Archive for the ‘Year 2002’ Category
Brunorock - X-Over
![[Image]](cd_images/brunorock.jpg)
More Info: www.brunorock.com
Verdict (Rating): Fresh sounding modern AOR (85%)
When I reviewed Brunorock’s demo last year I was suitably impressed and begged some record company to give him a recording contract as I was keen to find out what he could do on a full length album.
In terms of style etc, nothing has changed from the demo. The one element that many people may focus in on is the continued use of a drum machine. For some people this might be a turn off, but I don’t have a problem with it. In fact, I tend to think that the drum machine gives the songs a more modern/pop feel. The descriptions I gave for the demo hold true for the whole album. The closest relation in the AOR world is probably Rick Springfield. Describing the music as pop meets rock means that I could describe it as Roxette/Savage Garden meets Bon Jovi/Europe.
The album opens with a the up-tempo “Born Winner” which has a good catchy chorus and makes a suitably good impression, which is just what you want to do at the start of an album. “Anyone But You” and “Unjust” continue in a similar fashion. On “I Am Me” the pace slows slightly and we move away from rock to a more synth pop style. “Let’s Call It Blues” is the first song from the demo. Maybe it is because I’m already familiar with them, but this track and the other tunes from the demo (“Silhouette”, “Spread Your Wings” and “Save Your Love”) are the standout tracks on the album for me. I described “Silhouette” as pop-rock perfection when reviewing the demo and now I’m impressed all over again - infectious stuff. “Where A Dream Never Dies” annoyed me for a while before it clicked with me that it reminded me of Styx’s “Love Is The Ritual”. Two tracks are sung in Italian - “Luna” & “Century”. “Luna” starts like it going to be a big ballad but the chorus has different ideas. “Century” with it’s almost dance floor vibe & English chorus closes the album. The most rock orientated tracks are “Two Hearts, One Weapon” and “Spread Your Wings” (which is best described as ‘Bon Jovi with a drum machine’).
The world of AOR can be a little tired sometimes and it is always good to hear someone doing something a little different. This is a successful endeavor to merge the worlds of rock and pop.
Voodoo Smile - All Behind You
![[Image]](cd_images/voodoo_smile.jpg)
More Info: www.voodoosmile.net
Verdict (Rating): High octane hard rock (85%)
This bunch of French rockers like to rock their socks off. I’m sure there are bands out there that bear an even closer resemblance to Voodoo Smile, but the names I can come up with are Empire, EyeWitness and Damned Nation. As for actually describing their music in more detail, I’ll use the words crunchy melodic hard rock. The band blitzkrieg through this set with little pause for breath.
The band begin this aural assault with “Hard Times” which is a riff-heavy slice of up-tempo melodic hard rock with plenty of widdly guitar parts thrown in for good measure and a catchy chorus. Just the sort of opening that gets your blood pumping and puts you in the mood for listening to some hard rockin‘. “Far Away” and “No One Knows” continue the theme. “Get The Fire” has a bit of a swagger to it and a big chorus that somehow gets a little lost in the mix resulting in the song not having quite as big an impact as it deserves. “You Number One” is a ballad that almost feels a little too slow with just the vocalist and the guitarist, but seems to correct itself when the full band kick in.
Both “Forever” and “Stay” are big time rockers which impress most when the chorus is in full swing. “Voodoo’s Smile” is a big riff orientated affair that reminds me of Empire and indicates the band have definite metallic tendencies. As you would expect, the title track emphasizes their intention to rock till they drop. Just as I say that up comes the second ballad - the acoustic “How Can I Say”.
The Billy Idol tune “Rebel Yell” is more associated with punk and new wave than hard rock. Voodoo Smile do a good job of ‘metalizing’ the track. I like this tune anyway and having a more rock orientated version of it will be a welcome addition to my collection. The guitarist gets to impress us all on the instrumental “Flyin’”. A quick blast of vocal harmonies introduce “Waitin’” before the band go on to rock their way to the end of the album.
I have made similar comments in the past, but because this style isn’t exactly new, it only impresses me when the band do a really good job. Thankfully Voodoo Smile have done just that and I’m sure fans of melodic hard rockin’ will enjoy this.
