Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES

August 2008
Released: 2007, Frontiers
Rating: 2.0/5
Reviewer: Chaosankh

Vision Divine vocalist Michele Luppi is obviously a big fan of the lightest variety of eighties rock. Apparently AOR bands of that bygone era had a major impact on his desire to become a singer in the first place. Bands like Heart, Night Ranger, and Journey are the clear influences behind his tribute-to-the-eighties project, Los Angeles. The end result is a saccharine sweet pop rock collection of songs about love.



The eleven songs that make up this platter are hyper-polished with a glistening production. Big hooks, flashy backing harmonies, and sweet eighties rock guitar solos seep through your speakers on every track. “I Must be Blind” is a stand out track. With its Van Hagar guitar tone in the verses and its nod to Scandal’s “The Warrior” in its backing vocals, the song is extremely catchy. Unfortunately, it’s really kind of difficult to comment on any other tracks as exceptional, though, as most tend to tread the same water. Knowing that Richard Marx and Kelly Keagy wrote some of these songs should let you know all you need to about what to expect here – a mix of sentimental ballads and sappy mid tempo rock songs.



Your affection for this album will likely depend on how much you like fluff. There’s nothing really going on here of any artistic or intellectual value, but it’s pleasant enough to listen to for a time or two. Michele Luppi proves that his voice fits perfectly in this type of effeminate pop rock as well as it does in his main band’s prog/power metal sound. He succeeds in capturing the vibe of that slick-sounding era; however, it seems unlikely that there are many people out there who actually miss this type of music enough to waste time giving this album a chance.