Band : Shining Line
Album title : Shining Line
Label : Avenue Of Allies
Distributor : Rock Inc. / Bertus
Release date : 14/05/2010
Release : CD

Is it a band, or is it a project like Voices Of Rock ? Only time will tell.

As a matter of fact there are only 2 permanent band members. Pierpaolo "Zorro11" Monty who wrote the songs and plays drums and percussion, and his friend Amos Monti, who plays bass. The other places in the band are filled by Alessandro Del Vecchio on keyboards, and who also did the production, Marco "Dandy D'Andrea on guitars, and Marco Percudani, also on guitar. Mixing and mastering was done by none other than Michael Voss.

As I mentioned before, this is more like a project than a real band, since vocals were handled by a lot of different and well known names. To cite but a few : Eric Martensson (Eclipse, W.E.T.), Harry Hess (Harem Scarem), Robin Beck, Michael Voss (Mad Max), Robbie Lablanc (Blanc Faces), and some more.

It's as if each song was specially written for the singer in question, that's how well the voice blends in with the music. The opening song "Highway Of Love", with Eric Martensson on vocals immediately blew me away. The second track is sung by Harry Hess, and is completely different, but I admit I have a weakness for Harry's voice, and therefore also found it a very good track. Vocals on track 3 are by Robbie Lablanc, who's also become one of my favourite vocalists since the last release by Blanc Faces. "Heat Of The Light" is sung by Robin Beck, one of the leading female vocalists in our genre.  This song reminds me a bit of Heart.

I could go on about every song, but to sum it up, this is a great effort, and if you compare this to the Voices Of Rock project, quality of the songs seems more steadfast.

96/100

Erik Morren.