Archive for the ‘Year 2002’ Category

Tracks:

1. Symbol Of Love
2. American Dreamer
3. It’s Just Another Day
4. This Game Of Life
5. Heaven
6. All My Love
7. It’s So Funny
8. My Girl
9. Man Of God

Label: n/a
Producer: White Diamond
Year: 2001

Total Playing Time: 37:56 m:s
Review date: 23/02/2002

Web site: http://www.whitediamond-demos.com
Email:

Rating: 80 %
Verdict: A blend of melodic hard rock and AOR with a 80s vibe to it

This album is actually an accompaniment to a film. The film is being made by fitness guru Don Lemmon (www.donlemmon.com) about his previous life as a rock musician. The film is all about a band called White Diamond who almost made it to the big time, but got ripped off by a record company. You can read more about the film at the web site. This album is set of demos recorded by the band.

In fact, no one seems too sure what to make of White Diamond - did they ever exist or are they a new band with some interesting ideas on publicity? Check out the web site or an interview at www.heartoftherock.com to make up your own mind. In the interview Don does reveal that the singer from the Norwegian band “Winter Parade” is doing the vocals!

No matter what is actually going on, this CD exists and is looking to find it’s home in your record collection. The album consists of a number of original tunes and number of cover tunes. At only 37:56 m:s it just snatches the “Harem Scarem it’s too bloody short” award from Takara.

Opener “Symbol Of Love” is an uptempo rocker that has little bit of funk tucked away in the middle of it somewhere, reminding me of Extreme. This is followed by the mid-tempo hard rock meets AOR of “American Dreamer”. This same formula is maintained for “It’s Just Another Day” which is the best tune so far. There is a real Van Halen - jump vibe about “This Game Of Life”.

For the big AOR ballad they cover a Warrant tune called “Heaven”. “All My Love” rocks out once again and this is another tune with a Van Halen undercurrent flowing through it. “It’s So Funny” is a cover of a Rick Springfield tune with a few lyric changes. If the cover versions so far have been predictable, then the next one isn’t. “My Girl” is a surprisingly straight cover of the tune made famous by the Temptations. After that touch of ultra-fluffiness, the band hit hard with a White Metal anthem called “Man Of God”.

The album features a mixture of tracks with a few surprises on the first listen. The basic formula is one that contains a blend of melodic hard rock and AOR with a 80s vibe to it. Most Mood Swings readers will find something of interest here. The best moments for me are “This Game Of Life”, “It’s So Funny” and “Man Of God”.

1. Miles Away
2. Shadows in the Night
3. Tomorrow
4. Without You
5. Ready to Promise
6. L.I.E.S.
7. Dream of it all
8. Believe
9. Tell me

Label: Lion Music
Producer: ?
Year: 2001

Total Playing Time: 39:07 m:s
Review date: 20/02/2002

Web site: www.takararocks.com
Email:

Rating: 80 %
Verdict: Feel good melodic rock performed with style

Takara having being hovering around my ‘want to buy’ list of a while, but never quite made it. The main reason for interest in the band was the presence of one of the best voices in Melodic Rock - Jeff Scott (yes, you pay me, I’ll sing) Soto. It is ironic then that when I finally do get to hear a Takara album JSS has departed & the band are now using new singer Michael James Flatters.

The band hit the ground running with the first couple of tracks - “Miles Away” and “Shadows In The Night”. They both contain slowish verses combined with uptempo catchy choruses. There is a hint of Blackmore about the guitar work and the overall impression is of Rainbow meets a less heavyweight Damned Nation. This successful formula is continued on “Tomorrow”. After three uptempo numbers come the inevitable power ballad called “Without You”.

There is something vaguely Van Halen-esque about the start to “Ready To Promise” which develops into a catchy mid-tempo rocker. In fact, the song holds onto that VH feel throughout. The start of “L.I.E.S” is more determined and the rhythm section adopts a more strident attitude for this track. I have mentioned the word catchy quite a few times in this review already, but on “Dream Of It All” the band take this to new heights. This is the sort of track that gets inside your head and stays there, so that you’ll find yourself singing/humming a tune sometime later in the day and realise it is a Takara song. Having scaled the heights of catchiness on the previous track the band stay there with “Believe” and the closing track “Tell Me”.

