Tom Galley’s previous offering from Phenomena bought together some great musicians, including Terry Brock, Mike DeMeo and Robin Beck. While it could be argued the vocal talent on ‘Blind Faith’ didn’t quite match the earliest incarnations of Phenomena with Glenn Hughes, Mel Galley and Cozy Powell, the album turned out extremely well.  Not a perfect record by any means, but a few of the arrangements and a couple of the featured vocalists made it a release well worth owning.

2012’s ‘Awakening’ picks up almost exactly where 2010’s ‘Blind Faith’ left off.  As you’d expect for a Phenomena record with Tom Galley at the helm, the arrangements are big (albeit occasionally old fashioned) and the array of vocalists should be enough to pull in a solid core of melodic rock listeners.

For those who’ve spent time enjoying ‘Blind Faith’, ‘Awakening’ will have an instant familiarity since a few vocalists make return appearances.  Terry Brock, Mike DeMeo and Ralf Scheepers are present and correct, as is ex-Saga man Rob Moratti.  While fans will undoubtedly welcome such familiar faces and voices back to the fold, it’s one of the “newer” faces which makes the largest contribution.  Joining the Phenomena stalwarts is Lee Small, a man who made a big impact on the Escape Music label during the few months prior to this release: firstly on Shy’s self-titled outing and then with his own ‘Jamaica Inn’ – an essential melodic rock disc, released in January 2012.  Small is lucky enough to lend his vocals to two of ‘Awakening’s ten numbers and also contribute his song writing skills to a third.

His vocal on ‘Smash It Up’ is as commanding as you’d expect. But, while Small’s voice and the good time rock riffs make it an ideal opening track musically, there’s an obvious weakness in terms of lyrical content… Even if Galley was aiming for good-time rock, Small deserved more than an overly repetitive one-line chorus.   Still, in terms of upbeat rock that never claimed to have life-changing effects, it does what it says on the tin.  On ‘How Long’, Small takes an equally powerful vocal and adds it to Martin Kronlund’s meaty guitar chops.  Since the arrangement often alternates between those riffs and vocals, it provides ample opportunity for both musicians to really shine.  While lyrically it’s simple fare – something highlighted by another lightweight chorus – overall, it’s a great track; a good example of the Phenomena “brand”.

Better still, ‘Fighter’ – bringing together the talents of Strangeways vocalist Terry Brock and guitarist Steve Newman (of melodic rock band, uh, Newman) – has a much stronger lyric, with Brock wrapping his voice around the tale of a boxer.  While much more sophisticated than most of Tom Galley’s compositions, it never errs on the side of self indulgence, as the wordiness never feels like it’s trying too hard to be clever. Brock, meanwhile, is in great voice – far better than on any of his performances on the 2010 and 2011 Strangeways releases.  It’s not entirely given over to words, though, as between the storytelling aspects, there’s still ample time for some solid harmony vocals and a great solo from Newman.  Packed into just over three minutes, it’s a top piece of old school rock, which rarely lets up from the outset.  Alongside ‘How Long’, it’s the strongest offering this time around.

Less fortunate is ‘Reality’, featuring the vocal talents of Toby Hitchcock.  Well known for his work with Pride of Lions (featuring ex-Survivor man Jim Peterik), Hitchcock has become one of melodic rock’s heroes in the twenty-first century. While his 2011 solo release ‘Mercury’s Down’ gained rave reviews and certainly wasn’t without some great tunes, his contribution here is questionable.  He over-sings everything, almost to the point where it sounds like a he’s taking the piss.  Luckily, the hugely talented Mike Slamer guests on guitars and – as most discerning melodic rock fans will be aware – Slamer always brings an element of class to his session appearances.   Even this track is no exception, since he offers an absolutely superb lead guitar break.

On the previous Phenomena release, Ralf Scheepers pulled the short straw and sang on the weakest track (his voice, in turn, rarely doing much to improve things).  With that in mind, it’s great that this time out, on ‘Gotta Move’, he sounds much better.  A driving riff lays a solid foundation, while Tommy Denander’s lead guitar fills are superb from a technical perspective.  The aforementioned co-write with Lee Small, this is most definitely a track which brings out the best in Scheepers’s heavily accented voice, although it’s meaty Euro-rock sounds may not appeal to those who like things with a more American leaning.  That said, surely most melodic rock fans would be impressed by the lead guitar duel between Denander and Christian Wolff which takes place here…

Mike DeMeo and Martin Kronlund collaborate on ‘Shake’, a track with a monster riff which promises so much and then fails to back it up with anything beyond the simplest sentiment.  It’s somewhat unsubtle, but it’s likely to get a thumbs-up from DeMeo’s loyal core of fans.  This is balanced out by ‘If You Believe’, a track featuring Chris Antblad and a gospel choir.  The music comes with a greater lightness of touch than much of the Phenomena output, resulting in a lovely melody.  Antblad’s slightly thin vocal style finds him in danger of being swamped by the choir on occasion, but nevertheless it’s one of the record’s most enduring numbers.  Elsewhere you’ll find decent performances from melodic rock cult heroes James Christian and Rob Moratti (who still sounds like man with a cartoon voice), alongside the guys from Coldspell, bringing their brand of Scandi hard rock to Phenomena for the first time.  Like so much of the material this time around, lyrically the Coldspell track (‘Dancing Days’) suffers a little for having an overly simplistic almost one-line chorus, but for those who enjoyed Coldspell’s 2011 release, it’s a track which more than hits the mark vocally.

