TONY O’HORA: Escape Into The Sun

Cover	Release	Style
	2006-01-27	Melodic hard rock
	Label
	Frontiers
	Website
	-
	Contact
	-
	Playing Time	Cat. N°
	54:52	FR CD 270
	Review by	Rating
	Edwin	10/10
nederlands	Review
Tony O’Hara was the vocalist on Praying Mantis’ ‘Forever In Time’ and ‘Nowhere To Hide’, two albums that are high on my list of all-time favourites. Later he joined Andy Scott’s Sweet, with whom he toured around the world. He just recently left the band because it was getting impossible to combine this with his regular job as a teacher in a music college. Well, he does seem to have found the time to work on a solo album: ‘Escape Into The Sun’ is a collaboration with the mighty Magnus Karlsson. In the course of the last year, Karlsson (Last Tribe) proved himself to be a major songwriter and guitarist with Starbreaker’s debut album and Allan-Lande’s brilliant ‘The Battle’. ‘Escape Into The Sun’ is not as heavy as these, but Karlsson’s crunching guitar and strong production make this album sound extremely powerful as well. This is an album that gripped me from the very first notes. Clearly written with Praying Mantis in mind, this is a stunning collection of gripping and intense songs, with huge melodies, brilliant musicianship and O’Hora’s out-of-this-world vocals. It’s hard to name favourites, as each and every song is of such a high quality. Still, the incredible opener ‘Broken Soul’, the title track, ‘My Final Prayer’ (goose bumps material) the very diverse ‘Evil Love’ and the ultra-emotional ‘More Than We Know’ deserve a special mention. This is everything a melodic rock fan could hope for: powerful, exciting, touching, compelling,… words just fail me. On top of these brilliant songs, there are those magnificent performances by the two protagonists. I just can’t begin to tell you how much O’Hora’s vocals are able to move me. As for Karlsson, we already knew that he is an incredible guitarist, but his extremely beautiful piano playing lifts this album even higher. For me, Tony O’Hara is THE most underrated vocalist in hard rock today. Let’s hope this outstanding collaboration with Magnus Karlsson will bring him the recognition he deserves…
Musicians
Tony O’Hora: All vocals Magnus Karlsson: All instruments
Tracklist
Broken Soul Escape Into The Sun No More Innocence High Enough My Final Prayer Dreamless Nights More Than We Know Close To Me Evil Love Black Wings Start All Over Never Alone


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