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Sunstorm - House Of Dreams
- Price:
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- Frontiers Records
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(3 product reviews)
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Product Description
The first album from the SUNSTORM project saw the light of day in 2006, when former RAINBOW, MALMSTEEN, DEEP PURPLE singer Joe Lynn Turner accepted the idea proposed to him by Frontiers Records President Serafino Perugino, that was to blow the dust off some awesome songs that he wrote for the aborted follow up album to his debut “Rescue You” during the 80’s.
SUNSTORM’S debut turned out to be one of the most successful straight-ahead Melodic Rock releases of 2006. Several numbers were supplied by Jim Peterik (ex Survivor, Pride of Lions) and the album was rounded off with classic tracks picked by Joe and Serafino.
The stunning production, courtesy of PINK CREAM 69’s studio wizard Dennis Ward was hailed as one of the highlights and a key factor for the success of the album. It was a natural choice, when a second album was put into production, to ask Dennis to be part of the project. He played bass and sung background and was joined by Uwe Reitenauer and Thorsten Koehne on guitars, Chris Schmidt on drums and Gunter Werno on keyboards.
Once again Joe Lynn Turner dug deep in the archives and found some classy Melodic Rock gems. In particular, “I Found Love”, “Forever Now” and “Save a Place in Your Heart” (where another AOR cult-hero Paul Sabu appears among the writing credits), while Serafino asked Joe to finally release “his” version of the amazing ballad “Walk On”, that Turner co-wrote with Desmond Child (KISS; BON JOVI etc) for the Jimmy Barnes album “Freight Train Heart” from 1987.
Additionally, Jim Peterik was called to offer his talents to the project once again, thus “Tears on the Pages” (a Jon Lind and Russ Ballard co-written tune), “Say You Will” and “Gutters of Gold” entered the track selection. The remaining songs were written by brothers Tom and James Martin (HOUSE OF LORDS, KHYMERA) who were able to capture the spirit and quality of songs expected for the SUNSTORM project.
SUNSTORM “House of Dreams” is a true AOR masterpiece; a real must for all JLT lovers and a stunning release for all Melodic Rock fans.
Product Reviews
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Sunstorm - House Of Dreams
Posted by Jurgen on 29th May 2009
It is customary in album reviews to write a short intro talking about the band’s biography introducing it to the readers. But in situations like this what can really be written about Joe Lynn Turner? I mean he has connected his name with bands like RAINBOW and DEEP PURPLE that are also found in any Heavy Metal bible that respects itself. It would be really ridiculous to try to even scratch the surface of Turner’s career in order to introduce the second SUNSTORM album. The only data I can provide, is that the SUNSTORM story/idea was born inside the brain of Serafino Perugino who happens to be the president of Frontiers Records. The proposition was to use the tracks that were supposed to succeed Turner’s solo debut "Rescue You" that saw the light of the day in the mid 80s.
As it is expected the sound signature here, has to do with the early 80s and dives deep into the Hard Rock scene that was wrapped around the wonderful keyboard / hammond organ melodies. It is always impressive to hear the guitar-keyboard marriage introduced more than two decades ago to still have the same effect on our ears. And this was the exact vintage feeling I got while listening to the opening groove of "Divided". I don’t know why -actually don’t care to find out- but this specific Hard Rock genre fills me up emotionally and takes my mind over those days that are long gone. No, I am not the kind of person that thinks that everything that came out after the 80s sucks. On the contrary, I strongly believe that we are still getting very good albums but something is missing from the Metal scene and that is emotion. And the AOR scene is filled with this!
Turner sounds as he is supposed to; his voice breathes through all these years of experience revealing once again his powerful vocal and octave range that nowadays is extremely rare. His timbre travels you in the past of RAINBOW and DEEP PURPLE with heart hitting melodies and groovy guitar phrases. Dennis Ward is the one to ’blame’ (again) for the excellent sound production that can be considered as the ’know how’ for all the Hard Rock albums.
It is hard for me to distinguish tracks from this album because I am fond of its entirety; but I cannot but admit that I did hit the play button several times listening to "Gutters Of Gold" with the Hard Rock up-tempo groove and the more than addictive bridge and chorus. I dare you not to sing-along with it! Of course, "House Of Dreams" is a definite AOR tune with the classic guitar rhythm that leads you smoothly to another beautiful chorus that you die to listen in Rock clubs with a bunch of good friends and some additional pints of alcohol! Just listen to the guitar solo and tell me that your heart is not aching! The icing on the cake is the "Walk On" ballad co-written by Turner and Desmond Child and can originally be found in Jimmy Barnes’s album "Freight Train Heart" from 1987.
I don’t have to add something else in this review. Joe Lynn Turner is one of the personas that we are lucky to have in the Metal scene. I want to believe that this specific genre will continue to exist and keep us company in good and bad times. Thank you Joe!
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Sunstorm - House Of Dreams
Posted by Fred on 28th Apr 2009
The first Sunstorm album was actually a re-make of some incomplete demos for an aborted follow up to JLT's classic debut "Rescue you". It also featured a collaboration between JLT and Ritchie Blackmore - that was supposed to go on a follow up album to "Slaves & Masters" and was rounded off by a few Jim Peterik (ex Survivor, Pride of Lions) penned tunes. It did quite well upon release - so a second one - was commissioned.
JLT here delved once more into his archives coming up with some tasty AOR numbers like “I Found Love”, “Forever Now” and “Save a Place in Your Heart” (Paul Sabu another cult AOR figure shares writing credits), and upon insistence by Frontier's boss Serafino, he finally releases “his” version of the amazing ballad “Walk On”, that Turner co-wrote with Desmond Child (KISS; BON JOVI etc) for the Jimmy Barnes album “Freight Train Heart” from 1987. This actually to my ears sounds superior to that “original” version.
Jim Peterik once again, contributes the awesome “Tears on the Pages” (a Jon Lind and Russ Ballard co-written tune), as well as “Say You Will” and “Gutters of Gold” and the album is rounded off with some songs written by brothers Tom and James Martin (of HOUSE OF LORDS, KHYMERA fame) who also managed to write some tunes that sit well among the rest of the material here.
JLT, is in top form - his 4 octave range - still pretty much intact - along with his passionate delivery - which never ceases to amaze me. There's a bunch of good songs on offer here and the production is really lush. What's not to like? I likey ! A lot ! And so will all discerning AOR/HR lovers !
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J.L.T. is in fine form
Posted by t.d. on 27th Apr 2009
Joe Lynn Turner has been on a hot streak that began in 2005 with The Usual Suspects release that saw him return to what he does better than anyone else,Melodic rock that can take you as high or as low as you can go with an incredible range and a seasoned battle worn voice that still retains an innocent sweetness when needed. JLT, you're than man.
