San Francisco based melodic hard rockers EVOLUTION EDEN have been around now for the best part of two decades and, in that time, have guested on tours by everyone from Dokken, Y&T, Winger, Stryper, Mr. Big, through to The Babys, KIX and Tom Keifer as well as headlining hundreds of their own shows. Their upcoming, sixth official release “Sonic Cinema” will be released by Lions Pride Music.
With “Sonic Cinema” the band showcases an expanded repertoire of musical styles and a serious approach to meeting the needs of every modern and classic hard rock fan. Evolution Eden’s maturation as songwriters once again takes center stage, where the 12 tracks span everything from in-your-face rock songs like “On With The Show”, “Blood Runs Wild” and “Music Man” to the work hard / play hard anthem “Here’s To The Good Times”, the nostalgic “The Wild Ones” and heartfelt acoustic-driven ballads like “A Good Thing” and the epic “Land Of Oz”.
The driving “I Gotta Find My Way Back To You” has more than an essence of Night Ranger to it, as did “If Love Is War” which slightly passed me by until the stirring “Land of Oz” undid that very slight blip completely with its stripped down honesty.
The good time classic rock of “Love’s Got A Mind Of Its Own” will be an obvious crowd pleaser, alongside the gritty, stomping anthem “Music Man” and the similarly rousing “On With The Show”. There’s a sleazy and at the same time modern track on “Bad Habit I Don’t Wanna Break”, while “Blood Runs Wild” rocks the speakers like a forearm smash. It’s that good!
The chorus driven, airwave ready “Don’t Let It Go To Waste” is so fun to listen, then we find a cheerful Poison-like “Here’s To The Good Times” which even comes complete with a fine Bret Michaels type delivery. “A Good Thing” is a lovely, uplifting acoustically led ballad, and another highlight arrives with the pleasing, mid-tempo nostalgia fuelled excellence of “The Wild Ones.”
The guitars and alternate lead vocals of Brandon Owen and Mike “Pap” Pappas are perfectly suited to this feel-good set, with my personal preference being whichever one sings lead on the lead-off single for the extra gruffness in delivery, but both are nevertheless in fine form throughout. The faultless rhythm section of Mike McShane on bass and Brian Powell on drums also add consistently polished harmonies across this neatly produced album.
Evolution Eden certainly know their way around a hook-laden, chorus driven song and that is more than evident on this cool collection of summertime, road trip rock n’ roll.
HIGHLY Recommended
01. On With The Show
02. Blood Runs Wild
03. Here’s To The Good Times
04. Love’s Got A Mind Of Its Own
05. A Good Thing
06. Music Man
07. Bad Habit I Don’t Wanna Break
08. The Wild Ones
09. If Love Is War
10. Don’t Let It Go To Waste
11. I Gotta Find My Way Back To You
12. Land of Oz
Brandon Owen – guitar, lead vocals
Mike “Pap” Pappas – rhythm guitar, lead vocals
Mike McShane – bass
Brian Powell – drums
Evolution Eden – Sonic Cinema 2023, MP3+FLAC
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