Dangerdog Music Reviews :: © 1999 - 2025 Craig S Hartranft :: All Rights Reserved
No part of this this website, including design and music reviews,
may be reproduced in any form or by any means without
the prior written permission of the publisher.
CELEBRATING 18 YEARS!
- New Music Reviews
- |
- Archives
- |
- News
- |
- Submissions
- |
- About
- |
- |
New Music Reviews, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Progressive Rock, Progressive Metal, AOR, Alternative Rock, Alternative Metal
Recent Reviews
March 2025
- W.E.T.: Apex
- Alliance: Before Our Eyes
- Ginevra: Beyond Tomorrow
- Phil X & The Drills:
Pow! Right In The Kisser - IQ: Dominion
- Heart Line: Falling Heaven
- Gotthard: Stereo Crush
- Defender: Dying To Live
- Streetlight: Night Vision
February 2025
- Robin McAuley: Soulbound
- Perfect Plan: Heart Of A Lion
- Craig Brooks: Desolation Freeway
- Mantric Momentum: Alienized
- Pattern-Seeking Animals: Friend Of All Creatures
- Crazy Lixx: Thrill Of The Bite
- Ginger Evil: The Way It Burns
- Dream Theater: Parasomnia
- Tyran: Tyran's Oath
- Saber: Lost In Flames
January 2025
- Wildness: Avenger
- The Ferrymen: Iron Will
- Labyrinth: In The Vanishing Echoes Of Goodbye
- Bonfire: Higher Ground
- The Big Deal: Electrified
- Landfall: Wide Open Sky
December 2024
- After Lapse: Pathways
- Illusion Force: Halfana
- Powell-Payne: Voilá
November 2024
- Sunstorm: Restless Fight
- Storace: Crossfire
- Voodoo Circle: Hail To The King
- Lionville: Supernatural
- Starchaser: Into The Great Unkown
- Empires Of Eden: Guardians Of Time
- Lonerider: Down In The Dust
- Seventh Crystal: Entity
- Neal Morse & The Resonance: No Hill For A Climber
- Beardfish: Songs For Beating Hearts
- Impellitteri: War Machine
- Brothers Of Metal: Fimbulvinter
Phoenix Rising: On the Loose
Phoenix Rising: On the Loose
Melodic (Hard) Rock / AOR
3.5/5.0
Here's an original project, Phoenix Rising, from two very talented Italian musicians: Titta Tani (Vocals/background vocals and drums) and Paolo Caucci (guitars, bass-guitar and keyboards). They both have varied backgrounds, including progressive rock and other genres. With On the Loose they combine for AOR melodic rock.
Phoenix Rising:: in studio.
Call it derivative, but the tunes on On the Loose are natural, a bit heavier, AOR melodic rock. This material would be for fans of Giant, Pride of Lions, and most any intense European melodic hard rock. On the Loose Again, Mr. Dr, Written on a Stone, and Give It a Name are examples of his heavier AOR sound. But that's not dismissing the hooks or melodies within. More traditional AOR melodic rock comes with No Lie to Say and Believe, both very catchy songs.
So, essentially, On the Loose is an AOR hybrid. While the original songs are examples of this heaver melodic AOR, especially On the Loose Again, there's a cover song that gives balance. That song is Talk to You Later, possibly the only accessible song by The Tubes; by Phoenix Rising, it's less Eighties New Wave and more hard rock. It makes me wonder if the band would do better doing cover songs: it's that good.
Bottom line: On the Loose is adequate and entertaining AOR melodic rock, definitely on the harder side of the genre. There's much promise here, both in musicianship and songwriting. Let's hope for more and better in the future. Recommended.
Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.
TweetIn Short
Bottom line: On the Loose is adequate and entertaining AOR, and heavier, melodic rock There's much promise here, both in musicianship and songwriting. Let's hope for more and better in the future.
Find A Review
Alphabetical Index
New & Notable
Here's a fun fact about Swiss legends, Gotthard: their last 16 releases, excepting their debut album, went to number one in their home country, making them one of Switzerland's most successful acts and ... [ Read More ]