Sapphire Eyes
Breath of Ages

About six years has passed since the band Sapphire Eyes released their debut, an album that was pretty well received by us here at Hallowed. But six years is a while and plenty of AOR albums has been listened to, reviewed and never played again since then, and to be honest 2013 when I reviewed the debut was the last time I played that one as well. It was a very good but also a rather safe album in my book, and it had an artwork that felt rather ugly. This new album has a better artwork but is the music better, less safe or more adventurous? Read on and you will know what we think.

It is classic AOR that is very true to form with the fairly typical AOR style. It is very clean production, very melodic with catchy sound and catchy choruses, good vocals where we also here Anette Olzon doing some guest vocals, just like she did on the previous album. The production is also good but the album is a little bit long with 51 minutes of playing time and not too much variation and not too much depth – therefore it feels a little bit long. It should appeal to those who like the genre and likes the previous album by the band.

Good album, good melodies, good vocals and the songs are good. I think we can describe this as a solid album, but it may also be considered a bit safe where the band never really dares to step outside the box. They need to step outside the box a little bit because I think this album risk to be one more of those albums that will never be played again after the words has been written and the review published. I doubt I will be playing this one again but if you like the typical AOR you may see it slightly differently compared with how I see it.

The ending conclusion has to be that Sapphire Eyes delivers a solid effort, but not the most exciting album I have ever heard. Those who like their previous album probably won’t be disappointed and fans of AOR should have a look at the album. I think that Breath of Ages is a good and solid album but it will not be remembered through the ages.

HHHHHHH