Review: Remedy – Pleasure Beats The Pain

Escape Music (May 24^th 2024)

Reviewer: Jason Hopper

Remedy are back with their fantastic sophomore album ‘Pleasure Beats The Pain‘. Their debut album took me by surprise when I reviewed it back at the tail end of 2022 (review here), Their feel for melody and catchy grooves made them a standout in the genre and I was eager to see what they would do next. I did not expect a follow up so soon and was initially worried that the project would feel rushed, but that is not the case at all. This is a fabulous collection of tracks that AOR/Melodic Rock fans are sure to embrace.

Four songs have been released as singles. If you loved those, then the rest of the album will fit the bill for you. Of the singles, I found myself frequently revisiting ‘Caught By Death’ and ‘Crying Heart’. Those have been on constant repeat for days. ‘Moon Has the Night’ is another standout that has unique aspects, such as when lead vocalist Robert Van Der Zwan leaves a gap in the first verse where the title of the chorus should be sung, leaving the listener to fill in the blanks.  The synthesized saxophone placed conspicuously throughout also adds to the overall feel and adds a layer that nicely fills out the sound.

I could practically throw a dart at a written track list of the album and discuss at length why I love nearly every song, but I’ll just discuss a few that have not been released. A favorite track of mine is ‘Angelina’, a light, airy, pop rock track. It takes the three key elements of quality music (harmony, rhythm, and melody) and make it seem to flow effortlessly from the band. It’s all in the chorus for this one. If you love beautifully performed harmonious vocals in a chorus, you’re going to certainly add this to your Top 10 songs of the year.

‘Poison’ (not an Alice Cooper cover) is one of the heavier guitar-oriented tracks, with the keys underlining the overall melody. I also love how in lieu of a guitar solo, the band decides to support guitarist Roland Forsman as he adds a key change with a new riff, creating a heavy groove that the band plays along to what briefly sounds like a completely different song. My only complaint is how brief it is. I would have liked them to maintain that change up and carry it through the end.

Finally, there’s ‘Girl’s Got Trouble’, the song with the fastest tempo. It has a slight blues swagger not dissimilar to what a band like Y&T would construct. It’s a fun track to crank up and let loose, especially while driving. I think the album would have benefited had the song been placed more in the middle of the album rather than the end, just to break up the tempo of the other tracks a bit.

Nearly every song on this album is a winner, with one exception. Final track ‘Something They Call Love’ is the sole ballad on the album and is predominantly an acoustic track with some violins filling out the empty spaces. While the song gets better as it goes along, it starts out rough. Robert chooses to do more of a spoken word approach to start that’s akin to what Green Day did with ‘Time of Your Life’. The words seem crammed together and rushed, which is jarring to the listener. As the song progresses, Robert spaces out the words better and lets his vocal notes carry in an effective fashion. A removal of a few words or even a line or two would have made a huge difference.

You cannot go wrong with purchasing an album that has nine out of ten great tracks. This album surpasses their debut and shows the band is on an upward trajectory that will hopefully get them more recognition. Whether you stream, download, or buy a physical copy, you need to get your ears to hear what this band has created. It is albums like this that make reviewing such a pleasurable experience.

Tracklist:

1. Crying Heart
2. Moon Has the Night
3. Sin for Me
4. Angelina
5. Bad Blood
6. Caught by Death
7. Hearts on Fire
8. Poison
9. Girl’s Got Trouble
10. Something They Call Love

Line-up:

Robert Van der Zwan – Vocals, guitars

Roland Forsman – Guitars, backing vocals

Jonas Dicklo – Bass, backing vocals

Fredrik Karlberg – Drums

Jonas Öijvall – Keyboards

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