Review | Treat – The Wild Card

Frontiers Music srl

Treat goes back to the eighties – check out the song ,,1985” – with their 10^th studio album called ‘The Wild Card’, featuring thirteen classic melodic rock songs without real originality or musical surprises.

CLICHÉ

The Swedish melodic rock band Treat has the same line up for twenty years and the sound of the band has, maybe therefore, not changed very much over the years. So, you might say that – here come that obvious cliché – if you liked their previous albums, then you can buy ‘The Wild Card’ without listening to it.

MAINSTREAM

Treat’s new album opens with ,,Out With A Bang” which is a sparkling, vibrant opening track, in other words Treat as you know them. The two singles of the album, ,,1985” and ,,Adam And Evil” sound remarkably familiar, are AOR-like and sometimes even poppy with singalong choruses. ,,Rodeo” is an anthemic, mainstream song which could do well as a future live staple, while ,,Hand On Heart” is a real AOR-like track.

THE BALLAD

The obligatory ballad ,,Heaven’s Waiting” not only has a corny, unoriginal title, but also bittersweet, sentimental lyrics, making it the worst song of the album for sure. ,,Endeavour” is not much better, as that one is a pure poppy song which has almost nothing to do with rock music whatsoever….

TREAT – THE CONCLUSION

The “highlight” of this rather mediocre album is the driven rocker ,,Mad Honey”, although that one reminds me too much of Def Leppard… so, overall, a disappointing album of Swedish “rockers” Treat, only for die-hard fans indeed.

Release date: 21 November 2025