“So is that it?” I hear you say. Well yes, Takara came perilously close to being this month’s winners of the Harem Scarem “Less than 40 min is quite sufficient” award. A smudge on another otherwise acceptable copybook.

Takara songs are all feel good ones that really take off during the choruses where they have the vocal harmonies pretty close to perfection. This is the type of music that you stick on the stereo and enjoy without having to think too much. It the sort of music that you’d love to hear on the radio. As for the change of vocalist, Michael does an excellent job and the change will help the band overcome the preconceptions held by people like me who always thought of them as a side project for JSS.

Tracks:

1. Made Of Lead
2. Cutting My Loss
3. Hear The Coming
4. Burned
5. Perfect World
6. With Your Bones
7. Overflow
8. An Eye In Each Corner
9. Morning Flight
10. Rush
11. Eleven Seas

Label: n/a
Producer: n/a
Year: 2001

Total Playing Time: 60:29 m:s
Review date: 19/02/2002

Web site: www.mouthofclay.com
Email: mouthofclay@hotmail.com

Rating: 75 %
Verdict: Retro rockers show promise despite a budget recording

How do like your rock stars? Clean cut & baggy trousers? Denim & Leather? Spandex & Perms? Spikey Hair & bondage trousers? Make-up & Glitter? Long Hair & Flares? Did you say yes to long hair & flares? Well, I’m sure Mouth Of Clay certainly would. Despite their decidedly trendy name, Mouth Of Clay are retro rockers with their roots in 70s music.

Judicious reading elsewhere at mswings.com will reveal that my interest in rock music really happened around the late 70s and early 80s with the NWOBHM. A major influence was the Friday Rock Show on BBC Radio 1. As well as playing all the then newer stuff by Def Leppard, Saxon, Maiden etc, the show used to feature classic rock tracks and sessions. Typical bands would be Uriah Heep, Mountain, Deep Purple, Man, Led Zep etc. Being a poor student in those days I couldn’t afford to buy albums, so I used to tape the Friday Rock Show. I still have many of those tapes kicking around.

When I put the Mouth of Clay CD in the player it was a total nostalgia trip. Not only does Mouth Of Clay remind me of those bands, but the sound quality is such that it actually sounds like those old tapes - muffled and bass heavy. To be fair to Mouth Of Clay they did warn me that the sound quality was rough and ready and the objective was simply to capture the essence of the band, rather than create a major PR tool.

The CD starts with a Zep meets Coverdale era Purple bluesy workout called “Made Of Lead” (maybe that should have been Led?). This is followed by the slow blues rock of “Cutting My Loss”. On “Hear The Coming” that big Purple sound comes to the fore with the Hammond swirling around nicely. This one made me sit up and take notice. There is a hint of Uriah Heep to “Burned”, so it isn’t the Purple rip-off you might have expected from the title.

There is more Purple on “Perfect World” and these tracks are the ones that are grabbing my attention. “With Your Bones” reminds me of Led Zep, but to these ears Mouth Of Clay capture a more authentic blues feeling than I recall hearing from Zep. On “Overflow” the band edge more towards Whitesnake than Purple. For “An Eye In Each Corner” the band adopts a “Dazed & Confused” style phased guitar sound. It is time to sit cross-legged on the floor in the dark and let the sound waves wash over you. Who mentioned drugs?

A good Ian Paice impersonation starts “Morning Flight”, but by this stage the songs are starting to all sound similar. Just as my attention starts to wander, the band changes the formula slightly. This track has more of a rhythm to it and is sort of a blues/boogie workout that make me thing of George Thorogood and Rory Gallagher. Another change for the final track with is a lightweight blues track with a vague country flavor that actually makes me think of Molly Hatchett.

