By Ola Gränshagen, Melodic.net

” … If I’d go through all releases for 2021 and recommend five of them – this album is absolutely on that list. Get it!”

Once I had an amazing wow experience, and it was when listening to the self-titled Kurt Howell album for the first time. The first song was great, the second song was great… And it continued that way. Same thing here with Danish artist Michael Kratz’ album, although not exactly the same style of music. Still, enough of AOR, pop and cool hi-tech spices to be something for many readers here…

The moment I heard the first song ”Too Close To The Edge” I noted there was something special here. The arrangements, the melodies and the production was me. Michael Kratz (or even Michael Krätz) has been around since the 80’s in various genres and this is his 3rd full length solo album, strangely entitled Tafkatno.

If you’re still not convinced, how about lots of Nik Kershaw influences, a voice somewhere close to Holly Johnson and songs to kill for? Yeah, I am not exaggerating! The production is simply great too, made by Kasper Viinberg (except ”How Can A Man”, by Torben Lysholm). All songs except two are penned down by Viinberg and Kratz!

My goodness, the pop tune ”Let’s Do Something Good” could have been on a Ronan Keating album but is even better (yes, I have a weak spot for the Keating songs). Even when Michael gives us a soft semi-ballad like ”Someday” it has awesome twists that lifts it far from an ordinary ballad. And hear the amazing guitar solos in ”Everlasting Lies”! The song is totally and insanely good! It tip-toes through various genres with an almost hard rocking verse, a moodful and soft pre-chorus that emanates in a magic chorus. It is followed by one of the best tunes of this magic album ”How Can A Man” with tons of cool Kershaw moves. Topped by another great 80’s tinged guitar solo it is a winner.

I would have wanted the label to have included a credit list song by song in the booklet, actually. We have a fine list of players here, but it is not mentioned on which songs they participate. But some clues are found! ”Let’s Do Something Good”is written by Bruce Gaitsch and Dennis Morgan, so the mentioning of Bruce in the list of guitar players and his wife Janey Clewer among the backing vocalists suggests they played on this song.

I’ve mentioned Lysholm (guitar, bass, keyboards, backing vocals) and Viinberg (guitars, bass, drums, percussion, keyboards, backing vocals) and the list of great musicians also includes Christian Warburg (guitars), Luca Carlomagno (guitar), Mikkel Risum (bass), and Davide Gilardino (backing vocals).

If I’d go through all releases for 2021 and recommend five of them – this album is absolutely on that list. Get it!

By Marco Aimasso, Metal.it

Behind the enigmatic title “TAFKATNO” hides a jewel of velvety and refined rock, full of extraordinarily inspired songs, meticulously constructed and beautifully performed.

The review of this new work by Michael Kratz could also end here, but I believe it is necessary (and not only to satisfy my well-known disclosure need …) to add some further elements especially for the benefit of those who have not guilty noticed the beauty of the previous “Live your life” and “risks” to miss another unassailable collection of sophisticated and exciting notes, imbued with charm and sensitivity, in which the taste for arrangements is nothing less than exemplary.

Speaking of “genre”, let’s say that the Dane is a master in mixing AOR, techno-pop and progressive glimpses, and if you need concrete references instead, the quote from Toto, Chicago, Ambrosia and Level 42 can be functional to provide general indications, without, however, exhausting the content of the work with a sterile rereading of these tutelary deities.

The truth is that in “TAFKATNO” there is not a single song that is not very effective from an emotional point of view or vaguely accused of anonymity, and this result is achieved only thanks to the enormous talent and strong culture of a musician, singer and composer. capable of touching the strings of the soul through compelling melodies and always heard interpretations.

Helped by Kasper Viinberg and the usual plethora of illustrious guests (Christian Warburg, Bruce Gaitsch, Torben Lysholm, Janey Clewer and “our” Davide Gilardino and Luca Carlomagno, of Mindfeels), Michael marks the opera program with his intense voice, mature and peculiar, perfect for supporting eleven communicative moments of competent and sumptuous easy listening, never annoyingly sweetened.

In this way, if it is not the burning shock of the riffs that ignites the senses, it is the enticing rhythms, the soft electricity and the inviting harmonic constructions that achieve the fundamental result, not transmitting on any occasion, I repeat, the feeling of excessive predictability or abulia.

In short, it is impossible not to be conquered by the elegant pop-anthem “Too close to the edge”, by the bewitching and pulsating sonic chiaroscuro of “The highway” or by “A way to the future” that plagiarizes the bystander and envelops him in a comforting cocoon made of prog, fusion and R&B.

