SALUTE - review added 16th September 2010
Album Review: Heart Of The Machine (2010)
For fans of: Hard Rock... and Last Autumn's Dream
Salute - consisting of Last Autumn's Dream vocalist Mikael Erlandsson (who also plays keyboards), Martin Kronlund on guitars and bass, Imre Daun on drums and percussion, plus guests Henrik Thomsen on bass and David Reece on backing vocals - return for a follow up to last year's Toy Soldier.
As the quality of the players would suggest, this is a fine release with a lot to offer fans of, not only Last Autumn's Dream, but melodious hard rock in general. The sound treads similar path to LAD, but it certainly isn't the same. Not by a long way.
"Heart Of The Machine" is a much darker album than typical LAD fare, trading some of their flamboyance for a more mature sound and a lot more depth. The album boasts a good variety of styles, from slow intriguing ballads through to big boisterous rockers. It isn't 100% successful, but then how many albums are? The point is the majority of the material on HOTM is, er, rather brilliant. It took a lot of listens to really get into, but it was worth the effort. Martin Kronlund's production, and the combined performances gel so well I can see myself giving the album A LOT more listens as time goes on.
All of the tracks offer a big hook, a moving vocal or cool riff. The ones that nose out in front include the bluesy ballad 'I Will Be There', the heavy grooves of the stunning title track, and the even better 'Train Of Rock N Roll'. Grooviest rocker of the year? Could be... Final entry 'Your Servant Tonight' is a very interesting ballad which, in about another fifty listens, could end up being one of my favourite sleazy slow songs of the year. It's so deep and complex that, even now, I still haven't got the best from it.
Salute have produced a brilliant album with Heart Of The Machine. The beauty of it is it's long term potential. There is a real depth to the album missing in so many of the throwaway albums released these days. It deserves a place on every rocker's shopping list, possibly even more so than this year's Last Autumn's Dream album.
Check out... All of it.
Track List:
01. Higher
02. A Falling Star
03. Feed Your Hunger
04. I Will Be There
05. Tearing Me Down
06. Heart Of The Machine
07. The Long Haul
08. Shadows
09. Train Of Rock N Roll
10. My Part In This Pain
11. Your Servant Tonight
Label: Escape Music
