Ralph Santolla? Who would have thought?
The guy has toured with Death and was -until recently- member of Deicide 😯
Too extreme for my taste I must say, I prefer NWoSDM the way it was played in the late 90s/early 00s.
The Swedes certainly knew better: The harsh vocals were counterbalanced by Iron Maiden-esque guitars;
lose the singer and you got yourself a traditional Heavy Metal band 😉
You know, old-school Death Metal fans still reject this particular scene for being too *soft* but that’s an entirely different story.

What we wave here is a fine example of how Melodic Hard Rock SHOULD be.
What’s more, mighty Jørn Lande (IMHO, the most *complete* singer of the last two decades) joins in, replacing Todd Plant.
Smart move, Jørn’s presence alone makes any album worth listening/buying etc.
If you thing he’s merely a singer, you’re wrong. The man is an ALCHEMIST (meaning his voice can turn coal into gold!)
“Hourglass” is no exception.
Too bad the CD has gone out of print and it’s only available on eBay auctions and the like [I paid $21.50 for this near mint used copy]
If you find one, grab it at once – you won’t have many chances…

Best among equals:
#5 “Superstar” [for some reason a part of it reminds me of “Three pretenders” by Kansas – Steve Morse era]
#10 “Chasing time”: the way Jørn’s voice climaxes while Santolla has just started his guitar solo is SOUL TEARING.
Don’t believe me? Fine. Press play, then skip forward at approx. 02:30 (right after “There’s no way out inside this Babylon”)
Now tell me IT DIDN’T BRING TEARS TO YOUR EYES!

Last minute note:
I slightly altered the tracklisting. The bonus track, “Jane” a Jefferson Starship cover, is *hidden*.
Joint with “Chasing time” to be precise, it starts at 05:45 [a 30 second gap intervenes].
Why they did that, I have no idea.
In fact at first, I thought I’d been ripped off since there’s absolutely no indication of an extra track. Go figure…

Jørn Lande at Wikipedia
Ralph Santolla at Wikipedia
“Hourglass” at RateYourMusic
“Hourglass” at Discogs

Record Label: Nippon Crown/Now & Then
Catalogue Number: CRCL-4545
UPC: 4988007170925
Rights Society: JASRAC [Japan]
Mastering SID Code: IFPI L275
Matrix/Runout: CRCL-4545 2
Mould SID Code: IFPI 4566

Tracklist:
01. The power to love [4:28]
02. Wheels are turning [4:10]
03. Hourglass [6:42]
04. No more miracles [3:49]
05. Superstar [3:10]
06. Rocket ride [3:23]
07. I will follow [5:36]
08. I still believe [5:09]
09. Masquerade [4:13]
10. Chasing time / Jane [Bonus track] [9:56]
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
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Mirrors:
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FLAC level 8 | v1.2.1 [Filecloud.io]
FLAC level 8 | v1.2.1 [Filefactory.com]
FLAC level 8 | v1.2.1 [Firedrive.com]
FLAC level 8 | v1.2.1 [Hulkfile.com]
FLAC level 8 | v1.2.1 [Fileserve.com]
FLAC level 8 | v1.2.1 [Mega.co.nz]
FLAC level 8 | v1.2.1 [Megaupload.com]
FLAC level 8 | v1.2.1 [Netkups.com]
FLAC level 8 | v1.2.1 [Solidfiles.com] ✔ [05/06/2018]
FLAC level 8 | v1.2.1 [Uptobox.com]

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Mirrors:
mp3 VBR V0 | LAME v3.98.2 [Filecloud.io]
mp3 VBR V0 | LAME v3.98.2 [Filefactory.com]
mp3 VBR V0 | LAME v3.98.2 [Hulkfile.com]
mp3 VBR V0 | LAME v3.98.2 [Fileserve.com]
mp3 VBR V0 | LAME v3.98.2 [Mega.co.nz]
mp3 VBR V0 | LAME v3.98.2 [Megaupload.com]
mp3 VBR V0 | LAME v3.98.2 [Netkups.com]
mp3 VBR V0 | LAME v3.98.2 [Solidfiles.com] ✔ [09/12/2012]

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