Bonrud –
Save Tomorrow album review
Released
on: Escape Music. Release date: Available now
‘Save
Tomorrow’ is the second album from the Bonrud band, released through Escape Music led by the incredibly
talented Paul Bonrud, who’s guitar playing and songwriting / arranging,
production work, etc, etc all go hand in hand to create some masterful work.
The first self-titled
album was released in 2004 through the Frontiers label and gained much praise,
even if it did draw many comparisons to AOR greats Journey, from the artwork
of that album through to the music.
I wish I
could give you a little more background on the guy, but since I can’t, I really
would strongly emphasize that the music really does speak very well for itself!
With an
animated album cover featuring a ‘Wonder Woman’ or ‘Superwoman’ like superhero
type cute looking cartoon character, flying over an animated city it could all
too easily make people not take this seriously, but you should!
Ably
assisted by fantastic vocalist Rick ‘Four Octave’ Forsgren and drummer Paul
Higgins as the foundations here, they also have guest input on keyboards from
Eric Ragno (Graham Bonnet, Jeff Scott Soto and many more!), Richard Baker
(Santana, Lynch Mob, Warrant, Saga and more) and Dave Gross.
Perhaps
the icing on the cake here, is that Paul and gang have captured the services
of producer extraordinaire in Keith Olson (REO Speedwagon, Santana, Whitesnake,
The Babys, Fleetwood Mac to name a handful!).
This
really is a strong album and while I see comparisons drawn again in others
reviews to Journey, I believe there is much more depth and earthiness to this
release. Seriously, I can hear similar styling’s here and there to say UFO and
other European hard rock acts too.
‘We
Collide’ opens things with a keyboard led intro, before rocking the house in
great style, Paul’s guitar work …, phenomenal, Rick’s strong vocals and
powerhouse drumming from Paul Higgins and as hard rocking and edgy as it gets,
there’s still the melody.
Good
strong opener!
With
‘Bullet in the Back’ it’s without doubt darker and edgier still.
The solo
licks throughout, kind of still throw me a little no matter how many times I’ve
played this – It’s been a few too, great album! – yet the song is once again,
very strong and unique.
‘American
Dream’ is a good solid rocker, almost like prime time Scorpions musically, yet
a very catchy AOR style chorus.
All good
to me!
OK,
hopefully Paul (Bonrud) doesn’t take this badly, but title track ‘Save
Tomorrow’ musically is very Journey like … And I love it!
Rick
Forsgren really has a great voice, it’s far from Steve Perry style and he’s not
trying, why should he, his voice is unique enough.
Paul's
guitar work here, is even quite like Neal Schon in style, a little different
from the jority of the rest of the material.
‘Liquid
Sun’ is another beauty and actually Paul’s playing at times reminds me here a
little of Steve Vai but the overall composition makes me think a little of The
Verve Pipe or even Collective Soul in its structure and sound and maybe they
come to mind as I watched a live Collective Soul show last night, as I write
this.
With ‘I’d
Do Anything’ it’s very much back to the AOR styling’s you might expect to hear
more of by these guys.
I love the
driving Hammond organ in the pre-chorus and chorus itself and the chorus
harmony vocals are really strong too.
Great
track, nice one guys!
There’s a
lot more of a darker edginess to ‘Last Sunrise,’ much more of a European hard
rock / metal yet still melodic groove, still very enjoyable.
‘Torn
Apart’ has a more pop / rock like sound … Single? Easy on the ears as an up
tempo pop rock number, yet Paul still manages to squeeze in a very tasty solo.
Getting
more in sync with the AOR rock groove is the mid-paced hock full of melodies. Nice!
With
‘You’re The One’ it’s another good up tempo number that has a underlying riff that
really reminds me of one on Tal Bachman’s ‘She’s So High,’ but the of course
Rick sounds nothing like Tal and neither does the rest of the song.
It’s
perhaps at times a little more like classic Bryan Adam’s the way the organ / guitar
work together.
‘End of
Days’ has an almost epic like feel to it, to close the album. Great power chords kick in for the pre-chorus
and chorus, whereas the verses are a little more laid back. There’s great
layering to this one. I wonder how many tracks they recorded this across.
Again
great vocal from Rick and Paul’s guitar work is sweet.
Overall,
this album is a wonderful piece of work, great songs and great playing and
Escape have clearly backed Paul with this, by pulling Keith Olsen in to ‘do the
business’ to the album.
I’m guessing
Paul basically did all guitar, as well as keyboards and bass on here too, so
with Rick’s fantastic vocals, Paul Higgins solid drumming and fine production
work from Keith Olsen, this is an album that people may not be too aware of and
may not have thought to check it out, but you really should!
Nice work
throughout, very recommended!
Rating:
4.5 out of 5
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