Seriously
influenced by the West Coast sound,
these Swedish musicians are ambitious
enough to try to revive an underrated
AOR sub genre, which sadly has been
put aside since the Toto heydays.
West Coast means a smooth, more laid
back kind of AOR made for lazy summer
afternoons, just before you get lost
into the city nights... The
forerunner of "Artwork", "Why
do I?", had already attracted
the interest of the melodic rock
community and, thankfully, the album
came up to everyone’s expectations.
Robert Sall as the main composer,
Lars Salfsund on vocals (just remember
his performance on Lec Zorn Project)
and Herman Furin are taking risks
not so in their musical direction
or their songs structure, which keeps
up the traditional form and substance
of West Coast AOR, but, mainly, because
the have chosen that exact musical
form. It may be a coincidence, but
my instinct tells me AOR is coming
back for good through all of its
sub genres.
Confidence and maturity are two
of the obvious virtues of "Artwork" and
along with the solid songwriting lead
to the conclusion that something remarkable
is happening here. Work Of Art’s
influences are well defined at their
homepage; "Toto, Toto and Toto!!
Well, ok, we also enjoy listening to
following bands; Journey, Giant, Mr.
Mister, Chicago, Maxus, Pages, Jeff
Paris, Saga, Pride of Lions, Survivor,
Vince Di Cola, Winger, Mr. Big, Tommy
Denander, etc." Lars Salfsund,
on mighty form, has a rich melodic
voice that satisfies the songs requirements.
Lovely choruses, plenty of keyboards,
clever guitar riffs, and their efforts
met with success. There are some real
gems on here, such as "Her Only
Lie", "Peace of Mind", "Cover
Me", "Camelia" and
of course "Why Do I?",
but if you count out "Too Late",
every single track is fine-crafted.
They love and know what they’re
doing, and it’s as plain as daylight
that they’re not some poor imitators;
in fact, they forge ahead in style. |
