lista zespołów Melodic Power Ride The Sky New Protection

Ride The Sky's 2007 debut LP, "New Protection" is a product of tried and true radio and movie soundtrack formula with a twist of metal. The synthesizer is the main instrument used to bear the hooking flag for each song and coupled with the highly melodic choruses, the result echoes the kind of singles one would hear from an 80's movie soundrack.

Add to that, almost all of the songs follow a strict pattern of type A songwriting : verse one, chorus, verse two, chorus, solo, repeat chorus. When it works it's great, but from the middle to the end of the album the creativity input wanes, thus making that same pattern dull and old.

That being said, four of the first five songs are quite solid with "A Smile From Heaven's Eye" being the odds on favorite as best song followed by the equally likeable "The Prince of Darkness".
Another interesting point is that Uli Kusch (the former Helloween and Gamma Ray drummer) is credited for the music on every song ! Structurally speaking, this is evident on most of the songs. The rhythm and bass guitar play almost every note that Kusch bangs out, making the songs highly beat driven. From within this stiff direction of beat and song structure, variation as a result becomes minimal. Synth and lead guitar take turns on solos and some fills between vocal lines, bass gets the call to lead the verses in only two songs, ("Break The Chain" + "The End Of Days") and the same number holds true for the rhythm guitar ("Black Cloud" + "Heaven Only Knows").
The vast majority of the songs' themes is introduced via synthesizer in the beginning and echoed by Bjorn Jansson, the lead vocalist during the chorus. His voice is a pleasure to listen to : it's raspy yet strong, a kind of middle ground between screaming and singing. Kusch is also a highlight to listen to as well ; He has to be - he is easily heard while the rhythm guitar sits waaay back on the RTS bus.
"Black Cloud" is probably the only song that features some strong and fast riffing from beginning to end.

The question when listening to "New Protection" then is whether you enjoy their highly produced formula and style. If you prefer variation, virtuosity and metal (on the heavy side), then Ride The Sky's "New Protection" is not the album to play !