ORIANTHI – O

6/10

As I read the press notes, I really get the feeling I should have heard of Orianthi before. Apparently, she is not only a guitar player whose solo debut sold platinum and has 17 million streams on Spotify, she is also a well hired guitar player who has played with artists such as Hollywood Vampires, Carrie Underwood and Michael fucking Jackson! And yet, she is complete news to me. So as you can see, I’m not quite sure what to expect from O, her first album for the number one label in melodic rock Frontiers.

First, I must say, this is not an unique album in any way. It’s a piece of nice melodic hard rock with strong roots in the late 80’s like so many albums before. In many ways, Lita Ford pops up in my mind when I listen to it. Theres a chunk of the old Runaways-veteran vibe both in the musical direction and in Orianthis voice. I also get a hunch of Gotthard, which of course is nice as always. Also, an album doesn’t have to be unique to work, and O sure proves that. And with songs like the strong ballad Crawling Out of the Dark, the hit tune Rescue Me and the elegant closure in Moonwalker, this album sure works pretty good!

So okay, O isn’t in anyway groundbreaking. I kind of get the feeling the album will come and go, like so many other old school rock albums these days. And I guess I will pass on without leaving any marks in my mind as well. But if you were to stumble across this album, it’s definately worth hearing for some good tunes, Orianthis good guitar playing and powerful voice. And on top of that, the album is just as short as an album should be, which few albums are these days. It’s nothing that will rock any foundations, but if you were to stop and listen to it, you’d hear a genuin piece of melodic rock that works really good. And that’s not bad. Not bad at all!