LAND OF TALES – Land Of Tales

Finnish band Land Of Tales was formed by two long-time friends; Kristian and Palle. During the years they’ve been playing together in a band called Naiskala, but it wasn’t until recently that their constant urge for playing AOR came true. During the few previous years they’ve been writing material which gained a lot of attention and in late 2007 they signed a contract with Italian label Frontiers Records. On the 4th of July this year they released their self-titled debut album.

Land Of Tales starts out with the catchy Melodic Rocker “Silence”. It’s driven forward by the cliché-like keyboard lines but it works just fine. “Silence” is an extremely simple song, but it’s definitely a song that will be in your head for days. It does also feature one of the greatest guitar solos on this record. It was indeed a great choice putting this song first. Following that is the song “Slow Waters” which is another simple tune with great melodies and hooks. This is a song in true Melodic Rock style aching for a great sing-along live.

They slow down a bit in the middle of the album with the Power Ballad “Wasted Chance” which shows a little more of the potential from the Finnish rockers. This is actually one of the best songs on this record. Then they speed up again with “Nobody Dares” who just repeats itself with the by now well-known favorite chord progression of the band. As you come towards the end you begin to realize that they use the very same chord progression in almost every song and that everything just becomes similar. On top of this you have the monotone and going nowhere voice of Kristian that stays in the same register all the way through. The guitar solos is what lifts this album a little higher than it would be without. Kristian has “the musical ear” in creating solos. They are not too intricate but sound just great. The guitar sound during the solos is a little ear-stinging though, but apart from that it’s good.

Lyrically this record is lacking. Sure, AOR lyrics are not supposed to be equal to something written by William Shakespeare or such, but this is just WAY too simple. One should simply believe this is written by some fifteen year old-girl suffering from a broken heart.

There are potentials for sure but Land Of Tales really have to work hard with the song material. They need to use more variation and there will be improvement! Unfortunately, their debut record doesn’t come high on the character scale. Too bad, for an album that started out pretty good.

1. Silence
2. Slow Waters
3. Keep Out
4. Outlander
5. All The Same
6. Wasted Chance
7. Nobody Dares
8. Choose
9. So Long
10. Fading Away
11. Right As Rain

Kristian (Juha Kontu) – Vocals and guitars
Palle (Harri Lehtonen) – Keyboards
Sami (Sami Rajala) – Bass guitar
Sami O. (Sami Ojala) – Drums