Summing up this album is easy, I'll use just one word – Buy!

Sweden is defined in the dictionary as "a Kingdom in Northern Europe, in the Eastern part of the Scandinavian Peninsula". They should also add to that entry – "that for whatever reason, be it the water, food or climate, also appears to have a factory with a conveyor belt that has the sole purpose of churning out an ever growing line of fantastic sounding Melodic Rock/AOR bands". Once again this factory has created a band that all lovers of anything highly melodic will adore; the band's name is Care Of Night and their album is called 'Connected'.

Subsequently you'll already (I'd imagine) have more than an inkling as to what you're going to hear on this release and for the most part you'd likely be right. Work Of Art, State Of Salazar, Toto, W.E.T. and Journey all spring to mind as you play the album. The questions is does this matter? Basically not a jot because we all know that those acts are wonderful and what makes it all the better is that CON aren't just clones of these band, but instead their music glorifies what is best in all things AOR, which in the end is the music that we all love.

Opening track 'Cassandra' is a perfect example of what I mean; magnificent harmonic vocals, melodies that will make grown men weep and a melodic guitar solo to die for. This sets out the wares of CON perfectly and before it ends you already know that this bunch of Swedish AORsters have everything needed to stand out from the crowd. Then what follows is a master class in how to write, perform and produce catchy, hook filled and captivating Melodic Rock.

For starters, take a listen to 'Those Words', a track that's catchier than Chicken Pox and one which will pop into your head when you least expect it; I promise you'll be singing its chorus out loud and embarrassing yourself as you do so. There is also the beautifully sincere ballad 'Dividing Lines' with its heartfelt lyrics and Boulevard-like Saxophone break, the intoxicating 'Say A Prayer', the keyboardtastic 'Contact' and the stunning 'Unify' where Calle Schönberg (one of the vocal finds of the last few years) really shows what he's capable of. Last but not least we have the seven minute melodic epic 'Say You Will'; a song that builds slowly from a light acoustic refrain to an all out melodic romp, which really shows that in Care Of Night we have another fantastic – and NEW – AOR group that will hopefully go on from this wonderful start to much bigger and better things.

Summing up this album is easy, I'll use just one word – Buy!

Ian Johnson