Wednesday, January 12, 2011

MISS BEHAVIOUR: "Last Woman Standing"


Rating: 8/10

Label: Avenue Of Allies 2011

Review by Kimmo Toivonen

Back in 2006 I reviewed the first Miss Behaviour album, gave it 6/10 and wondered why the vocals sounded off-key. At the same time, I congratulated them for the fine background vocal work, courtesy of Sebastian Roos (of the band Shineth). Now some 4 years later, the band has revamped line-up, and replaced the old vocalist with the aforementioned Roos. They also recruited a new drummer, Anders Berlin, who was also a member of Shineth previously.

As far as I recall, the band's sound used to be more metallic compared to their current hard-edged AOR style. The slightly more melodic, keyboard-driven approach sounds good to me, and the band has managed to come up with a good album. Sebastian, the "new" guy behind the microphone has a good, if a bit nasal voice, which suits this kind of rock just fine. Henrik Sproge's keyboards are the forefront, but don't dominate the sound. There's plenty of cool guitarwork to be found here, including a guest solo by Roland Grapow on "Perfect War", one of the heavier tracks.

My favourite tracks of the album include the stomping opener "1988", the highly melodic "Cynthia" which reminds me a little of an old Finnish eighties hit "Spanish Bars" by Paul Oxley's Unit and the classy ballad "Till We Meet Again". Strangely enough, my least favourite songs are the ones featuring guests - not because of the guests, but somehow both "Perfect War" and the title track are a bit plodding for me.

Anyway, fans of the Scandinavian AOR/Hard rock bands should check this album out, as they'll hear echoes of Europe, Treat, Pretty Maids and others. Good work!


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