Hailing from Palmero, Italy we have the Melodic Hard Rock quartet, PLATENS. Their debut album "Between Two Worlds" came out through Frontiers Records back in 2004, and we now have the follow up album a decade later. It's not as if main vocalist Dario Grillo has been waiting in the shadows during the interim - he also has spent years performing in acts like THY MAJESTIE and VIOLENT SUN. I'm excited to hear what these 11 songs can potentially offer the music fans.

After a couple of passes through the ears, I'm very pleased with PLATENS style and songwriting versatility. The first two tracks "Running" and "Time Will Tell" feature a number of American Hard Rock and AOR trademarks from the golden era of the 1980's - immediate hooks on a musical level, stirring harmonies, and solid rhythm section work that recalls everything from JOURNEY to WINGER. Even during a power ballad like "Sometimes I Miss You" they inject real piano and saxophone elements without giving up any of the electric guitar and impactful vocal melodies one needs to convincingly pull this off - making this one of the highlights of the record. It's almost as if hearing something from the SAVATAGE "Streets" era.

Dario has seasoning and mature understanding of how to emphasize all the key verse and chorus parts - check out his lower to high register on radio-friendly "I Still Search For You" or the bluesy, send up "Don't Leave Me Alone" where Gabriels' Hammond embellishments carry the hook in your headspace for days on end. And then there is their cover of the ROBERT TEPPER classic "No Easy Way Out" from the "Rocky IV" movie soundtrack- grace and high class respect paid to the tee from PLATENS and proving the timelessness of this mid-1980's classic AOR track.

In a genre fighting for respect in terms of new studio albums versus the classics, "Out of the World" is one that should gain decent acclaim from the ardent fans of the genre - and hopefully will pick up many more fans through word of mouth ventures.<