Impressively this Swedish band has been around since 1987 and "Confessions" is just the debut full length release. Going through the band's bio one can easily realize that this time period was not a walk in the park but a rough rocky road. ANGELINE passed my phases and after a period of 'no-chance-to-return' hiatus they are reactivated presenting their first full scale work.

The fact that ANGELINE hail from Sweden carrying the AOR music label should say much to the trained ear and of course die-hard of this genre. For reasons I -still- cannot explain, Sweden has been a hard working 'industry' when it comes to Hard Rock bands that seem to produce high quality music like it is in their DNA. Who can possibly know and in the bottom line who really cares about it, as long as we are getting good music from them...

The slightly distorted riff opens for "Pray!" that shows the album's teeth right from the start. The hearty guitar vibrato along with an almost US oriented Hard Rock attitude are the main elements that will make you question the fact that this is a debut album. Jocke Nilsson has the right voice timbre in fit for this type of music; not too harsh and not too mellow. He has the exact portion of those two characteristics serving at ease the fast and the slow songs. Although the album has strong bonds to the early AOR days, there is also a modern finishing touch giving the music a certain level of originality that is more than appreciated here. If I was to give a short description of ANGELINE that would be something in between AEROSMITH's vintage rock and BUCKHERRY's almost sleazy attitude.

Ok, I am not an expert to this specific genre but I can confess that I tapped my foot with the catchy groove of "Fuel To Your Fire" and "Good Is Getting Better" and really enjoyed the guitars in "Love & Affection" (love the wah wah effect here), in "Part Of Evolution" (killer vibrato) and in the hard hitting "Running On Empty". So, if you are fond of the AOR sound and do not mind the modern finishing touches then ANGELINE can be a great addition to your CD collection and also a fitting album for long road trip under the summer sun.