truly blown off by this, the fourth long-player from Sweden’s Angeline…
Theirs is a name that’s managed to elude me thus far, despite the fact that the band has been in existence in some form or other since 1987, but happily that sad state of affairs is over now and I’m pleased to be able to help spread the word of Angeline among youse, the discerning listenership of Sentinel Daily. If you too were raised on radio (by which I’m assuming they mean American rock radio of the eighties), then this, my friends, is the album for you…
Kicking off with the storming Leppardesque melodies of Helpless and ending with a bare-faced utilisation (let’s call it a tribute) of Fleetwood Mac‘s Oh Well in the shape of Waiting For Paradise, Angeline leave no stone unturned in creating a gloriously nostalgic sound that’ll have the hairs all over your body standing to attention in approbation if this is the kind of music you grew up on. Best track Closer is pure radio rock perfection, it’s open hearted chorus and crystalline lead guitar lines bringing memories of names like Honeymoon Suite flooding back into the ol’ cerebral cortex in a manner you won’t want to resist. This band really know how to craft a melodic rock song – listen to how well My Heart Won’t Let You Go is put together for proof, as wave after wave of bubbling synths and superb backing vocals bolster Joachim Nilsson’s understated lead vocal to push home the song’s spine-tingling refrain), but it’s still a long way from ‘knowing’ to ‘doing’ and luckily this band has a lot of the skill in that latter part too.
The triumphant, life-affirmingly anthemic Raised on Radio adds a little bit of Bon Jovi to the mix (you’ll feel like breaking into an unhinged but sincere blast of Blood on Blood when you hear it, I’ll bet), and if the Sabbathy grunge intro of Remission doesn’t quite fit the feelgood heights of the rest of the material then at least it’s still a rather good piece of riff-led rock in it’s own right, with another Leppardy chorus waiting to ensnare you in it’s charms…
If truth be told the album does wilt a bit in the second half before rallying for that afore-mentioned closer, but there’s no denying that this is a seriously listenable slice of rock n’roll that you need to have a listen to.
We Were Raised On Radio releases on February 19th.
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