I guess I don't know what success means anymore. There used to be obvious ways of measuring whether or not a band was achieving something, but those have mostly gone by the wayside. Now, bands that I've never even heard of are touting themselves as being among the biggest in whatever sub-genre they want to call themselves. That isn't quite the case with Perfect Plan, who I do remember from their debut album, but when their label is saying they are "immediate rising stars", and their single "built their reputation", I'm left scratching my head. What reputation? Who, other than the most hardcore of European melodic rock fans, knows who these guys are?
I'm not saying that to be dismissive, but to illustrate a point. They are calling themselves stars, but they haven't done anything that would lead me to think that the least bit true. They released one album that didn't make any sort of greater impact in the melodic rock world, let alone outside of that. Maybe this second album can improve upon that, but things being what they are, I wouldn't count on that either.
The record does get off to a good start. The title track leads us off with a bit more heaviness, a solid groove, and a hook that hits pretty hard. It's a really good melodic hard rock track, and has enough muscle to avoid any of the cheese that usually creeps in. That song might not be a reputation builder, but it's a great single, and makes a strong case that Perfect Plan has the potential to be what they already claim themselves as.
Unfortunately, they quickly soften their sound back up, adding more melodrama and 80s tropes. Everything good about that first song is erased with a string of generic Journey retreads. Look, I like Journey too, but that was thirty-plus years ago. We don't need so many bands trying to recreate that sound. Not only does it bring to mind comparisons to a band far better than Perfect Plan, but it's not even what they themselves are best at. The few times they try to rock here are better than their AOR worship, and the album would be stronger if they had headed more in that direction.
They aren't a bad AOR band by any means. The majority of the album is perfectly fine melodic rock, with the exception of "Nobody's Fool", where they try to be a blues band. It doesn't work with the gloss of their sound, and I especially hate that they spend more than thirty seconds at the start playing the riff with such a lo-fi sound. It sounds terrible, and is annoying to sit through before the rest of the song completely shifts gears. A producer should have pointed out how pointless that effect was, and either ditched it, or shortened that section dramatically.
Your view of this record will exclusively come down to how much you like AOR. If that's your jam, you'll be happy with this very standard album of moderately heavy melodic rock. For me, it sounds a bit toothless. I'm caught between wanting it to be heavier and wanting it to be poppier. The record sits in a middle ground where I don't think it goes far enough in any direction, and the remaining eleven songs make me want to listen to the title track again. That song sounds like a completely different, and better, band. I want to hear mroe from them.
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