Hard rock bands will always have the appeal of the good looking singer. They are responsible for the female population in rock and I like it. Thank you good looking rock singers! Performers like David Lee Roth, Sebastian Bach, Chris Cornell used to (and may still do) melt hearts all around the globe. Guys with looks and voices that make you wonder why the Gods gave them all the tools and you look like an ass with a donkey voice. As I have mentioned before, it is all in the music. Good, honest, well played and well performed music regardless if your frontman looks like Jim Morrison or Lemmy. But having good looking band members to attract girls to concerts is never a bad idea.

From the mind of Swedish singer Alexander Strandell the band ART NATION was created in 2015. Sweden is hard to compete with as everybody there looks good. After a formation change in 2017, ART NATION presents us with their 4th album Inception full of fresh melodic hard rock goodies with a touch of 80's.  With a good following in their home country, the band is trying to spread their wings across the globe with this new work. With the help of well produced videos online and catchy tunes made for you to sing along, they seem to be on the correct path. The album starts with "Brutal & Beautiful", a high energy introduction with a good riff and melody. The first thing you notice is the great range of singer Alexander Strandell, the mind behind the madness. His voice is perfect for the style and it is in the forefront of the melody and the mix. This band was made around the singer. Well produced video on Youtube available.

The second tune "Last Of The Burned" starts with keyboards and has keyboards all over it. No keyboardist to give credit to unfortunately. The energy remains the same with some pause for some melodic almost acapella vocals. Good melody and a different ending to a song like I never heard before. The album follows with "1001" with a basic riff that you probably have heard before, and a love suffering melody. -I'm standing in the rain dealing with my pain, says the lyrics. The singer begs a girl to please be his 1001 (girlfriend?). These good looking boys... I'll be lucky if I reach 11. Another video available on Youtube you can check. "Fight Fire with Fire"(nothing to do with METALLICA) starts with the same energy as the previous ones. This tune has a middle innuendo before the guitar solo with an interesting tempo break. The guitar parts on this album were created by the competent Christoffer Borg that has a "Piruliluiluliluliluru" guitar solo style ( I trademarked it). This style means very fast solos, usually in the pentatonic scale with a lot of notes and crazy picking. Not too many bends, and just a few slower melodic passages.

"Echo" is next with the keyboard very present (who is the keyboardist?) and a great bass sound from bass player Richard Svärd. Another romantic high energy tune, but this one with a little more variations in tempo and a few instrumental sudden silences in every mood change. Good catchy tune and you can watch the video on Youtube as well. We pass the halfway point with "Break Up" which is either about breaking a relationship, or breaking stuff up. I think it is the first. And I am right. The song starts like it is a disco song and falls into a too soft for my liking kind of happy chorus rock. I could pass this one. I can be used in one of these irritating teenage shows. For every break up you have to "Light The Fire" back. This tune starts with some country guitar giving me hope. This is a solid tune with a variety of melody and riff changes showing that the band is capable of more with some out of the box ideas. For me, the best tune so far and lit the fire of a slow burning album. Great drumming from Alexander Lundgren.

"The Legend Reborn '' is a sing along song. With another good presence of the bass in the mix. The song has a nice and simple melody, easy to remember and good backing vocals. The lyrics from all the songs in this album do not compromise and are easy to follow. Still, I'm starting to feel again that it is too locked in the style. I do hope we have a few surprises until the end. One thing you cannot deny on this album is the well written melodies and chorus and great vocals. Every song can be used as the "working horse"for the band.  "Somewhere I Know I Belong" is no different. Another well composed tune, but in the same vein as the others. The mood in the album seems untouched and I do like a few crazy changes. You do not need to move away from the style, but there is so much more to explore. We are getting close to the end of our journey with our favorite hero "Superman". With some violin introduction, the great range of the vocal reminds me of a Sebastian Bach's scream. Another well written tune with a great guitar solo and a few pauses just to gather energy for the addictive chorus.

The album closes with "Powerless" which reflects a little bit the review of the entire album. This one is a little bit more tamed with a Bon Jovi kind of melody. Another good tune overall. I would prefer that the band was a little bit more risky in their songwriting. We miss the song that an artist composes for themselves regardless of what the fans will think. Those B sides, or a song that is just different from the rest. A very personal song with feelings leaking from the stereo. The song that has no compromise with success. When every song of the album was designed to be a possible hit, in my opinion it lacks a little originality. I would prefer to have some introspective soul searching songs mixed with the more commercial friendly ones. Good effort though but it can be better. Well produced and recorded.