No more catchy synth lines, no more 80's pop-hair-metal vocals, these guys are now Hard Rockers. You're saying, "no way, not the same band that released The Final Countdown"...well, my friends, you are wrong.

How can one album sound so new yet so classic? Is it the crystal clear production? Is it the hard-as-hell riffs but melodic-as-hell leads? Is it the interesting and meaningful lyrics? Is it the incredible diversity in the style of songs on the album? Well, I honestly don't know how to answer that.
How can the song "Hero" sound so fresh and yet be an undenyable re-creation of "Carrie"? How can tracks like "Spirit of the Underdog", "America", and "Wake Up Call" rock so much, at the same time having an incredibly melodic side to it?

There is not a single track on this album that I skip, I play it all the way through all the time, and this is coming from a big Europe fan, a fan of all their earlier albums with no exceptions. You can really tell that the guys worked their souls out on this record...but, obviously, still won't get any airplay in this pathetic-music-scene country known as the United States. I hope they go Platinum in Europe, because this material is just THAT DAMN GOOD.