Released by Metal Heaven – 2009
Review Added November 23, 2009
· Running Time: 49:23
· Release Date: October 10, 2009
. Produced by P. Saether
· Musical Style: Melodic Hard Rock
· Links: http://www.myspace.com/granddesigner
Tracklist
1. Love Sensation**
2. Slugged Out
3. Air It Out**
4. Piece Of The Action**
5. Sad Sound Of Goodbye**
6. No Time For Love
7. Hello Mr. Heartache**
8. Let’s Go Down Fighting
9. Sheik Iddup**
10. Love Will Know
Hot Tracks**
P. Saether (vocals, backing vocals)
P. Ledin (guitar, backing vocals)
R. Holmgren (drums, backing vocals)
D. Vestman (guitars)
A. Modd (bass)
Well, what do we have here? For a second there I was taken back in time to perhaps some old school Scorpions material?, the addictive hooks of Def Leppard perhaps? Grand Design busts onto the hard rock scene with those comparisons from the onset. A little of everything found on the album “Time Elevation” by the Swedish hard rock combo Grand Design. Any time you are compared to any of the bands mentioned above, well is hard to do justice to they’re sound, but in this case GD not only does a pretty damn good job of that, but manages to inflect it’s own flavor to the music making it they’re own.
The opener “Love Sensation” starts with a strong style similar to a typical Scorpions guitar riff and the chorus gets the juices flowing as only Def Leppard would. Even though the sound is nothing groundbreaking, singer Pelle Saether openly confesses to making an album that reflects some of the same vibes that Def Leppard was so known for, including great choruses reminiscent of the ’80s glam rock days. The kick ass track “Air It Out” has a very cool ringing melody with a huge blasting chorus that will kick scream your hair metal days. Some of other highlights are the smooth sound of “Sad Sound of Goodbye” and the ferocious riff-fest of “Piece of the Action”. Meanwhile we can’t give them any awards for originality, but what we can do is give them some credit for making high quality material, not many bands now a days care too much about the past, in fact some bands just care about “maturing”. It is refreshing however to listen to a record that sounds very vintage but at the same time modern, especially with such tight production as Time Elevation provides.
This album rocks and has already received critical acclaim and rightfully so. I’m sure it will find a nice market, any fans craving some good old 80’s melodic hard rock will dig this up from the very first powerful hook. Those eternal glory days will live long in memory here in the present with GD’s latest work, as we all know there will never be a better era for hard rock then the 80’s, let’s rejoice this genre once more with a refreshing touch of “elevation”.
Written by Marjorie
Ratings Marjorie 8/10
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