We already featured the remastered reissues of Tommy Denander bands Rainmaker and Deacon Street Project. Now it’s time another band / project masterminded by the talented Swede; PRISONER. Originally released in 2000’s, the first PRISONER album was titled ‘Blind’, however for this reissue – remastered by Denander himself – it was simply self-titled “Prisoner“.
PRISONER is perhaps Denander’s finest moment from the era. Songwriting is top notch, the sweet AOR waves are excellent, the catchy melodies, the smooth vocals. There’s keyboard/guitar driven tracks resembling the ’80s, a couple of harder cuts, and of course a TOTOish feeling all over.
Future AORsters HOUSTON founder Ricky Delin was heavily involved in this album, not only playing some magic keyboards / synths, but also co-writing with Denander. This give you a pretty good idea of the AOR bells present on “Prisoner”.
There’s other well known musicians participating on ‘Prisoner’ like Geir Roenning (Rainmaker, Sayit), Bruce Gaitsch, Johan Koleberg (House of Lords), Andy Eklund (Sayit), Bernt Ek, Mikael Eriksson, Thomas Vikström (Talk Of The Town), and more.
“Prisoner” has everything a fan of this genre would want, but especially amazing songs throughout and that guitar playing.
Highly Recommended
01 – Blind
02 – Don’t Wanna Waste Another Minute
03 – Starry Eyes
04 – Liar (I’d Never Think the Thought)
05 – Italian Girl (Rome Is Still There)
06 – Hear Me Heaven
07 – Stop Playing Games
08 – Give My Heart a Home
09 – Where Is the Fire
10 – End of the Millennium
Guitar, Bass, Keyboards – Tommy Denander
Lead Vocals – Geir Rønning, Pierre Wensberg
Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Ricky Delin
Drums – Johan Koleberg
Lead Guitar – Bruce Gaitsch (track 6)
Backing Vocals – Andy Eklund, Bernt Ek, Mikael Eriksson, Thomas Vikström