The Swedish Coastland Ride might not be the widely known name in the melodic rock genre but upon the sheer listening of their two albums, I couldn’t help but noticing a variety of positive elements and appreciating the great gasp of the melodic rock sound. Especially, their sophomore effort “On Top of the World” is an excellent sample of what one really expects from an AOR album. Having said that, Coastland Ride is not shy at all in displaying their Toto-influenced sound with a pop/rock aesthetic (reminiscent of bands like Devise and Spider) without omitting adding only a few yet obvious licks of East Coast AOR (let’s say, Balance on their debut back in 1980).
I am pretty certain that everybody should definitely check Coastland Ride out because they offer a bunch of high level songs dressed in a flawless production. Just listen to the opening song “Act of Faith”…trust me, you’ll love it”!
Highlight: Avenue of Allies reissued Coastland Ride’s debut that it’s actually in the same vein of “On Top of the World”.