Fatal Attraction - Unknown World EP
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Tracks: Unknown World, Valleys of Heaven, Perfect Dream & Silver Son
More Info: www.hellman-wallman.se & http://user.tninet.se/~pbv216f/
Verdict (& Rating): AOR with Pomp & Prog twists (85%)
Swedish outfit, Fatal Attraction, released their first album, “End of Regulation Time”, back in 1996. This EP serves as an appetizer for their second album, “Simplicity Rules”. The band describe their debut album as experimental & playful, whilst on this new album they are heavier & tighter.
The EP kicks off with “Unknown World” which sounds like a mixture of Toto and Buggles. If you remember that Trevor was in Yes, then that might not seem like such a strange combination. The keyboard sound on the ballad that follows, “Valleys of Heaven”, conjoured up thoughts of Styx for me. “Perfect Dream” is slice of uptempo of Westcoast with vaguely progressive feel to the vocal arrangements - Toto meets Yes. Leaving the best until last, “Silver Son” is the catchiest track. The slightly jangly start reminds of Jude Cole before the song develops into a mid-tempo AOR track with a suitably big chorus.
The band are difficult to pigeonhole, with their music sitting somewhere in the middle of AOR, Pomp & Prog Rock, albeit with AOR being the central element. They are following path to that taken by Yes (during part of their career at least), Thread, Storming Heaven and ACT.
On the basis of what we hear on this EP, the album should be well worth further investigation.
Orange Fall - Demo CD
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Tracks: The World Is Bleeding, Find My Way, My World’s A Wierd Place To Be,
Inside Out, The End Of The Game, You Didn’t Believe, Sit Around & Wonder
More Info: www.orangefall.com
Verdict (& Rating): Accomplished hard rock/metal (75%)
The first time I listened to this CD I got a bit of scare with the first track. “The World Is Bleeding” features a mixtures of styles - rap/talk on the verse, vocal harmonies on the pre-chorus, whilst the chorus rocks out. The initial worry created by the verse gradually diminishes as I realise it is premature to dismiss Orange Fall as Nu-Metal rubbish. They experiment with a more contemporary sound again on the closing track, “Sit Around & Wonder”.
When thinking about just who Orange Fall remind me of I came up with Savatage. This impression came from tracks like “Find My Way” & “You Didn’t Believe”. Their roots are in classic rock/metal, but with hints of progressive/neo-classical metal. However, on “My World’s A Wierd Place To Be” I was remined more of early Def Lepp before they went all high tech.
“Inside Out” might fool you into thinking it is the album’s ballad, but when it gets around to the chorus, the band are in the mood to rock out again. My personal favorite from this selection is “The End Of Game” where the chorus is particularly memorable.
King Bathmat - Son Of A Nun
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Tracks: Unfortunate Soul, Post Traumatic, Black Horizon, King Of The Fairies, Virtual Cartoon, Uncle Remus, Beg & Steal, Asking The Gods, Johnny’s Wedding
More Info: www.kingbathmat.150m.com
Verdict (& Rating): Alternative, Beetles & psychedelic music is a combination that doesn’t work for me (65%)
King Bathmat (aka John Bassett) is a musician hailing from Hasting, England playing music which could be described as progressive/alternative rock. With a name like King Bathmat and suitably bizarre biography at his web site, you’ll soon realize that John is trying hard at being ‘left of centre’. In fact, he describes his music as a combination of alternative rock, Celtic, leftfield and pop melodies and himself as a ‘legend in his own mind’.
Opening track, “Unfortunate Soul”, has a psychedelic start, before developing into what could be described as a grunge infested jig with synths swirling over the top. “Post Traumatic” is a more straight forward track and all the better for it. An acoustic verse is backed up by a modern ‘post-grunge’ chorus. The start of “Black Horizon” had me thinking of White Zombie or something like that, but not nearly as heavy.”Virtual Cartoon” has a similar feel to it. “Black Horizon” ends with a spacey progressive trip that seems a little divorced from the rest of the track.
“King Of The Fairies” and the final track, “Johnny’s Wedding” are Mr Bathmat’s interpretation of the traditional tunes, giving them a sound that fits in with the other tunes on the album.
“Uncle Remus” & “Asking The Gods” both have more of a traditional progressive style and are the tracks that make the best impression on me. “Beg & Steal” and “Not Born 2 Share” sound psychedelic and evoke thoughts of later day Beetles, which kind of turns me off a little as the I have never seen the attraction of the Fab 4.
