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Heart Line: Back In The Game
Heart Line - Back In The Game Album Art

Heart Line: Back In The Game

Melodic Hard Rock/AOR
4.0/5.0

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Pride & Joy Music
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 10.11.2021 | Released: 19.11.2021

Formed in 2020,Heart Line is a new band created by French guitarist and producer Yvan Guillevic (YGAS, PYG, United Guitars). The music entrepreneur recruited friends from the French music scene, notably from the native band Shadyon including vocalist Emmanuel Creis, keyboardist Jorris Guilbaud, and drummer Walter Français. Now the band offers their debut album Back In The Game, arriving on Germany's Pride & Joy Music.

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Heart Line

Essentially, Guillevic and Heart Line create classic melodic hard rock with AOR accessibility, drawing influences from bands such as Whitesnake, Journey, Winger, Bad English, and many more. That's some notable and impressive company to keep. The question is, did Heart Line pull it off. Yeah, overall, I think so. Mostly, being piloted by a guitarist, the songs are riff rockers driven by Guillevic fret work, then generally lead to an guitar immense solo. Along the way the rhythm section delivers vibrant rock beat and groove; the vocal arrangements are clean and melodic invoking solid harmony; keyboards add some ambience and texture; and the songs are quite catchy in their melodies and refrains. This is necessarily sufficient, a tried and true AOR melodic rock formula. The songs are also, in the best way, somewhat redundant for Heart Line; it's a constant consistency, yet one that lacks some musical drama. Generally, most songs across the album have an effortless start that can be distilled to riffs and rhythm section. Then, synths appear, vocals rise, groove gallops, choruses accent, and then a guitar solo ascends. This is heard within Fire Dance, I Long To Rise, Stranger In The Night, Back In The Game, and Fighting To Live. Some differences can be found with the heavier Hold On or the both fast and heavier On Fire. Perhaps lifting the AOR arena readiness is I'm In Heaven. No doubt my favorite song, and quite different from everything else, was In The City, an AOR number with a superb piano line and then invoking some West Coast atmosphere.

All said, Heart Line's Back In The Game is a fine first album, one that displays their skill in crafting Eighties and classic, perhaps generic, AOR melodic hard rock, but sound nevertheless. Check out the sounds and support the band.




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The Take Away

All said, Heart Line's Back In The Game is a fine first album, one that displays their skill in crafting Eighties and classic, perhaps generic, AOR melodic hard rock, but sound nevertheless.

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