Whilst I appreciate that the accompany press release says that Elevener, “joined forces in 2005 to make music sounding as if the 90’s had never existed,” nothing could had prepared me for the sheer anachronistic joy of When Kaleidoscopes Collide. It absolutely could be 1987 all over again such is the totally fluffy parp-tastic nature of this disc. Therein lies the rub though – if you thought that the 1990’s were a barren wasteland musically thanks to Kurt and his cronies then there’s a chance that you’ll love this. If you thought that grunge needed to kill off faceless hair metal and AOR acts, then you’ll need avoid this like the proverbial plague. 

Personally, I’ve had this on constant rotation since I got it and I imagine I’ll find it difficult to listen to the other stuff that is in my in tray for quite a while because Elevener have hit the melodic rock button squarely on the head. I suspect that some may find the vocals of Johan Bergquist somewhat of an acquired taste as he does appear to strain occasionally. Bergquist previously appeared on HammerFall’s Crimson Glory CD as well as the wonderful pop metal classic Stefan Elmgren’s Full Strike. He is also an alumnus of M.ill.ion. This time out, with his partner in crime Andreas Broden, he has created a first rate piece of AOR that satisfies on every level. 

Where to start? Tracks like Shooting Star and A Thousand Girls are the work of a band that must have been cryogenically frozen time in order to produce such a flawless facsimile of 1980’s west coast AOR. It took me quite a while to work out who I think Elevener remind me of and for some of that time I had the name of Peter Cetera going round my mind until it struck me that they actually sound like Cetera’s old band Chicago without the horns. All I Did with its bizarre abrupt ending is by no means the only song that could have fitted nicely on Chicago 18 or TWENTY ONE (never worked out why they capitalised it.) 

When Kaleidoscopes Collide is very much a genre release - If you are not down with melodic rock/AOR you’ll loathe and despise this for its total fluffiness. In fact even some of the fans of the genre may not dig it but for me it is one of the most entertaining releases I’ve heard in quite while thanks to its relentlessly upbeat nature – perfect for summer. I’m off to buy a car where the roof comes down and I’m going to compete with the R’n’B boy racers!

Simon Bray