Reviews for RADIOACTIVE "YEAH"

AORWEBSITE
RADIOACTIVE
"Yeah" (MTM Music)

Just after the impressive Jim Jidhed’s come-back, Tommy Denander releases the second chapter of HIS Radioactive project, whose first step was recorded ten years ago with a luxury list of guests. There are not substantial changes with the past (the sound is more hard edged, but we’re still in the classy AOR camp) as stated since the opening titletrack (sung by Mikael Erlandsson), a gritty and catchy uptempo worth of the fame that Denander built around his name along all of these years.
Fergie Frederiksen and Marcel Jacobs play on "Demon", another fast paced AOR tune whose Toto similitudes are increased by Fergie’s singing, anyway we’re not in front of an useless carbon copy but a model realized with personal touches. We move towards the melodic hard rock with mid tempo "Don’t Give Up" (Geir Rönning offers a passionate singing similar to Coverdale) and "Lies Feed On Lies" (Steve Overland from FM on vocals and Tony Franklin on bass) whose combination between energy and melody is really good, but we’re just below the quality of songwriting found until now.
"I Should Have Known Better" (Mikael Erlandsson on vocals again) moves along these ideas, but a refrain close to Survivor arises in addiction and the solo shows how much Lukather had influenced Tommy’s guitar playing, whilem ballad "Over You" (Geir Rönning on mic) uses electronic percussive sounds in my opinion out of place, but the song itself if pleasant and Toto-oriented. We rock again with "Fire Within" (Erlandsson and Jacob as guests) whose keyboards try to give a Toto accent in the refrain (the verse could come from the more commercial Malmsteen) and it’s not convincing me at all, effect given also by following "Not That Innocent" (sung by Urban Tale’s Kimmo Blom), kind of marriage between Toto and Journey in a (almost) hard rock key, and "Make It Mine" (Erlandsson once again) that features some passages recalling Van Halen with Sammy Hagar.
Denander tries some writing experiment with the elaborated riff of "Souls On Fire" (Rönning sings here) and to me it’s not so good, but things get better with "7 am" (Frederiksen and Blom share vocals) emanating Toto from each note and I like its nice refrain. "Until I Change Your Heart" sees Matti Alfonzetti at lead vocals and fans of Europe (circa "Prisoner In Paradise") will find bread for their teeth thanks to a refrain that grabs your ears at the first strike.
Final considerations: the album is not so bad and it’s very well arranged; I find the sound too loud, a greater dose of grace would have brought to a better result; there are several good ideas but sometimes it seems Tommy would have done more; I found in internet the ratio of guests (also Bruce Gaitsch plays here but I don’t know where) and I hope they are right; I had more expectations from Radioactive but all in all the cd works fine. Anything else?
RATING 80/100

BREAKOUT
OVER THE TOP - ALBUM OF THE MONTH
RADIOACTIVE
"Yeah"

An dieser Stelle steht diejenige Scheibe, die nach Ansicht der Redakteure des BREAK OUT die beste des Monats darstellt.
2001 veröffentlichte der schwedische Gitarrist Tommy Denander in "Ceremony Of Innocence" das erste Album seines Projektes Radioactive. An diesem Anfang der 90er eingespielten Werk war unter anderem die komplette Toto-Mannschaft beteiligt. Die Liste der Musiker, die an "Ceremony Of Innocence" mitgewirkt haben, liest sich wie das "Who Is Who" der amerikanischen AOR- und Westcoast-Szene, darunter zum Beispiel Jason Scheff (Chicago), oder Fee Waybill (The Tubes). Auf dem jetzt erschienenen Zweitling "Yeah" ist zwar nicht mehr ganz so viel Prominenz vertreten, aber mir gefällt das Album um Klassen besser. Außerdem hat Denander in Fergie Frederiksen (Ex-Toto, Mecca), Steve Overland (FM), Kimmo Blom (Urban Tale), Matti Alfonzetti (Alfonzetti, Talisman), Geir Ronning (Toto, Prisoner) und Mikael Erlandsson auch diesmal wieder Sänger der Extraklasse dabei. Aber auch die Rhythm-Section ist nicht von schlechten Eltern. Die Baßparts teilen sich Marcel Jacob (Talisman, Malmsteen) und Tony Franklin (Blue Murder, Whitesnake). Pat Thern an den Drums und Tommy Denander an Gitarre und Keyboards vervollständigen das Line-up. Mr. Denander hat mit diesem Album wirklich ganz tolle Arbeit abgeliefert. Hier folgt ein Klassesong nach dem anderen, und die Produktion ist sehr druckvoll und glasklar. So und nicht anders muß ein Melodic-Hardrockalbum der Extraklasse klingen. Der Titeltrack "Yeah" eröffnet diesen tollen Silberling. Das ist Melodic-Hardrock vom Allerfeinsten. "Demon" mit Fergie Frederiksen am Mikro klingt wie ein Stück vom grandiosen, aber leider völlig unterbewerteten Toto-Album "Isolation"; für mich ganz klar das beste Werk in der Toto-History - somit kennt ihr jetzt auch die Marschrichtung dieser CD.Trotz der verschiedenen Sänger klingt "Yeah" wie aus einem Guß. "Don't Give Up" wird euch garantiert wochenlang nicht mehr aus dem Kopf gehen. Der Refrain und die Melodie sind einfach grandios. "Lies Feed On Lies" und "I Should Have Known Better" sind zwei tolle Hardrock-Tracks. Das darauffolgende "Over You" ist die einzige Ballade auf dem Album und erzeugt einfach eine gefühlvolle Atmosphäre. Besser hätten Survivor oder Journey das auch nicht hingekriegt. Mit dem folgenden "Fire Within" drücken Tommy und seine Spitzenmannschaft das Gaspedal wieder kräftig durch.
Immer wieder schimmert Tommy Denanders Vorliebe für den Toto-Sound durch, wie zum Beispiel im von Urban Tale-Sänger Kimmo Blom vorgetragenen "Not That Innocent". Ich glaube nicht, daß Toto in der Lage sind, in den nächsten Jahren solche Klassesongs zu veröffentlichen. "Make It Mine", "Souls On Fire" und "7 Am" heißen weitere Perlen auf diesem Silbertaler. Das abschließende "Until I Change Your Heart" ist für mich aber im Moment der absolute Hammersong. Ich kriege den Refrain einfach nicht mehr aus meinen Gehirnwindungen. Seit Wochen trällere ich das schon vor mich hin. Vor einigen Jahren hätten sie den Song in den Radiostationen rauf und runter gespielt. Andere Bands wären froh, einen oder zwei Songs von diesem Kaliber zustande zu bringen. Tommy Denander schüttelt diese Granaten scheinbar mühelos aus dem Ärmel.
Ein wirklich gelungenes Cover-Artwork rundet diesen Silberling ab. Geht los und kauft euch dieses Hammerteil. Die CD sollte in jeder guten AOR- und Melodic-Rock-Sammlung stehen.
Text: Heiko Füchsel

