As far I’m concerned, Care Of Night sit near the top of my AOR totem-pole, whether it’s the fantastic vocal of Calle or the super ivory work from Wachen.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Care Of Night
ALBUM: Love Equals War
LABEL: AOR Heaven
SERIAL: AORH00177
YEAR: 2018
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Sweden
LINEUP: Calle Schonberg – vocals * Viktor Anstrom Berg – guitars, bass * Kristofer von Wachenfeldt – keyboards, backing vocals * Linus Svensson – drums, backing vocals
TRACK LISTING: 01 Love Equals War * 02 Your Perfection * 03 She Leads You On * 04 All I Got * 05 Hit * 06 Ivory Tower * 07 Cold As My Heart * 08 Please Don’t Leave * 09 We Will Find A Way * 10 At Last
RATING: 85/100
WEBLINKS: FB Link
Care Of Night Background
Glory Daze have been ardent supporters of Care Of Night, since they first entered our consciousness back in 2013. That was an EP’s worth of material, which sounded way better than bands with recording deals.
Surely common sense would prevail? It did, the band signing with AOR Heaven the following year, releasing their debut ‘Connected’ in January 2015.
As far I’m concerned, this band sit near the top of my AOR totem-pole. Whether it’s the fantastic vocal of Calle or the super ivory work from Wachen, I’m hooked!
However, the band have undergone a line-up change, with guitarist Jonathan Carlemar and bassist Jonas Rosengren departing the fold. Replacing them is guitarist Viktor Anstrom Berg. Welcome to the band Viktor.
The Songs
The album kicks off with the title-track ‘Love Equals War’, which is a well-crafted track that builds nicely over the course of six minutes. All the attributes the band are best known for are evident here.
‘Your Perfection’ features cutting guitar work from new boy Viktor, and it propels the song along at a good clip. The perfectly timed keyboard parts are a welcome bonus too.
‘She Leads You On’ has some familiar parts from previous material. I kept hearing aspects of ‘Say A Prayer’ filtering through upon closer inspection. Fine by me.
Turning up the tempo is the gregarious ‘Hit’, yes, a basic song-title but a stomping rocker it is. Gotta love the thick guitar/keyboard interplay on ‘Ivory Tower’, the pairing dominates this track like a boss.
‘Cold As My Heart’ sees Care Of Night going through their Osukaru moment, with a saxophone appearing out of the blue, much to my shock and surprise. Its presence doesn’t really fit unfortunately.
‘Please Don’t Leave’ shuffles through different phases without really settling on any one in particular. The synths stabs are quite hard when they kick in, though the verses are a bit tame.
‘We Will Find A Way’ lifts it up a notch, the guitar much tougher on this one, while the chorus reinforces how melodic this lot are. The album closer ‘At Last’ is a restrained affair, power-ballad in nature, melodic and lush to the core.
In Summary
Overall this is a very solid album. The arrangements are glorious, if you’re into that thick keyboard layer thing, like me. As to be expected on just about any album these days, the end result contains a batch of super songs, while some others don’t hit the mark, like ‘Cold As My Heart’ for instance.
It’s not inconsistent per se, and I’ll need to give it some power listening and perhaps drop in some comment/feedback in a month or so after it’s been through the wringer. If you like Care Of Night and what they’ve achieved so far, then you probably don’t need a second invitation. Check it out.
Care Of Night on Video
Love Equals War
Click to go to YTM album page.