“Without your love” (truly fabulous in its sonic ups and downs), “Let’s do something good” and “Someday” are ballads of crystalline expressiveness that only the most “uncompromising” and superficial rockers will be able to deny, while I am convinced that inspiration and the irresistible nocturnal mood of “You’re the one” will be appreciated by all music lovers without “blinders”, like “Everlasting lies”, a quick demonstration of technique, imagination and feeling.

Another slow-number called “10 minutes” (perhaps the least successful of the lot, actually …), before the last two sought-after combinations of rhythm and melody present in the program, “How can a man” and the bonus track ” Broken souls ”, highly engaging in its evocative games between light and twilight.

“TAFKATNO” is therefore an excellent example of what we would once have called “cultured radio rock” and all that remains is to recommend Michael Kratz to all those for whom this definition still is meaningful.

Read full review: https://metal.it/album.aspx/44521/26781/kratz-michael-tafkatno/

By Denis Abello, MelodicRock.it

The Danish Michael Kratz is back, who thanks to the good success of his debut album Live Your Life, is playing an encore with this album with the unpronounceable title TAFKATNO … and let’s say it right away and get rid of this tooth, but what the @@ does it mean TAFKATNO ???

I spent quite a few nights trying to give a more or less plausible meaning to this absurd name only to discover that it is simply the acronym of “The Album Formerly Known As The Next One” … nothing … Kratz I Love it, even if the blows the merit of the name in this case would be attributed to a certain Jørgen Kleon Jeppesen!

Thus revealed the mystery that kept us awake for nights and nights we can at least say that despite a name like this everything else that Kratz had given us good with his first solo work here is amply confirmed and perhaps even better packaged.

The troop that brought the first album into port remains firmly on the ship and therefore in addition to Kratz we find here his right shoulder Kasper Viinberg (mixing, multi-instrumentalist of the album and co-author of several songs) and behind in the control room our own Burning Minds / Art of Melody Music to which are added a series of high level artists such as Christian Warburg (Paul Young), Bruce Gaitsch (King Of Hearts, Madonna, Peter Cetera, Chicago, Elton John, Joe Cocker, Lionville), Torben Lysholm (Pangea, Mysterell, Acacia Avenue), Davide Gilardino & Luca Carlomagno (Mindfeels) and Janey Clewer (Peter Cetera, Bill Champlin, Michael Bolton, Michael Sembello among others).

Let’s clarify another thing before starting to analyze the songs on the disc, even Kratz’s voice is still there to make a good appearance (and God forbid!). If you have known the first album you know what I mean and if you missed it I will try to explain it to you. That Kratz certainly have a particular voice to say the least, which does not allow half measures, either you love it or you hate it, and I love it thanks to that absolutely characteristic and unique trait of its own in this genre!

… And speaking of notes? Don’t worry here too, if you appreciated the Danish’s first work, feel free to breathe a good sigh of relief because the shots fired by this TAFKATNO aim straight into the same AOR / Westcoast territory from the intimist trait of Live your Life, and indeed, in some respects this TAFTKANO is also better balanced and more consistent in its gait than the debut with a Kratz that offers a cleaner and more homogeneous songwriting, but always strong with splendid and well-kept arrangements as per his habit.

The particular Too Close To The Edge with its nanannananananow introduces us again to the imaginative musical world of Kratz. Stylistic choices that are never banal and of a certain level, attention to detail and quality production raise the bar. There are no pieces that deserve the “skip” in this work but certainly the slower songs of the lot with the splendid and intimate Without your love should be mentioned as highlights, graced by an interlude in pure style of the latest Toto, the other slow Let’s Do Something Good who enjoys an arrangement and an acoustic guitar in the background from goosebumps and finally the grace to the limit of pop of 10 minutes (00:37 – 00:47). Also noteworthy and worthy of a note in itself what I found to be the most radio song of the lot, How Can a Man.

What to say in conclusion, on the second lap Michael Kratz still amazes, and fortunately not only for the absurdity of the name of the album, but above all for the confirmation of a mature artist and a guarantee for those looking for that westcoast soiled with AOR chromed and refined. A beautiful evening album with a glass of wine in front of you, I recommend the good one … and you decide whether alone or in company, this album will be the perfect companion in the first case and a delicate friend in the second! Have a good listening!

By Giornalemetal.it

Michael Kratz is a Danish artist with a great and long experience in the melodic rock sector.

After having released two works of great depth such as Live Your Life, great, superb studio work and the excellent live album Live Your Live, this character was expected at the gate because the expectations had become really high regarding the release of the new Tafkatno, happened just in these days.

Well, we can say that starting to listen to the new songs, the quality of the compositions has not changed at all, remaining on a very high range that probably few are able to keep today. One realizes what we have already written with the initial and exquisitely melodic Too Close To The Edge, a song with enormous potential even on the radio, where the melodies contained in it adapt to wonder even on good and old as well as dear Radio frequencies.

