Accept for the singer Girish Pradhan I know all these musicians, which makes me decide that this can officially be classified as u super group. JOEL HOEKSTRA'S 13 has somehow evaded my attention in the past and only now, with their fourth album "From The Fade" have I become interested. And what I can tell you before I properly review this album is that I'm glad I have decided to pay attention this time, as this really is a very good album with Melodic Rock, brought to us by a band of very talented but also extremely experienced musical instrumentalists. I mean, how great is it if you can get a singer like Jeff Scott Soto as your backing vocalist?

Joel Hoekstra himself shouldn't need an introduction due to his past, but I'll try anyway. He has always been making music, as his collaborations with NIGHT RANGER and WHITESNAKE have shown us over the years. Add to those what he has done as a solo artist (three albums) and now with JOEL HOEKSTRA'S 13, plus some more one off records with amazing artists, and you come to a total of 28 albums that you will be able to find his name on. What makes him so good is not only that he can adapt his way of playing to whatever the artist in question is asking for, he is also very apt in writing good songs that fit into whatever void or space they are supposed to be written for. Plus he simply is one hell of a good guitarist.

On "From The Fade" all those elements come together in a very good way. Whether the music is fast and furious, or slow and emotional, it all sounds exactly right. All the right notes are being hit, all the right noises are being offered, and the pristine production makes it all gel in just the right way. The only two things that are making me rate this just a tad lower is that the whole is just too much within the same kind of boundaries from start to finish. I would have liked to hear some points where the band would go wild, or just a bit haywire. The other thing that isn't perfect are the lead vocals. Girish Pradhan is a very good singer with the right kind of voice for this kind of music, but he misses that bit of extra oomph, that bit of excitement within his vocals. In other words, he's too clean for my taste. But that doesn't change the fact that JOEL HOEKSTRA'S 13 has delivered a very good album with "From The Fade". After seeing the line up I just expected and hoped for more.