Alternative/post-grunge, psychedelic & the Beetles all crammed onto, and being the majority of one CD, is just too much me. After listening to a track like “Uncle Remus”, I’m tempted to say that Mr Bathmat should forget trying to be trendy or weird and just get on with creating what suspect is his first love anyway - some conventional prog rock.
Nicola Randone - Morte Di Un Amore
Tracks: Visioni, Il pentimento di Dio, Tutte le mie stelle, L‘infinito, Un cieco, La Giostra, Strananoia, Amore Bianco, Morte di un Amore
More Info: www.nicolarandone.com & www.mortediunamore.it
Verdict (& Rating): Stylish Italian prog (80%)
Nicola Randone is an Italian artist performing progressive music. The songs are sung in his native language. Lyrics are an important part of getting the ‘big picture’ where progressive music is concerned. Thankfully, Nicola provided me with English translations of the lyrics. I won’t go into the details, except to say that they are thought provoking and far from being the ‘throw away bubble gum’ lyrics most rock fans will be used to.
The album starts with “Visioni” which is largely instrumental and being electronic-based reminds me of Tangerine Dream. The second track, “Il pentimento di Dio”, couldn’t be more of a contrast. Although the expressive prog style vocals say something different, the basic music is reggae! I guess like many progressive acts, Nico feels the need to experiment just a little.
Describing Nicola’s vocals as being expressive, isn’t quite right. A better word might be theatrical. For example, on the gentle acoustic-based, “Tutte le mie stelle”, the vocals seems to be storytelling, rather than merely filling in the space between the choruses.
On the next batch of tracks, “L’infinito”, “Un Cieco” & “La Giostra”, a more rock feel is on display. There are hints of Pink Floyd/Roger Waters, to all these tracks. Being a bit a rock-head, these are the tracks that I prefer.
Compared to the rather dark atmosphere to the previous tracks, “Strananoia”, is a more uptempo lightweight affair. “Amore Bianco” is a tune that floats into the foreground. It is a slowish ballad with a suitably lush string sound to it.
In true progressive style, Nicola saves his ‘big epic’ for the last track on the CD. The title track, “Morte di un Amore” is a 15 minutes track. The track starts with some fluid guitar work. This track seems to have more bite to it than the others. At times the guitar work veers into Dream Theater territory. On a track of these epic proportions the language difference seems to drift into the background, as you soak up the music and the general atmosphere. About half way through, the sound drops to a barely audible pulse or heartbeat and you are lulled into the thought that the track is going to fade out on this. In fact it migrates into an eerie soundtrack before the album revisits the Tangerine Dream style electronic music of the opening track giving the whole album a sense of continuity.
Nicola has created an album that could almost be called a rock opera. The Italian language and Nicola’s expressive vocals make me think that just listening to the album won’t give you the full experience Nicola intended. A urge to see a video (with English subtitles, for me at least) is always there when I listen to the album. And I’m not sure that ‘rock’ opera is quite the correct term either. Yes, there are rock based tracks (and these Pink Floyd & Tangerine Dream sounding tracks worked best for me), the general theme of the album is much softer than the work ‘rock’ conveys.
Pedestrians Of Blue - Circles Of Butterflies
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Tracks: Father & Son, Crossing, Where The Rain Falls, Out Of The Rain
More Info: www.pedestriansofblue.com
Verdict (& Rating): A classy mixture of Prog, Metal and AOR (90%)
Pedestrians Of Blue consists of Norwegians Johannes Stole (singer/keyboards) and Torfinn Sirnes (guitar). Johannes is a member of Orange Crush. OC made a really good impression on me when I was writing a review of their demo. POB is an outlet for Johannes heavier rock side, with the band describing their music as a mixture of Queensryche, Toto & Metallica. Circles Of Butterflies is POB’s first demo.
On opener, “Father & Son”, a church style organ beginning gives way to something heavier. At first you think Metallica, then you think Queensryche. Imagine what would happen if Metallica were more keyboard orientated. A classical section highlights the band’s progressive aspirations.
Gentle modern synth rhythms introduce “Crossing” before the guitars take over. The closest description is that it is similar to a slow Metallica track. The programmed drums intrude somewhat on the overall sound. The guitar sound is cleaner than Metallica and this is where the Queensryche comparisons come in.
