Hiding behind the moniker The V is Veronica Freeman, of Benedictum fame. “Now or Never” is her first solo album and she is taking a different direction with this album than we are usually familiar from her: melodic hard rock songs about love, relationships and so on.
But she is not selling out or wimping out here: no, she is just showing another side of her talent. The songs have drive, are full of energy and they are all well crafted, delivered and written. Pete Wells has helped out in the writing process and she has called in many favours to record the album.
Just look at the names lending a helping hand on guitars and bass: Rikard Stjernquist (Benedictum), Michael Sweet (Stryper), Jeff Pilson (Dokken), Mike Lepond (Symphony X) and Jimmy Durkin (Dark Angel) to name a few. And there has also been room for vocal duets on the album where Leather Leone (Chastain) and Tony Martin (Black Sabbath) have contributed on this album.
“Now or Never” is an album where Veronica Freeman is the star, it’s all about her voice, like it should be on a solo album. And she gets away with it in fine fashion; this is a solid piece of melodic hard rock, with some cool songs. It shows a gentler and more laid back version of her singing style, one that she also masters and I am sure even hardcore Benedictum fans will find pleasing moments on this album.
Tracklist:
- Again
- Now Or Never
- Rollcoaster
- L.O.V.E
- Line In The Sand
- Love Should Be To Blame
- Kiss My Lips
- Spellbound
- Starshine
- Below Zero
- Ready To Run
- King For A Day
Playing time: 48:09
Release date: July 3, 2015
Label: Frontiers Records
Website: www.veronicafreeman.com
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