Swedish melodic rockers DEGREED are re-releasing their first two records in a double album, remastered along with bonus material. To celebrate the band arrangement with Swedish booking Danger Music & Media and Sun Hill Records, both albums are available again with a superb refreshing sound. We Don't Belong is Degreed's second album, showcasing an improved bright production again handled by Erik Lidbom (who has also co-written some songs) The Swedish guys impressed the Melodic Rock community with their debut CD full of melodic modern sounds injecting the genre with a vital breath of fresh air. We Don't Belong shows a more mature Degreed in all aspects: better songwriting, arrangements and playing, while their contagious, catchy melodies and choruses have been refined for an even greater impact. The notable thing about Degreed is that, although the songs are catchy, you can't escape the fantastic musical talent of these five guys. It would be easy to just say they are a good band, but there's much more than that because they have big hooks and catchy choruses reminiscent of '80s AOR & Melodic Rock and yet they sound so fresh and modern. While listening to We Don't Belong you can hear inspirations from Journey or Night Ranger, but also many of the good (and few) modern hard rock bands, and Degreed blends all them all into an appetizing cocktail. They cook into the oven the good of the new with the magic of the past, as co-writing a fantastic melodic track (In For The Ride) with legend Bill Champlin, who also sings on the song. You can't deny the catchiness of the keyboard filled Black Cat, the harder Harem Scarem-like Blind Hearted or the broken What If.
