ODYSSEY DESPERADO is a project sparked by guitarist/songwriter Odysseas Karapolitis’ love for AOR/melodic hard rock. In order to accomplish what he had in mind he enlisted singer Manos Fatsis (ex-DARK NOVA, DEVILLUSION), producer/multi-instrumentalist Bob Katsionis (FIREWIND, SERIOUS BLACK, OUTLOUD) and the one and only Paul Laine (DANGER DANGER, THE DEFIANTS) on additional vocals.
Coming out of nowhere Karapolitis transforms the passion and admiration for his musical heroes (to name a few BON JOVI, DANGER DANGER, DOKKEN/GEORGE LYNCH) into ten spectacular songs. You would never guess what gems are hidden on this album. Karapolitis proves himself an outstanding songwriter and his compositions are perfected by Katsionis’ keyboards, ever present when needed to add beautiful melodies and harmonies, and Fatsis who is a powerful singer with a thing for catchy vocal melodies and passionate vocal deliveries. Laine provides extra finesse elevating the project to the highest levels. The songs are very well structured, with a lot of dynamic changes, nice bridges, very crucial keyboard parts that add a lot to the songs.
Pointing out the best songs is a difficult task because there really are no bad songs here. Seriously, there’s not even one song lacking big hooks (I mean huge hooks), nice guitar parts, passionate keys etc. ‘’You And Me Against The World’’ is one of those songs that demand repeated plays, it kicks off with a fantastic keyboard riff and shoots its way up to a chorus in the best Desmond Child tradition. ‘’Dreams Die Hard’’ is the absolute hard rock anthem of the album, I think it should be the first single/video and even have the album named after it. It has such an uplifting message that fits perfectly with the dynamics of the music and Fatsis serves the song perfectly with his strong raspy voice. ‘’Can’t Live Without You’’ is a haunting ballad, Katsionis delivers some magic moments on piano/keys and Fatsis really sings from his heart, making every breath count and coloring his voice in a way only really gifted singers can; really beautiful phrasing by all musicians and Fatsis. On ‘’Holding On To a Dream’’ Katsionis again leads the way with a nice keyboard intro, guitars soon take over and Fatsis shines with his fantastic vocal melodies, supported by Laines amazing backing vocals, just listen to how the lead/backing vocals interact. On ‘’Fragile’’ Fatsis channels his David Coverdale influences in the ballad-esque intro and then Karapolitis really breaks loose as he delivers a fantastic power metal riff and then leads the song to an uptempo BON JOVI-like rhythm. The song has an addictive beat and again fantastic hooks. ‘’Tomorrow You’ll Be Gone’’ is the only song with some lead vocals by Laine, the song grabs you from the first second as Laine begins singing the chorus accompanied by a fantastic guitar lead, Fatsis takes it from there and nails it too. The last song, ‘’Wings of silk’’ oddly enough is an atmospheric metal ballad that Kamelot would kill to lay their hands on, Fatsis happens to be a great admirer of both Roy Khan and Tommy Karevik (ex- and current singers of KAMELOT respectively) and he takes inspiration from both to deliver a tremendously emotional vocal with majestic melodies.
I don’t think you’ll get to listen to more than a handful of AOR/hard rock releases this year that will be nearly as good as ‘’Don’t Miss The Sunset’’. Do yourself a favor and check them out for yourself, it’s stuff you wouldn’t want to miss.