Stephen
The power trio of WORK OF ART, ECLIPSE, and TALISMAN continues with a very strong follow-up, 'Rise Up'. Still revolving around classic melodic rock style, the gritty monstrous vocal of Jeff Scott Soto teaming up with the delicate AOR sound of Robert Sall and the balance line of hard rock and heavy metal Erik Martensson been standing on is obvious the shining point this band offered.
'Walk Away' and 'Learn To Live Again' are two superb and perfectly crafted melodic gems and a flawless pick to start the album. The title track is still super solid but 'Love Heals' that supposed to be the best ballad here probably only worth an 8/10 and weaker than the tenth track, 'Still Believe In Us'. 'What You Want', 'The Moment', and 'Bad Boy' are another perfectly delivered fast-paced tunes and while 'On The Run' and 'Broken Wings' might be a little patchy, they manage to close the album with another two brilliant tracks, 'Shot' and 'Still Unbroken'.
Production and musicianship is no doubt deserved the 10/10, and I know I'll be spinning this many many times, and although the debut is slightly better, W.E.T is still on top of their game and I'm not surprised to see this top off many melodic rock fans end-year-list.
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