Review: Heart Line – Rock ‘N Roll Queen

Pride & Joy Music (June 23rd, 2023)

Reviewer: David Pearce

Heart Line are a French rock band who released their first album 18 months ago to some acclaim. They are back with their follow-up entitled ‘Rock N Roll Queen‘ an album which has been shaped in part by the reactions of audiences to their live gigs. This five piece band consists of guitarist Yvan Guillevic, the founder of the group, singer Emmanuel Creis, keyboard player Jorris Guilbaud, bassist Dominique Braud and drummer Walter Français. Their new album is influenced by 80s style melodic rock so let’s hear what they have to offer.

Opening track, ‘I Am The Night‘ starts off with a crunching guitar solo from Guillevic, before Creis shows off his smooth vocals that swoop and dip with real verve and complement the music perfectly. ‘Till The End of Times’ has a heavier sound with Guillevic and bassist Braud combining perfectly, and drummer Français anchoring the sound with a superb performance on the drums. Later in the track, Guilbaud really goes to town with the keyboards to give the whole track a lift and take it in a new direction. It’s reminiscent of Europe in places and will be a really effective live track. Every rock band should have a track titled ‘Call of the Wild’ in my opinion! Heart Line’s track of that name moves into more melodic territory and Creis shows off his earthier style, sounding like he’s channelling Whitesnake in their late 80s pomp. ‘The Last Time’ is a ballad with a beautiful keyboard opening and it really works incredibly well. It stands comparison with any of the ballads that went massive in the 80s, featuring brilliant vocals and a tightness of playing that gives it real heft. It’s a real standout track and perhaps Creis’ best vocal on the album.

Next, we have the title track. ‘Rock N Roll Queen’ is a no-nonsense rocker that strays into heavier territory than the first four songs to great effect. Braud’s bass is just excellent throughout and he provides the basis for the rest of the band to lift their games in no uncertain terms. ‘Living My Dreams’ is another track that will get the crowd singing along at gigs. It’s very catchy and has a pop music sensibility without sacrificing the rock sound that permeates this album. Along with ‘The Last Time‘ this is my favourite track on the album. ‘Hard to Believe’ starts off the second half of the album by cranking up the volume and the intensity to good effect, especially in the chorus that has a huge singalong potential. ‘Call Me’ is another ballad, and one that could easily have come from a band like Foreigner. It has a smoothness that works really well as a counterpoint to the previous track. In some albums a change of style can be quite jarring but here it just seems to work perfectly.

‘Hard Life’ is from the pop/rock stable of groups like Europe and the instrumental backing is incredibly tight and sounds really good when combined with the vocals. At the start of ‘Reach For The Stars’ there is the commentary on a rocket launch in the background. This leads into a decent track that sets up the final couple of songs. ‘The Fire Still Burns’ returns to the pop rock territory that Heart Line so successfully mine. They really know how to put a track together that hits all those Melodic Rock buttons, and this is perhaps the nearest we get to a music manifesto from them. They take the best of their predecessors and add their own very effective Gallic touch. The final track is ‘Keeper of Desire’ which starts with a really good drum solo that continues to underpin the track throughout and shows how good Français is behind that drum kit. All of the elements that have come into play throughout the rest of the album are in evidence here, and ‘Rock N Roll Queen’s final track distils them really effectively in an excellent closer.

Heart Line are a group with a real feel for rock music across the decades and in ‘Rock N Roll Queen‘ they have produced an album that cleverly and simply hits the spot time after time.

Tracklist:

1. I Am The Night
2. Till The End of Times
3. Call Of The Wild
4. The Last Time
5. Rock ‘N Roll Queen
6. Living My Dreams
7. Hard To Believe
8. Call Me
9. Hard Life
10. Reach For The Stars
11. The Fire Still Burns
12. Keeper Of Desire