This last hurrah of dark-edged Melodic Rock should be in everyone's collection.

'Solace' is the swansong from Legion, the eighth album in as many years from the prolific song-writing partnership of guitarist Vince O'Regan and vocalist Phil Vincent. It's great to see the band go out on a high riding into the sunset rather than limping off into obscurity leaving with one of their best overall albums.

I still feel the band would have left a far more impressive legacy had they only released four albums in that time span as they have fallen foul on a couple of occasions with substandard or inconsistent releases. I'm a big fan of the band and the song-writing and musicianship of both O'Regan and Vincent so I'm pleased their final outing is not only a strong one, but potentially their best providing a fitting end for this dark-edged Melodic Rock band.

Legion have a very distinctive sound and whilst most their albums do have their own taste, you always know what you're going to get from them. So with 'Solace' you do indeed get another slab of driven, energetic Rock with massive guitar riffs and powerful vocals all delivered in a caliginous wrapping. If you're an established fan you know to expect some killer riffs and some quality chest beating vocals as you have become used to from the Legion song-book.

One of the biggest differences with this album (which not only gives it its own flavour but also in my opinion elevates the impact of the band) is the inclusion of Eric Ragno on keyboards. If you know Ragno and if you're an AOR fan then you know what a quality player he is, but the genius here is his keys are far more subtle than you may expect. It's more about atmospherics and subtle punctuations to boost certain parts of a song. On first listen you may not realise the importance of the keys, but if you listen to the album properly you'll notice some of Ragno's magic at work, putting a little polish on some already fantastic songs.

Overall 'Solace' is a solid, consistent album; one of my favourites is 'Torn To Pieces' which has an awesome atmospheric keyboard opening, probably the most obvious piece from Ragno, before bursting into a powerful bombastic guitar riff and an awesome chest beating chorus. This energetic and infectious Rocker is probably one of the strongest songs they have ever recorded and is a great example of Legion at their finest.

It's sad to see the prolific partnership between O'Regan and Vincent come to an end but Legion have been a kick ass band and this last hurrah of dark-edged Melodic Rock should be in everyone's collection.

Paul Woodward