Wild Rose
Half Past Midnight

Roses are wild for this Greek band with four albums under their belts. This happens to be the rerelease of their debut album from 2011, an album that has been out of print for quite a while so for those of you who want to complete your collection of roses it is a decent chance to do so. I have reviewed two of their albums before this one and never really been overly impressed, I think they make very strong but also very typical AOR music that has never really felt particularly memorable and I think the same can be said about this debut album as well. It is a rerelease that once again has me asking the question, why rerelease it now, why not wait until ten years has passed or something? Random rereleases makes me a bit annoyed – I think the only reason to release something again is to celebrate an anniversary of said release otherwise it doesn’t seem necessary to me, there is so much music released anyway.

On the subject of the music there isn’t really that much to say, it is simply AOR. Melodic rock/hardrock with catchy choruses, polished production and good vocals with the same selection of songs that we usually get on the AOR albums, some catchy hit songs, slower songs, an anthem or two. There are no surprises here. It is a solid AOR production for those into the genre and into this particular band, but not really an album that feels particularly memorable and you grow tired with it after having played it a few times.

Solid effort overall and not an album you can dislike, the songs are solid and it is an easy album to like from the first time you hear it. The only problem is that it is creatively boring and therefore not very memorable, especially not when the super good songs are missing, you can play it a few times and then you simply put it away and forget that it even exists. Sure there will always be those who have a different view and I am not saying that you can’t like this album, but it isn’t that album that makes a lasting impression and that album you will return to over and over – it is the album you can run in the background at any time, it is inoffensive and careful and works for anyone.

Easily one of the more inoffensive albums I have written about this year, I missed it when it came seven years ago but not this time. What I could say is that it is a debut that sounds more or less like what has followed it, they are consistently making AOR that adheres strictly to the format and this is an album most people will like to some degree. I do however doubt that there are many that will rank it as a timeless classic or an album that stands out amongst the many similar albums that exist and keeps being released all the sime. Simply a solid effort by a solid band, you kind of know what to expect from these guys.

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