The second album from Rockett Love is full of energetic and tough rockers and killer anthems, which is what we had last time from these boys.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Rockett Love
ALBUM: Greetings From Rocketland
LABEL: AOR Heaven
SERIAL: AORH00191
YEAR: 2019
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Sweden
LINEUP: Daniel Samuelsson – lead vocals * Stefan Westerlund – guitars, vocals * Gustaf Eklund – lead guitars, vocals * Dennis Vestman – bass, vocals * Fredrik Ahlin – drums, percussion, vocals
TRACK LISTING: 01 Back On My Feet * 02 Bite The Bullet * 03 I Want Out * 04 Get Ready * 05 Take Me Home * 06 King For One Day * 07 Writing On The Wall * 08 Reaching Out * 09 Like An Endless Distant Sky * 10 Wait * 11 A Heart Without A Soul
RATING: 90/100
WEBLINKS: FB Page
Background
Two years ago the Swedish band Rockett Love came out of nowhere and delivered a debut album which was pretty good for its time. It was called ‘Grab The Rocket’, and that review is on this site under our 2017 articles. Refer to the #Rockett Love tag below.
Signed to AOR Heaven, Rockett Love return for album number two: ‘Greetings From Rocketland’. Back then, Beau Hill was involved, this time Erik Martensson handles the mix and gives this platter a metallic sheen.
Sure, there are references to some of those comparisons we referred to last time, and they’re still here, glad to say. Also we add, that a couple of blokes from the band Grand Design feature in this band too, namely Westerlund and Vestman.
The Songs
The album is full of energetic and tough rockers and killer anthems, which is what we had last time from these boys. No complaints from me. The lead off track ‘Back On My Feet’ has been on the You Tube dial for a few weeks now, and you can tell from this one track what I mean about energetic melodic rock. ‘Bite The Bullet’ is equally rampant on the energy levels, it’s like these boys have a crate of Gatorade bottles at the ready!
The Rockett Boyz take the foot off the accelerator for a few minutes as ‘I Want Out’ drops the intensity just a touch. They don’t quite have enough gas to get to AOR Land, still remaining in a melodic rock orbit. Despite the title, ‘Get Ready Go!’ doesn’t leave the starters blocks in quite the fast start that you’d expect, again reaching out to the fringes of AOR but not quite getting there. Still pretty good though.
The bonafide ballad would have to be ‘Take Me Home’, the lucid melodies graduating to power levels by chorus time. It kinda has Harem Scarem and the more melodic elements of the Pretty Maids from a few albums ago.
That Harem Scarem comparison kicks in again on ‘King For One Day’, which has probably been given a production boost by Martensson just for the hell of it! The boyz rip it into once more, with tough guitars and a relentless metronome the features on ‘Writing On The Wall’. Good stuff!
Rockett Love are heading to the finish line with lots in store, ‘Reaching Out’ manages to keep the momentum and interest levels high as we head into the back end of the album. ‘Like An Endless Distant Sky’ pushes the intensity up a notch, with swirling verses and bridge sections coupled with a punchy chorus.
‘Wait’ is the penultimate track, and finally Rockett Love land on planet AOR. It still ticks along at a decent clip, but it’s the melodies in particular the vocal choruses which give it that extra topping of icing on the cake. ‘A Heart Without A Soul’ finishes up the album nicely, rollicking and rolling to the end without whimpering on a fade out.
In Summary
The overall consistency of ‘Greetings From Rocketland’ is overall very high. The musicianship is spot on, the mix is powerful without there being a wall of sound to overpower things. A bit more variety in the songwriting department will help to provide some constrast across the entire playing time, so maybe that’s something for next time. Another great effort, so grab the rockeeters outfit and strap in for the ride.
Rockett Love on Video
Click to go to YTM album page.
