Search - Cornerstone :: Arrival

3.5 stars, a good start

Justin Gaines | Northern Virginia | 03/01/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"2000's Arrival is the debut album from Cornerstone, the melodic rock side project of ex-Rainbow/Yngwie Malmsteen vocalist Doogie White and Royal Hunt bassist Steen Mogensen. It shouldn't come as any surprise that this album sounds a lot like a Royal Hunt album, especially since Mogensen's Royal Hunt bandmate Andre Anderssen makes a guest appearance on keyboards and former RH vocalist Henrik Brockmann provides backing vocals. White's presence on vocals gives the album a Rainbow flavor, which definitely isn't a bad thing!



Arrival is a very solid melodic rock album. It does, however, fall a bit short when compared to later Cornerstone albums (like 2003's Once Upon Our Yesterdays). You get the impression that White and Mogensen were still figuring out what they wanted the Cornerstone sound to be. The album could have benefited from more prominent lead guitar as well (another carryover from Royal Hunt). Still, it's a promising debut that provided the start to a good working relationship between the two artists.



I'd enthusiastically recommend Arrival to Royal Hunt fans, but melodic rock fans interested in checking out Cornerstone would be much better off picking up their latest album and working backwards to this one."