PERFECT VIEW – Red Moon Rising +1 (including Toto’s cover)

Another album which deserved more attention when released some time was “Red Moon Rising“, the second effort from Italians PERFECT VIEW leaning more towards Melodic Hard Rock than the AOR flavors of their debut.
On “Red Moon Rising”, Perfect View the band accented the guitar presence and an overall punchy delivery, however, the record opens with “Where The Wind Blows”, a strongly ’80s AOR influenced number full of melody and catchiness, and ends with a cover of Toto’s classic “Home Of The Brave”, another AOR cut very well done, by the way.
But in between, Perfect View shifts gears entirely offering Melodic Rock at times spiced with some polished Hard on tracks like the awesome “By My Side” (featuring background and harmony vocals by guest Michele Luppi), the groovy midtempo “Room 14” (love the vocals here) and The Storm-like “Slave to Empire” filled with excellent harmonies.

Next we have the only ballad, “I Will Remember”, a velvety tune in the traditional early ’90s vein plenty of melody, catchy refrains and large guitar solos reminding me of Hardline.
The great stuff continues with the elegant “Dead End Street” (with some AOR in it) and the arena anthem “Holdin’ On”. “In the Name of the Father” and later “In a Blink of an Eye” rocks harder driven by a nice groove with a British scent.

The development and improvement of Perfect View since their previous album is nothing short of impressive. While the first record was a very good sounding and solid effort, it still tested the waters of a variety of genres.

The songs on “Red Moon Rising” are now much more focused and it’s clear that Melodic Rock with a slightly harder edge is where the band feels at home. All is spiced with nice AOR touches, particularly from the keyboard infusions.
A very enjoyable disc, adequately produced with a bright, crisp output.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

01 – Where the Wind Blows
02 – By My Side
03 – Room 14
04 – Slave to the Empire
05 – I Will Remember
06 – In the Name of the Father
07 – Living in Disguise
08 – Dead End Street
09 – Holdin’ On
10 – In a Blink of an Eye
BONUS TRACK:
11 – Home of the Brave (Toto cover)

Max Ordine: Lead & background vocals
Francesco Cataldo: All guitars & background vocals
Pier Mazzini: Keyboards & background vocals
Frank Paulis: Bass & background vocals
Luca Ferraresi: Drums & background vocals
guests;
Michele Luppi (Los Angeles) – background and harmony vocals on 2
Giacomo Gigantelli (Danger Zone) – background vocals on 4

BUY
www.amazon.de/Red-Moon-Rising-Perfect-View/dp/B00JXL0J44