PEO – Welcome To The Party (2016)
Released by AOR Heaven Records “Welcome To The Party“, the ninth solo record of Swedish artist PEO Pettersson (ex Leviticus, Axia) is by far his best in a long time. PEO released in the Nineties one of the most celebrated Melodic Rock / AOR albums of the decade, but lately he has developed his love for classic rock.
“Welcome To The Party” pretty well connects classic AOR with Classic Rock influences, resulting in the best of both worlds. Surrounded by new musicians of which guitarist Roger Ljunggren (ex- T’Bell, another celebrated Swedish AOR act) plays the biggest part in terms of songwriting and production, Peo has been putting a lot of passion into the new material which can be heard right away.
Inspired by a lot of the classic melodic rock heroes of the past, a song like “You’ve Got It Going On” for instance has that Survivor / Rocky-theme feel in terms of hooks and larger than life chorus.
Bright keyboards and smooth AOR harmonies make “Coming Out” another standout, Roger injecting a wonderful shred-oriented lead at first before settling into something restrained and tasteful at the break’s end.
“Save A Woman” comes closest to the sound of Eighties AOR but also “Eilene” and “The Promise” as well as the title track make up remarkable highlights.
More classic rock melodies can be heard on “Sweet Dreams” which contains a sultry bluesy streak on both musical and vocal fronts, while true organ sounds warmly fill the semi-ballad “It’s All Coming Back to Me”.
Much of this material would easily sit on American Rock radio during 1984-1987, but PEO brings it back to 2016 with pristine production values.
Let’s hope PEO continue in this vein blending classic rock with AOR as the songwriting and playing typify high caliber knowledge and idea execution, and most would be glad to savor “Welcome to the Party” again and again.
Highly Recommended
01 – Welcome To The Party
02 – The Promise
03 – You’ve Got It Going On
04 – Coming Out
05 – Break Another Heart
06 – Sweet Dreams
07 – Eilene
08 – It’s All Coming Back To Me
09 – Love A Woman
10 – The Apple Of Temptation
11 – Dangerous
Peo Pettersson (vocals, bass, keyboards)
Roger Ljunggren (guitar)
Tony Morra (drums)
BUY IT !
www.aorheaven.com/index.php/englisch_a/peo-welcome-to-the-party.html
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