Grand – ‘Grand’

(Frontiers Records)

This is the debut album from Grand and what a way to kick off their discography! This is a pure AOR masterpiece and is a real contender for my album of the year without a doubt. I absolutely love this style of music, its uplifting and emotional, the songs exhibit beautiful soundscapes which totally captivate me. It either has me singing along or lost in its beautiful melodies, I really can’t enthuse about this album enough it is a real revelation and easily one of the greatest things I’ve heard in a long time.

Vocalist and Grand main man Mattias Olofsson is a revelation, his song writing is superb and his lyrics impeccable, full of emotion and easy to relate to. He has a strong emotive voice which has a warmth that I find so compelling. I have a new favourite band and I really hope this is just the beginning for Grand. Work Of Art fans will dig this as there is lots of comparisons I can make between them but I’d say Grand has probably have a keener ear for traditional AOR – elements of Richard Marx and Starship do pop in the mix.

The Keyboard work is insane and there is so much diversity in its performance. It always excites me when bands fully embrace keyboards in their music and not always beef up the guitars and that’s what Grand do. Its all about the melody and the atmospherics.

That’s not to say the guitar work is downplayed it’s just not heavy or overpowering it enhances the melodies and the songs. In fact, I’m sure most AOR fans will praise the guitar work more so than the Keyboards.

‘Caroline’ is AOR perfection, tinkling keyboards and uplifting sing along chorus and all. ‘Anything For You’ features some very emotive keyboards and it’s a beautiful heartfelt ballad which really struck a chord with me. There are so many highlights the bittersweet ‘Once In A Blue Moon’ the uplifting ‘Those Were The Days’ and the rousing ‘Stone Cold’ are just the tip of the iceberg.

If you’re a fan of pure AOR fan you have to check Grand out it’s an out of this world album which will enchant you – it resonates so deeply with me it reminds me of why I love this style of music. It’s feel-good soundtrack of the summer stuff and I’m going to play it over and over again! Grand put a huge smile on my face, proof heartfelt AOR can still be made.

10/10

Essential Track - 'Caroline'

Review by Woody