AMBITION
S/T
Frontiers Records 2006
www.frontiers.it

What’s the 4-1-1?
The president of Frontiers Records played a large role in this project bringing former Trillion vocalist Thom Griffin back to the forefront of AOR singers after an absence of 20 years.

Genre
Rock / melodic rock / hard rock

The Good
The album kicks off with a solid track called “Hold On.” It sets up the rest of the CD perfectly. The guitar solo is pretty hot as well. While this is album is definitely a showcase for vocalist Thom Griffin, it would be remiss not to mention that guitarist Tommy Denander shines here as well. Denander also stands out on “All I Need” and “Hunger.” To be honest, I don’t know much about Thom Griffin, but I really enjoyed this introduction to his singing. He managed to make me enjoy the two straight up ballads on the album, and the rockers are outstanding. You need to check out the songs “Make It Alright” and “Together.” They are both prime examples of high quality hard rocking songs.

The Bad
I wasn’t too crazy about the closing song “Waiting In My Dreams.” It’s a cover of a Mr. Mister song, but it just didn’t do anything for me. Otherwise, there really wasn’t much to complain about.

The Verdict
To put it quite simply, this is a prime cut of melodic rock and roll. I found just about everything here to be of the highest quality and I think melodic rock fans will really rejoice in listening to this CD.

Did You Know?
The producer for this album, Fabrizio Grossi, also played the bass and keyboards, on the disc. He’s most recently worked on albums with Glenn Hughes and Starbreaker. Jean Michel Byron, who appears on three tracks on the CD, formerly sang with Toto.

Rating: out of 5

-- Jay Roberts