New Norum on Spotify

[Dinosaur David B]

[Donthegreek]

I don't know... i love his voice and obviously his guitar...but i'm disappointed in this.  I thought "Sail On" was really good....but disappointed in the rest.
 

[Dinosaur David B]

I've yet been able to give it a fair listen. I remember from the videos thinking, these songs aren't nearly as strong as his past solo work. But I've also had the experience of liking songs a lot better listening to the album rather than seeing a video.  That happened with some of Accept's last album, Too Mean To Die -- which I actually like.  Sometimes a video can color a song in a negative light. Theoretically, if the song is musically bulletproof, this should NOT happen. But I've noticed on lesser songs, the video (especially if it's cheesy) can give you a negative first impression.  

[Duojett71]

I have listened to some of it on Amazon music. I didn't want to listen to the whole thing because I was going to order the cd. It must be an import because on Amazon the cd is expensive.....but anyway.....the songs come across better when just listening rather than watching the videos. When I saw the videos I thought the songs were a little weak.....but I actually like the 3 or 4 songs I listened to. It will be tough to beat Playard Blues though....
 

[Nick Layton]

I bought it and listened through once. Big time 70's feel in most of the writing and playing. I hear some Frank Marino influence.
But melodically, for me, it's nowhere near as good as some of his older works like Face The Truth or Another Destination...and bears little resemblance to his Total Control debut.
Taken on its own merits I think it's a good album with some stellar playing, a couple of weird/unusual tracks, and I'm not sure how much I'll revisit this. Sometimes these become growers though, so we'll see. 

[Dinosaur David B]

So I've heard it now, and there's some good stuff and some interesting stuff on this album. But it's nowhere near as immediate or impactful as his 90s albums. It's also much quirkier, from the Bowie-ish Lady Grinning Soul to a sleepy remake of the song Face the Truth.  Norum's trying new shit, and it feels like it may take a bit more unpacking than usual to really appreciate it. Similarly, while the lead work is great, Norum's clearly trying to be more mature and overplay less. He succeeds, but that means the lead work far less explosive than it was in his past work.

I can't find the album credits anywhere, but one thing I'll say is IMO, JN should be singing ALL of the songs himself. His voice is so good. But he's got another guy on a couple of these tracks doing the grittier higher singing. It's either IS Kelly Keeling or someone who sounds like Kelly Keeling. Keeling has worked with Norum before with great results, but whoever it is, I don't think it's working as well on these songs. 

I'll need a few more spins of this to draw further conclusions.
 

[Nick Layton]

Sounded like Keeling to me as well...makes sense as they worked together before, I can't find the album credits either.

[Donthegreek]

The other vocalist on 2 of the songs: "One On One" and "Norma"is...

ÅGE STEN NILSEN is a high profiled Norwegian artist and songwriter. Currently active as the front man of the reunited hardrock band WIG WAM, AMMUNITION and the newly established Scandinavian band project HAMMER with Pretty Maids guitarist Ken Hammer. He's also works continuously as a solo artist and released his fifth solo album "Crossing The Rubicon" in 2018.

He had his major break through with the glam rock band WIG WAM in 2005, when the band made a name for themselves
with the monster hit "IN MY DREAMS" in the Eurovision Song Contest. Wig Wam released in total 5 studio albums and was
active from 2001 - 2013 before reuniting in 2019 with their strongest album to date "NEVER SAY DIE".
Åge Sten Nilsen later joined the "Super Group" NORDIC BEAST, with members from Motörhead,
Europe and King Diamond as an "all star band project". He also formed the rock band AMMUNITION with Eclipse singer Erik Mårtensson on guitar. The band has released two studio albums so far, and is currently working on their third.

In addition to his original music Åge Sten Nilsen has sold more than 650.000 tickets to his Queen tribute show "The Show Must Go On" in his native Norway.