Band : Eclipse
Album title : Are You Ready To Rock?
Label : Frontiers
Distributor : Rough Trade
Release date : 10/10/2008
Release : CD

The foundations for this Stockholm based Melodic Rock/ AOR band (they coùld've chosen a slightly more original bandname – a quick glance at rockdetector.com will learn you that there's at least 12 acts by the same name) was laid down when, quite on his own, Erik Martensson wrote, recorded, and produced a 4-track demo, which eventually got the attention of English label Z Records.

Martensson then forged a long-time alliance with lead guitarist Magnus Henriksson, also recruiting Timescape drummer/ keyboard player Anders Berlin to record the The Truth & A Little More (which also included guest appearances by Europe guitarist Kee Marcello and keyboardist Mats Olausson – formerly of Yngwie Malmsteen), released in 2001. Having signed to Frontiersfor 2003's follow-up album Second To None, the trio started pre-production, when Berlin decided to get out. To replenish the vacancy Eclipse recuited bassist Fredrik Folkare (who'd played with Scuderio, Unleashed, and Incardine) and drummer Magnus Ulfsted. Mats Olausson was again invited to support the band in the studio with his exhuberant keyboard play. With its heavy approach and the use of big melodies, the album appealed to fans of the likes of Talisman and Europe, and besides getting favourable criticism from the media, it got the band a strong fanbase. Later that same year Martensson would also join Amaze Me, and in 2004 he sessioned for the Brazen Abbott album My Resurrection. That same year Eclipse would donate their version of ""Need A Lot Of Lovin'" to the Sweet tribute album The Sweet According To Sweden (reviewed by yours truly at that time). Difficulties within the band resulted in more line-up changes, and eventually Martensson and Henriksson decided to put the band on ice for a couple of years.

But in the Summer of 2007 the duo felt it was time to continue their saga and, having decided on a somewhat heavier, riff-oriented approach in the vein of current day Whitesnake (without playing traitors to their already laid down orientation towards Talisman and Europe), they got together to write the material for this album in one week. Yep, 7 days was all they needed to complete the writing session for the 11 songs. Having recorded the album (Martensson doin' all vocals, some keyboards, the bass and rhythm guitar, Henriksson concentrating on his lead and acoustic guitar, as usual) with the addition of Timescape keyboardist Johan Berlin to the line-up and the studio help of drummer Henric W. Erikson, a permanent new drummer was finally found when 23 year-old Robert Bäck came to audition for the spot in late April and blew the guys away with his powerful play. Late May saw the appearance of a full version of "How To Mend A Broken" heart on myspace.com/eclipsemania, and since then the guys have posted 3 additional samples of album tracks "Breaking My Heart Again", "Under The Gun" (with acoustic guitar in the opening), and "Unbeakable" as teasers for the upcoming album. On a personal level, I have to admit that, at a first listening session, I was somewhat reluctant of the sharp guitars and fast pace of the songs. Everything on the album seemed to be geared to underline the lead singer's high-pitched vocal signature, and it really took my personal high discipline to listen to the album through headphones, for me to discover the subtilities of the material. Still, at the end of the day it pains me not being able to listen to the album over my (high quality) music installation twice in a row without getting the beginnings of a headache.

You know, maybe it's just the fact that I've been working double shifts for too long lately, but good music isn't supposed to have that kind of an effect on a person, right? I think that writing the material in just a week has perhaps induced the material to be somewhat uni-lateral (even if there are a couple of very nice acoustic guitar bits – check the wacky ending of "To Mend A Broken Heart", or the above mentioned opening of "Under The Gun"). At any rate, when push comes to shove it's yoù, the individual reader of this review, who'll have to make his acquaintance with thise Swedish band all on his or her own...and you'll have to decide for yourself whether you like what you hear or not. Because I díd like what I heard through the headphone set, and because I'll freely admit to the music being well-written and executed, the rating does not reflect my headache commentary!

85/100

Tony.