745. Sweet & Lynch / Only to Rise. 2015. 2.5/5

When word first came out about this collaboration, I admit I was intrigued, and almost excited, to see what it would produce. Anything that was going to combine the vocals of Michael Sweet, along with the guitar of George Lynch, had to be at least worth checking out. Also the direction that their song writing went in was always going to be of interest. With their backgrounds with several bands and genres of the metal scene, what they settled on performing was going to be a trick. They also did a great job on their support crew, bringing in James LoMenzo on bass and Brian Tichy on drums.

The style that the majority of the album sits in is an AOR hard rock setting, which for me is a tad disappointing. It isn't because the songs are poor, because musically they are flawlessly played and executed. They just tend to be a little boring and plain, when I was hoping for raucous and thumping, with some scintillating solo's from George thrown into the mix. I have found that I can put the album on, and carry on with what I'm doing, and don't find any point where a song stops me in my tracks because it so grabs my attention that I need to sing or air guitar.
Michael Sweet's vocals are as brilliant as always, but he really doesn't extend himself to his full range here like he does on Stryper's albums. There's nothing wrong with that, but it seems a little surprising that he didn't take the opportunity to do so. Of course, that would probably have meant writing a different style of album than they have done here. George Lynch's guitar is similarly muted from any outstanding activity. He tends to throw in his little blues-like riffs throughout the songs (such as "Dying Rose"), and does have his solo spots along the way, but there aren't any real breakout solo's that truly make you sit up and take notice. Again, they certainly sit comfortably in the songs that are written, and to play anything else would have required a different album to be written.
As you can see, my hopes for the direction that this project would go are somewhat poles apart from the direction in which they did go. For me, that's disappointing, but for those that like a little bit of easy listening AOR material, I think they will enjoy this immediately. Ballads like "Love Stays" and "Me Without You" could almost have been written and performed by Def Leppard in the second half of their career. "The Wish" and "Time Will Tell" play along like soft rock songs, likeable enough without really grabbing you.

In the long run, there just isn't enough here to help me enjoy this album as much as I would like to. It will appeal to its market, but I see it more as a lost opportunity to create a brilliant heavier album, and showcase the band member's talent's in that light rather than in the rather staid and drab mood that is prevalent here on Only to Rise.

Rating:  Is my life an empty shell? Time will tell.  2.5/5