Captivating and roaring the “up-tempo” The Highway, which shows us a Michael Kratz in star form. The innate ability of the great artists in this case who deal with melodic rock is also to be able to create different songs from the previous ones but with an unchanged velvety and elegant atmosphere.

Take for example a great class soft rock song like A Way To The Future and you will probably understand the words written above. The more intimate and sensitive side of Kratz comes out with one of the most beautiful songs on the album, Without Your Love, where you are totally immersed in his world, five minutes and twenty of pure melodic class.
The sound carpet is quite varied, always keeping in mind the elegance and composure factor that has always distinguished this wonderful artist from Denmark.

A spectacular production then makes this Tafkatno an exceptional work from all points of view, because you can fully enjoy all the notes present in the eleven songs inside. Really impressive performance also for all the musicians involved in this project who next to Michael form something truly beautiful and unique.

How to resist the pathos Let’s Do Something Good, which makes everyone dream thanks also to Kratz’s particularly melodic and grandiose voice. We do not want and we do not find terms of comparison with his other colleagues because his voice is unique.

What we can say to all lovers of good music is to throw themselves headlong into one of the most complete and beautiful Melodic Rock albums of recent years. Eleven jewels of pure and uncontaminated melodic rock to always keep at hand.

By MetalMania Magazine

TAFKATNO is a cool album full of good songs, which they will definitely not play on BEST FM, which is the greatest compliment I am capable of.

I like music that goes beyond classical ideas and it’s hard to put it exactly in any style. Danish musician Michael Kratz makes such music – unique, exceptional and interesting. He is an artist who has won several awards in his homeland for his work.

After a great response from his album Live your life (2018), this westcoast master finally released the novelty TAFKATNO on September 24, 2021. He collaborated with a number of guests. For example: Christian Warburg (Paul Young), Bruce Gaitsch (King Of Hearts, Madonna, Peter Cetera, Chicago, Elton John, Joe Cocker, Lionville), Torben Lysholm (Pangea, Mysterell, Acacia Avenue and others)

If you want to know the meaning of the name, don’t look in dictionaries. It is short for “The album formerly known as the next one”. Did you laugh too?

Ten songs and one bonus contain a nice mix of music. The author certainly won’t deny the influence of pop, but it doesn’t hurt the music. The songs are fun, catchy and Michael’s voice has the right soulful drive. You can feel the wonderful joy of music from every tone.

There are good melodies, nice guitar beats and interesting arrangements. The album clearly has something to say to every person who likes quality and does not need to have things exactly boxed.

TAFKATNO is a cool album full of good songs, which they will definitely not play on BEST FM, which is the greatest compliment I am capable of.

Read full review: https://www.metalmania-magazin.eu/2021/10/14/michael-kratz-tafkatno/

By Max, Nonsolo Progrock

” … I just say that if AOR music had a human form, this would have the appearance of a smile.”

The AOR genre is refined, a Hard Rock with a stylish jacket and tie that often leads us to sing along with the artist who is performing. It is enthralling, engaging but above all catchy. AOR is the acronym for Album Oriented Rock, this is to better understand the meaning of this music that sees light for the first time in the 60s in America. The songs exceeded the length of the canonical 45 rpm, becoming real concepts, among the first to open this path there were Bob Dylan and the Beatles. But it was the 70s that changed the AOR genre in an important way with groups such as Toto, Journey, Rush, Boston etc, thus changing the name of the genre to Album Oriented Radio.

The Danish singer, guitarist and drummer Michael Kratz is today one of the leading exponents, always attentive to important melodies and good taste. After four interesting albums starting from his 2012 debut titled “Cross That Line” (Sony Music) he returns today with the new “Tafkatno”.

The disc consists of ten songs and a bonus track entitled “Broken Souls” while the booklet accompanying the CD is by Aeglos Art, containing photos and texts as well as reflections by the artist himself. The band is formally a duo, Michael Kratz (vocals, guitar, drums) and Kasper Viinberg (backing vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, percussion, drums) but it is the large number of guests to embellish the work most, starting with Christian Warburg (Paul Young), Bruce Gaitsch (Peter Cetera-Chicago-Elton John), and Janey Clewer (Michael Bolton-Michael Sembello). But there are even more, Davide Gilardino (backing vocals), Torben Lysholm (backing vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass), Luca Carlomagno (guitar), Mikkel Risum (bass) and Kenneth Bremer.

The album begins with “Too Close To The Edge, an immediately pimp song that finds the wild card in that really intriguing chorus. Kratz’s class can also be seen from “The Highway”, certainly there are many deja vu, but this is the AOR and the guitar solo amply earns the piece pass enough.

