ROBIN RED (Degreed) – Robin Red (2021)
Last year, ROBIN RED, lead vocalist of Sweden’s great modern melodic rockers Degreed, decided to launch a solo career and sent his demos to Frontiers Music, who were quite thrilled with what they heard, to say the least. ”I’ve been thinking about doing a solo album for many years. It’s kind of a dream come true. But I never really felt ready, not until now. I’m gonna go back to the roots and make it a little more organic. I’m very inspired by artists like Jimmy Barnes and Bryan Adams, and the sound will not be far from there. But it will still be me,” says Robin.
The resulting album is indeed a melodic rock fest with catchy, uptempo songs that will mightily impress fans of the genre and especially of such artists as Foreigner, Rick Springfield, Bryan Adams and John Waite. The album was recorded together with Dave Dalone (H.E.A.T), as producer, guitarist and co-songwriter.
Essentially, Robin Red strays little from his melodic hard rock roots with his debut album. While the focus is upon his vocal talent, all the songs feature strong riffs, abundant rock rhythm and groove, and vibrant song melody and effective vocal harmony, with addition of catchy choruses and superb guitar solos.
If you take together the sharp riffs and tough rhythm you might find that the songs have an assertive edge, but that’s always been a component of Degreed as well.
That edgier but melodic side is heard on tracks like ‘Living Dead’. ‘Night Life’, ‘Don’t Leave Me’. More AOR feel appears within ‘Freedom’ and ‘Midnight Rain’, yet both rock out just the same. ‘Living For’ is perhaps the closest song to a ballad as it features Red’s voice over some sharper acoustic guitar. But the song displays characteristic common across the entire album: the expert and complimentary combination of strong vocal and guitar skills.
With a top class personnel providing a strong background, Robin Red shine all over his self-titled debut CD, a really well crafted and effective slice of classic melodic rock with AOR moments and a bright production sound.
HIGHLY Recommended
1. Don’t Leave Me (With A Broken Heart)
2. (I’m A) Bad Habit
3. Everlyn
4. Freedom
5. Midnight Rain
6. Can’t Get Enough
7. Reason To Survive
8. Heart Of Stone
9. Nitelife
10. Head Over Heels
11. Living Dead
12. Living For
Robin Red – Lead and backing vocals, bass
Dave Dalone – Guitars, synths, backing vocals, percussion
Mats Eriksson – Drums
Erik Modin – Percussion
Joan Eriksson – Grand Piano, background vocals
Jona Tee – Keyboards
Petra Eriksson – Background vocals
Pre Order:
www.amazon.de/Robin-Red/dp/B096LKKSG4
