Perfect Plan - 'Heart of a Lion' Released by Frontiers s.r.l. on 28th February 2025

That voice belongs to Kent Hilli and he comes on with all of the panache and finesse of Jimi Jamison, coupled with the power of a young Lou Gramm. The title track is one of a number of tub-thumping, chest-beating powerplays that includes ‘Too Tough’ and ‘We Are Heroes’, the latter of which has an undertone of ‘Boys of Summer’ in its initial keyboard and guitar instrumentation. The triumphant chorus includes the repeated refrain “we are, we are, we are, we are the heroes”. I couldn’t remember where I had heard similar word repetition before and, after racking my wee brain for a bit, it turned out to be ‘Whisper to a Scream’ by The Icicle Words from 1984. The songs don’t sound similar at all, it was just that bit of the lyric, but it’s very good.

I won’t go through all of the tracks, but there are no weaknesses and some of the tunes will be on heavy rotation in my house for a while. My particular favourites are ‘Turn Up Your Radio’, two Whitesnakey ones; ‘All Night’ and the femme-fatale cautionary tale of ‘Lady Mysterious’ (“She’s a ball-breaker”), and the immaculate chorus of ‘One Touch’, which also features a classic AOR “brief pause and go again in a different key” moment.

Having seen Perfect Plan play live at Lion Rock in Spain last November, I can confirm that they are also a very good live band. A UK tour seems long overdue and that, in conjunction with this album, would boost their profile no end. We can only hope, but in the meantime, you won’t regret giving this album a try if you enjoy quality melodic rock. Enjoy.