Album Review — Hardline
Hardline — Life
Hardline began after Bad English broke up in the early 90s. Neal Schon apparently wasn’t happy with the softer direction of Bad English so he formed his own hard rock band with the Gioeli brothers (formerly of Brunette) to create Hardline. Their debut album, “Double Eclipse”, was exceptional. Unfortunately, Schon didn’t continue with the band but Johnny Gioeli has kept the band going all these years.
Gioeli is currently one of hard rock’s most hard working men as “Life” is his third record release in less than a year (Gioeli-Castronovo and his solo album, “One Voice”). Again he teams up with Frontiers producer/musician Alessandro Del Vecchio. Gioeli is the only remaining member of the original band but you would hardly know it as the album is very reminiscent of their solo debut from 27 years ago.
The album starts off with “Place To Call Home” which gets things going in the right direction. This is the first of many songs on the album that could have easily fit in on the first record. Gioeli sounds right at home on this very guitar driven track.
“Take A Chance” follows and has a similar upbeat feel with that big melodic chorus. Helio’s Sun is next and continues the guitar driven hard rock.
“Page Of Your Life” is the first ballad on the record. The first minute or so is just Gioeli singing over a piano before moving into classic power ballad mode. There’s some cool melodies here to make it a worthy listen.
Things get rocking again with “Out Of Time”. Another big chorus rocker. “Handful Of Sand” is an album highlight for me. Just some really great melodic hard rock.
“Who Wants To Live Forever” is a cover of the classic Queen song. Gioeli does an admirable job without trying to sound too much like Freddie Mercury. I was surprised it didn’t close out the album on first listen.
“My Friend” actually closes out the record and upon hearing it I understood why. It’s an emotional acoustic ballad where Gioeli gives his finest vocal performance on the record.
Gioeli is on a roll. I really enjoyed his solo record and the collaboration with Castronovo had some really good moments even though it felt a little disjointed with all the back and forth vocally. This is a very different record from his solo record, “One Voice”, but it’s equally as good.
If you liked the original Hardline record, you’ll like this one. I consider “Double Eclipse” to be an underrated hard rock classic. Although I wouldn’t put “Life” in the same category, I will say it’s the best Hardline record since then and definitely one to check out.
90 out of 100
Track Listing
01. Place To Call Home *
02. Take A Chance *
03. Helio’s Sun
04. Page Of Your Life
05. Out Of Time
06. Hold On To Right
07. Handful Of Sand *
08. This Love
09. Story Of My Life
10. Who Wants To Live Forever
11. Chameleon
12. My Friend *
*Best Songs