LANDFALL – The Turning Point (2020)
Wow… pure melodic rock with AOR elements which does not come from Sweden? Hailing from Curitiba, Brazil, LANDFALL features former Auras singer Gui Oliver – a true dead ringer for the legendary Steve Perry of Journey. The band’s sound can be described as falling between classic melodic rock à la Journey with some slightly heavier influences, such as classic era Dokken, White Lion, and Extreme.
Landfall was originally started by drummer Felipe Souzza and guitarist Marcelo Gelbcke, who are childhood friends and have been playing together since they were about 15 years old.
All guys joined forces together and created Landfall (formerly known as W.I.L.D.), the result is “The Turning Point“, their wonderful upcoming debut album on Frontiers Music.
Landfall’s debut has many awesome things to offer: great, solid songwriting, detailed arrangements, and excellent singer and musicians, and a crisp production that fortunately does not sound like many cookie-cuter records of recent time.
Sure, you can argue there’s many similarities to Journey and alike… but this is classic AOR / MR folks, and this genre should sound like this. And Landfall adds their own touch.
Check out the energy-driven “Taxi Driver“, or the very much Journey / Steve Augeri era ‘Distant Love’. Then ‘No way Out’ brings to mind Mike Slamer songs from the 80s.
But as said, Landfall has their style and you can hear this on ‘“Jane’s Carousel” (pure American melodic rock), the catchy chorus of ‘“Across the streets”, and the midtempo AOR of “Don’t come Easy”.
And I need to mention ‘“Sound of the City”, a tune that packs everything we love in AOR / MR, and a great way to close this terrific record.
You’ll fall in love with Landfall’s “The Turning Point”. It’s a wonderful, classy AOR / Melodic Rock record bringing back the American sound of the genre in all its glory.
For us, one of the best albums of the year so far.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
01 – Rush Hour
02 – No Way Out
03 – Jane’s Carousel
04 – Across the Street
05 – Don’t Come Easy
06 – Taxi Driver
07 – Distant Love
08 – Roundabout
09 – Road of Dreams
10 – Hope Hill
11 – Sound of the City
Gui Oliver – Vocals
Felipe Souzza – Drums
Marcelo Gelbcke – Guitars
Thiago Forbeci – Bass, Keys
Pre Order:
www.amazon.co.uk/Turning-Point-Landfall/dp/B089HYVGLX
