Chasing Violets – Outside Heaven (2012)

Hailing from France, CHASING VIOLETS is formed by sisters Sarah & Melissa Fontaine, and their debut “Outside Heaven” surely will please the AOR / Melodic Rock community. Produced and co-written by Frederic Slama (project AOR) and with songs co-arranged by the legendary Tommy Denander, Paul Sabu, Robert Sall (Work of Art) and Alessandro Del Vecchio (Shining Line) among other luminaries, we have some notorious players as well contributing in the instrumentation.

The list is impressive; Michael Landau, Jerry Hludzik, Philip Bardowell, Bruce Gaitsch, Göran Edman and many, many more.
Chasing Violets reflects Sarah & Melissa’s passion for AOR music: Melodic Rock with a touch of sensuality – following the footsteps of Robin Beck or Fiona – but also classic FM music and a dash of West Coast.

Both Sarah & Melissa have sweet and velvety voices, sometimes emotional as in “Voices In The Wind”, sometimes gorgeous in complete harmony with the singers who support them. There are really melodic tunes here such as the duets with the incredible Göran Edman on “The Price To Pay” and “Above Suspicion”, or “A Hole In Paradise” and the aorish “No Margin For Error” with the always effective Philip Bardowell. “Hold Back The Dawn”, possibly the track featuring the most remarkable stars, is where the girls performance is not completely convincing, although the instrumentation by Denander, Michael Landau(!), Del Vecchio, the great Mike Baird and Jerry Hludzik from Dakota is excellent.
Other good tracks to mention are the Joey Summer arranged “Cease Fire” where he plays most of the music and the guitar solos are shared between three guests (including David Mark Peace), and the almost hard rocking “Just Wanna Be Your Heroin”, the only cut entirely written by the sisters.

01. I Can’t Love No More
02. No Margin For Error
03. The Price To Pay
04. When The Darkness Falls
05. Voices In The Wind
06. Above Suspicion
07. Outside Heaven
08. Hold Back The Dawn
09. No One’s Gonna Hurt Me Anymore
10. A Hole In Paradise
11. You’re My Obsession
12. Cease Fire
13. Just Wanna Be Your Heroin

Sarah Fontaine : Lead & Backing Vocals
Melissa Fontaine : Lead & Backing Vocals
Goran Edman : Vocals
Philip Bardowell : Vocals
Jerry Hludzik : Vocals
Dane Donohue : Vocals
Rick Riso : Vocals
John Barbour : Vocals
Tommy Denander : All Instruments
Paul Sabu : All Instruments & Vocals
Christian Tolle : Guitars & Keyboards
Joey Summer : Guitars & Keyboards
Frederic Slama : Guitars & Keyboards
Robert Sall : Guitars & Keyboards
Michael Landau : Guitars
Tim Manford : Guitars
Stefano Lionetti : Guitars
Daniel Fontaine : Guitars
Bruce Gaitsch : Guitars
Colin Rodgers : Guitars
David Mark Pearce : Guitars
Mario Percudani : Guitars
Eric Ragno : Keyboards
David Diggs : Keyboards
Alessandro Del Vecchio: Keyboards & Vocals
Morris Adriaens : Keyboards & Vocals
Anna Portalupi : Bass
Urban Danielsson : Bass
Mike Baird : Drums
Miri Miettinen : Drums
Pierpaolo Monti : Drums
Herman Furin : Drums
Sacha Spiegel : Drums
Pat Thern : Drums
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