Passion Dreams

Sammy Berell

Sammy Berrel is a Swedish neoclassical rocker dedicated to spread the word of melodic hard […]
By JOGANEGAR
June 5, 2017
Sun Below - Black Volume III album cover

Sammy Berrel is a Swedish neoclassical rocker dedicated to spread the word of melodic hard rock through the 2017 release of his opera prima Passion Dreams. A reprise of the work and ideas put together by the Swedish rocker along with producer Daniel Flores since 2014 in order to release it as a full length album this year. The songs on this record are in a manner of speaking stuck in the eighties right there with Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force, it even appears to have the same equalization and production style of the creator of "Black Star" and "I'll see the light tonight"

"Passion Dreams" is another example of the title track being a representation of the rest of the record when listening to one track seem like you have heard them all as well. "War" is the track on this album that resembles the best of this homage to the songs written by RAINBOW and YNGWIE MALMSTEEN with an acoustic outro that sets a different tone that flies around without finding a landing zone or a secure port to where it can call itself a different set of tones for this artist. The verses and even the way the last words are arranged in quartets to rhyme subsequently do not differ much from song to song, the same structure with the resounding solos and the shred and sweep picking that lack an identity of its own.

Nothing new in the form of a proposal, a secure formula from an already faded act, and to be honest I would rather listen to the original thing than a series of overlapped versions that come up as square and plain, the same structure, the same mood all throughout the whole album. This work by the multi-instrumentalist virtuoso lacks cohesion based on the point of a personal proposal outside the boundaries of the genre, if such a talented musician can record a complete album almost by himself, I'm sure he can come up with a bit of contrast or a more personal and developed style outside from all songs sounding like a different version of "Alone in Paradise" but without the novelty almost thirty-five years later.

6 / 10

Had Potential

Songwriting

7

Musicianship

5

Memorability

5

Production

9
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"Passion Dreams" Track-listing:

1. Judgement Day
2. Midnight Flier
3. Memories Never Die
4. Sinner (little) Sinner
5. Red Light Eyes (Devil in Disguise)
6. Passion Dreams
7. Star
8. Crowns of Thorns
9. King of Kings
10. Drakkar
11. Sacrifice
12. Starlight
13. War

Sammy Berell Lineup:

Sammy Berell - Guitars, Bass, keyboards and Vocals
Michael Vescera - Vocals
Goran Edman - Vocals
Daniel Flores - Drums
Lasse Finbraten - Keyboards 

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