BLUEMINDED – Seize The Day (2016)
Inspired by ’80s delicate Light AOR melodies, “Seize The Day” is the debut CD by Dutch 5-piece BLUEMINDED released today, April 11th.
Founded in 2012 by guitarist & composer Jörgen Koenen, this quintet delivers twelve fresh smooth songs produced with a pristine sound.
According to Blueminded’s press release, the band has musical references from classic rock&pop acts such as The Police, Simple Minds or Mike + The Mechanics, but listening “Seize The Day” you can say their major influence is Mr. Mister / Richard Page.
Also, the clean production sound and refined arrangements bring to mind ’80s Canadian bands with a slightly Hi-Tech AOR waves.
The really fine opener “Love in Motion” immediately catch your ears and grabs you with the classy Light AOR / FM atmosphere from the Eighties. The solid bass line that runs under the overall sound provides a tight foundation while the velvet vocals of Rob Rompen perfectly fit this type of music.
Next comes one the CD highlights, the synth driven melodic rocker ‘All In One’, a pulsating number full of late ’80s magic with busy instrumentation.
Track 3 ‘Life’ slow down things for a quiet atmosphere, but soon the tempo pick up again for the indeed moving ‘Move On’, a Hi-Tech AOR song in the vein of many Canadian bands of this ilk from the early Nineties.
‘Love Can’ adds a cheerful groove to its Lite AOR heart, same with the strong ‘Turn it In’ and the dynamic closing title track.
All tracks on the album are solid, but my favorite should be ‘Call On Me’, a splendid mid-tempo / keyboard-driven AOR cut recalling the best days of the genre.
Coming out of nowhere, Blueminded is a really pleasant surprise.
“Seize The Day” packs all the right ingredients for all listeners missing this kind of AOR rarely heard nowadays. The band is impeccable, the songs well composed & arranged and production clean, polished and bright as this genre requires.
Highly Recommended.
01 – Love Is Motion
02 – All in One
03 – Life
04 – Move On
05 – See the Light
06 – Love Can
07 – Have It All
08 – Lead Me
09 – Dead Man Walking
10 – Call on Me
11 – Turn It In
12 – Seize the Day
Rob Rompen – vocals
Jörgen Koenen – guitar, backing vocals
Franco Millevoi – bass, backing vocals
Loek Aalders – keyboards, backing vocals
Sander Korff – drums
BUY IT !
itunes.apple.com/us/album/seize-the-day/id1093840042
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