Rating: RRRR
Label: LA Records 2020
Review by Kimmo Toivonen
Stan Bush is reliable. When you get a new album from him, there are hardly any surprises - you'll get uplifting anthems and heartfelt ballads. Yes, it's predictable and unadventurous, but he's been doing this better than most others for almost 40 years now, so I'm not complaining.
"Dare To Dream" (not to be confused with 2010 release "Dream The Dream") is full of anthemic, very Survivor-esque songs about never giving up, believing in one's dreams and fighting the battles that need to be fought. Every now and then Stan reminiscences about the "The 80's" (don't we all?) or his father's words ("Dream Big"), and of course there are those ballads ("A Dream Of Love", "Live And Breathe" and the country'ish "Home").
I am thankful that this album doesn't include yet another version of his biggest hit "The Touch", although "Never Give Up" does sound a lot like a re-make...
My personal favorites include "Born To Fight" (the best Rocky soundtrack song you've never heard!), "The Times Of Your Life", which is just pure AOR magic and the intense ballad "A Dream Of Love". Stan himself sounds almost like he did in 1987, which is something quite special. He must be one of those rock vampires who never age, or maybe there's a fountain of youth on his backyard!
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