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STARS ALIGNED

Von Hertzen Brothers

Crossover Prog


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Von Hertzen Brothers Stars Aligned album cover
3.79 | 136 ratings | 4 reviews | 20% 5 stars

Excellent addition to any
prog rock music collection

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Studio Album, released in 2011

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Miracle (4:05)
2. Gloria (4:40)
3. Voices in Our Heads (6:49)
4. Angel's Eyes (5:57)
5. Down by the Sea (4:33)
6. Bring Out the Snakes (6:50)
7. Repeat Mode (6:51)
8. Always Been Right (3:58)
9. I Believe (8:08)

Total Time 51:51

Bonus track on 2011 Spinefarm special edition:
10. Freedom Fighter (live) (4:56)

Line-up / Musicians

- Mikko Von Hertzen / vocals, guitars
- Kie Von Hertzen / guitars, vocals
- Jonne Von Hertzen / bass, vocals

With:
- Juha Kuoppala / keyboards
- Ville Riippa / keyboards (3,6)
- Klaara Pyrhönen / violin & addit. vocals (1,7)
- Juho Viljanen / trombone (7)
- Mikko Kaakkuriniemi / drums, orchestral percussion
- Chris Cote / voice of "Mr. Beelzebub" (6)

Releases information

Artwork: Ville Granroth with Kira Gluschkoff (photo)

LP Universal Music Group ‎- 2765382 (2011, Finland)

CD Universal Music Group ‎- 2762804 (2011, Finland)
CD Spinefarm Records (2011) W/ 1 bonus track

Thanks to passionist for the addition
and to projeKct for the last updates
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VON HERTZEN BROTHERS Stars Aligned ratings distribution


3.79
(136 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(20%)
20%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(46%)
46%
Good, but non-essential (22%)
22%
Collectors/fans only (8%)
8%
Poor. Only for completionists (4%)
4%

VON HERTZEN BROTHERS Stars Aligned reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by Easy Livin
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
4 stars A quality Finnish (ouch!)

Released earlier this year (2011), 'Stars aligned' is the Von Hertzen Brothers fourth and latest album. With the five man line up unchanged from 'Love remains the same' (2008), this album appears to indicate a move back towards a desire for commercial success. While the album title is far more prog than the previous album, the Bee Gees style cover image and the relative brevity of the tracks suggest the pop aspects of the band are coming to the fore again.

To be fair, the band have never sought to stifle those pop nuances, but on the last two albums, the commercial basis on which the songs were built was admirably disguised through the band developing them to their full potential. It should also be said that this album achieved great success when it made number one in the band's native Finland.

The heavy riffs of 'Miracle' immediately tell us that this is indeed the Brothers Von Hertzen, the vocals and harmonies being as strong as ever. The song is one of several which are strong on melody and performance, but not as fully nurtured as we have come to expect. The comparisons I have made in the past with Norwegian band Aha remain valid here, particularly on songs such as the delightful 'Voices in our Heads', a track which features an appealing evolving chant. 'Angel's eyes' is another highlight, although once again the song remains relatively straightforward and is highly accessible.

'Bring out the Snakes' is an odd track both in the context of the album and of the band's discography. Starting with some odd dialogue, the track evolves as a complex, schizophrenic prog metal number. Odd as it is, it actually works rather well. The closing track 'I Believe' is the longest at just over 8 minutes. After a brief foray into a Queen style intro, the track settles down as a slightly more ambitiously arranged piece.

Were this review being posted to a general music site, I would simply be reporting that this is a truly great album, and leaving it at that. As this is a specialist site though, I should emphasise that wonderful as the the music is, prog fans should be aware that there is little of that genre here. Recommended for those who simply enjoy good music.

My version of the album includes a bonus track in the form of a live version of 'Freedom fighter' from the previous album.

Review by LinusW
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars Dripping, over-enriched power-nuggets of unadulterated catchiness and melodious joy. Ye gods what a high-octane ride through the more digestible parts of progressive rock!

The purity of this soaring, uplifting euphoria of blistering light and hook-dominated crossover is relentless and oh-so-pleasing. If you expect things to grate, clash or just quietly and discreetly melt together, shield your ears from this zenith-like ray of burning emotionality and harmony.

Von Hertzen Brothers effectively launch a set of songs that grabs you right at your most sentimental, receptive and melodic state of mind, only to lift you ever higher in their rich tapestry of space-atmosphere, tight riff-and-percussion power and die-hard melodiousness. The instruments happily stay safely close together, but often enough still bustlingly independent, in punchy, grandiose and groovy riffs or melodies that eagerly fly away as light as feathers. Clear, razor-sharp harmonies (especially the near omnipresent vocal ones) burst out as often as they're called for. On Stars Aligned, that's pretty much constantly. Calmer bits pleasantly plod along familiar musical walkways in self-assured sincerity and familiarity. Sure, there are the spacious, more atmospheric bits around, where things swirl, resonate, twinkle and pulse more than usually in pop-infused rock of this style. It's rather tense at times, but never very ethereal or ambient, as you might find it in more old-school space rock. Nowhere are you pleasantly lost in time or confused in any way, but rather happily floating on an interesting, but relatively safe river you know will happily reach the sea. And there's a compositional diversity you don't find in your everyday rock band. But despite that, all of this is just another platform on which to launch and contrast the shameless glory of melody and harmony that rise above everything else. I know. Those words keep coming up again and again, but there's a very strong reason for it.

Yes, there are streaks of the familiar and hints of the cliché from all over, but still mixed together and presented with more energy, creative vigour and sincerity than you normally find in this type of music.

So...starry-eyed wonder and orgiastic pleasure in wild, freely flowing torrents of atmospherically infused, direct and eager melodic and harmonic overload and affluent instrumental excess. That's what you get. When properly executed that's a winner in my book. If you disagree, stay far away from Stars Aligned.

4 stars.

//LinusW

Latest members reviews

4 stars Add equal parts complexity and accessibility into a bowl, stir vigorously. That's essentially what you get with this, the newest release from Von Hertzen Brothers. I just recently decided to check out this band, after months of deliberation. Boy, do I feel silly for not getting into them soon ... (read more)

Report this review (#597419) | Posted by AgentSpork | Wednesday, December 28, 2011 | Review Permanlink

4 stars What could come after real masterpiece? Of course, album which is rigorously compared with this one. There are too little cases in Rock (and actually in whole music) history, when any artist had created two or more masterpieces consecutively. The "know-how" holds perhaps genuine masters only. P ... (read more)

Report this review (#434340) | Posted by Gandalff | Saturday, April 16, 2011 | Review Permanlink

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