CROSSROCKS.COM
Radioactive - Yeah

Pour ce second opus de Radioactive, plus de 10 ans après l'enregistrement - aux côtés de la plupart des membres de Toto - du premier album (sorti en 2001 chez MTM), Tommy Denander a encore réuni une sacrée équipe de musiciens ! A commencer par des chanteurs prestigieux comme l'ex-Toto Fergie Frederiksen déjà présent sur le premier album. On retrouve également Steve Overland (FM), Mikael Erlandsson, Geir Rönning (Prisoner), Kimmo Blom (Urban Tale) et Matti Alfonzetti !
Mais sur Yeah, le casting n'est pas le seul élément qui fait sensation ! Evidemment, il est difficile d'imaginer une production baclée de la part d'un musicien de la trempe de Tommy Denander, et le son est effectivement d'une très grande qualité sur ce disque. Mais le plus important reste les compos, et sur ce point, Tommy Denander s'est souvent surpassé. Sa collaboration avec son partenaire de Prisoner et Talk Of The Town Geir Rönning s'avère même bien plus fructueuse que jamais. Les trois morceaux qu'ils co-signent figurent parmi les plus belles réussites de l'album, et surtout, la performance du chanteur est éblouissante ! Jamais Geir Rönning ne m'avait fait une telle impression ! Sur le sublime et bouleversant Don't Give Up, le chanteur prend des airs de David Coverdale avec un petit côté touchant qui n'est pas sans rappeler les intonations du grand Robert Tepper ! Sur Lies Feed On Lies, c'est au tour de l'anglais Steve Overland d'illuminer l'album de tout son talent. Quelle voix ! Dommage qu'il ne soit présent que sur ce titre ! Le talent de ces interprètes nous ferait presque oublier le travail pourtant remarquable de Tommy Denander, qui l'air de rien, en toute sobriété, place subtilement quelques parties de clavier ou nous pond de remarquables solos de guitare !
Tous les talents présents sur ce disque tirent leur épingle du jeu. Les 12 titres ne sont évidemment pas tous de niveaux équivalents, mais aucun n'est à jeter, et malgré le nombre de personnes ayant collaborer à ce projet, l'album conserve une remarquable cohérence. Un pur album d'AOR dans ce que le style peut offrir de mieux !
Highlights : Don't Give Up, Lies Feed On Lies, Demon, Yeah, Over You...
RATING 92/100

EXTENDED MIX
RADIOACTIVE "YEAH"

Tommy Denander’s fantastiska saga är en historia om en ung kille, som så många andra unga killar, hade en dröm. Den stora skillnaden är bara att Tommy’s dröm blivit sann och att han idag är en hett eftertraktad musiker vars namn uttalas med total respekt. Nyligen producerade han Jim Jidhed’s helt suveräna comeback-album och nyligen släpptes album nummer två med bandnamnet RADIOACTIVE. Bandet är ett enmansprojekt där Tommy står i centrum och där musiker och sångare byts av från låt till låt. Dock är namnen inte lika många och legendariska som på RADIOACTIVE’s debutplatta ”Ceremony of innocence”. Den plattan var ett födsloverk som sträckte sig över tio år och som alltså innehöll en hel del gammalt material.

Nya albumet ””Yeah” innehåller 12 nyskrivna låtar och stilen är klart tyngre än på ”Ceremony of innocence”. Det är klassisk AOR med lysande sång av Fergie Fredriksen (Toto), Steve Overland (FM), Mikael Erlandsson, Matti Alfonzetti, Kimmo Blom (Urban Tale) och framför allt Geir Rönning. Geir är en sångare som bara blir bättre och bättre och här får han ta i tu med 3 låtar: ”Don’t give up” som är en midtempo låt där likheterna med David Coverdale och Whitesnake är påtagliga, ”Over you” som är albumets lugnaste spår och ”Souls on fire” som hör till en av favoriterna på albumet. Geir har en sån där pipa som man lägger märke till och han borde få möjlighet att göra ett eget album någon gång.
En annan favoritlåt är duetten mellan Fergie Fredriksen och Kimmo Blom i ”7 AM” som är en tung och refrängstark låt med sång av två fantastiska röster. Än en gång visar Fergie vilken kraftfull och klar stämma som den mannen har och Kimmo kompletterar Fergie mycket väl med sin något mörkare röst. Steve Overland återfinns i vanliga fall i det engelska bandet FM (som nyligen gått in i studio igen) och det hörs ganska tydligt eftersom Steve har en väldigt egen röst. ”Lies feed on lies” kunde faktiskt lika gärna vara en låt från någon av FM’s plattor, så karaktäristisk är Overlands röst, om det inte vore för gitarrsoundet, vilket får mig att gå över till Denander’s huvudinstrument.

