Customer Reviews

Streets of Fire

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The Place Vendome band was put together by Frontiers Records in 2005 and comprised of Dennis Ward (bass), Uwe Reitenauer (guitars), Kosta Zafiriou (drums) from Pink Cream 69, Gunter Werno (keyboards) from Vandenplas and Michael Kiske (ex-Helloween, Avantasia, etc) on vocals. Their self-titled debut album was a brilliant melodic rock / AOR release. When the follow up was confirmed in 2008 expectations were high.

While the musicians have remained the same; this time around the songs are provided by different songwriters. Torsti Spoof (Leverage), Ronny Milianowicz (Saint Deamon), Magnus Karlsson (Bob Catley, Starbreaker) and Robert Sall (Work of Art) make up the songwriting team.

By looking at the list of people involved with this album you would expect a quality release oozing with variety...well this is exactly what you get! "Streets Of Fire" is an outstanding AOR offering, filled with quality songs and impressive musicianship. If compared to the first album this sophomore effort is even more AOR, as the guitars are a little softer and the keyboards are slightly more evident than before. Nevertheless you get a good dosage of hard rock riffs and passages, Reitenauer's solos are mind-blowing, all the rhythm sections are tight and the blending of keyboards with guitars and vocals creates wonders.

As expected the songwriting offers great variety which is definitely one of the album's strong points. Torsti Spoof offers catchy hard rock influenced tracks, Ronny Milianowicz provides beautiful slow and mid-tempo AOR songs, Robert Sall brings an uplifting melodic soft-rock feel in his numbers while Magnus Karlsson and Dennis Ward do their usual best in their accustomed melodic rock setting.

Even though the music on the album is excellent and the songs are strong; Michael Kiske steals the spotlight once again. This man's voice sounds better on every new release! His vocals are multidimensional, sounding great in all the different musical settings of the album, plus stronger and more emotional than before. Kiske seems more at home on 'Streets Of Fire' (he even offers a couple of his famous screams in some of the songs) and proves that he is just perfect for the AOR genre.

The strongest songs on offer are summerized below:

"Streets Of Fire" is an amazing melodic hard rock track, with an unforgettable chorus, tempo changes, soaring vocals and an incredible guitar solo. "Set Me Free" (Casting Crowns cover) is an atmospheric and slow melodic rocker, whose main drives are its symphonic elements and Kiske's moody and deep vocals. "Believer" and "Dancer" both fall under the melodic rock category and feature strong guitar riffs, first-rate solos, catchy keyboard melodies and mainly high vocals. "Believer" is a little happier and up-tempo, while "Dancer" is heavier, darker in mood and blessed with one of the album's best choruses. "My Guardian Angel" is a melodic rock ballad written by Magnus Karlsson. It begins with a piano intro, takes off with melodic guitar leads, slows down for the melancholic verses and explodes during the chorus and the guitar solo. "A Scene In Replay" is a beautiful mid-tempo AOR track. It includes one more memorable chorus, mesmerizing vocals (especially towards the end where Kiske goes for his higher range) and overflows with emotion.

The remaining tracks are quality offerings aswell. The ballad "Completely Breathless" and the AOR flavored "Changes" are other highlights, while the multi structured symphonic ballad "I'd Die For You" and the energetic "Follow Me" can't be faulted either. The only song that sounds like filler or doesn't really fit here is "Valerie".

In conclusion Streets Of Fire is a very strong melodic rock / AOR album with top-rate musicianship, accessible songs and enough hooks for everyone. When compared to the debut, the new release sounds superior and also flows better as a whole. The only elements I personally miss are some heavier ideas featured on previous songs such as 'Cross The Line' and 'Sign Of The Times'...

If you enjoyed the self titled album buy this now! If you are into melodic rock or AOR, definitely give this band a listen. Fans of Journey, Foreigner and Toto will probably love this too.

Another superb slice of melodic rock from what has to be one of the best groups ever. Intense tunes, excellent musicianship, perfect production, and powerful vocals all adds up to a great album worthy of purchase for any fan of this style of music. This CD has to be in the top 5 albums of the year regardless of what else is released by any other bands. Song highlights include the rocking second track "My Guardian Angel", the melodic bliss of "Valerie", and the intense arrangement of closing mega power-ballad "I'd Die For You". It's a great album from start to end and certainly lends itself to repeat listening. Enjoy!

"Streets of Fire" is the second studio album by AOR/melodic hard rock project "Place Vendome", originally released in 2009. "Place Vendome" is highly acclaimed singer Michael Kiske backed by "Pink Cream 69" members Dennis Ward (b), Kostas Zafiriou (d), Uwe Reitenauer (g) and Gunter Werno (k). Equally significant is the line up of songwriters contributing to "Streets of fire" including Magnus Karlsson, Robert Sall, Torsti Spoof and Peikka Heino amongst others.

Music wise the album is a mixture of bombastic melodic hard rock and AOR; the guitars are tremendous, the rhythm section up-front, the keyboards spot-on and of course Kiske proves once again on top form as the `AOR singer' role suits him perfectly. The album opens on the devastating "Streets of Fire" followed by the subtle melodic "My guardian angel", from there onwards the album features such highlights as "Follow me", "Valerie", the mid tempo master-class of "A scene in replay", and "Changes".

