Released by: Retrospect Records
Release Date: September 2011
Genre: Melodic Rock/AOR
Links: http://www.facebook.com/wildroseaorevo
Line Up:
George “Captain” Bitzios (Lead Vocals)
Andy “Rock” Pegios (Guitars,back vocals)
John “Jiosby” Bitzios (Lead Guitars,back vocals)
“Dirty” Haris Patsos (Keyboards,back vocals)
Phill “Gun” Sakaloglou (Bass)
Tracklist:
1. Half Past Midnight
2. That Girl
3. Too Late
4. It”s All About Love
5. Hold Me
6. Fire in the Night
7. Another Shot
8. Edge of Your Dreams
9. Come Back
10. Goodbye
11. Want You Back
If there ever was a norm for roller coaster of line up changes for a band, you would have to put the Greece based AOR band Wild Rose right up there. As if it wasn’t hard enough to come out of Greece playing this type of music to begin with, these guys finally released their debut record titled “Half Past Midnight” after a long time coming and some time on hiatus from some of the band members. Their main composer and songwriter Andy Rock still kept on pushing on forward and writing music until things finally fell into place some years later when George Bitzios came into the mix to complete the re hauled line up. This later came to finally professionally record their main songs on what we have here their debut record.
The music here is more Melodic Hard Rock, with mixes of AOR in between the lines. The basic structure formula is the catchy hooks that resonate around the vocals of Bitzios, which has a very good voice his aggressive style plays well into the music often times I think about Harry Hess of Harem Scarem when listening to songs like ‘Hold Me”. This tune holds up well with any other of the melodic rock atmosphere on the album.
What good AOR record would be complete without some addicting guitar melodies right? You can hear that all through the album and on song like “Too Late” you can pick up on the guitars as they provide a quick tempo rhythm to fill the air with delight. Another tightly ballad comes in via a true AOR essence in “Goodbye” which holds more then enough wight on an already solid overall album. The high rising lyrics in “Another Shot” scream out yet another highlight in this already filled album full of hooks and melodies. The only downfall here is the repetition of some of the structures of each track, which can get a little monotonous after a while, but it you don’t mind that then is a solid effort.
I hear some Talisman influences in these Greeks, which should not surprise me as the guys played an opening spot on the 2007 Talisman Farewell Tour in Mylos Thessaloniki. The vocals are outstanding and I say this because I usually don’t hear the quality of the leading vocals at all when it comes to unknown bands trying to make in a scene that doesn’t receive the most fan fare, that and the fact that some foreign acts lack that particular flavor, but you experience nothing of the such from these guys as the vocals are plentiful and infectious to keep you entertained. I was really amazed at the quality of the musicianship and song structure and I am happy for the guys to finally receive a record release through Retrospect Records. For any fans of the genre you have to check them out as you will be pleasantly surprised, even more for the amount of limited music in the AOR/Melodic Rock genre to come out Greece. Check em out you won’t regret it.
Written by Denys
Ratings Denys 7/10
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