ALBUM INFO!

THE STORY BEHIND THE TITLE AND SONGS ON "DISTANT ENCOUNTERS"...

THE TITLE

Most of us hurry through our lives without the slightest reflection of who we meet. We smile towards each others and we ask “how do you do?” in a polite tone. But do we really want to know? Or is it just a phrase? Of course we don't want to know. It's just a phrase, stupid.  A phrase we use to make you think that we care. And to show good maners. We're brought up that way. The right way!

But don't we miss out on something if we never take the time to get to know each other? Why is it so hard to show interest in most other people? Is it because we're afraid of open up towards each other or is it just lack of interest? I feel most meetings are “Distant Encounters” and I wish it could be more close encounters.

I would like it if we could really take our time to get to know the next person we meet.

Obviously we can't interact with all people out there, but it would be nice if we could make one or two encounters ending up in frendship. Or at least an acquaintance.

You and I can't possibly interact, so you have to approach my songs from a distance.

"OPTIMYSTICAL" is not a live-act, so you have to take the Optimystical Tour from a distance as well. But I'll be happy if we at least could achieve distant encounters. That´s what this CD's all about.

But it's also about some people trying desperately to keep the distance. They're living in gated communities with paid-for-protection so they won't have to interact with people less fortunate, living in the streets, with no homes at all. “That Outcast doesn't belong In Our World.”, they say.

But should they have low selfesteem, the people that's seen the banners on the batterfield getting ripped by The Storm. People that have been dedicated to their work all their lives. Isn't that worth something when politicians and company managements are moving factories and reconstructing worldwide companies?

Obviously the title is also describing some kind of galactical encounters. In space and time. For example the man who listen to his favourite midnight DJ. She's maybe hundreds and hundreds of miles away from him, but when he tunes in she´s just a heartbeat away. It's just like a Sunburst In The Midnight.

And when lovers meet it's a kind of magic, lika a Startide Rising and they can really develop feelings beyond the Lost Horizon. Makes you believe everything can really come true Tonite. In a distance but yet so far away. So our memories can be described. A slow walk down the memory lane can make you see a Face In The Window were love once lived. You never know when The Unexpected may Happen. As Jennifer is dancing, she tries to hide her bad memories from herself. But they are still there. In a distance. Maybe I Go Blind trying to see all of you, but I'm willing to try. I wanna make “Distant Encounters”. To start with.

THE SONGS

1. SUNBURST IN THE MIDNIGHT:
 A song about being distantly in love with a character. It's about a man listening to a female midnight DJ that really sets his heart om fire. It´s love on air.

2. HAPPEN:
A fantastic song written back in 1991 that´s the essance of OPTIMYSTICAL. Catchy hooks and yet quite raw verse. A compact presented instant hit! And all about love...

3. OUTCAST:
Also written way back in time. I think the first embryo was created in 1998. Lyrics by Thomas Ragnarsson, about the less fortunate ones amongst us. A slow and heavy song with nice groove to it.

4. TONITE:
One of the more recently composed songs (2004), yet one of the most 80-reminiscent ones.

5. STARTIDE RISING:
Originally from 1999. From the start it was ment to be the title song of the album. It's a feelgood song. But then I decided it would be easier to give the CD a name not attached to a single song. But I still feel this track is somewhat caracteristic for the CD.

6. FACE IN THE WINDOW:
An excellent ballade. Originates from 2004. I thought we needed another ballade for the third VAGH-album and it took only one day to write. Everything fell into places at once.

7. LOST HORIZON:
 A song that´s been going through changes over the years. Originally written 1997.

It got new lyrics right before it was sent to Ronnie. I think the chorus is fantastic with its great harmonies. Also the verse is strong with a lot of air creating space into it.

The song itself is a real killer with big keyboards and catchy hooks, and great solo by Fredrik. Also written very long ago. In 1993.

8. IN OUR WORLD:
Originally written back in 1996. Titled “In your Mind” with crappy lyrics the song never made it into the two VAGH-albums. But I've always felt that the song had potential and I early decided to give it a facelift for this album.

Björn Ledelius helped me out with new lyrics, about gated communities and paid-for-protection. Together with Per Broddesson´s excellent guitarwork a perfect opener was created. It´s kind of DIO meets RAINBOW I think. A really melodic chorus following a straight forward verse. The solo is really a highlight of the song.

With its great guitarlines, big keyboards and really cathy chorus it feels like a remainder from the decadent decade. Ment in a good way. I really love this song, it´s one of my all time favourite tracks!

Great guitarwork from Mike Lavér and sensitive lyrics by Robin and Björn Ledelius.

9. JENNIFER:
An airlight bagatelle, with dark lyrics. A delicate topic about a girl that´s been abused by her father, and how that affects her whole life.

She desperately tries to hide her bad memories in several ways. With illegal substances and raving dance. But how does she feel deep inside?

The song was written back in 1994 and was presented to LA CONNECTION for the first time. I remember Tom really liked this song. But when I rerecorded it he immediately asked me where those great bells were. They were the reason he liked the song, so Tom: I just have to plead for mercy here...

10. THE UNEXPECTED:
A song written back in 2004, when I was really into playing with progressive undertones. I have always found progressive metal interesting, but somewhat boring.

I did really miss those big catchy hooks. So I tried to create just that. A big catchy chorus with strong harmonies to go with the progressive touch. The title reflects the experiment very well. This song is really unexpected, considering it´s placed on an OPTIMYSTICAL album that originates from the VAGH-era.

11. THE STORM:
An uptempo song with many great harmonies. Nice vocal ones and several guitarlines as well.

I think Ronnie does it with great accuracy. Lyrics, mostly by Björn is well suited the song and describes the despair you might feel before authorities. Politicians and company managements. The banners ripped by the storm is a metafore for the working class kneeing before the financial reality. Written in 2004.

12. I GO BLIND:
A cool ballade to finish the album off. I think the fade out is a magic moment. Perfect ending of a perfect album. You really need to calm down after experiencing “Distant Encounters”.