| CD REVIEW Pangea |
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Band : Pangea I found no other info available on this band than that which the label gave us, so that’s what we have to do with, I guess! Pangea has existed in its trio formation of singer/ guitarist Torben Lysolm, bassist Jan Engström, and drummer Tony Olsen since 1991. In 1992 they got a production deal from a studio owner, which eventually resulted in the Japanese & Southeast Asian release of the band’s debut album The First in 1995. Sophomore album Manchild came in Spring 1997, and with a couple of European labels showing interest, the album was given a European release later that same year. Having high hopes for their third album, the band took the risk to throw every cent they had (and then some) in the very expensive recordings of Manchild’s follow-up, only to find out, to their horror and financial catastrophy, that the market in Japan had collapsed, resulting in no label over there willing to pay anything near the asking licence price. The small catastrophy turned into an even bigger disaster when the studio where the album was recorded suddenly closed down, with as a result that of the finished album only drums, percussion, and vocals could be saved from revivable backups…the rest was lost! The band went through several phases of “what do we do know?”, which eventually led to Lysolm leaving the band in 2004 and going on to produce bands such as Acacia Avenue, Section A, and others. Engström & Olsen auditioned several people to find a replacement for Lysolm, but no suitable musician could be found to click on both the musical ànd human level…and so in 2008 they eventually called it quits! However, only a little time later the trio got back together again, deciding to re-do the recordings alltogether, and see where it would get them. All of ‘em still had the material under their skins, so it turned out it wasn’t that tough to get it recorded. Of course, what with the time elapsed, they found sóme details needed changing a bit, but the 11 songs are said to be vintage Pangea material nevertheless. While in the studio, the band invited a couple of friends as guests on the album, and therefore you’ll find one Christian Rakjai playing the bass on the track “It’s Too Late”, while Jan Eliasson, Knud Lindhart, and Lene Riebau aided the band to additional backing vocals (which the trio also provided for themselves). And here’s where I shall not deter from giving you the short description given by the label: “…led by the punchy and expressive guitar work and vocals of Lysolm, the band peddle a similar vein of Rock to early Extreme with the guitar skill to match their late ‘80s/ early ‘90s contemporaries. The album will also please fans of the band’s first two albums as the classic Pangea sound is continued here in fine style…”. That’s not a bad description at all, indeed, as you will be able to hear for yourself when listening to the track posted at the label’s MySpace page (alternally, you might try to find the album at Amazon.com – they usually have some samples of the songs)! And fans of early Extreme are certainly recommended to check out this band. With no webpages of their own, it’s hard to say whether the band will be promoting the album with live performances! 88/100 Tony. |