PLACE VENDOME – Streets Of Fire [Japanese Edition]

Some of you have requested the second album from superb project PLACE VENDOME, titled “Streets Of Fire” and regarded by many as their best. Here’s the out of print Japanese edition including a bonus track.
Place Vendome’s debut surprised the scene with terrific vocalist Michael Kiske (ex Helloween) fronting a band featuring material composed by talented Dennis Ward (who also played and produced the whole thing) blending classy hard rock with commercial melodic rock / AOR.

Also released by Frontiers Music, second album “Streets Of Fire” found Place Vendome even more melodic oriented, this time with Ward only producing and with songwriting contributions from the likes of Robert Säll (Work Of Art), Torsti Spoof (Leverage), Ronny Milianowicz (Saint Deamon), and the skilled Magnus Karlsson (Allen/Lande, Starbreaker, Primal Fear, et all).
Michael Kiske once again delivers a terrific vocal performance, benefited by the much more melodic and varied material on offer. His voice is some kind of magic – instantly recognizable, emotional, charismatic and boasting the perfect timbre for this style of music.

Production, musicianship and arrangements are breathtaking too. The album ebbs and flows with an incredible smoothness. Nothing jars, nothing sounds out of place or surplus to requirements.
The sound still has a glossy depth to it, but behind the production desk Dennis Ward has been prudent with his harmonies and layering. The end result is close to perfection.

Opener title track offers a tantalising flashback to the first album with a blistering pace set by the drums, soloing and throbbing bass warm the senses as effectively as anything on Place Vendome debut. Muscular and rocking, the chorus alone could fill a cathedral.
‘My Guardian Angel’ is a Magnus Karlsson penned gem, full of hooks and a great punchy AOR chorus, ‘Completely Breathless’ is an ultra-modern sounding power ballad, and ‘Set Me Free’ is even better, a sweeping orchestral number full of floating whims and reverie.

‘Follow Me’ is the first contribution from Robert Sall and is another album highlight. A straight forward mid-tempo AOR track with a hard edge riff driving the song.
The intense midtempo ‘Set Me Free’ is a cover of Casting Crowns (unknown and excellent band), then the pace bursts to life again with ‘Believer’, a double time uplifting melodic rock anthem with a great hook and a feel-good vocal harmonies. Yet another outstanding track.

From the first notes of ‘Valerie (The Truth Is In Your Eyes)’ you instantly recognize the pen of Robert Sall. Its bright and very ’80s AOR synth sounds like a new Work Of Art track and the chorus is glorious.
‘A Scene In Replay’ is another track with a monumental chorus and idyllic verse structure. It might, rather sneakily, be the best song on the album.

The last two tracks are (unsurprisingly when you see what came before) brilliant too. ‘Dancer’ takes on a moodier edge, with the bridge building up the song before a heavier chorus delivers another set of memorable hooks, and there’s a definite sensual groove going on.
Closing this amazing album is the big ballad ‘I’d Die For You’. Slow and haunting to start like Whitesnake’s Is This Love, soon veers down a different road. There’s a terrific in-crescendo and actually ends as a marvelously hard-rocking and uplifting love song. Uwe Reitenauer’s guitar work is sensational on this track, in fact, he sounds tremendous all the way through.

This Japanese Edition includes as bonus track an acoustic version of ‘My Guardian Angel’, and turned out to be great as well in this more ‘stripped’ take. It shows how talented songwriter Magnus Karlsson is, as his songs always work stupendously not matter the sonic environment.

Place Vendome’s “Streets Of Fire” is a must have in all Melodic Hard Rock / punchy AOR collections.
This album is astonishingly good by any normal measure: musicianship, production and writing are all of the very highest order, while the singing is off the chart.
The stellar production of Dennis Ward and the awesome keyboard melodies of Gunther Werno make this affair a multi-layered and intriguing listen, a truly consistent CD from start to finish and there simply are no fillers or weak tracks here.
Terrific.

King Records / Frontiers ~ KICP-1364
ＰＬＡＣＥ ＶＥＮＤＯＭＥ / ツ・オブ・ファイア

01 – Streets Of Fire
02 – My Guardian Angel
03 – Completely Breathless
04 – Follow Me
05 – Set Me Free
06 – Believer
07 – Valerie (The Truth Is In Your Eyes)
08 – A Scene In Replay
09 – Changes
10 – Surrender Your Soul
11 – Dancer
12 – I’d Die For You
13 – My Guardian Angel (Acoustic Version) [Japan bonus]

Michael Kiske – vocals
Uwe Reitenauer – guitars
Kosta Zafiriou – drums
Gunther Werno – keyboards
Dennis Ward – bass, producer, engineer, mixing, mastering

Out Of Print
www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/KICP-1364
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