JADED HEART is definitely one of my favorite bands of Hard Rock history. This band debut album came out at a time when the Grunge scene was massacring the genre, they did quite well and even more than that they kept it going while other similar bands got lost along the way. The band had some lineup changes a few years back, which took nothing away from its edge. I was personally waiting for their new release. JADED HEART left their old label (Frontiers) and signed with the Cologne label Fastball Music, maybe it was not their smartest move. The sound on this album (for the most part) just doesn't work. There is some very heavy riffing on certain songs, the kind that would usually make you wanna break something on the floor, but the sound just doesn't deliver, it's kind of like Mike Tyson with the arms of a seven year old - a lot of driving force, but no knock out.

Now let's get right down to it. The first track "With You" blew me off my damn seat, insane power intro keyboards and guitars blasting away, if you like STRATOVARIUS you'll love this one, fast and high on the melody. The second track is incredibly hard hitting and heavy, sort of an "Anthem" song. Ten seconds into the album's third track I'm thinking this is a true classic. "Into Tears" delivers everything you would expect from a band like JADED HEART - one of these songs you just can't help singing along with, beautiful.

"Buried Alive" is a song for every Power Metal fan. It's fast and has a heavy anthem like chorus. The fifth track "I Believe" is where the problems begin. It's a cool song, but I wouldn't necessarily kill someone if they should accidentally turn it off like I normally would. From there on it's all pretty much the same, "My Destiny" has got a really cool intro riff you can't help dancing to and I guess I liked the rhythm but it doesn't lead anywhere interesting. The tenth track is named "Life Is Beautiful" however the intro is not. I just didn't get it, some piano like keyboards which could have been anything else. I could have just skipped the whole damn thing and started with the song, which was pointless on its own. On "Higher" we have a really nice acoustic guitar intro and that throws you back to the band's earlier days. Markus Grosskopf of HELLOWEEN makesa guest appearanceanddoes a real nice job on the bass, an overall nice song. On the last song on the album "Fire And Flames" I couldn't help singing "Damn The Machine" by GAMMA RAY, It matched perfectly.

If you're tired of "Scream Bloody Gore" as I am today when everyone tries to pig squeal worse than the other, than JADED HEART's "Common Destiny" is a breath of fresh air, Johan Fahlberg does a tremendous job here and he sounds great, Still, the first few songs are awesome but that's pretty much it, an overall good album.