A laid back take on AOR.

Andy ‘Rock’ Peyos is lead guitarist, backing vocalist and main songwriter for the Greek based AOR/melodic rock act Wild Rose. This is his first solo album. Not having heard his band, I cannot say whether the music compares in any way with his day job but if an album of catchy (if safe and predictable) AOR sounds good then ‘Into The Night’ might be another one to add to those ever expanding shopping lists. The record company bio states that Bon Jovi, Richard Marx and early Michael Bolton are references points for this album - they’re not of course, but a band that plays 80s influenced melodic rock can’t be all bad can it?

With ‘Into The Night’ though, I do have a couple of small gripes and I may be being overly harsh (listen to the track on the cover CD to help you decide) but I also have to be totally honest with you and say that while Andy is a very good songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, for me personally he doesn’t always have a big enough voice to always carry off the songs. His vocals pleasant could be much, much stronger for this type of music, so maybe a guest singer might be in order for solo album number two? Also the guitars on the CD could be at times much harder and more up-front in the mix for my tastes. All that said Andy Rock does put a lot of passion into his music which does translate to the songs on this CD.

‘Love Is Not Game’, is a catchy opener with a lot of melodies running through the song, ‘It’s Not Over’ is a mid tempo rocker with a strong riff and another big hook (which is something Andy Rock seems to specialize in), while ‘Lonely Heart’ the album’s first big ballad, with lots of keyboards that join with an emotion filled vocal and a solo from Andy that fits in perfectly with the song, give a good impression of that the album is all about. Then ‘Cryin’ Every Night (In The Rain)’ is another rocker, which reminded me of some of the UK-based AOR bands you heard around the mid-eighties; ‘I Wanna Be With You’ is a full on big production ballad with tons of atmosphere and a strong chorus then ‘Out In The Streets’ is another keyboard driven song that has a nice guitar riff running just under the songs melody and once again Mr Rock has written a strong hookline. Finishing with the title track Andy rocks out big time, the guitars are forceful and the chorus is again memorable and melodic.

So, in summing up I have to say that apart from the few niggles mentioned earlier, this album is not a bad one at all and I did find myself enjoying this laid back take on AOR. So fans of same should give ‘Into the Night’ and Andy Rock a chance, because true AOR albums are quite a rarity these days.

Ian Johnson