Stephen WILD FRONTIER is surely not a familiar name to many people outside melodic rock realm. Emerged from German where bands like SCORPIONS or ACCEPT are huge, this genre isn't a prospective career especially considering that year 2003 is a pretty bad year for classic style of rock, but hats off to this band, carrying the torch of this music and 'Stick Your Neck Out' is really a very satisfying result that puts my attention closely to this band.

'Wild Wind Blows' and 'Alive' opened the album in a midtempo mood and both are wonderful attempt by the band, but not until 'There For You' was played that I turned my head around. It's an acoustical easy listening piece, fits to be aired in an evening radio show, a very lovable tune. The singer's vocal is reminiscent of Joe Elliot, so it's a really friendly ride for fans of the 80s.

'Walkaway' is an astonishing ballad and so is 'I Can Hear You'. 'Through Your Eyes' might be the weakest ballad but that song itself is still quite okay too. 'Shake Your Body' is another winner with its groovy riffs; 'Life Has Just Begun' blew me away with its splendid chorus; 'We Will Be One' could be the heaviest and also a big slab of great hard rock track, but 'Hard To Control' conquers this album and rise as the best of the bunch.

Overall, a solid album and if you dig the melodic rock scene, this one is an awesome catch and deserved at least 80%!

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.