Address The Nation / H.E.A.T. (2012)

1. Breaking The Silence

2. Living On The Run

3. Falling Down

4. The One And Only

5. Better Off Alone

6. In And Out Of Trouble

7. Need Her

8. Heartbreaker

9. It's All About Tonight

10. Downtown

11. Back Into Your Arms

Whenever the band loses its voice, there is a significant change. In many cases, they usually bring negative and unfavorable results such as Motley Crue, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest (You know what!? these were all in 90's. I guess 90's were the dark age of Heavy Metal lol), Black Sabbath (in some cases). However, there are some positive cases such as Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden, Arnel Pineda of Journey (even though I still love Steve Perry's voice), Andi Deris of Helloween (I don't say he is better than Kiske, but surely he had positive influence for the band at that time). In any case, the vocals have big influence on their bands.

H.E.A.T., to me, is one of the few great bands that are reviving 80's rock in present time. I really liked both of their albums for their musical style and quality. Nevertheless, like many other bands, they also lost their voice. So, they had to find a new voice, and they did, Erik Gronwall. I actually knew him before he joined the band. I watched him singing "Run To The Hills" by Iron Maiden on the Swedish Idol TV show. I think the title of the video was like "Heavy Metal Idol" or something lol However, he sang the song with the original key without fake. His voice was "real". Therefore, I was really looking for their new album after I heard the news that he joined the band.

My review is........ the album was great! It is much better than I expected. Even though they still kept their music style, there are more variations in this album compare to two previous albums. Erik's voice really matches with the band. When I first heard the leading track of the album (#2 Living On The Run), I got goose bumps. Hopefully, they don't have to change the vocal again any soon. Hopefully, they will come to Japan. I really want to hear his voice live.

☆☆☆☆☆

Freedom Rock / H.E.A.T.(2010)

1. Beg Beg Beg

2. Black Night

3. Danger Road

4. Shelter

5. We're Gonna Make It To The End

6. Stay

7. Nobody Loves You (Like I Do)

8. Everybody Wants To Be Someone

9. I Know What It Takes

10. Living In A Memory

11. Cast Away

12. I Can't Look The Other Way

13. Who Will Stop The Rain

14. Tonight (Bonus Track)

Their first album, "H.E.A.T.", was one of the biggest personal hit in 2008. The album was an interpretation of 80's rock by kids in new generations. It brought me back to 80's rock not by a nostalgic way but with freshness and young power.

Track 1 is a American-influence pop number. I am not saying that it  is a bad song. I am just saying that it was bit surprising. Overall, I had an impression that they shifted their music style towards to 80's American Pop Rock, so the sound is more pop than last album. However, they have not lost their identity as a European band. There is some kind of uniqueness in North European bands as melody makers. That is something that bands in other countries cannot make.

The first half is full of catchy and powerful songs. Nevertheless, my favorite part of the album is from track 10 towards the end. Even the bonus song, track 14, is such a good song that I am surprised that it was not included in the original album. The first album was a big surprise for me, but this album confirmed that their potential and bright future as a band.

☆☆☆☆☆