IMPULSIA - review added 5th January 2010
Album Review: Expressions (2009)
For fans of: Hard Rock... and nods to U2 and Eric Clapton
Swedish group Impulsia is another of those studio projects we seem to have encountered a lot over the last year. Band's put together purely to record an album are getting more prevalent every month. To be honest, with today's musical climate, you can't blame performers for wanting to make as many albums as possible. With the percentage of sales lost to piracy, I guess the more releases you can earn money from the better...
The band's core is composer/guitarist Uno Sjöström, vocalist Johan Langquist (ex Candlemass) and producer/guitarist Marcus Jidell (Royal Hunt). Joining them on this recording are numerous other artists including Robin Beck on vocals, Thomas Broman on drums, and Tommy Denander and Pontus Norgren on guitars. Expressions also marks the last studio work of the late bassist Marcel Jacob (Talisman).
The sound varies throughout the album - as you'd expect with the fact there is more than one vocalist. The overriding theme is a mixture of hard rock and dreamy fantasy. This isn't a hard hitting album but it does have some huge moments, and one of them is right at the head of the release. Opening track 'Fly Away' featuring Robin Beck is just gigantic. It's one of the finest vocal performances I've ever heard from her. Actually, the whole song is stunningly huge. If the whole album had sounded this good it would have been immense.
'Rosalee' is a nice soft rock track. It's kind of catchy, but only eight tenths of the way to stardom. Johan Langquist really sounds like Bono from U2 in places. In fact the similarity gets stronger as the album progresses. 'Layla' is, as you might have imagine, a cover of the Derek And The Dominoes track. It's a perfectly respectable version, but doesn't do anything different from the original. 'Alone' is a subtle, mildly moody entry again featuring Robin Beck. This is a more measured performance than the opening track, but still fantastic. She really does need to release another solo album. She's too good to only appear as a guest.
'Oceans Of Love', a rocking duet with Johan and Anneli Magnusson is catchy, if again not quite perfect. It's certainly a likeable effort though and has a big feel to it. 'Slow Down' is, in places, as U2 as campaigning for the survival of rainforests and having a huge ego. It's a decent enough track, although its overly laid back nature means it doesn't hit as many spots as it could have done. 'Too Many Heartaches' then comes along and totally steals the U2 crown. It's the album's 'all-star' song - featuring several guests - and is actually better than the majority of songs The Edge and co. have pumped out in the last couple of decades.
'Move On' is okay but does little to excite. 'Seas To Cross' sees Robin Beck teaming up with House Of Lords' husband James Christian for another thoroughly excellent atmospheric ballad. Again, she really does need another solo album! 'Dream On' is like 'Move On' - i.e. fine but missing a bit of oomph. Next up is an acoustic version of earlier track 'Rosalee' which, strangely, sounds similar but more acoustic. Strange that... Final track 'River Of Tears' is a pleasant instrumental finish to the album.
There's a lot of good individual tracks on Expressions, but it misses greatness for a couple of reasons. Firstly the album doesn't flow as well as I would like - mainly because of the variety of performers. Secondly, although there isn't a bad song on the album, too many just don't have brilliance and memorableness flowing through their veins. The star of the release is clearly Robin Beck, although Johan Langquist deserves some credit for his Bono-isms.
Check out... The frankly beautiful artwork by Italian artist Gaetano Di Falco.
Track List:
01. Fly Away
02. Rosalee
03. Layla (Eric Clapton Cover)
04. Alone
05. Oceans Of Love
06. Slow Down
07. Too Many Heartaches
08. Move On
09. Seas To Cross
10. Dream On
11. Rosalee (Acoustic Version)
12. River Of Tears
Artist's website(s): MySpace
