Stephen Affair is a project of ex-Mystery's singer, Peter De Wint and ex-Frontline and Bonfire's Chris Lausmann. Their debut, "Face To Face", was released in 1997 and featured a typical German melodic hard rock in the veins of Bonfire, Fair Warning, and Jaded Heart. The sound production is marvelous, the solo guitar fills are magnificent, but most songs here just lack of something powerful that could propel them to become worldwide hits.

Out of thirteen tracks presented here, I only found four standout tracks. The title track, a mid-paced tune with powerful and punchy chorus; "Free And Easy", a speedy track with fantastic bridge and monstrous chorus; "Wish You Were Here", a great commercial power ballad that's reminiscent of Whitesnake's "The Deeper The Love"; and "Day By Day", their best creation, an excellent acoustical-driven ballad with a memorable tones. Other tracks such as "Changes", has a wonderful intro and heavily influenced by Mr.Big's groove, or "Call of The Wild" and "Heart of Rock n' Roll" are also acceptable, but "My Life", "Love Never Dies", and "Too Shy" are example of songs that fade away easily from our mind.

If you like German's style melodic rock, "Face To Face" won't disappoint you, you can always find couple of ass-kicker songs here. With a great voice and nicely played rhythm section, Affair's debut could have been better if they reworked some of the average songs, but at this state, 3 stars is fully valued.