AOR - L.A. Ambition (The Best Of AOR 2000 - 2010) Mp3

L.A. Ambition is a 2-disc “best of” collection from AOR, the project led by guitarist Frederic Slama and featuring a whole host of guest musicians and vocalists. AOR’s music probably falls more into “West Coast” territory than it does the typical AOR (the genre) sound. It’s pretty much straight-up Toto worship.

L.A. Ambition features 28 songs spread across two discs. It covers the band’s various studio albums to that point, and includes a handful of previously unreleased songs. The discs are split between “The Hard Side” and “The Soft Side,” which is almost a joke when you realize nothing on the “hard” disc is any harder than the average Toto single. That means the “soft” disc is elevator and doctors office material – think Michael McDonald meets Kenny G. If you can get past the overall wimpiness of the music (and not everyone will be able to), the musicianship is actually quite impressive, as are the vocal performances, which include turns from Steve Overland (FM), Fergie Fredericksen (Toto), and Goran Edman (Street Talk), among others.

If you like your AOR on the lighter side, or just love anything that captures the Toto sound, AOR may be the band for you. If so, L.A. Ambition is the perfect introduction to the band’s material. It’s also ideal for casual fans who might not want to buy multiple studio albums. If you like your melodic rock to actually rock though, you’ll probably want to skip this band or at least sample some songs before buying this set.