The keyboardist Leo Mendes made his first musical contact with the vocalist Riq Ferris in a cover band playing Hard Rock and AOR songs.
They recorded a demo CD, but the work didn’t continued and the band broke up in mid-2006.
Before the Highest Dream, Leo Mendes and Riq Ferris were part of many works.
Leo worked as keyboardist, producer, musical director, arranger and made several works of many artists.
Also, he intensely acted in the musical theater scene of Rio de Janeiro.
Riq sang in several rock bands and recorded several works, such as Sigma 5, Thotten, Snow, and as backing vocal of some artists such as Ted Poley, Joe Lynn Turner and Tony Martin.
After a long period without being so involved into music (as he used to), Leo felt he had to go back into his musical activities, and in May 2008, came into contact with Riq and gathered their forces.
Both had several songs and ideas in their personal collections, and that was enough to start recording the Highest Dream project.
Since then, the songs were taking shape and personality.
All compositions and arrangements were made in a very spontaneous and genuine way, without the intention to create something biased.
It was exactly the realization of all the musical influences that was within each one.
Even with some setbacks during recordings, the work never stopped, and dedication was the "key" to the production’s success.
The initial goal was to make a pre-production and then put together the other musicians.
However, with some barriers during this way, Leo had to make the "pre-production" more enriched of details and elaboration, to reach the final result expected.
The Highest Dream's sound has great influence of renowned bands such as Toto, Journey, Kansas, Asia, Survivor, Van Halen, Queen, Europe, White Snake, Pride of Lions, Def Leppard.
The work also features three great guitarists of Rio de Janeiro: Marcelo Nami, Marcio Loureiro and John Cassio (during recordings).
Nowadays, the band is complete with more two great and talented musicians, Marquinhos dos Santos (Bass) and Andre Andrade (Drums).
The Highest Dream was made by careful, detailed and dedicated hands, and the most important of all, it can be considered as a craft work and the achievement of talented musicians who were born with the true essence of rock in their veins.
WHIPLASH!:"...o Highest Dream pode de fato se tornar o maior representante do estilo no país. Os fãs de AOR com certeza só tem a agradecer pelo êxtase proporcionado com “Far Away From Here”..."
DISK HEAVEN:"もそのサウンドを色付ける重要なポイントになっています！！SAVIOUR MACHINEのようなジャケが全くもってそそりませんので、Myspaceでサウンドをチェックしてみてください！そしてまず"Not An Angel"をお聴きください！！この曲がアルバムでは１０曲目という目立たない位置に収録されています・・・。店頭でかけているとやけに反応のある、好印象の当たり作です..."
CASTLE OF PAGAN:"AOR の懐かしい香りがぷんぷんと漂ってくる甘美なメロディには高い殺傷力あり..."
STRUTTER77-ANGELFIRE:"...this is pure 80s AOR/Melodic Rock with strong vocalwork and some nice catchy hooks here and there, filling up each song with a memorable chorus..."
ROCKHARD:"Zdeklarowani hard rockowcy nie mają czego tutaj szukać, ale sprawa ma się zupełnie inaczej w przypadku fanów AOR-u. Tak jak wspomniałem na wstępie, jest to jeden z najlepszych tegorocznych albumów poruszających się w omawianej stylistyce. A jeżeli ktoś lubi muzykę Survivor, to nie powinien długo się zastanawiać i jak najszybciej zamawiać swoją kopię Highest Dream. Bardzo dobra płyta, lepsza niż chwalony niedawno przeze mnie FarCry..."
SCHMURZI:"Die Brasilianer bieten mit ihrem ersten Album eine perfekte Mischung aus AOR, Hard- und Classic-Rock. Das Duo Leo Mendes / Riq Ferris hat sich in der Musikszene Rios ein paar klasse Gastmusiker zusammengesucht, so dass die Qualität sowohl der Produktion (übrigens durch Mendes selbst) als auch der einzelnen Stücke auf Far Away From Here zu überzeugen weiß..."
LOUD1:"Highest Dream are from Brazil a country that the rock world is just starting to take notice of. Riq Ferris has an amazing voice and the very 80's keyboards of Leo Mendes give the album that great catchy AOR quality. The music on offer is fantastic blend of DOKKEN, STEELHOUSE LANE, PRIDE OF LIONS & EUROPE. Just check out the classy and very WORK OF ART sounding CAN'T FIGHT HEARTS. Awesome-Gez..."
ROCK MEETING:"Sortant du lot, avec un contrat chez Escape music, HIGHEST DREAM débarque sur nos platines avec un pure Hard FM sorti tout droit des années 80’s..."
ROXXZONE:"Questi ragazzi vengono dal Brasile e propongono uno degli album più interessanti e memori degli anni ’80 pubblicati negli ultimi tempi...apparendo tutti come potenziali hit, ottimamente arrangiati e interpretati da parte del bravo singer Riq Ferris e pronti per essere fagocitati dai cultori delle sonorità aor. Album consigliatissimo..."
KRONIC:"Guidata dal polistrumentista Leo Mendes e dal vocalist Riq Ferris, la band carioca, alla stregua dei Frozen Rain, aderisce incontrovertibilmente alla causa del melodic rock puro e semplice, in forza di melodie di sicuro impatto emotivo, ottimi arrangiamenti e cori dinamici ed efficaci..."
