  
Frontiers/BAM
Danish/Swedish/American band ROYAL HUNT has been through so many changes. Founded by eternal keyboard player Andre Andersen in 1989 they have conceived eleven studio albums, four live albums and no less than six best of releases, primarily in Japan though. Vocalists like Henrik Brockmann, John West and Mark Boals have been in the fold, but only D.C Cooper have prevailed and returned. All in all nine musicians other than the present lineup of D.C Cooper, Andre Andersen, Jonas Larsen, guitars, Andreas Passmark, bass, and drummer Allan Sörensen have contributed. Many say that their peak was around “Moving Target” and “Paradox”, i.e. the mid nineties, while many want to forget all about their oddity “X” from 2010. What will this album represent?
To my surprise they have chosen two tracks off “X”. All in all the band has chosen two to three songs off each album, plus bonus tracks, live renditions and bonus tracks. 33 tracks is a bit on the overpowering side, but many of them are really solid - which is unfortunately not the same as instant hits. I dare say I jotted down many “4/5” in the margin of the info sheet, but still I lack spark in most of the tracks. The formula is great, strong vocalist, flashy keyboards, usually with a classic touch, but the spark of many far less impressive bands is rarely present. The tracks off “Moving Target” impress me the most, with “Paradox” as a close follower. But all in all I wished for more. Live and re-charged songs are either too clean or simply not necessary, the old trap of acoustic and other slight renditions. But the fact remains, few bands sport as many competent musicians…
Track list
Flight
Kingdom Dark
Stranded
Clown in the Mirror
Wasted Time
Epilogue
Time
Far Away
1348
River of Pain
Tearing Down the World
Message to God
Cold City Lights
Follow Me
Surrender
The Mission
Can´t Let Go
Paper Blood
Season´s Change
The First Rock
Tears of the Sun
The Well
Shadowman
Hard Rain´s Coming
Half Past Loneliness
Save Me (New song)
One by One (Acoustic)
Bodyguard (Acoustic)
Restless (Acoustic)
Bad Luck
Double Conversion
U-Turn
Sixth Sense
Day Is Dawning
www.frontiers.it www.myspace.com/royalhuntmusic
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