Token is a Swedish five piece playing well produced and polished melodic
hard rock. With such fine releases by bands like Humanimal, Crystal
Ball, Frontline, and Harem Scarem this year, can
Token compare? I do think this release falls somewhat short of those
I just mentioned, but this album would certainly make a nice addition to any
melodic hard rock collection.
Of the twelve total tracks, Token deliver a pretty standard mix between
hard rocking songs, mid tempo songs, and ballads (three). The production is
top notch and I have nothing but good things to say about the sound quality.
Each component of the sound is at the right level with a very polished, crystal
clear quality. The use of keyboards is enough to give the music a nice atmosphere
but manages not to saturate the songs or leave the guitars in the background.
The riffs stay in the forefront of the sound exactly where they belong.
The vocals of HB Anderson are very well suited for melodic hard rock. He has
a very emotional and melodic delivery with a slight gritty quality. He's not
too far from Jeff Scott Soto in places except for the slight accent. Johann
Sjoberg provides a healthy dose of well done guitar solos (check out Last
To Know for a killer solo!) and riffing although I can help but
think how awesome these solos might have sounded had they been dual solos. The
rhythm section, anchored by Pontus Ageryd on the drum kit, is tight and consistent
throughout the album. The music is very well executed and I've already made
mention of the fantastic production.
Although the sound is so crisp and the musical talent so evident, I still feel
something is missing when I finish listening to this album. While each song
is melodic in nature, the melodies aren't overly catchy or memorable. At the
end of the album, it is hard to look back over the track listing and hum any
of the songs to yourself. While each of the songs is good and there is not filler
material to speak of, there isn't a single song that immediately imbeds within
your mind and demands to be played over and over again. If Token can
cook up some addictive melodies in time for their next album, they might move
up to join the ranks of PC69, Humanimal, Harem Scarem,
and Crystal Ball amongst the leaders in the melodic hard rock/metal
genre. They certainly have the critical ingredients of excellent production
and musicianship nailed down, but the melodies are just a bit lacking for this
style of music which is so dependent on strong and memorable melodies. Tomorrowland
is certainly a good album that will please melodic hard rock fans, but they
face stiff competition this year from the unusually high number of melodic hard
rock gems that have been released this year.