This year I enjoyed some amazing new music from artists including Barry Manilow, Billy Idol, Neil Diamond, and Dionne Warwick, among others. But 2015 is shaping up to be even better based on what I’m listening to right now, which is Only to Rise by Sweet & Lynch.

Only to Rise is the debut album by melodic rock icons Michael Sweet, the guitarist and vocalist for Stryper, and George Lynch, best known for his work with Dokken and Lynch Mob. The band is rounded out by bassist James Lomenzo, formerly of Megadeth, White Lion and Black Label Society, and drummer Brian Tichy, who used to play with Whitesnake. The album is being released on January 27, 2015.

According to Michael Sweet, this project “was born as the brainchild of Serafino Perugino, President of Frontiers Music. He asked me to basically sing on this record and then I suggested producing it and co-wrote the songs with George.”

“It’s an incredible combination of classic 70s and 80s,” said Michael Sweet. “You will hear some flavors of Journey, Bad Company, Dokken, Van Halen and Stryper.”

When asked about his fellow band mates, Sweet said, “James and Brian are amazing musicians. They tore it up. The drums and bass are just as impressive as the guitars. Everybody really delivered… The musicianship level on this is top notch. It sounds as if we were all in the studio playing together and we were not.”

As for how the music was created, Sweet explained, “Basically, George wrote some riffs about a minute to a minute and a half long. I wrote lyrics and melodies then arranged them. Then Brian and James came out and tracked the drums and bass, as well as some rhythm stuff. We then sent it back to George to add the guitars.”

There are plans in the works for the band to rehearse and book a tour to play live, which I’m excited to hear because the music rocks. If you’re a fan of soaring vocals, thunderous drums and wailing guitar solos, then this is an album you should check out.