AOR is the brainchild of Frederic Slama, who has long been a fan of all things Westcoast – the sort of AOR that is very laidback in sound and style. Yet again he utilises some top musicians from the Westcoast scene including Toto’s Steve Lukather, Michael Landau, Philip Bardowell and fellow AOR fanatic Radioactive’s Tommy Denander. This CD is supposedly ‘rockier’ than previous albums but only just! Opener ‘How Could I Forgive Her’ is the most fast paced number and it is classic Toto in sound. But it is the ballads you would judge an album like this one and in ‘L.A. Winds’ they have pulled off one of the best ballads in years! It starts with some wonderful keys before vocalist Philip Bardowell really struts his stuff with his mellow and sublime vocals – sheer aural bliss. A few songs are too wimpy even for me like ‘Give A Little Love’ that veers to close to latter day Michael Bolton for my liking.

Overall a very enjoyable AOR album and certainly of interest to fans of Toto circa the album with Joseph Williams.

***½

Review by Jason Ritchie

***** Out of this world | **** Pretty damn fine |
*** OK, approach with caution unless you are a fan |
** Instant bargain bin fodder | * Ugly. Just ugly