Stephen New album and of course new spirit from this Finnish band. Packed with 80s sounding rhythm, FREE SPIRIT delivered a monstrous performance with an even better album than the previous. The first time I hit play, I was hooked instantly with 'Nights of Paradise'. Such a clever arrangement that will take you back to the glorious era of hair metal and I bet that classic drums pattern from the decade will stuck in your head for days.

'Living Tattoo' is kinda patchy but 'Hysteria' put them back on track. 'Ever Come True' is a step higher and I love that catchy chorus. 'The Dew of The Rose' also has the same quality but wait until you hear 'Turn On The Night'. Reminds me of the depressive 'Love Bites', the atmosphere of this song is unbelievably incredible. A very nice job and I think the tenth track, 'Silence', is also a very beautiful ballad.

The whole album is very consistent but I found the second half is overall better. 'Burning Love' is addictive and 'Carry On' is a flawless mid-paced tune, followed by the best track of the album, 'Fever'. Check out the AOR-flavor keyboard combined with a superb anthemic chorus, you just can't go wrong with this one.

Production is also very good, musicianship is strong and they have a very nice harmonic gang vocal, and replay value is definitely high. So far this is one of my fave albums of the year and I have a strong feeling it will still be in my top 10 later on. Great job and check out if you love classic DEF LEPPARD and melodic rock in general.

Stephen Following the path of its fellow Finnish melodic hard rock outfit, Brother Firetribe, Free Spirit emerged to the scene with its debut, "Pale Sister of Light". The musical style is not much different, crossing between Danger Danger, Bon Jovi, and Brother Firetribe itself, but the burden is quite heavy because they have to be better, or at least equivalent to Firetribe to be spotted, not to mention that in 2009, there are a lot of veteran bands making comeback and releasing a lot of strong albums, so it's quite a hectic market and tense competition out there.

Evaluating from several spins, I can say that Free Spirit has the potential but still many untapped resources needed to be explored. The troubling experience with them is although none of the songs are bad, most of them are way too similar. Several outstanding tracks ranging from the midtempo anthemic of "Shadow of A Man" which is the best pick of the album, the title track, the Whitesnake-ish power ballad tune of "Strangers", the catchy "Far Away From Heaven", and the passionate "Preacher Man". Couple of other good tracks are "Moonlight Ride" and "Heroes Don't Cry", the rest are easy on the ears, but slightly weaker than the other.

Free Spirit still needed some time to evolve, this album is probably inferior compared to the sensational Brother Firetribe release, but somewhat is more interesting compared to Leverage's "Circus Colossus". I just hope they didn't stop here, I have high hopes for their second release.