Jaded Heart
Common Destiny

Last time I heard Jaded Heart was back in 2004 when I was reviewing their Trust album which featured the apparently extraordinary singer Michael Bormann whom I don’t really remember so I wonder how good he really was/is. This time it is a bit of a new Jaded Heart since then they have added two swedes to their line-up and Bormann is gone for a Swedish singer. The album is called Common Destiny and has a cover that does not look overly inviting, it is their eleventh album from a career that is about to enter its third decade. Looking at the surface not much has really changed since 2009 which was the year that saw their latest album before this one, the line-up is the same, the producers are the same and according to reviews the music is similar as well.

Melodic metal/rock is what it is, just like I remember from 2004 but this is heavier while still maintaining a flair for catchy choruses and melodies. You could describe it as a kind of AOR-metal or something in that vein. The album is 56 minutes long on twelve tracks and the variation isn’t that large, energetic and anthemic songs built around the same foundation making the songs seem quite alike when not paying much attention to them. The singer is quite good I would say and shows the same energy as the band often shows in their music, there is a feel of energy from this album. It is well produced with a sound that is excellent for the kind of music they play, and you can hear that these guys are no amateurs when it comes to performing and arranging music. So, at least it sounds very good on the surface.

But sounding good and really being good is a whole different thing and although this album has some really good songs it is too long to really keep me interested. There are no bad tracks on the album, some are a bit so-so while others are really good it is really the playing time of the twelve tracks that is the killer of my interest. Still there are some songs that really grabs my intention like the second one Saints Denied which is a fantastic anthemic track that makes you want to sing along, and then he have the ending that is quite brilliant which is a track called Fire and Flames that I find being the best on the album. And the album starts pretty neat as well with the video track that is a clever introduction that sets a good tone to the album, too bad it should be that long.

Maybe if you are really into the band or the kind of music they play you might be able to overlook the long playing time but not really being a fan of the band I cannot quite find the parts to keep me interested for the entire playing time, which I find sad as it starts really well and it ends in a brilliant way, in between though there is a sort of vacuum that just doesn’t hold up the quality being set in the beginning which means that for most part of the album you wait for the album to reach the final song. I think that if this album would have been shorter I would probably have given it a higher rating but it isn’t so it becomes one more of those albums that are ruined by the bands failing to murder some darlings.

Common Destiny is a good album, a bit on the long side but a collection of good song nonetheless. If you like the band or the melodic kind of hardrock you will probably like this album. In its best moments it is terrific and fortunately it is not terrible in its worst moments.