Tommy Denander är en självlärd gitarrist som tidigare, i många stunder, försökt att efterhärma sin store idol, Steve Lukather. Han är en minst lika tekniskt skicklig gitarrist och melodikänslan är det heller inget fel på. Nya plattan har dock inneburit ett steg från det amerikanska, slicka soundet till ett lite mer rått och rockigare sound. Gitarren är för Tommy Denander en förlängning av en kroppsdel. Gitarren ÄR Tommy Denander, eller tvärtom om ni vill. Varje solo är fyllt av känslighet och omsorgsfullhet. Det hörs ganska klart att Tommy är en perfektionist och då menar jag inte en tråkigt kylig och tekniskt egoistisk som Yngwie Malmsteen (som jag bara inte orkar lyssna på), utan Tommy vågar att anlita världsartister och hålla igen på sin egen skicklighet och väger alla ingredienser varsamt i varje låt. Dessutom trakterar Tommy både keyboard och bas utom när basen tas om hand av Marcel Jacob (Talisman) eller Tony Franklin (Whitesnake).
”Yeah” är inte riktigt i samma klass som ”Ceremony of innocence” och absolut inte i samma division som Jim Jidhed’s nyligen släppta skiva, men den håller sig väl framme bland dagens skivsläpp. Det finns en hel del riktigt bra låtar men kanske skulle det inte skadat med lite mer variation då flera av låtarna går i samma stil, trots olika sångare. Dock är det tur att alla skickliga gitarrister inte är lika tjatiga och spelkåta som t.ex. Yngwie Malmsteen.
Rogerg
RATING 7/10

FIREWORKS
RADIOACTIVE
Yeah

It’s a well known fact that 2001’s ‘Ceremony Of Innocence’ debut from Tommy Denander’s Radioactive project took over a decade to reach fruition, which is some going even by the standards of such well known behemoths as Boston! It’s kinda surprising then that here we are less than two years later looking forward to the release of album number two, simply titled ‘Yeah’. Indeed, in some respects you might be forgiven for thinking that, givem the timescales involved, this was a rather hastily cobbled together collection of afterthoughts and outtakes - wrong, not even close!
Make no mistake, Tommy Denander is back with a bang, and if you fell for the charms of ‘Ceremony of Innocence’ then this release is gonna rock your world big style. Boasting an enviable who’s who of a cast list which if anything is even more impressive than last time out … Fergie Frederiksen, Steve Overland, Matti Alfonzetti, Tony Franklin, Marcel Jacob, Bruce Gaitsch, etc. etc. … ‘Yeah’ is another prime time slice of super slick, hard edged, ultra catchy AOR - the kind of stuff that Denander has made his name writing and playing for other people all these years.
Revelling in a crystal clear, full blooded production (courtesy of the man himself), and featuring some truly impassioned vocal performances from the likes of Geir Ronning (Prisoner, Rainmaker) and Urban Tale’s Kimmo Blom (as well as some of those luminaries mentioned earlier), ‘Yeah’ is literally brimming over with bouncy, hook laden numbers such as ‘Lies Feed On Lies’, ‘Not That Innocent’, ‘Souls On Fire, ‘Demon’, and ‘Fire Within’. Noticeably more upbeat and in your face than last time out, Denander’s guitar weaves its magic spell throughout, punchy riffs and soaring licks underpinning some of the catchiest melody lines you’ll find this side of a Journey album.
For so long revered as some sort of guru within the tight knit AOR community, ‘Yeah’ proves that Denander has the credentials to transcend beyond that little enclave into a wider (and ultimately far more lucrative) arena. Essential!
DAVE COCKETT

FRENCH SITE
RADIOACTIVE
Yeah (2003)

2 ans après un excellent premier album (qui avait mis près de 10 ans à sortir), voici Tommy DENANDER de retour avec son projet RADIOACTIVE. Qui dit Tommy DENANDER, dit musique soignée, production impeccable et line-up à tomber. Jugez plutôt, Mikael Erlandsson, Fergie Frederiksen (ex TOTO), Geir Rönning (ex TOTO, PRISONER), Steve Overland (FM) Kimmo Blom (URBAN TALE), Matti ALFONZETTI (ALFONZETTI, TALISMAN, SKINTRADE, ..;) au chant et Marcel Jacob (MALMSTEEN, TALISMAN, …) et Tony Franklin (BLUE MURDER, WHITESNAKE, THE FIRM) à la basse pour ne citez que les plus célèbres. Cela n’augure que du bon