FLASH MAGAZINE:"Un sound molto leggero e cori tipici del genere sono il punto di forza di questa band..."
ESQUIZOFRENIA:"Desde la inicial 'Restless Dreamer', con un estribillo demoledor, pasando por trallazos como 'Helpin’ Hand', 'Reach Higher' o 'I Will Find You', hasta las ineludibles baladas 'Love Makes You Cry' y 'Never Be Apart' que cierra el disco dejándonos con ganas de mucho más, no hay un solo tema de relleno..."
RSK:"...About as far from the world of salsa as it’s possible to get, their debut album is a skilfully executed 1980s-era AOR-meets-pomp workout that unselfconsciously models itself upon Toto and Journey, though the record’s marvellous standout cut, Helpin’ Hand, owes a significant debt to Survivor..."
REVELATIONZ MAGAZINE:"Highest Dream's "Far Away From Here" is a decent AOR effort that has alot of heart and good attention to detail...the melodies and harmonies are solid, choruses are nice, and that final track could be from a classic 80s soundtrack..."
DESTINY RECORDS:"From gently reflective ballads to pulsating rockers, tracks like 'I Will Find You', 'Helpin' Hand', 'Can't Fight Hearts' and 'All I Want' show an innate melodic sensibility many bands higher up the food chain would be proud of. Well classy..."
GLORY DAZE MUSIC:"One can see and hear quite clearly that Leo and Highest Dream have a very strong pedigree, and when Leo mentions influences such as Toto, Kansas, Survivor, Pride Of Lions and Queen, you should take him at his word, with 'Far Away From Here' being all the proof that is needed..."
FIREWORKS MAGAZINE:"Keyboardist Leo Mendes and
vocalist Riq Ferris have created, in Highest Dream, a fabulous AOR
band that has already been creating quite a stir in the scene...So a big
round of applause to Highest Dream and Escape for taking the chance and doing just that for fans
of all things pink and fluffy (second time I’ve used this phrase recently but it fits), an impressive
debut album and a band to keep an your eye on..."
MELODIC ROCK:"For fans of off-beat classic AOR in that 80s style not unlike Balance, Asia and Ted Poley (solo) in places, this album should be investigated. The lead vocals are a personal taste issue for sure, but there is no doubting the quality of the actual songwriting, which is very much old-school AOR..."
THE MAYFAIR MALL ZINE:"This pair have put together a Melodic Rock album of the highest calibre and one that ticks all the boxes for the genre with great songs, great melodies and a great vocal, all of which rate highly amongst the best I’ve heard from the genre this year..."
ROCK UNITED: "Highest Dream has been compared to AOR giants such as Survivor and Journey, and sure enough, they don't drift too far from that melodic path..."
AOR UNDERGROUND: "This Brazillian AOR band have taken me by surprise with this album. It is a total wet dream to any AOR fan. Put together by Leo Mendes, Highest Dream should be high on everybody’s shopping list. Classy..."
MELODIC ROCK MAGAZINE:"Dazzling - energetic melodic creations topped
with rich and towering vocals – a sure recipe of sound delights. An album full of emotive music
and singing, ‘Highest Dream’ is just that…reaching the pinnacle of pure Melodic/Rhythmic musical
gems..."
ROCK REPORT:"Highest Dream came over as a real Brazilian revelation to me..."
MELODIC.NET:"This is a really good debut album and I would give a grade where the songs gets a 4 and production 3. I hope these guys get a chance to records a 2nd album with a better production because they can write memorable AOR-songs for sure..."
MUSIC BY MAIL: "If you want to hear pure melodic rock that borders on pomp then look no further..."
ESCAPE MUSIC:"The result is an astounding array of compositions that range from Asia-like keyboards to Journeyesque melodies with some Kansas overtones..."
FRONTIERS RECORDS:"Un debut album di assoluto valore da prendere immediatamente..."
AOR HEAVEN: "A pleasant surprise from Brazil, cause the duo of Riq Ferris and Leo Mendes delivers a high quality classic 80s AOR release..."
ROCK REALMS:"The sound is a neck-breaking nod towards the lighter end of hard rock. There's a flaming beacon of 80's hair rock in the mix and a few touches of prog, but the overall vibe is synth-orientated and as fluffy as a cotton wool cloud..."
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Bem vindo! Obrigado por aceitar o Sangue da Cidade na sua rede de amigos! Visite o nosso site: www.sanguedacidade.com.br Esse é o vídeo da nossa música que está no filme "Tropa de Elite":
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Great thanks for helping Department of Virtuosity with spread the Virtuosity worldwide!
The 10th issue of Department of Virtuosity has been published!
There you will find 13 reviews most of whom are virtuoso-oriented albums: Epidemia (6 reviews of CDs and 2 of DVDs; melodic fantasy power metal from Russia), Lua Hadar (2 reviews; jazz with female vocalist from the USA) and Zonata (3 reviews; neoclassical power metal from Sweden).
The effects are available on: www.hmpmag.pl (please click the golden banner of DoV)
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