Artist: Elevener
Label: AOR Heaven Records
Released: 2008
Rating: 3.5/5
Elevener is a project that goes back to 2005, when two seasoned Swedish musicians and multi-instrumentalists, Johan Bergquist and Andreas Brodén, sniffed each other out. Both of their careers reach back to the middle of the golden age of the eighties. Johan sang and played keys for the Swedish prog rockers Scenario, and these days he lends his keyboard services to the Swedish hard rockers M.ill.ion. The man is also known for working with the power metal gnomes Hammerfall (on the album “Crimson Thunder”, 2002), as well as for collaborating with Stefan Elmgren, now an ex-Hammerfall guitarist, on his studio album “Full Strike” (2002). Andreas honed his guitar chops in the US and is now a hugely in-demand session guitarist in Sweden.
“When Kaleidoscopes Collide” is the fruit of the two musicians’ love for AOR and the melodic rock they both grew up on. The album honestly sounds like the nineties never happened for these guys.
Picture the softest form of hard rock, pushed right up against pop rock. Keyboards with that typical eighties synth sound and nicely scattered guitar phrases filling out the background are perfectly balanced in the production, and they carry equal weight. Above the keys and guitar soars Johan’s front-and-center vocal, which isn’t the kind that makes you want to jump out of your skin. It’s a thoroughly average voice, dragged up largely from the throat and through the nose, but that doesn’t matter one bit, because it fits the project’s AOR direction like a glove. It’s pitched high and sounds very thin, but he’s lucky enough to have a color all his own, which gives the listener a fresh musical experience. In the choruses, the vocal is diligently and boldly dressed up in layered vocal harmonies, which is a must for the AOR genre. The production is crystal clear, the instruments are separated yet sharply contrasted building blocks, and the soundscape is deep and full.
This Heart Of Mine is a great album opener. A melancholically yearning chorus that sinks under your skin in a flash with its melodic polish. Next up is Say If You Want, with a surprisingly prominent main guitar riff that delivers one of the heavier moments on the record. The well-crafted chorus proves once again that these two have a great feel for writing catchy melodies. The power ballad I Still Remember keeps up the songwriting excellence too. A ballad is the real test. If it ignites, you win, and you really win if it ignites with the perfection and nitpicky attention to detail that AOR demands. The record doesn’t let up in quality from there either. It’s a very accessible album, ideal for all the curious ones who want to discover the AOR genre. You can tell the two guys are deep “in Journey,” though, because the melodies of the songs, or rather their basic melodic figures, often veer dangerously close to the output of the biggest names in the AOR business (Journey). Amid all this carefully crafted harness of layered vocal harmonies in the album’s choruses, the especially catchy, dramatic chorus of the album’s second power ballad, All Of My Life, really stands out.
Considering that this is a project, and that both musicians are stretched across all sorts of musical pursuits, “When Kaleidoscopes Collide” is a kind of valve through which they’ve realized their secret dreams. The album honestly doesn’t bring anything new, since it belongs to a genre that went evolutionarily extinct in the twilight of the eighties, but the perfection on display is huge and doesn’t let up across the album’s running time. And since albums drawing on this genre are a rare breed these days, Elevener bring a lovely breath of fresh air to the scene. All I can say is that the songs are remarkably even, like folds of paper made from basic AOR ingredients, masterfully used, so that you can call “When Kaleidoscopes Collide” an exceptionally good album that will keep thrilling every nostalgic soul who gets fired up by Journey, Survivor, eighties Kansas, and even a few classic Night Ranger tunes. In other words, Scandinavian AOR that’s closer to the American school than the British one. It’ll be interesting to see whether this project sticks around and manages to deliver a follow-up, because with the maturity of ideas it shows here, it would be a shame if it didn’t keep growing and developing musically. After “Artwork” (2008) by the Swedish band Work Of Art, here’s another lovely retro AOR release from this year, and you should try it without hesitation.
Lineup
Johan Bergquist – vocals, keyboards, bass guitar
Andreas Brodén – guitar, drums
Tracklist
1. This Heart Of Mine
2. Say If You Want
3. Shooting Star
4. I Still Remember
5. A Thousand Girls
6. All I Did
7. Her Eyes
8. All Of My Life
9.Waking Up Without You
10.Could It Be You
11. There She Goes
Album length: 51.39
