British label Escape Music are a label I have not heard from in a while, in fact it was back in 1999 when they released Double Dealer’s ‘Moving Target’ album to be more precise. Here you have AOR (who appear to be obsessed with LA if their previous 7 albums titles are to go by!) whose association with their name gives you a hint of what the music will be like. Hosting a formidable roster of talented musicians, way too many to mention (check out the label website for further information) the band produce awe inspiring melody and AOR rock of the highest calibre.
Opening this album is a straight ahead go with the flow formula tune, but my ears pay attention when we get to ‘Don’t Turn Back’. Now this has a ripping solo, clean melodies and a slightly harder edge to the bands sound. But then it all goes really poppy for want of a better explanation. The guitars are turned down and piano becomes the predominant instrument on ‘Love Remains the Same’, the vocal harmonies on this one tend to get a tedious much like that cheesy disco melodies of Kiss’ ‘Dynasty’ album. The saving grace again is the guitar solo; the guitar tone coming out here is something crisp in nature but still distorted enough to tear into your skin. Totally light and shade, yes its all musically sound, it depends whether you’re in the mood for this to be honest. I would defiantly be sipping tea instead of cracking open the cold beers (but that’s just me!), but then, if you’re a true fan of this genre then you WILL like this.
The album could do with more up-tempo numbers; there are quite a few slower numbers, often coming across like some of the ballads Whitesnake released in the 1980’s, there are some David Coverdale-isms in the vocals for good measure. ‘Lost in Your Eyes’ is pure lounge music, or that that you may hear at the doctors surgery, I can see what the band are doing here, its sounds like the Bee Gees though, with the vocal harmonies gasping for breath, I kid you not! Other tunes that stray from pure AOR include the album closer ‘You’re My Obsession’, this is to me like that what Joe Satriani or Steve Vai would produce; guitar tunes, simple drum patterns etc, but not on the same level of heaviness.
‘Just for Love’ has an ear-pricking intro… oh damn, there’s more piano with guitars being the backing band. Sorry but I just like guitars! Thankfully ‘Desperate Dreams’ brings out the atmosphere a tad more. Sounding fresh and getting into the Asia/Journey territory, maybe even a bit of Boston in their latter days. ‘Never Surrender’ brings a smile to this old miserable sod, and is quite an epic at over 7 minutes long, much guitar tomfoolery, lots of the infamous light and shade, but this is the one that has stood out for me amongst the lower moments on the album.
Melodic Rock, AOR, whatever you want to call it can be a little similar when your listening to a few bands at a time, but then you sometimes hear a breakthrough tune or album. I did not find that with this album, but I have found a band that can write songs, but I have not found favour with all of the tunes, it’s fair to say on the whole it’s a pleasant listen, just not outstanding and lacks the more rocking tunes.
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http://www.escape-music.com/
