Released by: Escape Music
Release date: Out Now
Genre: Melodic Rock
Line Up:
Chris Ousey – Lead Vocals
Mike Slamer – Guitars and Keyboards (Seventh Keys / Streets / Steve Walsh / City Boys / Steakhouse Lae)
Barish Kepic – Guitar and keyboards (Jaded Heart)
Ged Rylands – Keyboards (Tyketto / Rage Of Angels / Ten )
Wayne Banks – Bass (Brazen Abbots / Saxon / Robin Gibbs)
David Anthony – Drums (Dennis De Young)
Tracklist:
1- A Foreign Land
2- Caught up
3- A Living thing
4- Giving it all away
5- A Dangerous Game
6- Climbing your wall
7- Mouth to mouth
8- Not Guilty
9- Bolt from the blue
10- White Lies
11- Working for the man
12- When the band plays
If you’ve never heard of the band Heartland, don’t feel bad, you’re likely not alone. Maybe you’re too young, which is no strike against you. Sadly, they never made a huge impact on the scene despite a string of excellent albums over the progress of 20 years. Starting as a pure AOR-style band, they eventually moved to a more melodic hard rock AOR sound. With the amazing voice of Chris Ousey, they never released a bad album. For whatever reason, the band drifted about ten years ago, but is back and better than ever.
On Into The Future, Ousey is still the focal point, and only remaining original member of the band, but is joined by brilliant guitar legend Mike Slamer, who is well known in the melodic rock world for his six-string magic on a number of bands/projects. These two alone would be worth their weight in music brilliance, but the rest of the band are no slouches either with Ged Rylands, Barish Kepic, Wayne Banks, and David Anthony. I was already a fan of the band’s history, but if I was to come in fresh for the first time and this was my first taste of Heartland, I would be hooked instantly by the amazing tracks here. I don’t think there is a bad track on Into The Future. It pretty much kicks ass from the opening to the ending. Highlights would be “Not Guilty,” “Caught Up,” “When the Band Plays,” and “A Living Thing.”
Those who are already fans, they’re back!! New to Heartland? You need to get Into The Future if you love AOR Melodic Hard Rock because this is top-notch stuff right here. This is well worth a decade’s wait. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait another decade for more.
Written by: Chris Martin
Ratings: 9/10
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