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Stage Dolls from Norway always sounded more American then Scandinavian, and I always loved their music, so I was curious to hear their new album.
The title track is also opening up and the songs shows again that the band's more based in American hard rock and AOR. The ballad Raining On A Sunny Day sounds a bit more mature... Torstein Flakne's expressive vocals are what make this song special. With the boogie woogie rocker Rollin' they show another facet of their sound. Pure fun! With Highway's Open they offer a rocker á la Bryan Adams, prefect for rock radio. After the ballad Eye Of My Heart it's time for another catchy rocker - Better Off Pretty -, at this one the guitar melody is catchy and kinda builds a counter part to the vocals. Cool! Taillights is one of my favorites, this one rocks! I love saxophone and so I really dig Saturday Night, an up-tempo rocker which gets special with it's saxophone and brass. Where The Blacktop Ends has a Southern rock touch and with the backings is sounds very American - even with the Harding fiddle! The closer My Strangest Friend is a country rock song where Torstein Flakne is joined in a duet by Mari Myrholt, her voice matches his very well.
One might ask "why shall I spend money on this one?", well everybody who loved their previous releases and still digs stuff like Bryan Adams, Mr. Big, Warrant, etc. should check out Always! My only criticism: It's way too short! And especially with high CD prices people look for value for money. High quality, but only 10 songs and a running time below 40 minutes, that sums it up.
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