Former On The Rise main man Terje Eide returns to the public eye in 2023 after many years out of the spotlight.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Terje
ALBUM: Recalibrate
LABEL: Terje Eide Music Production
SERIAL: TEMPCD001
YEAR: 2023
CD INFO: Discogs Info List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Norway
LINEUP: Terje Eide – all vocals, all instruments
TRACK LISTING: 01 Why Don’t We * 02 Play It Loud * 03 On Fire * 04 Recalibrate * 05 Rolkin’ * 06 To Be Continued * 07 Light Of A New Day * 08 All I’ve Got * 09 Pathways * 10 Rock Your World
RATING: 80/100
Terje Background
Terje Eide was best remembered by melodic rock fans as being one half of the Bergen based duo On The Rise. Initially Terje paired up with singer Bennech Lyngboe for their 2003 debut. An excellent album.
However, Lyngboe would depart for a solo career under the band name Main Attraction. He released a one-off album for MTM Music in 2006.
Eide would resurrect On The Rise for 2009’s ‘Dream Zone’ this time pairing up with guitarist Christian Wolff. This time, OTR was far more rockier, which leads me into Terje’s 2023 return ‘Recalibrate’.
Though nearly fifteen years have passed, I’m pleased to say that Terje is back with a bang. Much like a Norwegian firecracker on a cold winters night. The material here bears no comparison to the magic of debut era On The Rise. Just thought I’d clear the air on that one.
The Songs
Listening to this album, I can sense that I need to give this set a thorough going over. Any half decent album will require a bit of dedication under the headphones, as it does here.
‘Why Don’t We’ sets the tone right from the start. It’s far tougher than OTR as mentioned earlier. But even so, the melodies flow as do the huge vocal stacking on the choruses.
‘Play It Loud’ was the first song I heard from the album, and was immediately connected to it. The rolling drum work and the happy go lucky sound was easy to like. Great track.
‘On Fire’ contains darker hues of energy. This song almost transforms into a metal track when compared to the rest of the material here.
The title track ‘Recalibrate’ is similar to stuff we’ve heard from Swedish guitarist Michael Palace on his recent albums. Again rolling drum work merges with cascading verses which gives it a near symphonic vibe. Check out the vocal choruses too.
‘Rollin’ is the album’s pure hard rock moment. Everything from the rough and tough guitar work to the organ overload suugests as much. Not to forget – the road warrior lyrics.
‘To Be Continued’ sees the guitar chugalug dominating proceedings. There’s nothing really wrong with this track, but I didn’t take to it as much as the others.
‘Light Of A New Day’ to my ears is an attractive melodic acoustic/electric hybrid. It’s a beautiful affair actually. Strings, piano and acoustic guitar take center stage though the ending solo is electric.
‘All I’ve Got’ reverts to a hard rock affair. The is similar to many European melodic rock bands were covered over the last decade or so.
‘Pathways’ was in the same bracket as ‘To Be Continued’. Apart from loads of widdly lead guitar, this one didn’t quite connect.
The closer ‘Rock Your World’ is replete with organ and synth parts plus some tough guitar. The chorus though didn’t set the world on fire unfortunately.
In Summary
As mentioned, great to see Terje Eide back in the saddle. It’s clear we are dealing with a very talented musician. He’d have no problem applying for life membership at GDM.
‘Recalibrate’ is definitely an album for melodic rockers to investigate as we navigate our way towards Christmas.
Terje on Video
Click to go to YTM album page.
