VISION QUEST – Vision Quest (2018)
Hailing from Italy, VISION QUEST have signed a worldwide record deal with Rockshots Records for the release of their self-titled debut album “Vision Quest”.
Vision Quest is a project born many years ago with the purpose of conceiving a Rock Opera with melodic rock songs. The band name is inspired by the iconic 1985 American coming-of-age drama film: the soundtrack includes songs from the artists from the melodic rock heyday era such as Journey, Foreigner, John Waite, Sammy Hagar among the others.
While there’s some kind of concept chained between the songs on the CD, the idea of a Rock Opera morphed into a ‘regular album’ with straight to the point, song format tunes.
“Vision Quest” sound & style is focused on the Melodic Rock / AOR music from the ’80s combined with a light, progressive rock influences from bands like Magnum, Kansas and Asia.
As said, if we listen to closely, the album is divided into 2 parts; the first tells the story of “Orion”, who fights and dies to save his people from an obscure and unknown force; the second part tells the story of “Avathar”, squire of the king who ends up betraying Orion in exchange for immortality and gets to be exiled; during the exile he gets suffering, repenting, and finds love.
“The Quest Begins” is the perfect introduction, a spoken word intro with atmospheric acoustic music starting. “Medieval Hero,” is a dramatic piano rendition with mixed guitar interludes bringing things to the fore.
Then on “The Sacred Crown” bombast explodes and encourages headbanging and horn raising. “Valley Of The Lost,” is a thoughtful piece, that strays once or twice, but keeps strong in its roots.
There’s gorgeous vocals on “The Eve of Battle” which brings some serious energy via strong riffs and is quite epic.
“Avatar,” is slow, and thoughtful, with some Ten / Hughes on it, then “The Immortal” is a rocker with driving guitars and great rhythm section.
The ‘2nd’ part starts with “Evil Laughter” showcasing the aforementioned progressive yet melodic feeling with a stuttering keys lick and a buoyant riff. “Master of Hopes,” is exhilarating from start to finish, never quite giving an indication of where it might end up.
“Eternal Love,” the most powerful of power ballads, delivers a soaring melody and a hooky guitar line.
“All These Years” is slow and melodic, with a thoughtful tint to it that belies the heaviness within the lyrical content.
“Lost In Time” is just another ’80s style epic number (think Asia), “Dragons Of Tomorrow” is quite heavy and dynamic paving the way for “The Run,” a melodic closer to a fantastic album.
Fans of Magnum / Ten / Gary Hughes / Eighties AOR / MR epics need to check VISION QUEST awesome self-titled debut CD to be released tomorrow.
HIGHLY Recommended
01. The Quest Begins
02. Medieval Hero
03. The Sacred Crown
04. Valley of the Lost
05. The Eve of the Battle
06. Avathar
07. The Immortal
08. Evil Laughter
09. Master of Hopes
10. Eternal Love
11. All These Years
12. Lost in Time
13. Dragons of Tomorrow
14. The Run
Guido Ponzi: lead and backing vocals
Marco Bartoli: keyboards, bass, instruments sequencing
Emiliano Belletti: electric guitars
guests musicians;
David Putney: speech in The quest begins
Silvia Saccani: vocals and backing vocals in Eternal Love
Mirko Pratissoli: sax solo in Avatar and Lost in Time
Ilaria Cavalca: piano in Avatar and The Eve of the Battle
Stefano Riccò: acoustic guitar in The Eve of the Battle
Luke “Hollywood” Barbieri: guitars
Johnatan Gasparini: guitar lead in Master of Hopes
Alfredo Pergreffi: clean guitar in Eternal Love
Helder Stefanini: drums
PRE ORDER:
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