HEAT

FREEDOM ROCK

Their first album was great make no mistake this is better.

From the off 'Beg Beg Beg' has you up on your feet. Infectious, melodic, and perfectly formed good time Rock and Roll straight between the eyes and it really doesn't let up from there. It makes you wonder where all of this music  was back in the bad old nineties when melodic rock was a dirty little secret we carried around hidden under the big riffs of grunge and nu metal. I am glad to say that bands like HEAT don't seem to recall those days at all and along with the Wig Wams and Poodles of this world they are helping reclaim melody and stop it being a dirty word.

There are traces of the very best of the 70's and 80's AOR here and given the benefit of state of the art production it's the quality of the song writing that shines through. Everything just has that sound that makes you want to grab your girl and party. no doubt dancing in the moonlight somewhere, not caring about a thing and then taking to the freeway in the convertible to go and look at the most beautiful sunset, or the stars, on the beach.

Songs like 'We're Gonna Make it to the End' may not be the most original songs you will hear this year but these guys have managed to capture the essence of classic melodic rock and bottled it. Don't get me wrong Melodic Rock is now becoming a genre with a lot of great bands competing for your ear but HEAT offer a clean innocence and melody that recalls a youth with the top rolled down.

Where they go from here is anyone's guess? Where is the market for stuff like this? Sweden? For sure. The US? Definitely there's a market out there waiting for them to hit a million ears. Exposure is the real issue though - where can these guys get heard enough to make a mark? And there you have the conundrum of the age. Anyone who loves bands like Danger Danger will love this but who will hear it? And who will take the punt outside of Europe in adding them to a festival bill when bands like the aforementioned Danger Danger are still making great music at home?

'Danger Road' is one of my favourite tracks on here and just about sums up the album: great vocals, a catchy tune, tight backline, nice solo. The big ballad 'Everyone Wants to be Someone' with it's understated keyboard intro is as good as anything melodic and balladic you've heard in the last twenty years. The question is just who is listening except the converted? That's the sticking point for bands like HEAT.

The genre is overspilling with talent and those who love this kind of thing will find the bands like this but just where is the wider audience? In a world where the internet rules it's sad that people still won't give a band like this more than a quick listen. No one has written a better song than 'Stay' in years but there are a number of bands who have made songs as good. And that my friends is the problem: how does any form of rock make its way back into the mainstream when the mainstream still generally shuns rock music?

The only way I see any kind of breakthrough is in live music and enlightened promoters, but when the dollar still rules? This may be softer than some might like but definitely one to add to your melodic rock collection.  Another great CD to add to theRockpit.net's regular play list.

Mark