Mais attention, super line-up ne veut pas toujours dire super album (non, je ne donnerais pas de nom ?). Alors que vaut cette mouture 2003 ? Et bien, la claque !!! C’est bien simple, ce second album passe la vitesse supérieure. Tout est parfait : un son prodigieux et c’est suffisamment rare dans le monde de l’AOR en ce moment pour ne pas le souligner, des titres super bien construits et qui vont parfaitement au chanteur qui lui est destiné, des mélodies imparables, des refrains accrocheurs et entêtants, des soli ahurissants et bien placés. C’est bien simple il n’y a rien à redire, même la pochette est superbe. Pour vous en convaincre, jeter donc une oreille attentive à la musique et vous serez transporter de Yeah, (chanté par Mikael Erlandsson ), entrée en matière ébouriffante avec son AOR rentre-dedans et saturé et son refrain d’enfer à Until I Change Your Heart (chanté par Matti Alfonzetti) qui clôture l’album de façon grandiose avec son AOR de grand niveau avec un refrain qui casse tout et des couplets plus bluesy, ce qui donne une variation étonnante et superbe, en passant par les très AOR Demon (chanté par Fergie FREDERIKSEN), génialissime AOR qui nous ramène au TOTO époque Isolation : tout y est : la mélodie, le son, le chant hyper bien placé !!!!! ou I should Have Know Better (chanté par M. Erlandsson), avec ses guitares agressives, son refrain enchanteresque et son rythme changeant ou encore Not That innocence (chanté par Kimmo Blom) ou bien sûr 7 am (avec F. Frederiksen et K. Blom au chant), et son superbe AOR où les voix de F. Frederiksen et K. Blom se mêlent à merveille, cf le refrain !!!!! Imaginez un croisement de TOTO et de JOURNEY !!!! Sur le dernier album, Tommy DENANDER nous avait exhumer Jim Jidhed, et bien cette fois-ci c’est Steve Overland pour Don’t Give Up, un titre excellent qui colle très bien à la personnalité de S. Overland et qui n’est pas sans rappeler les heures de gloire de FM avec un coté un peu bluesy sur les bords !!!

Le reste est du même acabit sans relâche, ni temps morts, c’est bien simple il n’y aqu’ une seule ballade (Over You).
A noter que la version japonaise, la présence d’un Bonus Track co-écrit par Jorn LANDE.
Conclure la chronique d’un telle album est somme toute aisée : ACHETEZ DE TOUTE URGENCE CETTE BOMBE et comme moi vous serez estomaqué par sa qualité et serez KO debout à dire : « Yeah !!! » Assurément un album qui se retrouvera dans mon top 3 de 2003 !!!! RADIOACTIVE, un nom à mettre sur vos tablettes !!!
RATING 5/5 - Production 5/5

MAGAZINET
Radioactive - "Yeah"

Tommy Denander. Sveriges egen musikguru, som spelat gitarr på plattor med Richard Marx, Glenn Hughes, Toto,Yngwie Malmsteen, Dan Reed, Max Martin, Joey Tempest med flera. Radioactive är hans eget livsverk och ”Yeah” är bandets andra och klart starkaste. Melodiös mjukare hårdrock med bland annat Fergie Frederiksen på sång tillsammans med en räcka andra starka namn som Bruce Gaitsch, Tony Franklin, Marcel Jakob, Mikael Erlandsson och Steve Overland. Bländande gitarrspel tillsammans med typiska ”keyboardduttar” samt bra låtskriveri ger skivan en bred och stabil grund att stå på och borde tilltala dom flesta rockanhängare med melodier i sinnet.
JOHNNY FORSLUND

METALCENTRAL
Radioactive
Yeah

Det har regnat bra svenska releaser på AOR-sidan senaste året. STREET TALK, JIM JIDHED och IGNITION för att nämna några. Och här kommer ytterligare en. Det är Tommy Denander och hans RADIOACTIVE som släpper plattan ”YEAH”. Det är en imponerande samling medverkande som Tommy har fått ihop även till denna andra CD. Här återfinns Fergie Fredriksen, Mikael Erlandsson, Geir Rönning och Marcel Jacob för att nämna några. Och resultatet är bra, riktigt bra! Den känns hårdare än debuten och det är definitivt ingen nackdel. Hårdriffande titelspåret ”Yeah” är en grymt bra öppnare. Den sätter tonen direkt.
Innan CDn har snurrat färdigt så har man fått sig en hel del grym AOR till livs. Ibland kryddad med lite blues och ibland åt det klassiska westcoast-soundet. Det är välproducerat och sång och instrumentalinsatserna är kanon. Här finns gott om topplåtar, och mina favoriter är definitivt ”Demon”, ”I should have known better” och ”7 am”. Men jag har en känsla av att jag kommer att byta favoritlåtar med tiden. Här finns nämligen gott om presumtiva favoriter. Rekommenderas varmt för AOR freaks!
Recensent: Tommy Silfvenius
RATING 8,5/10

MELODICROCK.COM
RADIOACTIVE
Yeah

· Produced By: Tommy Denander
· Running Time: 55.03 · Release Date: April 28

Tommy Denander's debut Radioactive release took years to put together after recordings were initially started with the guys from Toto and various other LA session musicians. It was one of Tommy's best albums and due to the nature of the project was deemed to be a one off. But Tommy was convinced to put another Radioactive album together and in much the same way as the debut, he has gathered some top musicians and well regarded vocalists and recorded the album Yeah.
And funnily enough, despite the debut being partly recorded on a major label budget and the time that was put into it, this is a better album in every sense.

In fact, I consider it Tommy's best release to date, re-setting the benchmark for all future projects. It will be tough to beat this album, let me tell you.
I've given Tommy both praise and criticism in the past, mainly over his consistently familiar guitar sound. What pleases me most about Yeah is the varied guitar tones and sonic depth of the music. Through the album's 12 songs we are treated to some strong riffs, a continuously changing feel and best of all, some blistering solos.
That's the other key to this album's strength. This is a far rockier album than Tommy's recent work with Jim Jidhed and even the debut Radioactive album. Tommy sounds far more comfortable giving himself some room to stretch, allowing the guitar to dominate the songs and providing the listener with some of the best guitar work I have heard in a long time.
I really love the fact that every track features a strong and powerful solo - something modern rock acts sad miss.
Although there are keyboard flurries and plenty of vocal harmonies throughout, this really is a guitarist's record and it sounds all the better for it.

