Review HARDLINE ‘Heart, Mind and Soul’

Hardline is a band that is around since 1991 when the Gioeli brothers, Johnny and Joey, started the band. ‘Double Eclipse’ was the debut, and it was a great start. Neal Schon, Todd Jensen and Deen Castronovo completed the line-up that created with ‘Double Eclipse’ a timeless classic in the fields of melodic rock and AOR.

Break-ups and reunions happened between the early 90s and today. Since a few years, Hardline are stabilized. ‘Danger Zone’, ‘Human Nature’ and ‘Life’ have been well-crafted record and the band add a new delivery to the list. ‘Heart, Mind and Soul’ is the title of the seventh longplayer, an album that includes eleven new songs.

‘Fuel to the Fire’ is a great start into this release. It is a heavy and melodic start into eh album. The song has a punch and leans over to the fields of metal. This start is a real firework. The other tracks show some good qualities too, also related to Gioeli’s great voice. Listening to him singing is a real treat.

The start we pretty explosive and the rest of the album reflects more of the melodic rock passion that comes with Hardline. Songs like ‘Surrender’, If I Could I Would’ and ‘Heartless’ are good representatives for Hardline’s melodic rock approach. With ‘the Curse’ the quintet has another heavy rocker in the offer. A bluesy vibe breaks through the surface while ‘Heaven’ represents the obligatory ballad.

Hardline never delivered a bad album and ‘Heart, Mind and Soul’ doesn’t break the pattern. This longplayer includes the typical Hardline sound and lives up to expectations, for sure. Professional melodic rock with a lot of feel and passion is what Hardline stands for and what fuels this really good album.