If you’ve been following this site from the beginning, you know I have a rather unhealthy obsession with AOR. What can I say? I’m a sucker for powerhouse vocals, synth driven hooks, and songs that sound like they could’ve been written by Jim Peterik. So you can only imagine my excitement when Peterik himself releases new music. His latest effort is Lion Heart. It is the sixth album from his long running collaboration with singer Toby Hitchcock, Pride of Lions.
I’m used to great music from Jim Peterik. After all, this is the man who co-founded Survivor and co-wrote every single song. Not to mention, there’s the hits he wrote for 38 Special (“Hold on Loosely”, “Caught Up in You”, “Rockin’ into the Night”), Sammy Hagar (“Heavy Metal”), and the “Vehicle” that started it all, The Ides of March (cue the trumpets). Peterik his done it all and then some. Yet even in the scope of his vast catalog, Lion Heart is a creative triumph.
Pride of Lions can be described as a musical successor to Survivor. Hitchcock boasts a wide vocal range similar to the late, great Jimi Jamison. His flawless highs mesh marvelously with Peterik’s soulful low midrange. As far as songwriting goes, I’m convinced Peterik can crank out hit records in his sleep. Take a track like “Carry Me Back” for example. If this was released in the summer of ’83, as the lyrics reminisce about, it would’ve been the #1 song of the summer.
Nearly every track is upbeat and uplifting, the perfect musical antidepressant for these trying times. But there’s some in particular that grab me by the collar and slap me in the face for not yet cutting my hair into a mullet. “We Play for Free” is one of the best songs in recent years to take on the age old trope of life on the road. The lyrics resonate, the chorus is catchy, and those synths are goosebump-inducing. Another favorite is “Sleeping with a Memory”. I’m sorry, but I refuse to believe this nocturnal power ballad was recorded in 2020. This MUST be a mid 80s relic…right?
In typical metal fashion, my choice cut happens to be the heaviest, proggiest, and most musically adventurous, “Rock & Roll Boom Town”. This 6 minute epic examines the rise and fall of Hollywood. Once the epicenter of rock in America, “the well soon ran dry”. Why, you may ask? It’s easy to blame the plaid clad Seattle grunge ragamuffins, but as Peterik and Hitchcock explain, “Parties and pills and nose candy thrills were scheming to undo the vibe.” And the award for Lyric of the Year goes to…
Pride of Lions have a lot to be proud of. They’ve proven, yet again, why they’re the leaders of the modern AOR pack. I guess when your band features the man who helped invent the very genre you’re playing, you’ve got the upper hand. In Pride of Lions’ case, they’ve got the upper hand, the “Eye of the Tiger”, and a “Lion Heart”.
10 out of 10
Label: Frontiers Records
Genre: AOR
For fans of: Survivor, Foreigner, Work of Art