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Find Me: Wings of Love
 Amidst all the albums Italy's Frontiers Records has been releasing lately by big-name artists lands Find Me. This transatlantic alliance between musician/songwriter/producer Daniel Flores (Issa, Seventh Wonder, The Murder of My Sweet) and AOR vocalist Robbie LaBlanc from Blanc Faces has resulted in a powerhouse album that draws comparisons to classic bands like Journey, Foreigner and Survivor, plus new ones like W.E.T. and Eclipse.
"Road to Nowhere" makes a declarative opening statement, signaling that Find Me has already found a way to harness the power of Big Eighties rock with polished 2013 production touches. The power ballad "Eternally" would have electrified arenas in 1987, and "One Soul" and the title track prove these guys know how to rock hard. Flores' flair for keyboard drama on this, his most massive-sounding project, can be heard in "Your Lips," while LaBlanc's vocals don't really sound like anybody else's. Yet they're not distinct to the point of distraction. If pressed, I would place them somewhere between a young Lou Gramm, a young Jeff Scott Soto and Toby Hitchcock.
This one took me by complete surprise.
Track Listing:
1) Road to Nowhere
2) Another World
3) Dancing to a Broken Heartbeat
4) Eternally
5) Firefight
6) On the Outside
7) One Soul
8) Powerless
9) Bottom of My Heart
10) Unbreakable
11) Wings of Love
12) Your Lips
Added: December 16th 2013
Reviewer: Michael Popke
Score:  
Related Link: Frontiers Records
Hits: 3079
Language: english
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Find Me: Wings of Love
Posted by Steven Reid, SoT Staff Writer on 2013-12-16 15:45:03
My Score:
Although I do enjoy most of their output, I sometimes wonder if we reviewers aren't all a little too quick to extol the virtues of almost all Frontiers Records releases. With in recent years a feeling that the Italian based AOR specialists (although in recent times they have broadened their horizons significantly) can do no wrong. Many, if not most of those lauded releases are "projects", one-off outings and internet based collaborations which often lack the soul and feel a real band should have in abundance.
So on that basis, I have to admit that I approach the universally praised and fawned over (and awfully named) Find Me and their debut Wings Of Love with some trepidation. First listens suggested my concerns were well placed, however I know how to admit I was wrong and with time, the sheer class and talent behind this set of shimmering AOR songs becomes undeniable.
In essence, Find Me are the vocal talents of Blanc Faces frontman Robbie Le Blanc and drummer/keyboarder Daniel Flores (The Murder Of My Sweet/Seventh Wonder), the pair augmented by rhythm guitarist Daniel Palmquist and bassist Jonny Trobro, while the guitar solos are handled by a mixture of Palmquist and guest players Christopher Vetter and David Sivelindt. The songwriting however comes from a selection of the cream of the current Melodic Rock crop, with Erik Martensson, Alessandro Del Vechio and the Martin brothers all supplying their unmistakable fare alongside some band co-writes and contributions from Issa, Thomas Vikstrom and Soren Kronqvist. Impressive indeed!
Their efforts aren't wasted, with a mix of classic AOR ala Journey, crashing headlong into the contemporary (well in Melodic Rock circles anyway!) sound of W.E.T. or Work Of Art via the class of the hugely underrated and forgotten Shadow King. Really, it is an AOR fan's dream and Le Blanc doesn't waste the opportunity to provide one of the best vocal performances of the year, over some of the best songs these last twelve months have thrown out.
Everywhere you turn the hooks dig deep, the choruses refuse to leave your mind and the guitar and keyboard interplay inspires fist pumping and air-guitaring. "One Soul" thumps up the tempo, "Powerless" eases through an insistent and surging vocal. Add to that the considered Def Leppard "Hysteria" like "Unbreakable", where the verse builds through staccato riffs into an uplifting outburst, "Wings Of Love" which keyboard parps with the best of them and "The Road To Nowhere" with its guitar soloing flicks, tricks, beeps and whirs and there really isn't one single misfire from start to finish.
Sometimes hype is just that; fluff and bluster, talk and hyperbole. On this occasion, you dismiss Find Me and their Wings Of Love at your peril, for this is as good as AOR gets and much better than most ever believe it can be.
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Find Me: Wings of Love
Posted by Simon Bray, SoT Staff Writer on 2013-09-12 10:28:30
My Score:
This is another of those projects pushed along by Frontiers Records President Serafino Perugino. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. Therein lies the problem with gathering disparate musicians from around the globe and trying to get them to create cohesive records. This is one of those which resoundingly works. This is because of the strength of the songs which come from the metaphorical pens of such melodic rock luminaries as Sören Kronqvist (Crash the System, Sunstorm) and Erik Mårtensson (Eclipse, W.E.T., Jimi Jamison,) the seemingly omniscient Alessandro Del Vecchio (Hardline) and brothers Tom and James Martin (Vega, Sunstorm), together with Issa and Mikey Wilson.
I challenge anyone to listen to the triumphant, life affirming trio of "One Soul", "Powerless" and "Bottom of my Heart" without instantly falling in love with this album. The above comparisons to the titans of the genre are wholly reliable. A welcome surprise.
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