ACOUSTIC UNIVERSE-CHALLENGE
(ALV MUSIC/SPLASH INT.REC.)

Challenge is a band from Los Angeles, USA. The band features a woman on vocals and a man on acoustic guitar. She is called ALLISON LINDSAY and he is called ARNO VERSTAPPEN. Together they are the band CHALLENGE. Additional players on their first full-length-CD are Fernand Bos (bass), Toss Panos (drums), Ronna Cohen (keyboards) and Wayne Cook (Grand Piano). These 4 players have toured and recorded with the likes of Steve Vai, Alice Cooper and Sheryl Crow, just to mention a few.

Arno Verstappen originally came from Holland but moved to L.A. 4 years ago to study at GIT (Guitar Institute of Technology). After his graduation for this, he stayed in L.A to form a band and Allison became the vocalist for Arno's band.

Allison is also gaining notoriety teaching at Sabine Institute for Vocal Strengthening and Development) in L.A. This institue is famous for coaching many famous rockstars such as Dan Huff from GIANT and Axl Rose. Now let's have a listen to their music which is not really hard, but the 'cause of that is that there is no electric guitar. Now you don't have to stop reading immediately because even without the electric guitars the music is pretty good and is easy to listen to.

Musically it is A.O.R. in the vein of acts like HEART, JAIME KYLE which means we hear good songs with a great melody in every song. The only difference with mentioned other acts is that there are no electric guitars which is replaced by an acoustic guitar. I admit it is something different than the usual stuff but for a fan of female-AOR/Melodic Rock this band CHALLENGE is a must.

Because if we have a look at the songs I must admit that almost all songs are great songs. Especially the tracks "Words," "I'll Fight For You" (Uptempo), "When Love Finds A Fool"(Uptempo with a fantastic chorus that is better than any chorus of JAIME KYLE or HEART!) and "Don"t Look Back" (Uptempo).

These are the more rockier tracks but the band also has balladish songs such as "How Does It Feel" that could easily end up in the charts if it was chosen as a single. Also good tracks are "Wake Into Daylight" and "The Voice Of Freedom."

The vocals of Allison Lindsay are superb and I can easily say that she is the best female vocalist at the moment because her voice makes this CD so fine to listen to. Although the music has no electric guitars, it is still great AOR/Melodic rock with a few wonderful songs that can't be ignored by the fan of female-AOR, 7 songs are written by Arno and 3 are written by Arno and Allison.

If the band would change the acoustic into electric guitars then it should sound like HEART, WITNESS, HEAT... Now it sounds more like JAIME KYLE, LENITA ERICKSON... Only the music is much better.

Conclusion is that CHALLENGE is a new good act that has it's own style combining acoustic guitars with a superb female vocalist and strong songs that are full of fantastic melodies!

(Points: 8.5 out of 10)