Hourglass --- Millenium --- 2000 (Frontiers)
Those of you who know me may know that I am considered something of a “spelling Nazi” --- there's nothing I hate more than bad spelling (well, there is, but you know what I mean!), and I'm forever sighing at and correcting others' spelling and grammatical mistakes. So it is with no small sense of irony that I review an album by a band who seem unable to spell their name, though perhaps it's a clever method of differentiating themselves from other bands who might have the same name, or getting their name first in Google results? It doesn't work, as Google ignores what it perceives to be a spelling error and presents results for the word “millennium”. Ah well...
I just mention this to point out beforehand that I KNOW the word is misspelt, but that's how this band spell their name, as you can see from the sleeve: one 'n', not two. They're from Tampa, Florida, and will probably be unknown to 98% of you. They're not exactly superstars. Which makes the tremendous quality of this album all the more surprising, and gratifying.
I do believe it was another of those heady in-the-record-shop-with-spare-cash moments, and I just liked the sleeve --- sort of reminded me of Hawkwind --- and checking the track titles they seemed a rock band, so I thought why not? In the end, I was glad I did. Information is scarce on Millenium, but I think this is their third release, and it's a corker.
It blasts right off with “Power to love”, which opens with an acapella choral vocal before smashing into a mad, reckless, pop-metal AOR slice of Heaven, drummer Oliver Hanson thundering the song along while guitars from Ralph Santolla and Shane French elevate the track to AOR supremacy, and the clear, strong vocals of Jorn Lande present a man who had surely missed out on being a true star, somehow. It's a great start, and things go from good to better with “Wheels are turning”, recalling Journey at their heaviest, and yet somehow better, perhaps because this sort of quality is unexpected in a band almost unknown, and on whom I took a chance and hoped not to be wasting my money. Seriously, you would not believe some of the axe work here! How these guys aren't more successful and recognised I honestly do not know.
The title track is also the longest, just over six minutes, and brings things down a gear with a crunching, slow rocker in the best mould of Dio's “The last in line” or “Holy Diver”. Jorn Lande manages to come across as a mixture of the best of Ronnie James and David Coverdale here, and he really stretches his vocal range, completely equal to the task.
”We all answer to the hourglass/ No escape from the world of the lonely/ Feel the fire burning deep inside/ The soul of the lost soldier… “ It's a powerful track, a real stomper, and while the twin guitars are a little more restrained here, they're still very much present, particularly for the solos near the end.
There are only two ballads on the album, but they're so equally great I really can't decide which, if either, is the better. The first up is “No more miracles”, a tender, piano-led melody with a heartfelt lyric sung with conviction and passion by Lande.
”Remember when we heard the bell/ It rang for us, we knew it well/ And now we know our dream of love is dying...” It's just further proof of how criminal it is that this band has been largely ignored, as this should be played in a stadium to thousands of cigarette lighters held aloft. You think REO and Toto write good ballads? This blows them all away, I kid you not. There's real drama and pathos in it, and it most certainly does not sound like just a slow song put on the album so there'd be a single for airplay. However, if this HAD received time on the radio, I'm sure it would not only have been a hit, but would be forever cropping up in those “Best Power Ballads” programs shown on the likes of MTV.
Things settle back into a faster groove then for “Superstar”, more AOR than the previous tracks, and slightly inferior, somewhat by-the-numbers, with noticeable Queen overtones in places, while “Rocket ride” fails to bring the bar back up to the high level set by the likes of “Power to love” and “Wheels are turning”. It's not till the second ballad makes its appearance that the huge untapped potential of this band is on show again. “I will follow” --- NOT a cover of the U2 song! --- is another passionate and powerful song, though where “No more miracles” was gentle, this is raunchier, with a bluesy beat and some great guitar from Santolla. To be honest, just to get two ballads of this quality on the one album would have represented value for money to me. But there's so much more.
“I still believe” momentarily fools you into thinking it's a third ballad, but that idea is quickly dispelled as Santolla ramps up the riffs and the song takes off, becoming a mid-paced rocker with an almost jazz/funk backbeat which actually works, and the song changes yet again, becoming quite anthemic as it goes on. Great vocal harmonies help to lift this track out of the realms of the ordinary, and the tempo keeps rockin' for “Masquerade”, where a great combination of keyboards and guitar carry Lande's vocals along and create a song reminiscent of Canadian AOR merchants Glass Tiger. The album ends on the powerful “Chasing time”, its opening recalling ELO with its somewhat skewed harmonies, but soon gets going and takes “Hourglass” to a satisfying conclusion.
As I say, for an album I picked up “on spec”, and did not expect too much from, this turned out to be something of a diamond in the rough, the musical equivalent of a rare antique bought for ten quid at a car boot sale. It truly beggars belief that Millenium never hit the big time, but at least they did craft an album that can comfortably and proudly sit up there with the best AOR has to offer.
TRACKLISTING
1. Power to love
2. Wheels are turning
3. Hourglass
4. No more miracles
5. Superstar
6. Rocket ride
7. I will follow
8. I still believe
9. Masquerade
10. Chasing time
Suggested further listening: “Millenium”, “Angelfire”