When listening to the album a pattern emerges - when the organ is to the fore MOC sounds like Purple and when it is in background Led Zep. Purple’s “Made In Japan” album is one of my fave albums and as a result the more Purple-esque tracks are the highlights. (Interesting aside - I recently listened to Purple’s “Live In Japan” album which contains the full length versions of the concerts edited to compile “Made In Japan”. Ritchie Blackmore fluffs “Smoke On the Water”’s riff in two of the concerts, so they were left with only one version of use on “Made In Japan”. Ah, another hero knocked off his pedestal!) I think the band have potential and I certainly would like to hear what they sound like on a better quality recording where more of the dynamics of the music are in evidence.

Broke ‘n’ Blue - Northern Lights

Tracks:

1. I Will Be There
2. Cry For You
3. Enuff
4. Touching Me (Tonight)
5. Here She Comes
6. Needed To Believe
7. Heaven In My Hands
8. Back Again
9. Oriental Eyes
10. Heavenly Beauty
11. Heart2Heart
12. Northern Lights

Label: Maple Leaf Records/Hang Loose Records
Producer: Ulf Vesffund and Lars Abrahamsson
Year: 2001

Total Playing Time: 54:52 m:s
Review date: 19/02/2002

Web site: http://listen.to/l.a.music
Email:

Rating: 90 %
Verdict: Broke ‘n’ Blue have created an album that is a very well balanced blend of rock and pop

So you like AOR and you like hard rock, but let’s face it there hasn’t been that much to really enthuse about in those genres of late. So you turn your attention to more lightweight material. Something that could be described as pop-rock – say The Corrs, Roxette or Savage Garden. They are all good, but don’t you just wish they would ‘rock’ out a little more. Well, Broke ‘n’ Blue are here to answer your prayers.

Broke ‘n’ Blue are studio project set up as vehicle for the songs of Lars Lars Abrahamsson. Eva Abrahamsson and Peter Gustavsson singing lead and backing vocals join Lars. Peter is also a guitarist. Ulf Vestlundon completes the band on bass. If you haven’t already guessed it from the names, Broke ‘n’ Blue are a Swedish outfit.

The uptempo opener, “I Will Be There”, marries the AOR of Heart with the pop of Roxette, resulting in an excellent start to the album. “Cry For You” has more of a rock feeling to it with the guitars getting to come to the fore and sounds like a mixture of Toto and Go West. The lead vocal duties are swapped around throughout the album. The opener featured Eva, whereas Peter is featured on this second track. It is back to Eva however for the catchy “Enuff” which is a great lightweight rock tune. Touching Me (Tonight) is a mid-tempo semi-ballad where the band give a performance that would give Journey a run for their money.

Richard Marx is a reference point for the FM rock of “Here She Comes” where Eva’s backing vocal give the sound a slightly Celtic feel and reminding me of a band called Broken Voices. By this stage BnB think is time to prove that their feet are firmly planted in the rock side of the pop-rock divide. To this end thye conjure up “Needed To Believe” which has a touch of Van Halen about it.

With two vocalists a duet was bound to happen and it does on the big power ballad “Heaven In My Hands”. “Back Again” is a track that reminds me of Romeo’s Daughter. Keyboards are to the fore for the slice of 80’s AOR nostalgia called “Oriental Eyes”. An excellent track, that would have been huge back in that time frame.

“Heavenly Beauty” is smooth Westcoast affair. “Heart2Heart”,erm…., sounds like Heart! The closing title track, “Northern Lights”, has an atmospheric Celtic feel to it mainly due to Eva’s vocals.

I always like to find albums that dare to be a little different. Broke ‘n’ Blue have created an album that is a very well balanced blend of rock and pop. In Eva and Peter they have two good vocalists and the sharing of lead vocals adds extra variety and depth to the album. The only thing I’d change for future albums is to beef up the production a little and give the sound a little more “sophistication”. However, this is only minor nit picking on my part. I can only hope that this album does really well for the band, because it deserves to, and that someone lets them loose in the studio with a little more money next time, so that they can create not just a good, but a totally knockout album next time.