LIONS PRIDE MUSIC – King Of Beasts (2024) HQ *0dayrox Exclusive*

Reputable Danish record label Lions Pride Music is celebrating their 10-year anniversary with their 100th release, a compilation album tilted “LIONS PRIDE MUSIC – King Of Beasts” that showcases highlights from the bands on the label, with unreleased tracks, remixes, new 2024 tracks especially recorded for this release, orchestral versions of songs – all tracks are exclusive for “LIONS PRIDE MUSIC – King Of Beasts”.
Since ignited in 2014, Lions Pride Music consistently releases quality material, that’s the beauty of a “best of” album from the label. If any label is going to be releasing a compilation album, you know they are going to want to put their best foot forward in terms of material.
“King Of Beasts” certainly delivers that. Even if you are familiar with these bands, checking out unreleased songs and re-workings is always going to be interesting.

Every band featured has something of interest, ranging from hard rock to AOR. Just check out the unreleased Cold Drop’s track ‘One Life (AB Mix)’ with its heavy, blues-based rock about living it up. Or ‘Alone’ by Counterline, an unreleased track from their last album sessions which thankfully found its way here. It’s too good a song to be left on a shelf somewhere. A driving melody with a bridge that builds to a soaring chorus is slightly formulaic but effective, if done right. The band has the chops to pull this off and in doing so create a song that could have been the highlight of one of their previous albums but makes it a standout of this compilation.
There’s also other very good bands from the label rooster such as Wild Rose, Strangerland, Voodoo Angel, Ailafar, etc, delivering new versions, remixes, new standalone singles, and more.

For more AOR material check Ailafar’s ‘As Long As I Got You’ (Standalone Single only) and be blown away by the epic outro solo from guitarist John Tzortzis. He shreds in a way that is heartfelt and meaningful, not playing to show off, but with passion and purpose. Very well done.
‘Don’t Be Afraid of Love’ is a mid-tempo keyboard driven AOR composition, a new track recorded for this release. Great singer David Cagle doubles his vocals in the chorus to great effect. His own matching harmonies has a warmth to it that makes the message heartfelt.

Perticone is a band that pleasently surprised us a few years ago. Here is featured a different version of their track ‘Save Me Tonight (Alternative Version)’ re-worked with a synthwave style track that gets better as it progresses. It goes into a higher key change throughout, reaching a crescendo at the end, matching the longing and fears of the singer. The combination of heartfelt melodies and desperate wording makes for a winning combination.

The ordering of the album strikes me as a little strange. There are three orchestral versions of songs, and they are placed at the end of the album. That’s not an issue, but the decision to throw in a non-orchestral song with Eddie Vantez’s pop-AOR infused track ‘Healing Touch (Remix)’ is a weird call by the label. The song should have been separated from this grouping. It’s a very nice previously unreleased version of the Eddie Vantez song btw.

A few points to make about the orchestral versions of those concluding tracks. Silvernite’s reworked version of ‘Show Me The Way’ is not ‘Orchestral’ as you may imagine. It may be remixed and stripped down, but a track dominated by synths is far from orchestral. The resulting ‘Show Me The Way (Orchestral Version)’ is cool, pretty different from the original.
Mason’s approach to ‘Whatever It Takes (Orchestral Version)’ is really interesting, again, quite different from the original, and well done. The solid band Voodoo Angel is represented by ‘Broken (Orchestral Version)’, which in fact is more like a ‘piano version’, as good as the original but in this intimate version highlights the emotion of the lyrics.

If you want to hear some of the best bands Lions Pride Music has to offer, this would be a great start. However they didn’t just compiled tracks from the bands previous albums, but presenting all new material in one way or another. So if you already have some albums from the bands featured, “LIONS PRIDE MUSIC – King Of Beasts” packs different songs / versions, and some new tracks as well.
There’s something for everyone who is into Melodic Hard Rock and AOR so give this a spin to see what you have been missing or check out new 2024 songs, at the moment, only available in this release.
Highly Recommended

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01 – Masaki – Nowhere To Run (New 2024 track)
02 – Cold Drop – One Life (AB Mix)
03 – Loud Solution – Not Provided (2024 Version)
04 – Wild Rose – Alone (New Version)
05 – Strangerland – Don’t Be Afraid of Love (New 2024 track)
06 – Perticone – Save Me Tonight (Alternative Version)
07 – Ailafar – As Long As I’ve Got You (Standalone Single)
08 – Counterline – Alone (Unreleased)
09 – Mason – Whatever It Takes (Orchestral Version)
10 – Silvernite – Show Me The Way (Orchestral Version)
11 – Eddie Vantez – Healing Touch (Remix)
12 – Voodoo Angel – Broken (Orchestral Version)

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www.amazon.co.uk/KING-BEASTS-VARIOUS-ARTISTS/dp/B0DQ68NNXB