Customer Reviews

Freedom Rock

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Heat are yet another awesome melodic rock band from Sweden that have somehow managed to reincarnate the sound of the 80's and fuse it with updated recording and production values. Their second album is Freedom Rock and it is a killer album full of radio-friendly rock anthems with lots of hooks and memorable choruses. It's almost like the album was written for a soundtrack to a movie from the 80's or a commercial for softdrink! The vocals are melodic and passionate, the guitar solos are absolutely mind blowing, and the rythm section and keyboards are super tight. Highlights are many and include the anthem "We're Gonna Make It To The End", the massive rock of "Black Night", the intense power ballad "Shelter", the melodic chorus of "Stay", the Toto-inspired "Everybody Wants To Be Someone", and the emotional high of "I Know What It Takes". Freedom Rock is highly recommended to fans of melodic rock performed with passion and power who miss or missed the big happy party sounds of the 80's.

I must first admit that i'm more of a fan of party-rock bands like Poison, Warrant, Bon Jovi and Motley Crue than I am of bands like Toto, Survivor and Journey. However, upon buying H.e.a.t's sophomore album Freedom Rock, I am absolutely stunned at how great this album is, and how much it sounds like it dropped in 1983 instead of 2010. After just one listen, i'm already a converted fan of the band, and hope these guys make a ton more records.

Freedom Rock starts out fantasticly with We're Gonna Make It To The End and never lets go of your ears for the next forty-five minutes. The other album highlights are Black Night, Who'll Stop The Rain and High On Love. The musicianship is also of great quality on this record as well. The songs are well-crafted, and the lyrics are absolutely infectious, not to mention the singer has amazing pipes.

H.E.A.T is an amazing band in every aspect, I can't really find any wrong with this album and like I said earlier, I hope they make a ton more records. Go buy this album immediately you won't be disappointed!!!

After taking the world (OK, maybe just Sweden and Japan) by storm with their self-titled 2008 debut, Swedish melodic rockers H.E.A.T came back in 2010 with their eagerly-anticipated follow-up album Freedom Rock. Expectations were high, and the band definitely did not let fans down with this one.

The first H.E.A.T album is all but impossible to top, but the band pretty much turned everything up to 11 with Freedom Rock. The hooks are bigger, the melodies are catchier, the production is slicker, and the vocal harmonies are just HUGE. They even got Edguy/Avantasia mainman Tobias Sammet to make a guest appearance on the bombastic "Black Night." This was Kenny Leckremo's last album with the band, and he really went out with style. His vocals are incredibly powerful, especially the harmonies, though he doesn't sound quite as smooth here. Listing highlights is kind of pointless when every song is a potential single, but "We're Gonna Make It," "Shelter" and "I Know What It Takes" definitely stand out. As for comparing Freedom Rock to the debut, it's sort of like comparing Journey's Escape to Frontiers. Both are amazing, and each has its own character.

As with the debut H.E.A.T album, Freedom Rock is easy to recommend. If you're a melodic rock fan, your collection is not complete without this album. Whether you're a fan of classic AOR bands like Journey and Survivor, late `80s rockers like King Kobra and Giant or modern melodic rockers like Brother Firetribe and Outloud, you will become a H.E.A.T fan before the first song is over.

Edition Notes: There is a 2-disc version of Freedom Rock available that includes a reissue of the band's self-titled debut (plus the 1000 Miles single) as a bonus disc. If you're new to the band, that's the best way to go, as you get two amazing melodic rock albums in one shot.

This is a great cd, this band is definitive The one of The best new band is this day, give a chance to this guy buy The 2 Cds (in this edition 2cds for one price )

It would not be an exaggeration to claim that Swedish band `H.E.A.T' took the melodic rock world by storm in 2008 after the release of their self titled debut album. Their musical style of 80s influenced AOR/melodic rock delivered with intensity and youthful attitude is perhaps their musical trademark.I suppose that anyone who appreciated their debut would expect that the band keep their style and sound unchanged and simply deliver more of the same great stuff on their second album `Freedom Rock'.

Indeed you could say that `Freedom rock' is a natural follow up to their debut, this time featuring 13 tracks of class A AOR/melodic rock while the quality remains consistent throughout the album; and the potential melodic hits come in numbers: `We're gonna make it to the end', `Danger road', `Stay', `Nobody loves you like I do' and `Cast away' are radio friendly and musically substantial compositions with the potential to appeal to a wide range of audience.
The line up features lead singer Kenny Leckremo (who puts on a magical performance throughout the album), the very effective guitar partnership of Dave Dalone and Eric Rivers, the rhythm section of bass player Jimmy Jay and drummer Crash plus keyboard player Jona Tee.

After playing the album a good number of times one might realize that the band's approach on this second album is a bit different than their debut: Leckremo seems to be singing slightly higher (which makes the performance even more intense) while the lead guitar parts tend to be more extensive with lengthier solos and a good number of twin guitar melodies.

Overall an amazing melodic rock/AOR album that proves that H.E.A.T has a lot more to offer than a memorable debut; `Freedom Rock' brings the band another step closer to the top.


`RockHard' Greek magazine (issue 52) comments on the album: "An almost perfect sound that goes beyond Swedish melodic rock... A great band that might as well develop into a classic"