Finally Overland’s solo album hit the music shelves in May! He put together great musicians to contribute to his musical genius such as Anders Rydholm, Ola af Trampe, Gregg Bissonette, Tony Morra, Per Svensson, Matt Bissonette and Steve Newman. The album consists 12 tracks of rock in its many forms and somewhat unexpected for the like of Overland (aka “The Voice“).

The first song “This Time” starts with hard rhythm guitar which gives you the expectation of a hard rock song only so it can stop by the second verse.  The song continues to sound like a 90’s pop song.  Same goes for the second song of the album but slows it rhythm down to something that sounds more like FM. Of course, many people identify FM with the brilliant talents of Overland.  “Break Away“ is a fast driven rock song that makes a statement. Ola af Trampe plays an excellent guitar solo that truly targets the 80’s rock styles. 

Moving on to the fourth track…Any song that starts with a cappella voices can’t go wrong as is the case in “Like A River”.  Very modern pop-rock! The song though truly flows like a river with its rugged guitar sound and smooth vocals and melodic break.  I will not comment on “Look Into Your Eyes” because it really breaks away from the rest of the album.

“After the Fire” is a clean cut AOR song.  This is one of the most distinctive songs on the album and my personal favorite.  Flourishing melodies perfectly performed and composed.  “Heartache Calling” consists of 80’s pop-synths and is very Toto-like. Great melodic rock song.

“Lost is Paradise” is deceptive with its acoustic guitar intro but its blossoms into a song that is purely solid rock. “Rescue Me” and “Until Forever Comes” are what I call B-sides even though there is no such thing anymore. 

All the songs are made up of different rock styles.  In each track you can depict them clearly; some that match and others that clash.  Even modern pop is blended into the songs.  When you got hard guitars playing behind pop-like effects for both instrument and vocals, something just doesn’t click.  Expectations, for this long awaited album, were high only because Overland has given us the best throughout his career.  Although the album isn’t bad it just didn’t live up to his reputation.