The Magnificent – The Magnificent (2011)
"The Magnificent" is the melodic hard rock project of guitarist Torsti Spoof ("Leverage") and singer Michael Eriksen ("Circus Maximus") and this self titled album is their debut issued by "Frontiers" records. Most would agree that "Leverage" released one of the greatest melodic albums of 2009 with "Circus Colossus" and seem to have gotten fans of the genre fired up for a follow up album. Though "The Magnificent" is not that, it is more than a reason for fans of the genre to be happy.
Despite "The Magnificent" being promoted as `Modern AOR' it is in fact a melodic hard rock album, and a very infectious collection of songs at that. You get ever-present guitars delivering riffs, melodies and solos, intense rhythm section (with occasional double bass drumming) plus outstanding vocal melodies by Eriksen who shines throughout "The Magnificent" debut.
01 - Holding On To Your Love
02 - Cheated By Love
03 - Memories
04 - Angel
05 - Satin & Lace
06 - Love's On The Line
07 - Bullets
08 - Smoke & Fire
09 - Tired Of Dreaming
10 - If It Takes All Night
11 - Lost
12 - Harvest Moon
Lead and Background Vocals: Michael Eriksen
Lead Guitars, Keyboards and Background Vocals: Torsti Spoof
With:
Drums: Rolf Pilve
Bass: Sami Norbacka
Keyboards: Jukka Karinen
Backing Vocals: Antony Parviainen
Guitar, Bass, Keyboards : Mats Haugen (Memories)
Drums : Tommy Jacksonville (Memories)
Guitars: Tuomas Heikkinen (Satin & Lace, Bullets, Harvest Moon)
Bass: Torsti Spoof (Tired Of Dreaming)