WORK OF ART – Artwork

Artwork is a brand-new album from Work Of Art, a Melodic Rock band from Sweden. Fans of Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) have been waiting in anticipation for this disc for a little while, ever since the single “Why Do I?” appeared on MySpace some time back. Now the full 12-track album arrives, hoping to build on the momentum “Why Do I?” started.

The line-up on Artwork is: Lars Safsund, vocals and keyboards; Robert Sall, guitars; and Herman Furin, drums. Bass duties are split between Andreas Olsson (nine tracks) and Urban Danielsson. While Artwork is Work Of Art’s debut album, the band has actually been around in some form since 1992.

For maximum effectiveness, the better Melodic Rock albums usually feature slick vocals, catchy, upbeat melodies, huge infectious choruses, shiny production, decent guitar riffs, keyboard flourishes, a couple of songs that have a woman’s name as a title, and a touching ballad or three. And, since Melodic Rock is deeply-rooted in the AOR scene, every song should have a chance at getting radio airplay. Artwork – and Work Of Art, of course – follow this established pattern very closely. While the album contains no surprises, it touches all the bases it should.

Artwork is an album designed to please fans of Melodic Rock, and they’ll find this disc right up their alley: it’s upbeat, tuneful, fun, has lots of gigantic hooks, and contains plenty of solid musicianship and production. Work Of Art is a strong band musically: Safsund has a pleasing voice, and his keyboard playing is tasteful and fairly restrained. Sall contributes some good catchy riffs and guitar passages, and while this isn’t a headbanging album, some of the riffs are strong, like the ones on “Cover Me,” which stands out as being the heaviest song on Artwork.

Still, the best songs on Artwork are the ones that aren’t quite as heavy, like “Why Do I?,” which was a wise choice as the first single and lead-off song on the album: its combination of catchiness and big choruses reel you in right from the start and let you know what you’re in for. While most of the songs that follow the opening track don’t quite measure up to it, they come pretty close, and if nothing else, have a way of getting stuck in your head once you hear them. The best songs are mostly near the beginning of the album, with “While U Sleep” and the womanly-titled “Maria” and “Camelia” coming close to topping “Why Do I?” There’s nothing wrong with the second half of the disc … it has songs such as “Like No Other” and “Cover Me,” along with closing power ballad “One Hour.” The second half isn’t quite as strong as the first, but it still measures up well enough.

Artwork is primed to hit fans of Melodic Rock right where they like it; Work Of Art has painted a solid musical landscape with this debut release.