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AOR
Escape Music
New Release
Fatal Vision
Four Sides To Every Story
Reviewed in issue:
115
Release Date:
22 May 2026
Reviewed by:
🟣 Phil Ingham
For Fans Of
Harem Scarem
Nestor
Work Of Art
Top three tracks
• If This Is Who You Are
• Girl Against The World
• All That Glitters
Fireworks Verdict:
"...it will undoubtedly put a smile on your face."
THE REVIEW
Words Of Wisdom!
Fatal Vision, hailing from Ottawa, have an interesting background. Starting out in 1988, the band effectively took a lengthy hiatus before releasing an album. In 2019, vocalist Simon Marwood received a session at a recording studio as a gift, so he dug out the notebooks of music from the band’s early life – and Fatal Vision were reborn.
They have certainly made up for lost time, with ‘Four Sides To Every Story’ being the fourth studio album since returning. The band are unashamedly AOR, with roots firmly in the eighties. For that reason, like their albums that proceeded this one, you’ll find all the expected staples of the genre. Polished vocal harmonies, soaring guitar solos, gushing ballads designed for lighter-waving moments (none of this torches-on-iPhone nonsense!), and Stadium-Rock sing-alongs are all present and correct.
"The band are unashamedly AOR, with roots firmly in the eighties."
The album’s opening track ‘Girl Against The World’ is a strong start. Channelling ‘Runaway’-era Bon Jovi, and packing an earworm of a chorus, it is one of the album highlights. Another is ‘Every Time I Think Of You’, a smooth, emotionally driven track that would fit comfortably within Chicago’s back catalogue. ‘Turn Around’ opens with elegant piano, before giving way to the full band. Marwood’s vocals capture the emotion of the lyrics, and we get a captivating solo by guitarist Juan Miguel Gomez Mortant.
Mortant sounds like he is having a great deal of fun across the album, and Andrew Burns (bass) and Alex Wickham (drums) work brilliantly alongside him as a locked-in dependable rhythm section.
"‘Turn Around’ opens with elegant piano, before giving way to the full band."
The album doesn’t aim to reinvent the wheel, and it doesn’t deliver many surprises, but that isn’t a criticism. Instead, its strength lies in strong song-writing that favour feel and cohesiveness over necessary twists. Music is meant to make you feel something, and for the fourteen-song duration of this record I was transported back to summer car journeys soundtracked by cassette tapes of the likes of Survivor, Boston and Journey.
‘Four Sides To Every Story’ won’t blow your mind, but with its hooks, heart and nostalgic charm it will undoubtedly put a smile on your face.
Reviewer:
🟣 Phil Ingham
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