Austria – known for Vienniese Whirls, Waltzes and skiing. Not so well known for producing great rock music, but landing at Rock-Zone Towers “Somewhere in America” shows that Cornerstone are here to rock. The band signed to the US based label ATOM Records in 2008 and that same year released their debut album “Head Over Heels“. After the CD release, the band did numerous tours of Europe and America. The band were able to do a mixture of headlining club shows and sharing larger stages with acts such as John Waite (The Babys, Bad English), Iron Maiden’s Dennis Stratton, New Model Army and American singer/songwriter Jeffrey Gaines, just to name a few. In 2011 the song “Right or Wrong“ was awarded as “Ballad of the Year“ by British magazine Rock Realms.
So what can you expect? Fronted by Patricia Hillinger the band represent a fantastic blend of rock/power-pop. With great blends of crunchy guitar, string/keyboard arrangements and very lovely songwriting Cornerstone are reminiscent of the great female fronted bands from the 80s but never sound dated or retro. As a guitarist, my first instinct is to check out the guitar parts but what really struck me first with “Somewhere in America” was Patricia’s voice – I am very choosy when it comes to female vocalists and she is right up there for me. Managing to move seamlessly from rock to power ballad and sound perfectly suited to both.
My preference are the more uptempo tracks like opener “Stay”, “Like a Stranger”, “High and Low” and the quirky “Oblivious” (which is very reminiscent of No Doubt) but all the songs on offer provide a range of moods and styles that will appeal to rock fans at the melodic rock/poppier end of the spectrum. A nice touch was the very Sixties styled intro (almost Beatle-esque) intro to “Folow You, Follow Me”. Quite a mix of styles are represented on the album but every little twist and turn delivers something new and delightful.
Cornerstone are appearing at Skyfest in Mansfield in September which will provide a great opportunity to check them out amongst a great line-up of bands.
Find out more about Cornerstone at:
http://www.facebook.com/cornerstoneaustria
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