HUGO RAMOS - The Dream

\r\nJosh Ramos is a guitarist who has appeared in famous hard rock bands, like Two Fires and Hardline, while Hugo is a well known solo artist, also known by his work with Valentine. Hugo and Ramos teamed up with famed producer Fabrizio Grossi (who’s playing the bass here), keyboardist Eric Ragno (ex Takara, China Blue) and the great John Macaluso (Riot, Malmsteen, Starbreaker, Ark etc) on drums and the result is "The Dream". The first thing that comes in mind after listening to every song is, JOURNEY and the second, JOURNEY again. Ok you can also find some elements of Josh’s bands here and there. This release is a Hard rock / AOR one, based on Hugo’s great voice and Ramos’ melodic and inspired guitar playing. Catchy melodies and choruses make this album a very easy listening one. Another hot spot is the production, which is very clear, every instrument can be heard and has its place inside the compositions. By
\r\nall means every musician, expect the obvious two, has performed great here, adding his personal musical taste. Highlights of "The Dream" would be the opening "You’re Not Alone", an uptempo song, with great chorus and intro that brings slightly a Hardline mood, "The Dream" with its great arrangements and the melodic guitar and keyboard lines, "Bring Back This Love" a more heavy and fast song with great solos, "I Don’t Wanna Say Goodbye" a "love song" with a catchy chorus, "Tomorrow" which also brings in mind Steelhouse Lane in matters of riffing themes and smooth vocal lines and "I Can Take You" which includes a great performance full of groove by the rhythm section and mellow guitars solos by Ramos. To sum up, despite the fact that it’s considered as an Aor album, which means more keyboards, this is a release driven and depended on the great riffing ideas and solos of Josh Ramos and the velvet voice of Hugo Valenti. The only disadvantage is that it gets a little bit boring from time to time, but then again that’s a matter of taste. Fans of this particular style will not be disappointed and they will sure find more than two reasons, to be happy for.
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\r\nJohny "L.O.V.E. Machine" Litinakis\r\n

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\r\nLine up:
\r\n:.:  Hugo Valenti     : Vocals
\r\n:.:  Josh Ramos       : Guitar
\r\n:.:  Fabrizio Grossi  : Bass
\r\n:.:  John Macaluso    : Drums
\r\n:.:  Eric Ragno       : Keyboards \r\n

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