Dreamtide - Dreams For The Daring
Frontiers Records
Melodic Hard Rock
15 songs (77'03)
Release year: 2003
Dreamtide, Frontiers Records
Reviewed by Marty
This is the second release by this band that features former members of Fair Warning. From what I've read about them, their debut album, Here Comes The Flood, reviewed here by Metal Reviews, was a more laid back and "mellower" album than this new one Dreams For The Daring. Dreamtide is the mastermind of guitarist Helge Engelke and also features the amazing vocal talents of Olaf Senkbeil who has also done background vocal work for such bands as Helloween, Grave Digger, Freedom Call, Blind Guardian and Lacrimosa. Dreamtide combines the best of melodic heavy metal with some standard hard rock and AOR styles, all with a very positive, spirited and uplifting sound.

This album is my first real exposure to the band and from the opening dreamy segement of the first track, Dream Real with it's Whitesnake's Love Ain't No Stranger type of intro, I knew I was in for a real treat of an album. All of the songs on this album instantly set a tone, melodic style and atmosphere that carries for the duration of the track. Combining classic hard rock with lots of melody, they are a throw back the 70's and 80's type of sound. The vocals are very melodic with every track having a solid and very memorable chorus and if you're a fan of this sort of music, you'll walk away singing many of these songs for days on end. Live And Let Live, with it's classic Journey-like sound uses melodic keyboards to accent the guitars and again, solid melodies and choruses are the norm here. Olaf's vocals really reminds me of such great hard rock vocalists as Steve Perry (Journey), David Coverdale (Deep Purple, Whitesnake) as well as Bob Catley and Gary Hughes. I'll Be Moving On begins with a quiet intro that evolves into a power chord rich melodic anthem that has an Edguy style of chorus and Olaf's voice with it's power and strength really shines on this one. All Of My Dreams, with it's very Uriah Heep like acoustic work is a great power ballad that features more of the amazing melodic vocals that are found on every single track on this album. Great melodic pull-off lead guitar carries this song right into the fade-out. The band cranks it up a little bit with a more heavier sound on the track I'm Not With You and features a pounding heavy beat with some standout riff breaks and lead guitar (I don't need to talk about the vocals anymore do I!!!!). Eden, with it's Eastern feel to it, is another pounding heavy track that has some great Accept style guitar riffs and is another album highlight. They continue with the heavier edge on the track Land Without Justice which borders on more of a power metal sound. With it's Edguy like backing vocals and chorus chants, it really reminds me of another great album in this genre of hard rock and that's Cornerstone's Human Stain from a couple of years ago. The rest of the tracks all feature the same sort of mix of styles and range from melodic hard rock to even more lighter AOR (Adult Oriented Rock). It's a great mix of melody and guitar-heavy hard rock that is sure difficult to top. The original versions of the tracks Eden, Land Without Justice and Live And Let Live are included as bonus tracks and all three feature different rhythmic treatments and the use of electronic percussion which were (thankfully) replaced by a more "organic" sound by using real drums (and a real drummer) for the final versions.

This album has such a classic style to it that some songs will instantly grab your attention whereas others will take a few more listens. Either way, what you have here is one of the best melodic hard rock albums I've heard in many years and even rivals (or even maybe surpasses) such great releases from last year such as Gary Hughes' Once And Future King and Bob Catley's When Empires Burn. It really is that good. The standout tracks on this album could be taken and included in any compilation featuring some of the best classic melodic hard rock ever to be released and it would fit in like a glove. It's very rare that a band can combine all the right elements to produce such a great album as this and with the richly melodic voice of Olaf Senkbeil, this band comes very close to the perfection of the genre. Looking for an album that your girlfriend/wife would enjoy listening to that still borders on metal? Look no further than this album, highly recommended and if I'd heard it before the end of the year, it would've made my list of top albums from last year. Dreams For The Daring is a truly stunning piece of work that will be listened to for many years to come.

Killing Songs :
Dream Real, Live And Let Live, I'll Be Moving On, All Of My Dreams, I'm Not With You, Eden and Land Without Justice
Marty quoted 88 / 100
Other albums by Dreamtide that we have reviewed:
Dreamtide - Here Comes The Flood reviewed by Chris and quoted 81 / 100
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