It seems that AOR is becoming a success once more, because every day a good work is being released. And some of them seem to be side projects of famous musicians, a way that they can express what they have inside their hearts and souls. And in the case of ALLIANCE, their album "Fire and Grace" is a fine example of pretty good ideas that was turned into good music.

This trio has members that worked on famous names as GTR, 3, BOSTON, and Sammy Hagar, between others, so these guys know the way to create a very good set of songs. And "Fire and Grace" is filled with excellent accessible melodies, amazing instrumental and vocal parts, with everything working as it must. The technical level is not exaggerated, using sobriety as a strong basis. And their music is that old and good form of Melodic Hard Rock/AOR that can conquer the listeners easily. Yes, the same old formula, but using a personal insight.

The songs of "Fire and Grace" are all with a very good audio quality. Everything can be heard and understood without problems, but in some parts, the musical weight becomes evident (as can be heard on "I'll Have Some of That"), so everything went well on the studio. Their secret resides on the organic set of tunes used for each musical instrument.

All the songs of the album are great, but "Don't Stop the Wheel Turning" with its charming melodies (and guitars), the accessible energy with its Pop Rock appeal (especially during the chorus) of "Good Life", the nasty silky touch of "I'll Have Some of That" and of "Fire and Grace", the charming Pop keyboards and guitars arrangements of "Time", the catchy ambiance of "Reason to Walk Away" (if you stay stopped during it, you're not alive), the sad bluesy touch on "Change of Heart", and the mix between some aggressive subjective touch with very good harmonies of "You Are the Heroes" (very good work from bass guitar and drums) are the arrows that will pierce into the listeners' hearts.

It seems like a side project, so let's hope that ALLIANCE will keep delivering excellent music for a long time.