Label: Frontiers Music Srl.
Release date: March 11, 2022
Production: Tommy Denander
Album length: 49.32 min.
Genre: Hard Rock/AOR/Art Rock
Rating: 9.0/10
Radioactive is the musical project of Swedish multi-instrumentalist and studio workhorse (or “legionnaire,” if you like), who is also a renowned composer and producer, Tommy Denander. As the saying goes, the blacksmith’s horse is the worst shod. You could say the same about Denander, more or less. The guy is constantly swamped. Between working as a studio musician, composer and producer, he has to keep shoving his own project to the side, hoping he’ll find some time for it eventually. Just to name two giants of rock and pop who benefited from Denander’s studio services: the late Michael Jackson and Jeff Beck. The list of eminent figures from the rock and pop world he’s worked with over his career is even more impressive and a good deal longer.
Even though Denander officially launched Radioactive back in 1991, it took him a full ten years to get a studio debut out of his system. And the second-to-last album, the fourth one, “F4ur,” came out seven years ago. So we’re talking serious gaps between records. “X.X.X.” has eleven tracks and just under 50 minutes of music. Denander, who hardly needs to be called a huge perfectionist, has clearly picked the best of the best for this one. Even though the project is often pigeonholed as melodic rock, Radioactive is first and foremost a brilliantly varied rock album, ruled by an exceptional sense of musicality and a knack for pulling off pomp theater. You’ll find first-rate hard rock “bastions” on it, like the opener Monkey On Our Back or Voodoo Queen just before the end, but also moments with more AOR sway (Move It, I Have A Dream).
Since Denander is a guitarist first and foremost, the guitar work is clearly and unmistakably front and center in the production, and the licks ignite brilliantly and grab you in an instant. From the first second to the last, the album is driven by an exceptional dynamic in how things unfold. The man has lured a whole bag of brilliant vocal guests into the project. Standing out are Robin McAuley (MSG, Black Swan, Grand Prix) and Robbie LaBlanc (Blanc Faces, Find Me). Then there are Jerome Mazza, Clif Magness, Christian Ingebrigtsen and Daniel Byrne, who each bring their own vocal character to selected tracks on this top-quality, polished hard/art rock album. The singers put the dot on the “i,” and with their parts they effectively build the character of the album’s tracks. The songs with LeBlanc and Mazza grab you best.
“X.X.X.” has that fine touch of precision craftsmanship that shows off Denander’s layered musical skills. The excellent opener Monkey On Our Backs signals it right away, reaching toward Winger’s newer work, especially their last two albums. In terms of arrangement, an even more impressive moment is definitely the ballad Written In The Scars, where Neal Schon and Steve Lukather would each raise at least one eyebrow. In short, yes. Here the album moves closer to pop elements, and that takes subtlety and quite a few delicate touches and moves that speak the language of jazz know-how. The excellent art rock ballad If Today Was Your Last Day Alive is one of the most interesting parts of “X.X.X.” The chorus theatrically brings in more AOR rhetoric, the kind Def Leppard might have adopted under a different director, and it surprises with a superb modulation in the mid-eight section, while the tastefully added string ornaments confirm once again that Denander polished the material for X.X.X. for a seriously long time. Move It also pals up nicely with pop elements, and it’s truly incredible how much space its multi-part vocal melody covers. The rhythm of this track has a bit of a funky flavor that grabs you and gets you moving instantly. I Have A Dream will be especially interesting for AOR purists. Drag Me Through The Mud is a beast of its own kind too, and it particularly charms with the perfect arranging and blending of musical elements.
A special treat are Tommy Denander’s solo bits, which, given the crafty approach to polishing the arrangements, never really stand out from the songs. But they bring that much-desired cherry on top.
You can simply say that “X.X.X.” is one of the more notable achievements in hard rock released this year. The album never stops impressing with its exceptional listenability, and alongside that appeal it hides a pile of little subtleties and precisely placed details. This “artistic precision craftsmanship” comes to the surface with repeated spins of this thrilling record. “X.X.X.” is at the very least on par with its four previous studio siblings and shows the incredible artistic maturity of a musician like Tommy Denander.
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Track list:
1. Monkey On Our Backs
2. The Deed Is Done
3. Remember The Ghosts
4. Written In The Scars
5. If Today Was Your Last Day Alive
6. Move It
7. Youman Unkind
8. I Have A Dream
9. Voodoo Queen
10. Drag Me Through The Mud
11. California Ways
Vocalists:
Jerome Mazza (tracks 1, 5 and 8)
Robin McAuley (tracks 2 and 6)
Robbie LeBlanc (tracks 3, 7 and 9)
Christian Ingebrigtsen (track 4)
Daniel Byrne (track 10)
Clif Magness (track 11)
Other musicians:
Tommy Denander – guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
Andreas Carlsson – backing vocals
Tommy Henriksen – backing vocals
Mutt Lange – backing vocals
Neil Anami – drums
Olle Romö – drums
