Issa – Run With The Pack

Issa returns with her new album ‘Run With The Pack’, albeit with a slightly different lineup; Italian still, but a different set of musicians.

Written by: gdmonline

ARTIST: Issa
ALBUM: Run With The Pack
LABEL: Frontiers
SERIAL: FRCD 857
YEAR: 2018
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Norway, Italy

LINEUP: Issa Oversveen – vocals * Simone Mularoni – guitars * Alessandro Del Vecchio – keyboards * Andrea Torricini – bass * Marco Di Salvia – drums

TRACK LISTING: 01 Am I Losin’ You * 02 Run With The Pack * 03 Sacrifice Me (feat. Deen Castronovo) * 04 How Long * 05 The Sound Of Yesterday * 06 Come Back Again Now * 07 Talk To Your Heart * 08 Bittersweet * 09 Closer To You * 10 Irreplaceable * 11 Everything To Me * 12 Talk To Your Heart (Acoustic Version, Bonus Track)

RATING: 70/100

WEBLINKS: FB Page

Background

She’s been off the scene since 2015, but Norwegian lass Issa (now a well-honed Yorkshire woman) returns with her new album ‘Run With The Pack’, albeit with a slightly different lineup; Italian still, but a different set of musicians. These include Simone Mularoni on lead guitar from Italian prog-metallers DGM. But have no fear, we still hear the same smooth AOR that has been on all her previous albums. So a new lineup does not mean a new sound.

The Songs

With Mularoni onboard, the Issa sound has gone up a notch. The guitars are definitely on the racy side and overall heavier too. The first two tracks are reasonable and get things off to an even start. Even the duet ‘Sacrifice Me’ featuring new Dead Daisies drummer Deen Castronovo gets struck by the heavier approach.

‘Come Back Again Now’ is a decent effort, you can hear this in the video below. There are two versions of ‘Talk To Your Heart’, a Heart like ballad which didn’t do a lot for me. The harmony vocals on the chorus is awful, definitely way off and out of tune. Not good.

Much better is the rocking ‘Closer To You’, and to a degree ‘Irreplaceable’. There are a few too many ballads for my liking here. Personally, I think record labels should ban them altogether. So songs like ‘Bittersweet’, ‘Everything To Me’ and ‘The Sound Of Yesterday’ are like lead weight to a helium balloon.

In Summary

I know I’m not preaching to the converted here. Fans of Issa’s previous work will enjoy this too no doubt, but I can declare it’s not as good as some of those earlier albums. Good to see her back though, but whether you are inclined to break out the running shoes and join the pack might be one step too far.

Videos

Come Back Again Now