GRAND ILLUSION – View From The Top [Escape Music 2024 reissue] *HQ*

It’s a really welcomed move from Escape Music finally reissuing their long time out of print catalog, and today the label is releasing “View From The Top“, the third album from Swedes GRAND ILLUSION. Mastermind guitarist / bassist / keyboard player, songwriter Anders Rydholm created GRAND ILLUSION in the late ’90s (from the ashes of previous band ‘Promotion’) with the intention of bring back the sweet AOR sounds from the Scandinavian glorious era.
Originally released by Escape Music in 2002, “View From The Top” was one of the albums that pushed the new AOR / Melodic Rock resurgence, and the impressive harmonies, melodic guitars, big keyboards and catchy choruses packed into this CD was embraced by fans of the genre all over the world.

Having Peter Sundell as lead vocalist is a plus, and other top musicians collaborate; Roger Ljunggren from T’Bell helped out with most of the guitar solos and brought a lot of energy to the recordings. Talented British Steve Morris (Gillian, Change of Heart) also drops a brilliant guitar solo, while Chris Ousey (Virginia Wolf, Heartland) wrote many of the lyrics.
Varied, with spellbinding midtempo AOR numbers, cool melodic rockers, and a touch of Westcoast here and some lite proggy there, “View From The Top” has everything fans of these genre love – done with a Scandi perfection.
HIGHLY Recommended

01 – I Refuse
02 – Battle for Your Heart
03 – Zeroes and Ones
04 – The Prophecy of the Returning Son
05 – Between Dark and Dawn
06 – Straight Face
07 – Gotta Give It Up
08 – Who’s It Gonna Be?
09 – Positively Negative
10 – Blinded
11 – Itch in My Brain

Peter Sundell – lead, backing vocals
Per Svensson – lead and backing vocals
Anders Rydholm – bass, guitar, keyboards
Christian Sundell – drums
Roger Ljunggren (T’Bell) – guitar solos
Steve Morris – guitar solo (on track 7)
Per Thuresson – guitar solo (on track 6)
Johan Glossner – guitar solo (on track 5)
Pete Coleman – bagpipes (on track 4)

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www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CVF27PV5/