Country:Sweden Genre:Melodic Hard Rock/AOR Year:2010
Tracklist: 1. My Valentine 02:30 2. The Devil's Wine 04:31 3. Drama Queen 03:23 4. Skyscraper 03:59 5. Sun Dance 02:57 6. Bitch Is Back 02:13 7. The Thorns 06:00 8. Invasion 05:48 9. All I Wanna Do 03:29 10. Abduction 02:38 11. Crazy Lorraine 04:00
Band: Erik Jayce Landberg: Electric guitars & Steinway piano/ Göran Edman: Vocals & background vocals/ Jens Bock: Drums & percussion/ Christian Pettersson: Bass/
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Swedish guitarist and composer Erik Jayce Landberg was born in the
winter of 1977. Due to his father's professional commitments, he saw
himself growing up in the countryside, between Stockholm and
Switzerland. Being exposed to a constant change of cultures Jayce
developed a strong interest in art and poetry, but had originally no
interest in playing music. However, after his mother's repeated pressure
to play an instrument like the piano or the violin, he saw himself
confronted with a difficult choice. At age 14, he finally gave in and
decided to pick up the guitar and soon after immersed himself in
composition and writing from the very beginning. The piano was Jayce's
next choice, on which he later composed pieces like "Winter" and
"Marilyn". Being exposed to rock and classical music simultaneously he
soon absorbed the essence of the two genres and originally endeavoured
to combine them like his predecessors Malmsteen and Uli Jon Roth. At 18
Jayce left his Swiss household to permanently relocate to Stockholm were
he joined several bands until he finally met with singer Goran Edman
(ex-Yngwie Malmsteen, John Norum, Vindictiv). The two of them set up to
record two songs, "Lost Without You" co-written with Goran and the epic
ballad "Marilyn" which Jayce originally wrote as a classical music
piece. The recording was released as a single in Europe and attracted
soon the attention of record companies abroad. As a result, Jayce signed
a deal with Escape Music to record his debut album "Break The Spell"
also featuring Goran on vocals. "Break the Spell” was a great way to
introduce Jayce, and this second release sees him hone his sound to
perfection and this array of songs will appeal to fans of guitar
orientated rock / metal in the vein of Yngwie Malmsteen. The new release
"Good Sleepless Night” sees Jayce effortlessly turning out fantastic
tunes and beautiful guitar passages backed up with a great rhythm
section and, of course, Goran Edman and Mark Boals (track 8 - Invasion)
handling vocals. The inclusion of John Leven (Europe) on bass is the
icing on the cake. Jayce has matured into a great guitar player and
songwriter and this new release is a magnificent showcase of his
talents, undoubtedly a great start to 2010. Erik
Jayce Landberg is a Swedish guitarist and composer, specialising in
chorus driven hard rock. His 2008 album ‘Break The Spell’ was praised in
melodic rock circles due to its solid musicianship. It’s also
impressive that ex-Yngwie Malmsteen and Vindictiv vocalist Göran Edman
was also on board for that release, given that Landberg was relatively
unknown at that time. Landberg’s second
offering ‘Good Sleepless Night’ is a more than worthy follow up,
featuring its share of enjoyable tracks. The album opens with a heavier
number, ‘My Valentine’, which comes with a chuggy riff and slightly
treated vocals. During the mid-section, Jayce launches into a superb
guitar solo, which features some decent metal shredding; what’s most
amusing here is that the band speed up just to accommodate the solo (a
technique used to great effect on the self-titled album by Swedish cult
band Pole Position). Luckily, Landberg shows some restraint and this is
one of the only times he takes this approach. ‘The Devil’s Wine’ and
‘Skyscraper’ are more mid-paced, providing classy examples of melodic
hard rock. On the latter, Göran Edman is in great shape vocally. There’s
something unmistakably Swedish about the style of hard rock here and
I’m pretty sure it’s not just Edman’s accent. ‘Invasion’,
another track with a mid-paced fists-in-the-air approach, features
vocals by another ex-Malmsteen man - Mark Boals. For those of you
familiar with the styles of Edman and Boals, you’ll know they take a
similar vocal approach. Personally, I’ve always favoured Edman, given
the choice. This album is no exception, since although ‘Invasion’
features some decent musical moments, Boals’s vocal is a little too
squealy for my tastes. Once again though, Landberg is on form and the
guitar solo here is a belter, despite wandering into neo-classical
territory on occasion. ‘Sun Dance’ is a
driving instrumental, highly reminiscent of Joe Satriani, maybe with a
little Gary Hoey thrown in; overall, it has a very natural flow.
Interestingly, for someone who’s been compared to Yngwie Malmsteen, the
main focus here is on groove and melody, rather than shredding and
virtuosity for the sake of it. For ‘The Thorns’ Jayce trades in his
guitar and plays the Steinway piano. During this somewhat melodramatic
ballad, Göran Edman is in fine voice and, once again, harmony vocals are
used to great effect. ‘Abduction’ is a piece of guitar virtuosity that
feels like Lanberg’s answer to Eddie Van Halen’s ‘Eruption’. Naturally,
it’s not as good as that Van Halen landmark and I’d say it felt like
filler, but it redeems itself at the last moment by featuring a flashy
bass solo, played by Europe’s John Leven. With
so much solid material on offer, it seems unfortunate to mention the
album’s bad moments, but I feel it’s only fair I should do so for a
balanced review... ‘Bitch Is Back’ provides stompy hard rock enjoyment
on the surface and makes excellent use of harmony and multi-tracked
vocals, but is let down by poor songwriting and an unnecessary phased
vocal effect on the verses, but thankfully, its punchiness means it’s
short. Also letting the side down lyrically is ‘All I Wanna Do’, which
wanders past the point of tacky and becomes slightly embarrassing. It’s
nowhere near as bad as Chad Kroeger’s smutty meanderings on Nickelback’s
‘Dark Horse’, but it’s still one of those moments where you’ll find
yourself wishing that musicians would leave keep their sexual ardour to
themselves. Although it features those
couple of dodgy tracks, ‘Good Sleepless Night’ is a strong album. It’s
been said that it comes recommended for Yngwie Malmsteen fans – probably
due to its connections with both Göran Edman and Mark Boals. While on
that basis Malmsteen’s followers are likely to give this a listen, I
feel this is an album an appeal beyond that, as it offers far fewer
neo-classical influences than most of Malmsteen’s work and, as
consequence, feels less self-indulgent. Most melodic rock fans should
find something to enjoy here as, like Landberg’s debut, ‘Good Sleepless
Night’ offers accessible songs and musical prowess.
http://realgonereviews.blogspot.com/2010/03/jayce-l...less-nights.html
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