Also featured on the album are Marcel Jacob and Tony Franklin on bass, Pat Thern on drums, Bruce Gaitsch on acoustic guitar, Chris Demming on Hammond organ and a range of lead vocalists detailed below.

Track By Track:
Yeah opens the album, but isn't in my view one of the strong tracks included. Mikael Erlandsson is featured vocalist, sounding tougher than on his own recent pop orientated solo album. This track is one of the closest to Tommy's familiar sound and style, although it's pretty evident that the style of the album is going to be heavier from the very outset.
Demon features Fergie Frederiksen on lead. This track perfectly molded for the former Toto vocalist. Tommy certainly sounds far more at home when in Lukather mode, over a more AOR Journey/Schon style he has been asked to perform. The track is uptempo and moves quickly, featuring a short but catchy chorus and the first really blistering guitar solo.
Don't Give Up offers a change of pace. From the higher pitched AOR vocalists, Geir Ronning steps in with his bluesier/raspier lead vocals, which changes the pace of the album nicely. This is a moody mid-tempo rocker that impresses me even more, as not only has Tommy stepped up to the plate, so has Geir. His vocals on this album are some of the best I have heard from him also. The darker mood of the song continues in the catchy chorus.
Lies Feed On Lies features Steve Overland, who carries the same air about him that Geir Ronning does. This is another moody rocker, this time a little more intense and certainly features more guitar work and another great solo.
I Should Have Known Better continues the darker, heavier vibe, with Mikael providing his best vocal of the album and one of the best choruses. Instantly memorable, catchy and together with the heavy guitar riff brings about one of the album's best tracks. Some excellent production and programming mid to late song adds to the atmosphere.
Over You features Geir back on vocals. This one's another darker and brooding rock track - this time in ballad form. The track's chorus is a clear winner, as are the vocals and both slow and regular guitar solos included.
Fire Within features Mikael Erlandsson on vocals and is an uptempo rocker closer to Tommy's usual guitar sound/production techniques. The song features another strong chorus and a short sharp bridge, plus one of the album's most shredding solos.
Not That Innocent features Urban Tale's Kimmo Blom on vocals. This mid-tempo track is fairly restrained compared to the tempo and vibe of the rest of the album. Not the catchiest track of the album, but one that suits it's position in the running order and adds to the texture of the overall album.
Make It Mine features Mikael again and this track steps up the tempo big time, with a fast paced verse and another big chorus/vocal harmony section. One of the album's catchier choruses. The sound here isn't as thick as some other tracks, with equal space given to keyboard/organ and guitar.
Souls On Fire is a slow to mid-tempo moody rocker featuring Geir and his bluesy rasp again. Another good song, but not as catchy straight up as some other tracks.
7 am however is....featuring Fergie putting in his best rock vocal, this song rocks from start to finish, complete with big time guitar solo and big chorus. A winner for sure.
Until I Change Your Heart is another winner...meaning the album closes out with two of the best tracks in the line up. The songs follows on from 7am, with tempo and melodic style similar, yet with a slightly more pop feel. The melodic hooks within the song grow with each listen and will make the track one of the more popular picks.
Matti Alfonzetti takes a short break from his recent modern rock tastes to deliver a classic melodic AOR vocal.
The Bottom Line
Get it. That is the bottom line! If you have purchased any Denander featured album in the past, this tops them all. Yeah delivers 12 classic melodic rock style tracks, with plenty of hooks, melodies, layered vocals and best of all, some truly styling guitar playing with a memorable solo in just about every track.
There have been some great AOR albums this year, also some great metal and hard rock albums. But this is a great pure melodic rock album.
RATING 95%
Additional Ratings
Songwriting 96% - Attitude 95% - Production 94%

MELODICROCK.COM
Current CD Playlist:
1. Radioactive - Yeah
xx Simply the best album Tommy Denander has recorded yet - great melodic hard rock.

METAL-INSIDE
Radioactive - Yeah
 
Vor knapp zwei Jahren wuchtete TOMMY DENANDER mit „Ceremony Of Innocence“ das Debüt seiner Band RADIOACTIVE in die Regale, und schon damals lief mir seine ausgeklügelt-eingängige AOR/Hardrock-Melange ziemlich gut rein. Vielleicht liegt es daran, dass sich die Anzahl der beteiligten Gastmusiker von über zwanzig auf zwölf nahezu halbiert hat, in jedem Fall kommt sein neuer Release „Yeah“ wie aus einem Guss daher, obwohl sich mit Fergie Frederiksen, Geir Ronning (beide Toto), Steve Overland (FM), Kimmo Blom (Urban Tale), Matti Alfonzetti und Michael Erlandsson alleine sechs Nasen die Vocals teilen. Die genannten Namen lassen nun musikalisch die übliche Schnittmenge aus Toto, Journey und Survivor vermuten. Dass Herr Denander alledings durchaus auch Gefiedel der härteren Gangart drauf hat, zeigt er u.a. beim schier endlosen Soloteil des treibenden „Fire Within“, das teils recht Satriani-mäßig daher kommt. Überhaupt sollte der geneigte Hörer hier generell eher kein Plüschpop-a-gogo-Weichspül-Album erwarten – das Dutzend Songs ist zwar nicht allzu dreckig, rockt aber durchweg gehörig durch’s Gebälk und macht trotz gelegentlicher Keyboards und massentauglicher Arrangements stets amtlich Druck. Antesten! (heavy) Weitere Reviews

