Time Signature To the end of the world...

Genre: hard rock

Wild Frontier is a German hard rock band who have been rocking their nation for 22 years. Still, this is my first acquaintance with the band, and, I must say, they have definitely left me with a positive first impression.

After an epic, and perhaps cheesy, intro, 'To the End of the World' kicks in, which is an uplifting hard rocker featuring a lot of nice and lighthearted guitar harmonies, and this feel-good mood is carried on by the following track 'It's All Over Now' (interestingly, the song deals with the breaking of a relationship, which is not exactly a feel-good experience). However, some of the melancholy resulting from such an experience is still captured by the bridge and guitar solo of this track. 'Another Lonely Day' is more of a melancholic affair, featuring a simple pumping bass, AC/DC-style plucking and a massive AOR-styled chorus. Staying in Melancholia-land 'Why Don't You Save Me?' is more of a ballad, even featuring some electronica elements (such elements also appear in 'Another Lonely Day Without You' and 'Stay Tough') and another AOR-styled chorus. One the more uplifting side we also find tracks like 'Favorite', 'Tonight Tonight Tonight', 'Can't You Hear Me Calling', 'Long Gone' and, of course, Wild Frontier's cover version of 'Gimme Gimme Gimme', while 'It's All Up To You' and 'Why Are the Good Things Gone' are more on the ballady side.

There is nothing wrong with the musicianship, and the production is well-defined and crisp. Also, Wild Frontier definitely are good song-smiths who know how to write catchy and memorable hard rock songs. Jens Walkenhorst's vocals may probably take some getting used to. I, for one, had a bit of a WTF-moment upon his first lines in 'To the End of the World'. After some spins, however, I started appreciating his voice for its unique and quirky quality.

A solid upbeat and catchy hard rock album "2012" by Wild Frontier is definitely worth checking out if you like melodic hard rock and AOR.