Nothing is thrown away from this musical genre, just like pork in the kitchen, perfect union of styles and flavors, so here is the sought after Hard Rock mid tempo with another important solo entitled “A Way To The Future”. We also know that for the AOR the ballad is an important moment, and in fact it is not lacking thanks to “Without Your Love” and his arpeggiated acoustic guitar. “You’re The One” shows the more artistic and technical side of Michael Kratz with good arrangements and a not indifferent taste for melody. Another sound caress comes to us from “Let’s Do Something Good”, but at this point I leave it to you and your curiosity to discover the rest of the album which is always kept on good levels, I just say that if AOR music had a human form, this would have the appearance of a smile.

Read full review: https://nonsoloprogrock.blogspot.com/2021/11/michael-kratz.html

By metalhead.it

Music for certain specific times of the day, of the week. Of life itself.

The new album by Danish westcoast artist Michael Kratz envelops the atmosphere with sensuality and provocation: AOR with a certain refinement, sophisticated Westcoast …

“Tafkatno” is not the record that you blast off at a beach or pool party. “Tafkatno” is not the record you play as you hit the accelerator along that endless highway. “Tafkatno” is an album of refined, refined, intimate, profound music. More suited to the intimate evening than the degenerate party. More for soft lighting and high-quality drinks than for the rough pub without unnecessary civil rules.

A deep album full of guests, such as Christian Warburg (Paul Young), Bruce Gaitsch (Madonna, Chicago, Elton John, Joe Cocker, etc.), a melodic, soft, evocative, emotional, engaging album, filled with sublime melody. Solo artist who comes out of the Danish Kandis and who manages to give strong emotions, refined music, without borders within that sound territory that characterizes him.

From music to artwork, Michael is able to express himself at 360 ° with another album of real music, of real passion, of rock that knows how to go further, a rock that if spread properly could dominate any international radio, any world playlist.

If you love Bruce, the Stones or any other AOR or soft rock artist, then maybe with Michael Kratz you could find a new priceless treasure!

TAFKATNO is released by Art Of Melody Music / Burning Minds Music Group.

By Louis Cattaneo, ProgressivamenteBlog

The impeccable textures of this Tafkatno fascinate from the first listening for the suggestive mood they are imbued with, confirming the goodness of a truly convincing project.

Released in 2021, Tafkatno followed Live your life from 2018, an album that Michael Kratz (vocals and songwriting), former drummer of Kandis, had published for our local Art of Melodic Music.

The fruitful collaboration also marks the step of the Dane’s latest effort, once again imbued with AOR, hard and West Coast, a brilliant result recorded together with a series of thick musicians, imbued with pop melodies set in a rock context with a radio.

The care for the arrangement and a certain compositional taste emerge in songs such as Without your love and You’re the one, but it is as a whole that Kratz’s talent emerges in giving a certain pathos to his compositions, also thanks to the various lines ups that follow one another along the 50 minutes of the album, played wonderfully well by elements perfectly placed in the context in which Michael moves.

The impeccable textures of this Tafkatno fascinate from the first listening for the suggestive mood they are imbued with, confirming the goodness of a truly convincing project.

Read full review: https://progressivamenteblog.blogspot.com/2022/12/michael-kratz-tafkatno-2021.html

By Via Nocturna

By Saints Libra, TuttoRock.com

Micheal Kratz, Danish musician of great class and taste, returns to delight our ears three years after his latest opera Dragging me outside made with the collaboration of our own Mindfeels and published by Art of Melody, of the Italian group Burning Minds.

As he himself had the opportunity to say, one cannot abandon a family and for this reason he was happy to renew the contract with the Lombard label for a triple album Live (Live your life) and for TAFKATNO, unreleased albums that we go here to review.

Kratz, in addition to knowing how to compose masterfully, also knows how to surround himself with musicians of an incredible level: in addition to the aforementioned Mindfeels, who appear here in the people of Luca Carlomagno and Davide Gilardino, we find Christian Warburg (guitarist of Paul Young), the fantastic Bruce Gaitsch – practically guitarist of anyone, from Madonna to Elton John, through Joe Cocker, Chicago and also the Ligurians Lionville, Janey Clewer – appreciated singer and pianist who boasts several collaborations, among which we find Peter Cetera and Michael Sembello, Torben Lysholm of Pangea who he also mastered the album.

Great expectations therefore, for a record that fully respects them, finding in it everything a lover of AoR, Class rock and West Coast sounds could ask for, plus a sprinkle of author prog – but without overdoing it: in short, this album could easily bring the name of the Toto without anyone batting an eye.