MELODIC.NET
Radioactive
Yeah

Tommy Denander-the man with 3 lives because he has done as much as what 3 musicians would normally do in a lifetime and he has still the most of his life ahead of him.
This new and 2nd album by the short and simple title Yeah from his baby Radioactive is a lot more tougher than the first one "Ceremony of Innocence" that was like a mix of West coast and AOR,with 150 of his closest friends playing on it....well,close by anyway!
There´s not that many involved in this album and this time Tommy basically goes for the two major influences,Toto´s Isolation and Giant´s Last of the runaways....ohyes,the sound and the songs are very similar to them two killers but ofcourse not as good,I can tell you though that "YEAH" is not far behind with great AOR stuff like "Demon" and "7 A.M" with Fergie Fredriksen on Lead Vocals.
Strong Totoish material that easily could´ve been taken from "Isolation"!
One of the best choruses on the album is "I should´ve known better" featuring Mikael Erlandsson on Vocals,superb with the halftempo beat on the refrain part.
"Make it mine" echoes out Dann Huff´s riffing time all the way to Nashville and Erlandsson is doing a fine job singing that tune too.
A nice surprise is the vocal performance from FM´s Steve Overland on "Lies feed on lies",any lover of FM will go crazy over that AOR wetdream.
I´m a sucker for pink and fluffy stuff and also very weak for brilliant guitarplaying like the one Tommy pulls off on "Yeah",so when Geir Ronning hooks up with Denander on "Don´t give up",my legs start to dance and singalong like a newborn christian in a gospel choir.
The most hardrocking track here is "Fire within" with it´s Talisman kinda groove but we all need to play some airguitar once in a while and that rocker is a perfect choice.
Tommy knows how to produce this kind of music which we´ve heard on the fantastic album "Full circle" by Jim Jidhed and he will also work on the new talented band "Sweetwater´s" debut out on Atenzia later this year,be sure to keep that name in mind! Ok,this is nothing original but it´s classy artistic AOR madness to 100%.
Reviewed by: Kaj

MELODICROCK.DE
RADIOACTIVE - Yeah yeah

This is it! My last review for melodicrock.de. My former chief Thorsten ;-) gave me a nice farewell gift with the new album of Tommy Denanders Radioactive. This is the second album of Tommys all-star project and in my humble opinion it's even better than the fantastic debut. While the debut sound a little bit too polished from time to time, Denander now surprises with a lot of fresh and spontanious songs that contain absolutely massive melodic melodies! Like in the debut, a lot of great musicians are involved in the making of "Yeah yeah". MIkael Erlandsson for example sings on the great titletrack in an aggressive way that fits perfect to the monster-riffs of Tommy Denander. On the following "Demon" you can hear former Toto-singer Fergie Frederiksen and on the FM-like AOR-track "Lies feed on lies" there's a fantastic comeback of FM-frontman Steve Overland... Beneath the mentioned singers there are also great appearences of Kimmo Bloom (Urban Tale) and Matti Alfonzetti. One of the many highlights are the songs with Geir Rönning on vocals. You might know Geir as co-lead singer of Prisoner and I guess he did his best vocal performance on the beautiful song "Over you". "Yeah yeah" contains 12 absolutely Melodic-corkers with huge melodies and hooklines, great guitar solos and reminding riffs and of course some of the best vocal performer, we have nowadays. Together with the great Jim release, Radioactives "Yeah yeah" is one of my favourites for the album of the year. By all means, it's one of the best albums, I heard in the last years. Thanks Tommy for that masterpiece! 
Review by Dirk Nitschke
RATINGS Songs: 10/10 - Sound: 10/10 - All in All: 10/10

ON THE ROCKS
RADIOACTIVE
“Yeah”

Recommended:
“Demon”:
A highly melodic, full of drive up-tempo rocker with a great vocal performance by former TOTO singer Fergie Frederiksen, whose clear and powerful voice holds it all together. Great hooks and fabulous guitar work from Tommy Denander all through the song!
“Don't Give Up”:
A demo of this song did appear on the "MTM Music - Vol. 8" compilation and grabbed me instantly. The final version of this WHITESNAKE flavoured Melodic Rock song sounds even better. Geir Rönning (PRISONER) sings like David Coverdale's little brother, the arrangements of guitars and keyboards are perfectly balanced and the melody is pure ear candy!
“Lies Feed On Lies”:
A slow paced and surprisingly serious rocker with FM singer Steve Overland at the microphone. His unmistakable lead vocals, the thrillingly arranged keyboards, and Tommy Denander's unusually decent guitar playing harmonize brilliantly. Another highlight is the great and very passionate guitar solo!
“Over You”:
This wonderful ballad is a real killer and a necessity for all TOTO fans! Carried by a soft and smooth instrumentation the song illuminates from Geir Rönning's expressive vocal performance. In the middle part and at the end the tune shifts gears and Tommy Denander breaks in with some very melodic guitar leads.
“Souls On Fire”:
Due to Geir Rönning's vocals this strong mid-tempo tune is another song with a decent WHITESNAKE flavour. Based on a solid drumbeat and Tommy Denander's punchy guitar riffing, it is one of the heaviest songs found on "Yeah"!
“Until I Change Your Heart”:
This hook-laden song is pure AOR heaven! Former JAGGED EDGE singer Matti Alfonzetti surprises with an unexpectedly gentle vocal performance while Tommy Denander spices his guitar solo with a little shot of Blues.

