Album Review: Jaded Heart – Perfect Insanity

Jaded Heart - Perfect Insanity

Jaded Heart – Perfect Insanity
Genre: Melodic Hard Rock/Metal
Review by: Jere

The transitional period that Jaded Heart went through over the last three to four years is no longer in the infant stages as the Johan Fahlberg era is here to stay. A significant transformation has overtaken the entire group and even though the Michael Bormann remains the most popular era for Jaded Heart these guys have tried to hold on to their past by still remaining high melodic once Fahlberg entered the fold things started to go in a much heavier direction. Looking at the material which Jaded Heart has recorded in the span of a few years it’s fairly obvious that the band is trying to break out of its former shell and really get fans to embrace Johan in a completely different way when Bormann was fronting the band. For any prominent hard rock group changing lead singers will always draw a lot of attention so considering that Jaded Heart now has three albums with their still relatively new lead singer one might think they would have reach an entirely different level of artistic diversity. As Jaded Heart has continued to put their fate into Fahlberg it’s quite surprising to hear just how much heavier this band has become. Perfect Insanity is a very fitting title for this latest opus as these guys are working an angle that borders on nearly being a pure melodic metal group. When given the opportunity to listen to the album it definitely felt like I was listening to an entirely different band yet once some powerful harmony vocals overtook the main choruses to several tracks it began to sound a bit like the Jaded Heart of old. It has taken a couple albums now but Jaded Heart seems to be stepping out of the shadows and back into the limelight of some of their past glories. This isn’t the most consistent J.H. album in the group’s illustrious career and there are quite a few tracks where the band themselves stumble over their own feet however about midway through Perfect Insanity everything starts to fall into place. Ever since Johan Fahlberg’s induction into this brotherhood he has strived to stand out on his own all the while taking Jaded Heart into a direction which could merge past influences with several exciting new upgrades. For the fans themselves the adjustments that they’ve had to make since 2005 hasn’t quite been the transition and for myself its taking a brand new car out for test drive and trying to thoroughly break it in before I ultimately decide if that particular vehicle would be able to stand up quality wise to the older model. It’s not that Johan Fahlberg’s vocals don’t fit this group I tend to think it just took a couple albums to really warm up and step into a zone where he could evenly match the intensity level that the rest of Jaded Heart were putting out. With this group getting heavier with every passing album I personally think it will most likely take one more album until Jaded Heart gets the formula mixed spotlessly and really give melodic rock fans a product which can be appreciated on many different levels. In hindsight when looking back at the Bormann era it wasn’t until albums like IV and Trust where I felt Jaded Heart were really beginning to come into their own. With the Fahlberg era thus far it’s been mainly touch and go so while these guys would produce a few great tracks here and there when looking at whether or not they’ve hit their stride with Johan I guess it would be up for debate but I’ll give Jaded Heart for sticking to their guns with their new lead singer as even though the melodic/arena rock genre is having an extremely difficult time surviving in the modern age and if a group doesn’t make a lasting impression with a brand new singer right out of the gate it usually points to another line up change. If a band can survive the harshest of critics and naysayers then it might take a little longer to win them over but eventually all the blood, sweat, and tears being put into the musicianship will ultimately pay off in the long run. In the case of Johan Fahlberg and Jaded Heart they’re working against the grain and even though it has been an uphill battle if they have to desire to push onwards they’ll be able to reap all the rewards that await them.

The Good

A heavy, hard rockin’, melodic Jaded Heart album that quite honestly I couldn’t even imagine Michael Bormann trying to reach this level (not saying that he couldn’t it’s just a big departure from the pure arena rock vibe the band encompassed in the late ‘90s). Perfect Insanity is a mass of emotions and while it doesn’t really begin to kick in until about the third or forth run through Jaded Heart is slowly beginning to build momentum with Johan Fahlberg. After Michael Bormann left the group a lot of people couldn’t see these guys moving forward but trying to tell these guys to quit while their ahead is like trying to tell Rocky Balboa to stay down after being knocked to the ground by Ivan Drago. It took a few tries but everyone in the band is adjusting to one another and with the third release with Johan these German hard rockers are now beginning to get their second wind.

The Bad

The first three or four songs scatter the emotions all over the place so with that it hard to come to grips with where Jaded Heart is coming from on Perfect Insanity. While the formula is nice and heavy some of the songwriting almost feels contrived and it’s not until track number five and six where Jaded Heart begins to pace one another. One of the major fine points to Perfect Insanity is the intensity level as Johan and the rest of the guys are not afraid to keep the energy level on a constant high. I know it seems that I’m turning this into another section for the positives of this release but apart from a very shaky beginning I’m glad to finally see (and more importantly) hear Jaded Heart hitting the mark s that their aiming for.

Best Tracks

Rockers – One Life One Death, Hell Just Arrived, Come To The Feast

Ballads – Another one of those bands who decided not to engorge their newest effort with sappy love songs, which is very shocking considering how much Jaded Heart used to rely on several emotional ballads to bring in some much depth. Oh well like the old saying goes – Out with the old, in with the new!

Final Rating: 3.45/5

Additional Details

> Similar – Bon Jovi, The Scorpions, Michael Schenker Group, Hardline
> Label – Frontiers Records
> Artist Link: www.jadedheart.de
> Purchase Link: www.nehrecords.com