Vega
Stereo Messiah

Back in 2010 when Vega released their debut album they surprised at least me with how great melodies they could manage to squeeze in to their melodic rock. At times that album glowed almost as bright as one of the stars we can see in the space on these dark fall nights (perhaps their band name can suggest which one?). The album also left some things to wish for at other times and especially the variation in a few of the tracks. Now the band are back with their third album, the follow up to 'What The Hell' from last year.

'Stereo Messiah' is an album that doesn't come with too many surprises. Just like the previous albums they give us an album with well made melodic rock and strong tracks. All in all there are 12 tracks on 'Stereo Messiah' and we get 53 minutes of music from musicians that clearly know which buttons to push to get great results. Some of these songs are just blowing my mind completely! They shine like diamonds in my ears and I can't honestly see how anyone - king or servant - wouldn't consider these songs as anything but true masterpieces.

The problem with the first two albums was their ability to maintain the listeners interest through the entire album since they had too few tracks that stood out from the critical mass. With two-three tracks that was awesome and the rest of them somewhat over average but not great the overall impression with both album one and two was that they were memorable - even pretty good - but not fantastic. However, on 'Stereo Messiah' the tables are turned - the awesome tracks now comes thick and fast and every other track on this album could potentially become a melodic rock classic of such dignity as Africa, More Than A Feeling and Don't Stop Believin' and it's just such a shame they can't be recognized as such since this kind of music can't possibly take them to such a status today as it's not nearly popular enough… but plenty of tracks on this album certainly deserves a recognition of such.

I'm particularly fond of Wherever We Are, Ballad Of The Broken Hearted, Gonna Need Someone Tonight, Neon Heart and With Both Hands but they're not the only great songs on this album. There are also other memorable tracks here, like 10x Bigger Than Love - written by Joe Elliot of Def Leppard - that definitely stands out from the rest as it feels much more Def Leppard than Foreigner and Journey as the rest of the album. In other words, it's more poodle than labrador. More spaced out and radical than easy going and something most people will appreciate. There are two ballads on this album, one of which I've already mentioned (guess which one) and the other one being the concluding track of the album, giving it a neat closure. The overall quality of this product is definitely high and it could definitely be the best melodic rock album I've heard for at least ten years, or even longer, even if we don't take in to account just how great the best songs on this album really are. But, and it's quite a big "but", that's before we take the creative part in to the equation. 'Stereo Messiah' is quite a long way from being the most innovatory album ever made, to be frank.

The question on everyones lips is then how much that really means for an album? Well, when it comes to the quality - absolutely nothing! When it comes to the durability - a bit, probably. When it comes to the rating - a bit more, I'm afraid. I'd really like to give Vega the highest score I could for this album but at the same time the truth is that all they've done is to make something that already existed a bit better. And has existed for some time and that despite sounding good actually don't contribute with anything new at all. However, as the probably best melodic rock album made in at least ten years that can't possibly lower the score too much. This album really is something you should give your time!

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