Perfect View from Italy
was founded back in 2008 and they
released their debut album 'Hold Your
Dreams' in 2010. Their idea for the
musical direction is to combine elements
of first class AOR and Melodic Rock in
the vein of Toto, Winger and Journey
with some harder moments like Van Halen
and Lynch Mob and to add a progressive
touch to the sound.
This band is a new acquaintance to me
and the five piece band aims high and they hit their
goal quite well. Strong vocals and lovely melodies
combined with technical
debauchery, which makes this album steam
with musical gems. Max Ordine on vocals
has a light and high pitch voice and he
is perfect for this kind of rock.
In the opening song 'Where the
Wind Blows' it's sounds a lot of AOR and
fans of Scandinavian melodic hard rock
(Work of Art, Eclipce, W.E.T) will enjoy
this track. The gentle and harmless
sound continues in 'By My Side' with
some nice guitar hooks. I like the
heavier song 'Room 14' with harder riffs
and more power, a darn good hard rock
song actually. 'Slave to the Empire' is
a clean melodic rock tune with delicious
vocals and great guitars. The slow song
'I Will Remember' is a power ballad with
stunning vocals from Max.
I'm waiting for the progressive
touches in the songs and in 'In the Name
of the Father' it
does
twist a little
more than before and this is one of the
best songs on the album. A nice blend of
the smoother melodic rock and the harder
progressive drums and the sharper guitar
sound. Nice keyboards opens 'Living in
Disguise', which also is a 'half'
progressive rock tune with many more
ingredients in the dish and it smells more
of Journey. 'Dead End Street' is a 80s
hard rock song with classy guitars, which
are powdered with prog rock. The half
progressive rock track 'Holdin' On' was
overwhelming me, because I didn't expect
them to widen to this hefty sound.
I really like their style and in
the following song 'In a Blink of an
Eye' they increase the heat and I have
to give Francensco Cataldo some extra
credit to his great guitar work. The
brave cover of Toto's super hit 'Home of
the Brave' is a fantastic ending song of
a super strong debut album from these
Italians. Worth checking out if you like
high class AOR with a touch of
prog...
Line up:
Max Ordine: Lead & background vocals
Francesco Cataldo: All guitars &
background vocals
Pier Mazzini: Keyboards & background
vocals
Frank Paulis: Bass & background
vocals
Luca Ferraresi: Drums & background
vocals
