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Heart Full Of Fire
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Brother Firetribe
Heart Full Of Fire
Spinefarm/Universal Music
2008
Hard Rock/AOR
Mark Balogh
www.brotherfiretribe.com
www.myspace.com/brotherfiretribe
Rating:
4.0 stars

I recently said in one of my reviews that 2008 was turning into a pretty good year for music so far and that just seems to continue to ring true with this record, the new one from BROTHER FIRETRIBE titled “Heart Full Of Fire”.

I really wish I knew what they were putting in the water in Finland these days because BROTHER FIRETRIBE comes along with their second killer release in as many years. And let’s not forget about BROTHER FIRETRIBE singer Pekka Ansio Heino’ other band LEVERAGE (who I just reviewed last month and gave 4 1/2 out of 5 stars). And of course there is guitarist Emppu Vuorinen’ main band, the ever popular metal act NIGHTWISH.

Now if you love classic melodic hard rock and AOR with a plenty of keyboards, big choruses, great guitars & vocals and an overall huge sound you need not look further than BROTHER FIRETRIBE. I can’t say enough great things about this band. They approach the melodic hard rock/AOR genre like it was still in its prime. Seems no one told these boys this style of music isn’t hip anymore! The great thing is it seems the joke is on the “non-believers” because these guys certainly still seem to believe in this style of music!

The record opens with “Who Will You Run To Now” and this song picks up where the bands 2006 effort “False Metal” left off. This song has all the aforementioned ingredients - the pompous keyboard sounds of yesteryear, the big production and great vocals.

Up next is “Wildest Dreams” which comes at you with even more melody than the first track. The song has a vintage MAGNUM feel due mainly to the vocals of Heino which, as I also said in my LEVERAGE review, bear a resemblance to that of the great MAGNUM main man Bob Catley. Also lending a hand to the melodic proceedings are the “pumping” keyboard sounds of Tomppa Nikulainen.

The albums 3rd track, “Runaways”, is a super melodic, mid-paced song with smooth vocals and tasteful guitars by Tomppa Nikulainen.

The record continues on with more strong tracks like “Game They Call Love” with its crunchy guitars and pompy keys. It has a melodic guitar solo striking me as reminiscent of WHITESNAKE’s “Here I Go Again

Play It From The Heart” is a power ballad of sorts opening with some classy acoustic guitar before giving way to ringing keys and a cleverly arranged chorus.

The title song “Heart Full Of Fire” opens with an 80’s sounding synth-styled keyboard and the song has a slight gothic feel with the inclusion of female vocals by Anette Olzon of NIGHTWISH fame as she duets with Heino on the track.

The record in my opinion takes a small dip in quality with “Heard It On My Radio”. Although the song is still highly melodic with big stabbing keyboards, as the title might suggest, it leaves a little to be desired in the lyric department.

Going Out With A Bang” brings things a bit more back up to speed with its classy chorus and interesting keyboard solo while “Out Of My Head has a cool guitar riff and big chorus (actually what BROTHER FIRETRIBE song doesn’t have a BIG chorus!).

The second to last track on the album, “Chasing The Angels”, is a remake of the semi-obscure MIKE RENO (LOVERBOY) song from the 1980’s Iron Eagle II movie soundtrack. It’s a great song and is faithfully re-done by the band.

The album closes with what is probably the “toughest” sounding song on the record. “I Am Rock” is rough and ready with its pounding drums and powerful chorus. The song was originally released last year as a soundtrack single for a popular Finnish TV show and now it takes its place on a BROTHER FIRETRIBE CD.

Even though the album seems to tail off ever so slightly in total quality in the second-half it finishes up strong with the last two songs. Overall, it still retains a huge amount of class throughout and should have much appeal for fans of this style of music… a style that has almost been forgotten by a lot of new bands these days. The fact that these guys could put music like this out today but not have it sound passé deserves notice in its own right. So because this album is crafted so well and with so much class it ultimately makes this release just about essential for all melodic rock fans.


Band Lineup:
  • Pekka Ansio Heino – Lead Vocals
  • Emppu Vuorinen – Guitars
  • Tomppa Nikulainen – Keyboards
  • Jason Flinck – Bass, Backing Vocals
  • Kalle “Calu” Torniainen - Drums
    special guest:
  • Anette Olzon – vocals on “Heart Full Of Fire”

 

Track Listing:
  1. Who Will You Run To Now
  2. Wildest Dreams
  3. Runaways
  4. Game They Call Love
  5. Play It From The Heart
  6. Heart Full Of Fire
  7. Heard It On The Radio
  8. Going Out With A Bang
  9. Out Of My Head
  10. Chasing The Angels
  11. I Am Rock

 

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