WILDKARD – Megalomania

WildKard is a Melodic Hard Rock / A.O.R. band featuring ex-members of Kick; Chris Jones, Mikey J, and Nick Workman. The material on this release was written in the mid-nineties. Some of it has been used for Kick and B-sides for Japanese releases, but most of it has only been heard by a handful of friends and music press. The album was originally called The Zero Hour Project, but it has remained a well kept secret for about a decade now. The songs on Megalomania were newly recorded in London and Turku, Finland around January/February 2007.

The sound is typical British Melodic Rock / A.O.R. and are reminiscent of FM, Newman, Kick (of course), and even Pretty Maids. Though they don’t reinvent the wheel or anything, this is a release filled with great tracks. The opener, “Falling Down,” starts with a really pompous 80’s sounding keyboard (think Van Halen’s “Jump”). The chorus is just as pompous and powerful, and it seems just right when guest drummer Jimbo Mäkeläinen uses his double bass drum pedals for the last chorus. The guitar solo on this one is some fine piece of work. It’s very melodic and there’s even another guitar added for a guitar harmony part at the end of it. This is a killer song!

While “Falling Down” is more of a classic hard rocker, “All I Have” is more true to the A.O.R. style. It’s a nice and solid track that’s really lifted by Workman’s great vocals. His soaring and strong voice is an incredible fit for this band. Once again, the guitar solo is phenomenal and you can also detect a squeal in it. Another track that fits this description is “7 Days.” This song is a pleasure to listen to, due to the powerful voice of Workman. The song’s structure is very simple, but Workman proves that you don’t need to make things difficult to make a great song.

There is also room for beautiful ballads like “Whispers In The Dark” and “Wake Me Up When It’s Over” on this album. “Whispers In The Dark” is a piano/vocal driven song with some symphonic elements added to the chorus. It really brings out the best in Workman’s voice. “Wake Me Up When It’s Over” is also piano driven, but the rest of the band is more involved in what’s happening here than on the previous.

The songs are quite strong, the production is very good and the musicians do a great job on performing these songs. There are a lot of fine moments on this album and though Megalomania isn’t the most original album you’ll ever hear, WildKard do what they do in a great way. The album is worth a shot if you like Melodic Hard Rock / A.O.R. and bands like FM and Kick.

Line-up:
• Nick Workman – Vocals
• Chris Jones – Guitars/Lead Guitar
• Mikey J. – Bass/Guitar
Guest musicians:
• Jimbo Mäkeläinen – Drums
• Jaakko Niitemaa – Lead Guitar
• Jonne Valtonen – Keyboards
• Steve Newman – Keyboards
• Olli Cunningham – Keyboards

Megalomania has 10 tracks with a total running time of: 43:32