Search - Starbreaker :: Love's Dying Wish

Yes! They're back!

Justin Gaines | Northern Virginia | 01/17/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As much as I loved the first Starbreaker album, I honestly never expected to see another one. It seemed like a one-off project, and guitarist/songwriter Magnus Karlsson is pretty busy with Primal Fear, Allen/Lande, Planet Alliance, and several other projects. Fortunately the metal gods smiled on us all and brought Karlsson and former TNT vocalist Tony Harnell (plus former Ark drummer John Macaluso and producer extraordinaire Tommy Hansen) together for another album - 2008's Love's Dying Wish.



The songwriting on Love's Dying Wish may be better than the first Starbreaker album. Harnell and Karlsson make a great team, and the resulting songs combine the hard hitting hooks and killer melodies Karlsson is so well known for with some uncharacteristically dark lyrics (Harnell's work, I'm guessing). The album just sounds more mature and radio ready (not that that will ever happen, but still) than you usually find in this genre.



Karlsson's guitar work is first class as usual, and Tony Harnell deliver's an awesome vocal performance, full of power and emotion. Nobody really sounds like Tony Harnell, no matter how hard they try (cough*Tony Mills*cough). My favorite songs on Love's Dying Wish are "Evaporate", "The Day Belongs to Us", "Beautiful Disaster" and the title track, but there isn't anything on the album that I'd call filler. The whole album really works, and feels more like the work of a committed band than that of individual players doing their own thing. I'd love to see these guys hit the road and play some of these songs live.



Love's Dying Wish is one of the year's absolute best melodic hard rock releases. If you liked the first Starbreaker album, you should enjoy Love's Dying Wish as well. It's a must have for just about any fan of the genre, and those who follow Pink Cream 69, Jorn Lande, and Pretty Maids should absolutely love it.

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