Summary:
The first RADIOACTIVE album, "Ceremony Of Innocence", was one of the rare AOR/Westcoast highlights of the year 2001 and finally established main man Tommy Denander as one of the leaders of this genre. With album number 2 the Swedish guitarist confirms his impressively brilliant performance. "Yeah" features a totally different line-up of musicians and is a bit more Melodic Hard Rock than the debut, but the quality level isn't any weaker! The album is full of great songs bristling with an impressive wealth of ideas, haunting melodies, passionate vocals by the world-class guest singers, and Tommy Denander's extra-ordinary guitar playing. No matter how hard I struggle, it's impossible to give any of the 12 songs a negative review. All of them make you say "Yeah!" and would be worthy to get a special recommendation here! Let's cut it short, together with the new Jim Jidhed album, "Full Circle", the new RADIOACTIVE album is Tommy Denander's most matured and best work to date. Go and listen for yourself!
RATING: 93 %
PRODUCTION: 88 %
PRESENTATION: 79 %

PEITERSEN.COM
Radioactive / Yeah / MTM Music

Tracklisting:Yeah; Demon; Don't give up; Lies Feed on Lies; I should have known better; Over you; Fire within; Not that innocent; Make it mine; Souls on Fire; 7 am; Until I change my heart.
Tommy Denander must be one of the most busy men in the music bizz of today - on this second release under the Radioactive moniker he has also lit a fire under several collegues like this bunch of top vocalist Fergie Frederiksen, Steve Overland, Geir Rönning, Kimmo Blom, Michael Erlandsson and Matti Alfonzetti - besides bassists Marcel Jacob and Tony Franklin - and drummer Pat Thern.
Denander was almost 10 years in the making of the debut - "Ceremony of Innocence" anno 2001 and it was a blast. But luckily he has speeded up things this time without making anything less in quality compared with the debut - "Yeah" is a FANTASTIC piece of melodic hard rock mixed with the easy listening westcoast inspired balladesque tracks too - groups like Toto has not made this kind of music since "Kingdom of Desire" and Denander makes it every time!
It is really very hard to pick some favorites here - from the very first track "Yeah" the album simply oozes with quality both in the composition, the production, the musicians as well as the overall production. "Yeah" is slighty more rockier than "Ceremony..." and a vocalist like Steve Overland from English smooth rockers FM - nowadays called SO! (I had almost forgot all about him) but he really shines on the exceptional "Lies Feed on Lies". And Fergie Federiksen is absolutely fabulous on a track like "Demon" - and the mighty powerful "7 am" allows Mr. Frederiksen to reach these well known high pitched notes as well.
The whole album already has a special place in my record collection and tracks like the Whitesnakes-esque "Don't give up" and ballade "Over you" are classics - but above all the real star is no one but Tommy Denander himself, and the whole album simply has his energy and charizma all over it!
I'm not sure that FANTASTIC is an appropriate word - but it very much cover my feeling towards this album! ..and remember - don't miss the hook, the melody, the Hammond organ and vocals in track # 9 "Make it mine"...- go home, Dweezil Zappa!
Steen Peitersen
RATING 4/5

ROCK REPORT
RADIOACTIVE
Yeah

Yeah, Tommy Denander did it again, although this time with less musicians than on the first Radioactive album "Ceremony Of Innocence", which was released in 2001. He nor we didn't want to wait another 8 years for this follow-up, which sounds a bit heavier than its predecessor. Let's have a closer look at Tommy's songwriting partners this time around. Of a total of 12 songs 5 were co-written with Chris Demming, 4 with Ricky Delin, 2 with Geir Rönning and 1 with Kristoffer Lagerström. Not to be found on this European version, but on the Japanese is a bonus track - called "Somewhere, Someday" - co-written by Jorn Lande (and sung by Matti Alfonzetti). In spite of the use of different vocalists and musicians, "Yeah" sounds pretty much as a cohesive album, the constant being great, timeless AOR songs. Six vocalists perform the tracks, of which 4 are taken care of by Mikael Erlandsson (now signed by MTM Music as well), 3 by Geir Rönning (Prisoner), 2 by Kimmo Blom (Urban Tale) and ex-Toto Fergie Frederiksen (they share lead vocals on "7 am") and 1 by Steve Overland (FM) and Matti Alfonzetti (Alfonzetti). Among my favourite tracks of the moment are "Don't Give Up" and "Souls On Fire" (both sung by Rönning), "Not That Innocent" (by Kimmo Blom) and "Until I Change Your Heart", but like I said: all tracks are great and as such I can't do anything else than oblige you to purchase this platter pronto. What's your next move, Tommy? 
Chris Lambert
RATING 6/6

ROCK TIME
RADIOACTIVE " Yeah ! "

Le 1er Radioactive s'était construit sur une période de 8 ans et avait la particularité de réunir une flopée d'invités dont une grande partie des membres, ex et actuels, de Toto. Pour la 2ème édition, moins de noms sur la guestliste mais pas moins de 6 chanteurs qui se relaient au fil de l'album : Fergie Frederiksen (ex-Toto), Steve Overland (FM), Geir Ronning (Prisoner), Kimmo Blom (Urban Tale), Mikael Erlandsson et Matti Alfonzetti. Ils sont tous à la hauteur et chacun apporte un cachet personnel aux titres qu'il interprète. Tommy Denander (guitare, claviers, basse, production), le maître d'œuvre, délaisse subrepticement la westcoast music abordée sur le 1er album : "Ceremony Of Innocence" (2001) pour un rock FM racé, techniquement nickel. Il est vrai que Tommy ne laisse jamais rien au hasard et a toujours travaillé d'arrache pieds pour approcher la perfection au plus près. De plus, il possède un très bon jeu de guitare et chacun de ses soli est une pure merveilleuse. " Yeah ! " c'est aussi un enchaînement de refrains très accrocheurs où chœurs et claviers se croisent, une pluie de mélodies ciselées que les puristes vont adorer. Le son est propre, clair, comme il devrait l'être pour toute production FM. nous avons donc là, un exemple du genre. Pas totalement libéré de ses influences Toto, Tommy Denander nous les rappèle au travers de "Demon" et "Not That Innocent". Les 2 seuls titres à l'atmosphère réellement westcoast. Ceux que l'on va retenir en 1er lieu, en parallèles avec les 2 très bons morceaux cités précédemment sont : "Don't Give Up", "I Should Have Known Better", "Until I Change Your Heart". Le plat de résistance en quelque sorte ! Y'a pas à dire, ceux là sont absolument canon ! Une fois de plus, Tommy le suédois nous délivre un album haut de gamme (quel brillant compositeur quand même !) qui s'ajoute à une longue liste de perles FM enregistrées sous différents noms (Prisonner, Talk Of The Town, Rainmaker) au fil des ans. Le mot de la fin ? Yeah !
Par Jee Jacquet

