Hmmm, another Frontiers release. What the hell are these Italians up to? Are they scoring big enough sales to release a new album each week? I feel poor for fans of AOR/Melodic Rock the last years. If they tend to purchase each and every Frontiers album (good stuff, anyway) they definitely need to work 24/7 to fill (then empty) their wallet.
Shooting Star? So I read. The Shooting Star? Hey, I have a bunch of records from these ones! Shooting Star (1980, Virgin) and Hang On For Your Life (1981, Virgin - reached #91 on the US album charts) did have some impact in the US Hard Rock scene those days. Pure American sound, on-the-edge riffing, sweet keyboards, beautiful melodies and everything a Survivor, Cheap Trick, mid-career Triumph and 80s Kansas fan would ask for. I feel the band did not achieve the eventual recognition they were looking for; still, to be recording albums in 2006 is a good reason to see what they're up to these days.
So, this is not bad at all. It may sound retro, it definitely is no groundbreaking release, but Circles is no-doubt a 'more than average' album for Melodic Rock fans. Trouble In Paradise has this magical 80s vibe; Borrowed Time and I'm A Survivor, the same. The rest lay on a RELEVANT AOR approach, no way being boring or of low quality, anyway. The violin suits fine the way it's used, even if my personal fave on this album is the keys sound; totally 80s, meaning. Kevin Chalafant's (The Storm, Two Fires) voice is what I expected. Some of Kansas' Steve Walsh and Survivor's original singer David Bickler with enough of Steve Perry (Journey); warm vocals with a 'retro' formula fit like a glove to mature AOR music.
I don't know if you have enough money to afford this one, too. Eternal Shooting Star fans (how many of them do read online mags, I wonder?) grab this album fast. The rest, try the band's two first albums for a start and if you feel you 'got it', then naturally move ahead to Circles.
P.S.: Without Love earned the band a new contract with CBS, but never made it to any album.