| Written by Alex Stojanovic TRACK LISTING Nothing Without You You're Not Alone Runaway Finally You're With Me Every Little Thing If You Don't Know Me Living With The Truth Reaching For The Sky I'll Never GIve My Heart Away Into The Night Magic Is Alive Release Date: August 7, 2020 Label: Frontiers Music srl Website: www.facebook.com/LIONVILLEofficial |  |
LIONVILLE IS:
Stefano Lionetti - Guitars, vocals & keyboards / Lars Safsund - Lead & backing vocals
Michele Cusato - Guitars / Fabrizio Caria - Piano & keyboards / Giulio Dagnino - Bass / Martino Malacrida - Drums
Stefano Lionetti - Guitars, vocals & keyboards / Lars Safsund - Lead & backing vocals
Michele Cusato - Guitars / Fabrizio Caria - Piano & keyboards / Giulio Dagnino - Bass / Martino Malacrida - Drums
If you read last review of the Arctic Rain album, where I discovered them by simply browsing through YouTube on Frontiers' channel, I will tell you that the same thing happened with Italian melodic rockers Lionville, and on the very same day. The first song I heard was "Nothing Without You", the opening track off their new album Magic Is Alive. After having a quick browse through the track listings of the new album, and the previous three albums, it became apparent to me that "love" was one of the main themes the band writes lyrics about. Now, as I've mentioned before, I've always found love songs to be corny and cheesy. However, even if the lyrics or topics are cheesy, the music often makes up for that.
Aside from the tasty guitar and keyboard licks from Stefano Lionetti, Michele Cusato and Fabrizio Caria, what really enticed me was Lars Safsund's vocals, and the mesmerizing vocal harmonies. In my opinion, of all the AOR singers that I've heard, Lars has to be my favourite, and I've only heard this album, and a few songs from the previous albums. Lionville's sound is very much 80s arena rock. You can certainly hear the Def Leppard, Journey, Dokken, Toto and early Bon Jovi influences. Standout tracks include "Nothing Without You", "Runaway", "Every Little Thing Leads Back To You" and "Living With The Truth" with their insanely catchy riffs, memorable choruses, and big vocal hooks.
The word "catchy" seems to have been beaten to death because it's been used to describe music with great hooks and melodies so many times, but I honestly can't think of a better word. In between all the catchy (there I go again) tunes, there are a couple of ballads like "Finally You're With Me" and "Into The Night". Even if they are slow, the band still manage to make them compelling and captivating. "Reaching For The Sky" is a quirky track with a really cool funky vibe, which will certainly get heads bobbing, and maybe even some hips shaking. The closing title track will surely find favour with a lot of Toto fans. Matter of fact, almost any track on here will find favour with Toto fans, especially fans of their more commercial stuff.
If I was still in my teens, and I heard this album, I would've written it off completely simply because it was not a brutal metal album. However, given how much I've changed and matured over the last 10 years as a person, musician and music fan, I've developed a huge admiration for AOR and melodic rock, even if there isn't really anything groundbreaking to be found. Magic Is Alive is a testament to the power of world-class songwriting and performances. From a song perspective, they seem like big songs. I would highly recommend this album to any fan of melodic rock.
Highs: Lars Safsund's vocals are some of the best I've heard among the current AOR bands.
Lows: Nothing groundbreaking
Aside from the tasty guitar and keyboard licks from Stefano Lionetti, Michele Cusato and Fabrizio Caria, what really enticed me was Lars Safsund's vocals, and the mesmerizing vocal harmonies. In my opinion, of all the AOR singers that I've heard, Lars has to be my favourite, and I've only heard this album, and a few songs from the previous albums. Lionville's sound is very much 80s arena rock. You can certainly hear the Def Leppard, Journey, Dokken, Toto and early Bon Jovi influences. Standout tracks include "Nothing Without You", "Runaway", "Every Little Thing Leads Back To You" and "Living With The Truth" with their insanely catchy riffs, memorable choruses, and big vocal hooks.
The word "catchy" seems to have been beaten to death because it's been used to describe music with great hooks and melodies so many times, but I honestly can't think of a better word. In between all the catchy (there I go again) tunes, there are a couple of ballads like "Finally You're With Me" and "Into The Night". Even if they are slow, the band still manage to make them compelling and captivating. "Reaching For The Sky" is a quirky track with a really cool funky vibe, which will certainly get heads bobbing, and maybe even some hips shaking. The closing title track will surely find favour with a lot of Toto fans. Matter of fact, almost any track on here will find favour with Toto fans, especially fans of their more commercial stuff.
If I was still in my teens, and I heard this album, I would've written it off completely simply because it was not a brutal metal album. However, given how much I've changed and matured over the last 10 years as a person, musician and music fan, I've developed a huge admiration for AOR and melodic rock, even if there isn't really anything groundbreaking to be found. Magic Is Alive is a testament to the power of world-class songwriting and performances. From a song perspective, they seem like big songs. I would highly recommend this album to any fan of melodic rock.
Highs: Lars Safsund's vocals are some of the best I've heard among the current AOR bands.
Lows: Nothing groundbreaking
FINAL RATING
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