IAN WILDE – Dream Hunter (2024)
Frontman for Wild Freedom with whom toured all over Europe sharing the spotlight with the likes of Hardline, Edge Of Forever, KISS, etc, now IAN WILDE is poised to embark on a thrilling new chapter in his musical journey as he steps into the limelight as a solo artist.
With a profound appreciation for the melodic rock genre, Ian is crafting a distinctive AOR sound that pays homage to the glorious 80s. His desire to capture the essence of that era’s magic has resulted in a very cool debut album titled “Dream Hunter“, under a record deal with prestigious label Lions Pride Music.
With the help of Nilver Perez (from AOR band Revlin Project) arranging and providing keyboard / synths, Wilde has crafted lovely, melodic tunes here, enjoyable at first listen.
Recent releases by Sam Millar and Magic Dance capture the same type of sound that is found on “Dream Hunter”. A very impressive debut and hope to hear more from Ian Wilde in this capacity in the future.
The album opens with a combination of Synthwave and hard rock with ‘Are You Ready Now’, a high energy, up-tempo rocker. It’s a fantastic way to start the album. You get a nice mix of a rock guitar sound with keyboards stabs in the old fashioned way, courtesy of AOR freak Nilver Perez.
You get something quite different with the 80s AOR of second track ‘Secretly in Love’. A mid-tempo song with an angelic undertone, Ian’s voice works surprisingly well here as he infuses passion and longing that makes it all feel heartfelt.
The album continues in this style, but finding new and interesting ways in pulling and combining from these genres. My favorite song is the rousing ‘Dance’. It opens with keys that you would hear from a band like The Cars. Ian then infuses some AOR melodic tones that makes thing sound the the poppy side of Survivor.
Other great tracks include ‘Roaring Angels’, which has the feel and the lyrics of the Kenny Loggins’ track ‘Danger Zone’. Anyone remember the artist Dallas? The track ‘Tender Love’ sounds like a song that would been a part of that debut album. It has a killer keyboard/guitar opening with both instruments playing different melodies that complement each other well. Once again, Ian sells the hell out of the chorus, which drips with emotion and desire.
Worth mentioning is the urgent ‘My Heart is Yours’, with its dominating key melody that accents at all the right moments. With the guitar taking a backseat to the keys on this one, the guitar comes to the forefront with the solo and totally shreds. My vote for the top solo on the album.
Arriving from an edgy hard rock background, for his solo debut album IAN WILDE does the genres he loves and grew up with: retro melodic rock / AOR with a strong synthwave retro feel.
Yes, in this case, judge the album by its cover art.
Highly Recommended
01 – Are You Ready Now
02 – Secretly in Love
03 – My Heart Is Yours
04 – Roaring Angels
05 – Dance
06 – At First Sight
07 – Prove Me Wrong
08 – Close Your Eyes
09 – Tender Love
10 – Born to Shine
Ian Wilde (vocals)
Nilver Perez (keys, synths)
Ignacio Ruiz (guitar, bass)
Eddie Vantez (backing vocals)
Pete Alpenborg (guitar on 10)
Anderson Sherman (bass on 10)
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