You could be forgiven for thinking there was a factory somewhere, churning out melodic rock records to a consistently high quality.
There kind of is. It’s called Frontiers Records, and here’s another one.
Degreed, though, are rather better than that sounds. Yes, you know broadly what you’re getting with “Curtain Calls”. There will be big choruses. There will be gleaming production. There will be guitar solos placed exactly where guitar solos should be placed. There will be songs that sound like they were born to be played while someone in the front row punches the air as if their entire existence depends on it.
But the trick is still doing it well. Degreed do it very well indeed.
“One Helluva Ride” proves that straight away. They’ve got a nose for trouble, this lot, and maybe there’s a tinge of Van Halen in the way it bounds forward, all grin and swagger. “Holding On To Yesterday” shows the other side of them: a gift for AOR with a modern edge, the sort of thing that knows exactly where it came from but doesn’t sound like it’s been kept in a box since 1987.
“Believe” is so 80s it would have shoulder pads, and that is absolutely meant as a compliment. “Guiding Light” follows it with a keys solo that deserves a small round of applause on its own, but the song itself has the energy to match it. There’s nothing decorative here; everything is working for the tune.
That’s the point with Degreed. The soaring choruses on “My Blood” feel entirely natural, not bolted on because the style demands them. And what sets them apart, perhaps, is their unflinching commitment to the tougher ones too. The title track has bite, and “The Rambler” brings folk overtones into the mix. Not many bands of this type would take on something with the spirit of an Allman Brothers tune and make it fit, but Degreed do.
The contrast is there too. “Matter Of The Heart” is the ballad, sure, but it never collapses into syrup. “Broken Dreams” brings back the rockier stuff with real purpose, before “Promise Me” underlines that even a plain and simple love song can have a soaring, almost cinematic quality. In fact, at times it’s mere heartbeats away from power metal.
The band reckons this is their best album. Bands always say that shit, of course. But this time? They might have a point. “Curtain Calls” is polished, punchy and absolutely knows what it is.
RATING: 7.5/10