It is true that the album switches between AOR and melodic hard rock, a result of the contributions of multiple songwriters thought the high standards of performance in combination with Denis Ward's flawless production even the edges to a certain extent making an almost cohesive album out of "Streets of fire". Indeed a must have for fans of the genre and the artists involved.

What can i say about Micheal KIske.just absolutely one of the best singers of all time.He's voice he will never lose.It gets better and better as time goes bye.strees of fire is a perfect example every song straight to the point. Proven that he is a music legend.One of best albums so far.

Consisting of current Pink Cream 69 band members Dennis Ward (bass), Uwe Reitenauer (guitars), Kosta Zafiriou (drums) plus Gunter Werno (keyboards) from Vandenplas and Michael Kiske (ex-Helloween, Avantasia, Revolution Renaissance) on vocals, this collective known as Place Vendome return in 2009 with their second album entitled Streets Of Fire. With Dennis Ward at the helm producing, recording and mixing the album you know the sound quality will be second to none, and it is. The overall sound is fantastic, the cleanest, clearest, most well balanced sounding album I have heard in a very long time.
Song writing credits on the album go to various writers outside of the band including contributions from Torsti Spoof, Pekka Heino and Tuomas Heikkinen from Leverage and Magnus Karlsson (Allen-Lande, Starbreaker, Primal Fear). The style of the album is more melodic hard rock in sound, leaning towards AOR rather than metal even more so than the band's previous self titled album. It's softer than a lot of stuff I normally listen to but there are still enough guitars here to make it appealing for me and the songs are just so damn melodic and catchy I can't help liking it... a lot!

Highlights are the opening (title) track with its soft keyboard intro before the guitars kick in, one of the more up-temp songs with a great chorus and ooh!... those Michael Kiske vocals! What a fabulous voice this man has and it's a damn shame we don't hear more from him. The other highlights are Follow Me, Believer, Set Me Free, My Guardian Angel and Dancer. It's pointless to go into detail about them all as they are all just so damn catchy! But I do think there is one song to skip, that being Valerie (The Truth Is In Your Eyes). It's just too lame. Even Kiske can't make this one sound good.

Of late Michael Kiske has sung guest vocals for numerous artists on their own albums, and some of these songs are really good songs, but it's great to hear him sing on a whole album, and one with a bit more bite than his recent acoustic stuff. I am really looking forward to hearing his next project due for release in 2010 under the band name Unisonic, which also consists of Dennis Ward and Kosta Zafiriou from Place Vendome & Pink Cream 69, plus Mandy Meyer (guitarist on the last couple of excellent Krokus albums, also ex-Gotthard). It should rock and be an album to look out for this year.

As far as this Place Vendome album goes though, in general I have to say that I would have liked it to have had the guitars dominating a bit more so it rocked just a little harder, much in the vein of Cross The Line, the opening track of their previous album. It's probably because of this and the fact that they make no attempt to re-invent the wheel here, or even take a slightly different road (the songs are all very commercial sounding) that Streets Of Fire is not an album that I would choose to play on a regular basis. But still, it's a thoroughly enjoyable album with contagious appeal.

Once again Dennis Ward and company deliver a well polished, catchy, AOR/hard rock release via Frontiers Records. Place Vendome's sophomore effort, Streets of Fire, pics up where the self titled debut left off. It's beyond me how modern radio can igonore the greatness of something like this, but spin Nickleback constantly! If you're longing for melodic AOR music that harkens back to the days of Journey and Survivor, but doesn't sound dated, then purchase Streets of Fire now! Stand out tracks are: Steets of Fire, My Guardian Angel, Believer, and A Scene In Replay.

Three plus years after the first Place Vendome album, Dennis Ward (Pink Cream 69) and Michael Kiske (ex-Helloween) are back with their second Place Vendome collaboration Streets of Fire. This is an album that I honestly thought I would never see. I loved the debut Place Vendome album, but figured after all of Michael Kiske's grumbling and whining (he basically complained that it rocked too much), neither he nor Dennis Ward would be willing to give it another go-around.

I'm glad to be proven wrong, especially given just how good Streets of Fire is. Every time I read a Michael Kiske interview I'm tempted to walk away from him completely, but man, can this guy sing melodic rock or what? His voice is smooth and steady, and much less accented than it was in the old Helloween days. Of course, it helps that Dennis Ward and company have given him another terrific selection of songs to work with. I love the heavier stuff Ward does with PC69, but he really shines on Place Vendome's brand of classic melodic rock.

Like the first Place Vendome album, Streets of Fire's heaviest track is the album opener (the title track). The rest of the songs are very polished, very melodic, mid-tempo AOR songs. I could list highlights, but honestly all of the songs are great.

If you liked the first Place Vendome album, you'll love Streets of Fire. It's just a great melodic rock album overall, and an early contender for the year's best album (a new Sunstorm album is on the way, so that honor may be short-lived).