ROCK UNITED
RADIOACTIVE: "Yeah"

Yeah? The Radioactive project with guitarist Tommy Denander now returns with their second release. Only a couple of years behind the first album and that's kind of remarkable, especially since it took some ten years for the debut to be completed. Not everything were in the hands of Denander though and you really can't blame him for being particular slow. You simply can't find a harder working man in the melodic rock business, right now.
If the previous album was laid-back with lots of Toto influences and members involved. You surely can't say the same about the music from "Yeah". Sure... you can find yet another ex-Toto member here (Fergie Frederiksen). However, the overall material is more uptempo this time around with louder guitars and such. It's still an all-star project though and some of the musicians, which Denander is using the assistance of here, are: Steve Overland (FM), Fergie (Toto, LeRoux, Solo), Matti Alfonzetti (Jagged Edge/Skintrade/Solo), Mikael Erlandsson, Geir Rönning, Marcel Jacob (Yngwie/Talisman) etc. etc.
One thing's for sure, Denander is moving away from the softer 'Westcoast' genre with this album. Goodbye to wimpy melodies and Hello to rock'n'roll again! You can finally notice some power-riffs by this excellent guitarist and it's darn good to hear him rock out. Now, don't go thinking this must be some heavy metal album then. Since nothing could be further from the truth!!! This is still very much Melodic Rock/AOR, from the land of Catchy Hooks (Sweden). Too bad that Steve Overland is only singing lead, on one of the tracks here. What a voice this man (still) have!!! I'm absolutely stunned by his performance!!! The song "Lies Feed On Lies" is everything Classic UK Rock was all about. Melodic with a touch of Blues in the great tradition of Bad Company, Paul Rodgers, FM etc. Bloody'ell, I almost feel sorry for the other vocalists here!!! It can't be all that easy to follow in the footsteps of Overland [:-)]. The whole album is not exactelly an instant hit and you need to spin this a couple of times, to really appreciate some of the tracks. It's without a doubt a grower though and it really kicks in the end. Opener "Yeah" is a fun rocker and "Demon", is very much Toto, during their "Isolation" days. Not that strange either, since Fergie Frederiksen was the singer back then and now. Great uptempo rocker this is! Actually, I'll have to say that "Yeah" is much more fun, than the sometimes boring debut. I personally never thought "that" much about the first CD. Just check out "Don't Give Up", "I Should Have Known Better" or "7 am" here and you'll know what I mean. Great, classic sounding Rock/AOR, with catchy hooks! Heck, even Alfonzetti sings at his best again here. Recommended!
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom
RATING 9/10

ROLAND'S WORLD
Radioactive - Yeah

Nach der grandiosen Melodic-Rock-Scheibe 'Ceremony Of Innocence' war ich ja sehr gespannt, was Radioactive-Mastermind Tommy Denander als nächstes auf die Beine stellt. Und 'Yeah', das möchte ich ganz deutlich sagen, ist ein würdiger Nachfolger geworden (auch wenn ausser Fergie Frederiksen keine Toto-Musiker mehr mitmachen). Unterstützt von seinen zwischenzeitlich schon bekannten Mit-Musikern wie z.B. Geir Rönning, Bruce Gaitsch oder Chris Demming gibt's tollen Melodic Rock vom Feinsten, so dass man auch bei der zweiten Radioactive-CD blind zugreifen kann, wenn man auf diese Art von Mucke steht. Veröffentlicht wurde die Scheibe übrigens wieder bei Thomas Hässlers Label MTM. Wieder ein MUSS für alle AOR-Fans.
RATING 8,5/10


STRUTTER
RADIOACTIVE ‘YEAH’ (MTM MUSIC/SUBURBAN)

‘Yeah’ is the second CD of Swedish guitarist TOMMY DENANDER’s project RADIOACTIVE. The guest list is very impressive, with such fabulous lead singers like FERGIE FREDERIKSEN (TOTO, LE ROUX), STEVE OVERLAND (FM), Mikael Erlandsson, Matt Alfonzetti, Kimmo Blom (URBAN TALE) and Geir Ronning (TOTO, PRISONER). 12 tracks are included and compared to the first RADIOACTIVE album, the new album is a bit rockier, which is a good move I think. This is real quality stuff, and quite a must for fans of AOR/Melodic Rock of a high level. The best songs are strong AOR songs like “Don’t give up”, “I should have known better” (catchy chorus), “Demon” (uptempo fun melodic rocker with Fergie singing), “Lies fied on lies” (bluesy touch with superb vocals of Steve Overland, kinda like FOREIGNER/BAD COMPANY), “7 A.M.” (early 80s style, a la PRISM) and closing track “Until I change your heart” (best song, very strong midtempo AOR a la MARK FREE, JIM JIDHED). This is definitely a recommended album to the AOR freaks!
RATING 8.5/10