Anton Johansson's new elegant album “Galahad Suite” is quite a surprise. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it was not a very high expectation, I can tell you that. What I heard, however, was something that I haven't heard in quite a while: a genuinely good rocker that doesn't try anything new at all, but still manages to pull off a great, enjoyable album.

That's right, this album tries nothing new at all. You get some heavier tracks, and some ballads. There are some nice and heavy standard riffs and some great keyboards. Heck, the album theme is about Galahad, as if medieval themes haven't been done to death. Yet, somehow, Anton manages to focus enough on great song-writing that he produced an album that is just fun to hear. Prog isn't normally about “fun” albums, and that is one thing I like about it. However, it's kinda nice to hear such a straight-up rocker that isn't worried about impressing everyone.

I was also really excited to hear the vocals of Alf Wemmenlind. Have you ever heard of the band Mister Kite? They were an interesting little, semi-proggy band a few years back that put out a couple good albums. I was trying to place his voice for about 3-4 listens of this album, and I finally recognized him. He still sounds amazing.

So, “Galahad Suite” is a good album. That's it. But, that's all it wants to be. It doesn't try to impress with technicality or even new ideas: It simply gives us a great rockin' album with some great choruses. I can respect that.