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A.C.T.: Remasters

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Any readers left, not knowing Swedish band A.C.T.? If you are amongst them, then this is your chance to do something about it. After the release of their last album, the record label Inside Out has now remastered also the first 3 albums and they have added some bonus tracks and/or videos. Their music has always been compared with Saga, It Bites, Queen, 10cc and other rock legends of the seventies, probably this is the reason why true symphonic rockers have turned their back on them. Bit if you take the time to listen carefully to all tracks, than you will certainly hear a lot of progressive rock. Singer Herman has an important impact on the overall sound of the band with his poppy voice, but the musicians are sometimes in high contrast with some heavy progressive metal, this makes their music so special. You may already find a review of Today’s Report and Last Epic on our site, the album in between Imaginary Friends is the perfect bridge between the others, violins appearing for the first time and the tracks become more recognizable and catchy (the refrain of Take it Easy remains in your head forever). This album was also the end of the cooperation of drummer Thomas Erlandsson, doing just a bit of percussion on Last Epic, but he was replaced on drums by the charismatic Thomas Lejon.

But is there truly a higher value compared with the previous releases? The covers have been redesigned (don’t really know if they are that much better), the booklets are more extended than before, the tracks have been remastered (although you may not hear the difference on a common hifi system) and a number of bonus tracks and videos have been added. Grandpa Phone Home is based on a reggae rhythm in a typical A.C.T. act, the sound holding the middle between 10cc and Abba. Apparently they have won a music contest with this song, and it was played often on local radio stations, but it never turned out to be a hit. New Age Polka is a lot more interesting with different tempo changes and nice patterns on guitar and keyboards. A nice video of Welcome somewhere in Sweden concludes this album.

Imaginary Friends contains an interesting video of ‘The making of’, where you can look behind the screens and get to know better the musicians by means of interviews. At the end of the album you can hear the very emotional track Catherine, written and sung by drummer Tomas, it appears to be his last contribution to the band A.C.T. But the cherry on the cake is certainly the splendid heavy cover of ‘Mice in a Maze’ of Saga, strangely it is not mentioned at all on the credits.

‘Last Epic’ is and remains a fantastic album and has been completed with 4 bonus tracks: the demo versions of Ted’s Ballad and Summary (only vocals and keyboards) and Mr. Landlord (fully instrumental), the medley on violins of most of the tracks on the album is surely a nice added value.

In a nutshell, there are a lot funny extras on this remastered albums, but one may ask if it’s a must for fans, already having all previous albums. But each album of A.C.T. is really recommended!
 

Musicians

 Jerry Sahlin : synthesizers, lead & backing vocals, vocoder & deck of cards
Ola Andersson : electric & acoustic guitars, lead & backing vocals
Peter Asp : bass guitar, synthesizer bass & bass pedals
Herman Saming : lead & backing vocals
Thomas Lejon : drums & percussion

Today's Report (1999)

Imaginary Friends (2001)

Last Epic (2003)

Silence (2006)

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Last updated: 20 mei 2007 .
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