THE BAND:
Terje Eide - Lead Vocals, All Guitars, Keyboards, Bass & All Background Vocals
 Special Guests:
Erik Engebretsen: drums
Christian Wolff: Keyboards & Bass on 1, 2, 7, 10 & 12 / Lead Guitars on 2 & 10 / Acoustic Guitars on 10
Eric Ragno: Piano & Keyboards on 1, 3, 4 & 11

TRACK FRAGMENTS:
1.) “Lifeline” – This intro opens with a minor lead guitar solo.  The minor lead guitar solo runs through the intro section.  The music of the pre-verse is laced in between the lead vocal lines.  As each vocal line of the pre-verse trail off there is an echo effect.  The first two musical sections in between the vocal lines consisted of drum fills that follow along with the guitar riffs.  The band kicks in to a full rhythm arrangement for the verse.  The way the verse was arranged reminded me a lot of Joe Lynn Turner.  There was a small rhythm change for the musical chorus.  The second pre-verse was arranged different giving it a different feel.  There was several minor lead guitar licks underneath the vocal lines of the second verse.  The lead guitar solo starts off slow but builds as it progresses.    
2.) “Lost Your Track” – This track opens with a lead guitar riff.  This lead guitar riff is actually the intro.  The musical verse of this track had a very simple AOR/progressive rock feel to it.  The musical arrangement and backing vocals of the chorus had a huge eighties AOR feel to it.  There was a very short lead guitar lick connecting the first chorus with the second verse.  Underneath the vocal lines of the second verse there are two different rhythm guitar arrangements.  After the second chorus the band slows the bpm (beats per minute) down for the lead guitar solo.  The lead guitar solo was broken down into two sections with a breakdown in the middle.  For the second half of the lead guitar solo the band speeded the song back up.  This half of the solo was also double tracked to give it a twin lead guitar feel.  There is a minor lead guitar solo underneath the fourth chorus of the outro.  
3.) “Dream Zone” – This intro consisted of a minor lead guitar riff over the top of it.  There was a small rhythm arrangement change for the musical verse.  The lead vocal lines of the verse were double-tracked.  The way the verse was arranged gave it a very simple hook.  There was a small rhythm change for the musical chorus.  Instead of a vocal hook the chorus has a musical hook instead.  The lead guitar solo was in between the first lyric line of the third chorus along with the rest of the third chorus.    
4.) “Edellyn” – This track opens with the special effect of rain.  The main musical intro section opens with a single acoustic rhythm guitar riff.  As the intro progressed it sounded like the band added a second acoustic guitar.  There is no arrangement change for the musical verse.  The fourth lyric line of the verse was double tracked.  The first lyric line of the chorus consisted of a backing harmony.  The backing vocals of the chorus where huge!!!  After the first chorus the band incorporates a piano arrangement.  After the second chorus there was an acoustic guitar solo.  In many ways this track was very reminiscent to the stuff Dennis DeYoung was writing for Styx on their earlier releases.
5.) “Alive” – This track opens with a very progressive intro arrangement.  There is a rhythm arrangement change for the musical verse.  For me this type of song needed a bigger hook for the chorus.  Scattered underneath the second verse there are little lead guitar licks.  After the first chorus leading into the lead guitar solo there was a small arrangement change.  The solo for this track was amazing!!!
6.) “In The Line Of Fire” – This track opens with the special effect of a helicopter.  There was a minor lead guitar solo over the top of the intro section.  The band brought the music down to a less intense feel for the musical verse.  The lead vocals for this track were over the top!!!!  The vocal lines of the chorus had a huge AOR feel to them.  There is a small lead guitar solo riff connecting the first chorus with the second verse.  The lead guitar solo connects the second chorus with the third chorus.
7.) “Get Out Of Here” – The intro to this track had a progressive feel to it.  There was an arrangement change for the musical verse.  For me the highlight of the verse was the bass line.  There was a small hook attached to the chorus.  For me vocally this is one of the few tracks on the CD where you can really get a good feel on how well of a vocalist Terje is. 
8.) “Fly Away” – This track opens with a very simple AOR intro.  There is a minor lead guitar solo connecting the intro with the musical verse.  Terje double- tracked his lead vocals of the verse.  There was a small arrangement change for the musical chorus.  Terje kept the musical chorus very simple.  There was a minor lead guitar solo underneath the lead vocal lines of the second verse.  After the second chorus there was an intense double-bass drum pattern change.  This drum line change changed the dynamics of this section of the song. 
9.) “No Time To Lose” – There was a minor lead guitar solo over the top of this intro section.  There was a small arrangement change for the musical verse.  The pre-chorus of this track consisted of a tom-tom pattern.  There was a lead guitar solo after the first chorus connecting it to the second verse.  There is a second minor solo after the breakdown section.  Neither solo is really what you could call a major solo.
10.) “Why Wait Another Day” – This intro opens with a keyboard effect.  There was a minor lead guitar solo over the top of the intro arrangement.  For the musical verse the band used an acoustic guitar as the main instrument with an electric guitar riff over the top of it.  There was a small musical rest connecting the musical verse with the musical chorus.  After the first chorus connecting the second verse there was a minor solo.  After the second chorus there was a small breakdown section.  This breakdown section led to the lead guitar solo.  The solo starts very slow then builds with speed as it progresses.  There was a second minor solo over the top of the outro section of the song. 
11.) “Tomorrow Never Dies” – This track opens with a huge drum fill.  There was a minor lead guitar solo over the top of the intro section.  It sounded s if the band used the same basic rhythm for the musical verse as the intro.  There was a small arrangement change for the musical chorus.  There was a minor lead guitar solo that connect the first chorus with the second verse.  There was a very cool riff change connecting the second and third chorus.  This track consisted on no lead guitar solo.
12.) “Howling At The Moon –This track opens with a very simple laid back intro section.  The musical verse along with the way the vocal lines were arranged gave the verse a very AOR feel.  The chorus had a huge hook attached to it.  The lead guitar solo is after the second chorus.  All in all just a very simple straight forward AOR song.
13.) “Find A Way (Bonus Track)” – There is no intro for this track.  The rhythm guitar underneath the lead vocal lines of the verse had a very simple feel.  There was a small arrangement change for the musical chorus.  For the second verse the band added a keyboard arrangement to give the musical arrangement a more full sound.  The lead guitar solo is after the first chorus and very well could be the best one on the release!!!!  The outro consisted of just keyboards. 


     ‘Dream Zone’ is the long awaited sophomore release from On The Rise.  This time around the band is more or less a solo project by musician Terje Eide.  Who, outside of the drums plays most if not all the instruments on each track.  The way Terje Eide sang and arranged the lyric lines where very reminiscent to American AOR greats such as Boston and early pre-Tommy Shaw Styx.  Musically, Terje Eide wrote and arranged the songs in an AOR style with slight progressive overtones.  The song “Edellyn” was heavily influenced by the stuff Dennis DeYoung was writing for Styx’s ‘Equinox’ released December 1, 1975 & ‘Crystal Ball’ (first release with Tommy Shaw) released October 1, 1976.  If you are into this type of music then this release is right up your ally and well worth buying.