Sunstorm – House of Dreams

I was really excited with the news of the release of a second Sunstorm album. A conception of Frontiers president Serafino Perugino, Sunstorm were created back in 2006 as a vessel for Joe Lynn Turner to bring to light some of his unreleased songs. With the addition of some tracks by Jim Peterik (ex-Survivor, Pride Of Lions) and others, it ended up as one of the best melodic rock albums of that year.

Once again, Turner had to dig in his treasure chest and choose some of his gems for display, Jim Peterik responded to the call and Dennis Ward produced the new album as he did with the debut and in addition he handled the bass and the background vocals. The rest of the song writing is a work of the brothers Tom and James Martin (House of Lords, Khymera).

On the music now, we are dealing again with a great AOR album. “House Of Dreams” starts in the best possible way.  “Divided”, “Don’t Give Up” and “The Spirit Inside” (all three written by the Martin brothers) are real jewels. They feature all the ingredients that can make them stick in your mind and they sure did in mine. Next in row is “I Found Love”, a fast paced rocker taken straight out of the 80s that showcases the happy and optimistic spirit of the whole album.  As the two following tracks “Say You Will” and “Gutters of Gold”, this one can’t keep up with the three first. Not that they are bad or even mediocre in any way. They just don’t have the elements that would make them stand out of the plethora of good melodic rock releases that see the light of the day. “Save A Place In Your Heart”, “Forever Now”, “Tears On The Pages” and “House of Dreams” continue the same way, with the last being one of the best moments of the album. The closing track “Walk On” is Joe’s own version of the exceptional ballad we co-wrote with Desmond Child for Jimmy Barnes album “Freight Train Heart” in 1987.

The only thing I have to add is that Dennis Ward did a good job with the production for one more time. The crisp and clear sound of “House Of Dreams” helps to bring out all of its merits.