Review: Alicate – Heaven Tonight

Pride & Joy Music (April 19^th 2024)

Reviewer: Jason Hopper

Alicate is a band that formed way back in the late 80’s by lead vocalist/guitarist Jonas Erixon and bassist Fredrik Ekberg.  They had limited success but eventually the band was put on hold in the mid-90s only to pick it back up again when they released their first full length album ‘World of Anger‘ in 2009.  Several other albums followed, leading to this most recent release, ‘Heaven Tonight‘.

Having heard nothing from the band, I found the lead single title track to be intriguing enough and chose to review the album. Admittedly, I was hoping to hear some more diverse and exciting material, as the title track was just a bit too familiar to other songs in the genre with a chorus that seemed a bit muted and lacklustre. Unfortunately, what you hear with the single is what you get. This album feels like it is stuck in second gear.

The album starts off strong enough with opener ‘Are You Ready’, their most hard-hitting track.  Equal parts Van Halen and Deep Purple with a utilization of both a double bass beat and Hammond organ, it’s an exciting track that fires up the listener for what one would only assume to be a kick ass rock n roll record, but that’s when the album starts to slide.

Track 2’s ‘Under the Gun’ is a very middle of the road AOR type song that I’ve heard a thousand times before. It’s “been there, done that’ feel is problematic as its overfamiliarity does not make me want to revisit it. From there the album continues its downhill trajectory.

Nearly every chorus on this album is bland, with some lacking key changes that add to the excitement of a chorus. When you maintain the same melody throughout and don’t change keys, you lose the dynamics that make a song special. The album clocks in at 43 minutes so I’ve had the opportunity to listen to this album four times in a row and outside of a few tracks, nothing excites me.

Outside of the opener, Track 9’s ‘Count to Ten’ brings the album out of its stale state. While it’s not as energetic as the album opener, it at least manages to get into third gear and displays some excitement. The best track for me is strangely enough the album closer. ‘You’re Gone’ is a very well-orchestrated soulful ballad. Singer Jonas Erixon note delivery is perfect and heartfelt.  It also builds to a chorus that erupts from the speakers in all the best ways a power ballad should sound as it swells. The ending with vocables is just the icing on the cake. I wish there were more tracks like that.

This is a cherry-pick album for me. There are a few decent tracks, one spectacular one, and everything else is by the numbers AOR hard rock.  I would suggest streaming this first and select the tracks that stand out to you. As a whole, this album does nothing to make me want to check out their prior material.

Tracklist:

1. Are You Ready
2. Under the Gun
3. Heaven Tonight
4. Big Time
5. Ride the Storm
6. Dreaming
7. Dangerous
8. Hold On
9. Count to Ten
10. You’re Gone