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Hardline was formed when brothers Johnny (vocals) and Joey (guitar) Gioeli, originally from the band Brunette, teamed up with Journey/Bad English guitarist Neal Schon. They immediately added established musicians Todd Jensen (David Lee Roth, Alice Cooper) on bass and Deen Castronovo (also coming from Bad English) on drums to the mix and the result was magnificent. They went on to record their debut album "Double Eclipse" in 1992 and then they went on the tour circuit with such heavy hitters as Van Halen and Mr. Big. Hardline never became the big success they had talent for, so the members went (back) to Journey and Jonny Gioeli stepped out of the music for a while, but he has been Axl Rudi Pell's vocalist since 1998.

Here we got Hardline anno 2012 with a new line-up in the fresh, healthy album named 'Danger Zone' to put in the CD-player. Johnny and the Italian producer and keyboard player Alessandro Del Vecchio have written and produced this work. The Italian master producer has been involved in several major productions from Frontiers Records recently and here he gives Hardline a powerful and adult sound that has the elegant balance between the heavy guitars licks, wide and charming vocals and the very solid rhythm guys. I think that Johnny's voice fits better in this rock genre. He is great in the ARP, but is brilliant in Hardline.

The songs is very melodically and I didn't expect anything else, so nothing new or rebelling has changed in their sound since 1992 and if you liked 'Double Eclipse' this is an album for you to put in your collection. The thing that annoys me is the safe, colorless, non-personal songs, and as a splinter in the finger it disturbs me and some of the melodies should never have been on 'Danger Zone', they're just fillers.

Let me tell you which songs are top class instead ... 'Show Me Your Love' is a blasting rocking track with right energy, tempo and Johnny can empty his lungs completely. 'What I'd Like' sounds like it's a new Bon Jovi track! Catchy guitars and great choruses makes my right leg start to move in pace. The title track is also one of my favourite tunes with heavy riffs and powerful vocals. 'I Don't Wanna Break Away' is a funky and cool track which stands out a bit. 'The Only One' is a good melodic ending song with nice energy and a superb vocal performance from Johnny. The overall impression is that this is an OK album.

Keep up the work and dare to insert a little more originality on the next album, because there is not much needed for a higher grade from me. This will not be a classic rock album, but it will perhaps be a little, tiny imprint in the rock history. I find a lot of harmony, sensitivity and love for music on the disc, so for fans of the softer hard rock/AOR will find many enjoyable songs on 'Danger Zone'.

Hardline: Johnny Gioeli - vocals, Alessandro Del Vecchio - keyboards, Thorsten Koehne - guitars, Anna Portalupi - bass and Francesco Jovino - drums.

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