At first it seems the band are in danger of showing their influences a little too much at the start of “Where The Rain Falls” as the sound very Metallica. The processed vocals (which make me think the band have been listening to Cher’s Believe album) and a good chorus make this more than a mere attempt to recreate the Metallica sound. You know, the more I listened to this track in particular, the more excited I got about POB’s music. They even manage to throw in a little bit of Hammond style organ right at the end, which pleases an old Purple fan like me.
The slow basic beginning of “Out Of The Rain”, rather like Orange Crush’s sparse arrangements, serves to remind me just how good Johannes is in the vocal department. Johannes vocals lend the whole CD a sense of melody and smoothness that can be missing from progressive rock/metal. I guess this why the band include Toto in their own description of their sound. About halfway through the track, the band move back into a heavier mode and take off in a vaguely Dream Theater direction.
Dream Theater’s Images & Words is one of my favorite albums. It gels together Metallica, progressive rock and AOR perfectly. I have checked out a few similar bands, but it always seems to me like they are simply trying too hard to emulate/be Dream Theater and not coming up with any ideas of their own. POB, on the other hand, have taken roughly the same influences as Dream Theater and created something that runs in parallel with Images & Words era Dream Theater, without crossing over into their path. I’m looking forward to see how they develop their ideas.
Gazpacho - Get It While It’s Cold (37°C)
![[Image]](cd_images/gazpacho1.jpg)
Tracks: Sea of Tranquility, Nemo, Ghost, Delete Home, Sun God, The Secret, Bravo
More Info: www.gazpachoworld.com
Verdict (& Rating): mood music (80%)
Gazpacho are a Norwegian band that have developed over the past 7 years. Along the way they have been through a few musical styles to arrive at their current style.
That style is a bit difficult to define. At first I thought I had it pegged when I labeled them as sounding like latter day Marillion. As I listened to the album more I started to hear elements of 80’s synth pop bands such as OMD, Depeche Mode and Ultravox. The next comparison I came up with was art-pop/rock cira the 80s, but I can’t even think on any band name to accompany this description. Maybe I better just describe the individual songs and let you make up your own mind.
The opener, “Sea of Tranquility”, floats out of the speakers and the haunting, almost eerie vocals, are placed upon a pseudo-electronic background made up of acoustic guitar and lush synth strings. “Nemo” has another gentle beginning. The emotive quality of the vocals that was present on the first song hits you immediately again here. A modern guitar sound together with some organ are brought into play to give the chorus a fuller sound.
The start of “Ghost” couldn’t be described as more dynamic that the preceding tracks, but it is more definite. The keyboards provide a definite melody to the song, but like much of Gazpacho’s music I hear the music a whole, rather than concentrating upon what individual players are doing, unlike say a hard rock song where the lead guitar stands out. “Delete Home” has a Latin feel to the rhythm section, but the song is unmistakably Gazpacho. This track is the most upbeat so far and there is a sense of animation present.
The drum machine dominates the start of “Sun God”. The overall feel reminds me of 80’s popsters OMD. This is another slow track were the emotive vocal floats over a soundscape of string synth and drum machine. A bit like “Sea Of Tranquility”, this is the type of song where the band seem to excel. “The Secret” has a slightly more aggressive start, with the guitars performing the opening honors. The song then takes on a late night smoky jazz club feel, and you’re almost transported to a bygone era. The buzzing guitars do, however, manage to keep the overall sound contemporary.
“Bravo” is another song that begins by drifting a gentle rhythm and keyboards out of your speakers. The style here could be described as sophisticated pop with a 80’s retro feel to it. The song has a sparse arrangement. A Traditional Irish band joined the recording session giving the song an extra touch of personality and surprisingly fitting in well with the overall context of the album. Other songs vie for contention, namely “Sea of Tranquility” and “Sun God”, but “Bravo” makes it into the top slot for me.
The band talk about their music being about feeling and mood and that this is what they are trying to convey to the listener. The result is that whilst the other musicians are an integral part of the sound, you’re probably going to come away from listening from the album remembering mainly the vocals. The haunting vocals give the music a forlorn quality that makes you imagine listening to this music whilst looking out on a bleak winter’s day.
As I said earlier Gazpacho have pretty much defied my attempts at pigeonholing them. My final thoughts are that the sound is more focused on the Pop market - not mainstream Pop, but sophisticated Pop, rather like the ABCD album that I reviewed recently.