Rock Blog #36: a few reviews - A Neverending John's Dream, Timeless Fairytale, Victory, Sam Millar

Here’s a few new or at least not that old albums… let’s start with one of the strangest band names in recent history, A NEVERENDING JOHN’S DREAM. Their album ”Coming Back To Paradise” (RRRR) is a decent slice of keyboard-driven, slightly progressive AOR. Apparently this kind of an album has been a dream of band leader, vocalist/drummer Joan ”John” M. Heredia, hence the name. Thanks to John’s rather unique voice and the interesting arrangements, this doesn’t sound like a generic AOR album, John and co. have a sound of their own. There are touches of GTR, Zeno and Rush to be found here. My absolute favourite songs are the magnificent title track and ”Prisoners Of This Life”. 

TIMELESS FAIRYTALE are another band who have recently released their first album ”A Story To Tell” (RRRr). Masterminded by one Luca Sellitto from Italy, the band also features former Royal Hunt vocalist Henrik Brockmann. That might explain why I thought that ”damn, this sounds a lot like early Royal Hunt” when I first listened to this, without knowing who was in the band. It’s just not the vocals only, Timeless Fairytale definitely operates on the same field. You can hear some influences from Yngwie Malmsteen in his prime and Sonata Arctica. Good stuff, but I’m missing a couple of hard hitters, really memorable songs.

VICTORY have been around for decades, but I haven’t really followed their career since the mid-nineties. "Circle Of Life” (RRR) might be the first Victory album I’ve heard since ”You Bought It, You Name It”. And… it’s fairly standard riff-oriented hard rock. A few of the songs have decent melodies and hooks, but there are quite a few which do not, and they end up being instantly forgettable. Current singer Gianni Pontillo has a good, raspy voice that reminds me of their former singer Fernando Garcia and Marc Storace of Krokus and only original member Herman Frank churns out solid riffs, but it’s not enough in the end.

You know the label Earache? The home of Napalm Death, Morbid Angel, Carcass and the likes? One wouldn’t expect them to release one of the finest AOR albums of 2024, but that just what they’ve done! 

At its’ best SAM MILLAR’’S ”Virtual Summer” (RRRRr) is like a breath of fresh air to the genre. It’s a superb mix of 80’s melodic rock and pop, glam, synthwave vibes and modern touches. The choruses are positively explosive, just check out the first two tracks ”The Killing Floor” and ”Fooling Yourself” for example. And how many times have you heard the term ”Neanderthal Man” being used in a rock song, especially combined with a healthy dose of  ”na-na-na”s?