It is quite rare to have a south American formation in melodic hard-rock, the groups coming more often from Europe and more particularly from the Nordic countries but, with the help of 'Alessandro Del Vecchio' and the 'Frontiers' Italian label which make us discover them, 'Landfall' is indeed a Brazilian formation. If we look at the pedigree of our 4 artists, the singer 'Gui Oliver' was part of the melodic hard rock band 'Auras' which released only one album 'New Generation' in 2010 and the instrumentalists have all been part of the group 'Wild Child' with 3 albums between 2012 and 2017. With this route, we are therefore not surprised that 'The Turning Point' is an album of quality which makes follow one another melodic hits which have nothing to envy the best formations of the style.
And from the start, 'Rush Hours' is a potential hit filled with good communicative energy that recalls the best of the 70s/80s with 'Gui Oliver' who, as we use to say say in French, wets his shirt, then 'No Way Out', slower and more AOR, is nonetheless melodic with its heady chorus. We can also cite in the same style titles like 'Across The Street', 'Taxi Driver' or 'Sound of the City' but also mid-tempos with 'Jane's Carousel' alternating calm verses with a more energetic chorus or even the AORs 'Distant Love', 'Roundabout' and 'Road of Dreams' with new choruses that immediately become embedded in your head. And, of course, the power ballads are not forgotten with 'Don't Come Easy' and the magnificent 'Hope Hill' with for the latter melodic lines influenced by gospel.
In summary, the Brazilians of 'Landfall' have nothing to envy with this first album with major melodic hard-rock formations and 'The Turning Point' is added to the very good album releases of this 2020 style... | |
