Planet Alliance - Planet Alliance

*=Staff's pick	The Real You* Remember Me* Ain't No Pleasin' You Calling My Name* A Taste Of Paradise The Quickening* Divided We Stay It's Your Cross To Bear The Great Unknown Where To Go Digging Your Own Grave

Genre	Melodic Metal	Mike Andersson	Vocals
Tracks	11	Magnus Karlsson	Guitar
Runningtime	48 Min.	Stark/Grimmark/Eklundh	Guitar
Label	Metal Heaven	M. Rosén/B. Daisley	Bass
Release	15 Sept. 2006	A. Johansson/J. Salazar	Drums
Country	Sweden	M. Andersson/M. Karlsson	Keyboards
Similar artists	Last Tribe, Cloudscape, Allen/Lande

Planet Alliance came to life when the producer at Roastinghouse Studio in Malmö Sweden, Anders "Theo" Theander was asked to put together an all-star project with a musical direction focused on melodic hardrock/metal with strong hooklines. Mike Andersson (Cloudscape) and Magnus Karlsson (Last Tribe, Starbreaker, Allen/Lande Project) was asked to lead the project and they both started composing songs exclusively for Planet Alliance in early 2005. Along the way a few more well respected musicians joined the ranks and I must say that the term super project almost is qualified here. The songs are mainly written by Mike and Magnus (four songs each) but Bob Daisley (Gary Moore, ex Ozzy Osbourne) has contributed with two compositions and Janne Stark (Locomotive Breath, Overdrive) with one.

The opener The Real You, penned by Magnus Karlsson, starts calm and majestic and the first minutes must be considered as an intro but when the melodic guitars, chanting choirs and heavy rhythms starts you can almost sense that you are in for a mind blowing experience the next hour or so. The exquisite arrangements and the addictive chorus appealed to me at first listen but there is more to come. Remember Me is a bit more uptempo and straight forward than its predecessor and almost as good. Up next is the Bob Daisley composition Ain't No Pleasin' You which is more in the vein of bluesy hard rock and at first this cut felt like a filler but the more I listen to it the more it gets to me. And then it's time, arriving as track number four we have one of the best tracks I have heard this year, if not the best. The fast and melodic metal monster entitled Calling Your Name is nothing but breathtaking and that is thanks to the majestic chorus. The first time I heard the refrain it was like a punch in the face, extremely catchy but also smart as hell. Even if this is the definitive highlight of the album the quality level maintains on the upper scale through the entire record. The Quickening for example is something such unusual as a great ballad (I'm speaking for myself now…) and Mike has done a great job with his vocal melodies and harmonies on this one. The second half is maybe not as strong as the first but good enough to engage my full interest until the end.

Normally these projects tend to be more interesting than good, a couple of great tracks mixed with leftovers from the main bands of the members involved. This however was a pleasant surprise that clearly deviate from the usual formula. Planet Alliance has produced one of the best albums in the melodic metal genre I have heard in a long time. Those of you who like me dig the earlier works of Mike and Magnus can buy this blind folded. Planet Alliance is simply put a must for every fan of metal/hard rock with the melodies in the front room.

Production	Vocals	Compositions
9	9	8,5

Summary
8,5 chalices of 10 - Hawk