Their 1984 debut ‘Fire Breaks The Dawn’ was a product of its time, old school melodic metal, but 37 years later and Proud have morphed nicely into a pure melodic rock outfit as if born to it.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Proud
ALBUM: Second Act
LABEL: AOR Heaven
SERIAL: AORH00232
YEAR: 2021
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: 
LINEUP: Anders Magnell – lead vocals, guitars * Robert Horvath – bass, backing vocals * Mats Christiansson – drums, backing vocals
Additional Musicians: Richard Larsson – keyboards, recording and engineering
TRACK LISTING: 01 Sail Away * 02 Broken Dreams * 03 Magic * 04 Born For Your Love * 05 Crying In The Night * 06 Dangerous * 07 Higher * 08 Hold On * 09 I’m Ready * 10 Fly Like An Eagle
RATING: 
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
The Swedish band Proud made a comeback in 2021 after first making waves back in the early 80’s. Firstly as the band Burn and then renaming themselves Proud. There was already another Swedish band called Burn (reviewed in our 1984 archive) which necessitated the change.
Their 1984 debut ‘Fire Breaks The Dawn’ was a product of its time, old school melodic metal in the vein of fellow Swedes Six Feet Under, Biscaya, Heavy Load and Silver Mountain. 37 years later and Proud have morphed nicely into a pure melodic rock outfit as if born to it.
The Songs
I initially missed the Proud promo for this May 2021 release from AOR Heaven, so we’re only getting to it now. There are nice tunes onboard that fits both the Glory Daze and AOR Heaven demographic, and it maintains a consistent level of quality from up in the Scandinavian North.
For a band with origins in the 80’s metal genre, its astounding how good Proud sound in the here and now. Keyboards play an important part on ‘Second Act’, acting as a integral part of the sound without dominating. Who would’ve thought? As a result, there’s not a weak moment to be found on the album – at least to my way of listening.
Highlights include the tracks ‘Sail Away’ and ‘Magic’, both of which have videos for them, check them out below. Plus, there are no ballads to speak of, all of the ten tracks rock out to the end. Check out the blistering ‘Born For Your Love’ or the twin barrel of ‘Dangerous’ and ‘Higher’, both guaranteed to get the excitometer pumping, but really, the whole album is a highlights reel. They’ve only had 37 years to perfect their songwriting ability.
In Summary
These three chaps plus guest Richard Larsson have released a cracker of an album, but you’d expect nothing less from the Swedes who seem to put out a bundle of sublime albums every year. I think that Proud might fly under the radar for many melodic rockers during 2021, we hope to put that right with this article which is – better late than never.
Video
Sail Away
Magic
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