ALLISON – One [reissue +1]

Swiss female-fronted melodic rock band ALLISON is back after many years with a new album featured here few days ago. Some of you asked for their 1993 debut CD titled “One“.
This is the album’s reissue released a year after including an extra track, a successful anthem for the 1994 World Cup Swiss football team ALLISON recorded, and featuring a completely different cover artwork, this time displaying a band photo.
“One” packs some awesome melodic hard rockers in the vein of WITNESS, HARLOW, the harder side of HEART, VIXEN, etc, wrapped by a bright, polished production sound.

With the success of bands like ROMEO’S DAUGHTER, VIXEN or the ever relevant HEART, in 1991 the Swiss offshoot of Sony Music was faced with the delicate decision of which female fronted melodic hard rock combo to go with a lucrative record deal: Swiss ALLISON or Liechtenstein / Germany based SATROX. The choice was the latter.

But what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, and so ALLISON ignited their own career fireworks, which lasted until the separation in 1998, the climax of being their appearance as an opener for Thunder, Van Halen and Bon Jovi in ​​Basler, filled with 55,000 spectators.

Signed by a local record label; ALLISON released ‘One’ in 1993.
Janet La Rose own a very distinctive set of pipes, at places bringing to mind Ann Wilson with German accent, but that’s part of the fun. The songs rock with melody and catchy choruses, but there’s also bouncing harder tunes as well.
Among the stronger there’s ‘Did I Know’ (great one), ‘Without a Woman’ (great guitar solo), the sweet melody of ‘Sometimes’, the AOR midtempo ‘I’ve Been Waiting’, etc.

If classic female-fronted melodic hard rock / AOR is your thing, ALLISON’s ‘One’ is for you. It has that late 80s feeling all over, wrapped by an early 90s kind of production design sound: all pristine and melodic.
Highly Recommended

01 – Dreams Of Glory [New Song ’94]
02 – Let Your Hair Down
03 – Without A Woman
04 – Sometimes
05 – I’ve Been Waiting
06 – Shadow
07 – Dancing On A Line
08 – All The Way To Heaven
09 – Did I Know
10 – Crazy
11 – Smokin’ Track

Janet La Rose – vocals
John Cassia – guitars
Pierce Baltino – bass
Pat Visser – keyboards
Dan Putelli – drums

Out of print