The new album by Sweden’s H.E.A.T. is a clear winner in the melodic rock/AOR world and you should hunt it down and buy it as soon as possible.

So is that enough of a review for you???

I didn’t think so and so I’ll continue on and give you some more reasons you should check this great debut album out…

The record starts of with an introduction that could almost remind one of the beginnings of the “Final Countdown” video by fellow countrymen EUROPE and then leads into “There For You” which is a great keyboard-laden AOR rocker. The vocals of Kenny Leckremo are confident and powerful and have more than a slight Joey Tempest flavor.

From the first time I heard the 2nd track, “Never Let Go,” I thought it had a similar structure in parts to “Let The Good Times Rock” off the “Out Of This World” album by the aforementioned EUROPE. It’s a cool track with a little bit of a bluesy feel in the verse and a nice chorus that holds the song together.

“Late Night Lady” again has something of a late 80’s/early 90’s EUROPE sound with its stabbing keyboards. The sound is very “Americanized” ala the direction EUROPE went in with the “Out Of This World” and “Prisoners In Paradise” albums. I touched on it earlier but Leckremo’s vocals are powerful and clear. He is definitely one vocalist to keep an eye on for sure.

“Keep on Dreaming” opens with a brief DEF LEPPARD sounding guitar riff but quickly leads into a more keyboard-laden sound. The song has a great hook and memorable chorus.

“Cry” is the requisite ballad of the album and upon first listen I could almost hear a bit of a Joseph Williams-era TOTO in it. I think I remember reading the band opened for them not that long ago so possibly that is where the influence for this tune lies? Nevertheless, it’s a nice, classy song. About this time I have to mention that the production on the album is top-notch. It’s not too glossy or overproduced but is solid, clean and just punchy enough to make you think back to the glory days of AOR and melodic rock.

The record also delivers other quality tracks like “Straight For Your Heart” (with its great driving sound and nice guitar work), “Feel It Again”, “Straight Up” (complete with a nice bluesy guitar vibe) and “Bring The Stars” (the keyboards are all over this one and it has some cool guitar work also!).

All in all this is an enjoyable and solid release. It’s somewhat of a throwback with its sound but it doesn’t sound all that dated to me either. With all due respect to the output the legendary group EUROPE has put out since reforming a few years ago; I think the sound of this album would have been the more logical follow up to “Prisoners In Paradise.” So if you are a fan of that style of classy melodic, keyboard-driven Scandi-rock you need to check out this debut from H.E.A.T.

I’m going to go on record and say that this first offering from H.E.A.T. is almost as important and relevant to the melodic rock community as the debut records from bands like HAREM SCAREM or GIANT. It really is just about that good!