The press release for ‘Awakening’ says that “In short [this Phenomena album is] a must”.  It’s certainly not a must.  While most of the tracks are actually quite good in some way and there are a couple of obvious standouts, Galley has written better material in the past.  Also, at around forty minutes playing time, it feels too short by twenty-first century standards – just as things appear to be getting warmed up, the disc ends.  Maybe Galley could have been better holding off for a little longer…at least until he had two or three more numbers ready to go.

The presence of Lee Small and Rob Moratti are certainly major plus points and ‘Awakening’ is far from bad on the whole, but it leaves a definite feeling of being short-changed.   If you’ve not already done so, you’d be better off shelling out for Phenomena’s superior predecessor ‘Blind Faith’ instead.   …Or maybe even for Lee Small’s marvellous 2012 release ‘Jamaica Inn’.

March 2012

Human Temple’s debut album ‘Insomnia’ was released back in 2004 via the now defunct European melodic rock label MTM Records.  It took the band another six years to follow the release, by which time the band had secured a place among the roster at Escape Music, a UK independent label with a similar outlook to that of MTM.  With that second album, the Finnish rock band achieved a small amount of cult success and good reviews.  This was seemingly enough for Escape to consider it worthwhile releasing their third outing, 2012’s ‘Halfway to Heartache’.

A huge intro opening the album suggests Human Temple believe this third album to be something special.  By the time that intro – all militaristic beats, riffing guitars and sirens – subsides, ‘I Will Follow’ becomes a reasonable, expertly played – though not especially groundbreaking – slice of Scandinavian hard rock.  It’s not of the “jaw-droppingly special” variety, but in reality – at least for what it does – it’s really not bad either.  The riffs are hard edged yet surprisingly melodic, while the lead fills are twiddly (technical term) without being overtly showy.  The only thing which appears musically misjudged is the keyboard solo: for the first few bars, it’s all bell noises; the kind better suited to American AOR as opposed to full-pelt Scandi hard rock.  To accommodate this, the band moves away from their standard hard rock chops and further into progressive metal territory.  While it’s well executed, the song isn’t necessarily improved by this – in fact, it’s a bit jarring. The second part of the solo is better since it uses a more squealy synth tone (something not often better, just better here), while the rest of the band take an opportunity to swiftly return to something resembling the main riff.  All the while, Janne Hurme turns in a more than reasonable vocal performance on a song which carries just enough of a memorable hook to balance out the levels of bombast.  If you’re still curious by the end of this track and those keyboards didn’t put you off, it’s likely ‘Halfway To Heartache’ will appeal.

‘Like a Beat of a Heart’ is a softer number which allows bassist Harri Kinnunen to carry the verses.  A great piece of mid-paced rock music, it features a couple of commendable solos and plenty of old-school fist-pumping enjoyment.  Compared to ‘I Will Follow’, the band appears far less in-your-face, allowing simple melodies and a good chorus to win out over musicianship.  With its Scandinavian bent and a strong focus on backing harmonies, it would be fair to say if you’ve always enjoyed Talisman (and in particular, their debut record), there’s more than a chance you’ll love this.  Similarly, ‘Our World, Our Time’ features some more memorable melodies and a stronger hook, strung together with some lovely guitar work in both the lead and rhythm departments. The staccato rhythms which sit in the backseat are particularly pleasing, although not entirely original. If you can make it past the unashamedly cheesy lyrical content, it’s another stand-out.

‘Because of You’ comes with more choppy riffing, creating a tune on which the band sound very assured.  It may have a great tune, but sadly, the vocal just doesn’t sit quite right. Hurme’s lead voice is just a little too full on for what’s essentially a bouncy affair: his long notes are too overbearing for the job in hand.  That’s a shame, since he doesn’t always attack his material quite so aggressively – ‘Our World…’ came with a suitably restrained performance, after all.  ‘Some Things Are Never Long Time Ago’ [sic] has a great intro utilising some decent hard rock guitar chops, overlaid with some equally effective keyboard, presented highly in the mix.  To be fair, throughout this number, Jori Tojander’s choice of keyboard sound is spot on – very 80s – albeit often played in a blanket style arrangement as opposed to classic AOR stabbing.  Once again, the band present a more than reasonable chorus to back up the musical goodness, but the shining moment comes from a twin lead guitar solo, with just enough flashy techniques to sound impressive without being overdone.

‘She Talks To Angels’ is a sappy ballad where, once again, Hurme could be accused of oversinging. Human Temple fare far better when they keep things upbeat and punchy; once they slow down, things just get too syrupy.  While Hurme is a great rock vocalist, he just doesn’t seem to have the right kind of voice for the slower stuff.   The fact that this track is dragged out for over six minutes doesn’t help its potential weakness, varying vary little from the musical motifs it presents during the first verse.  Aside from that, the track features a few enjoyable lead guitar parts – with plenty of vibrato – so it’s not quite a dead loss, but you’ll certainly find far more enjoyable material scattered elsewhere throughout this disc.

Joining the band’s self written material is an oddly chosen cover tune.  With potential for being an outright disaster, Fleetwood Mac’s 1987 hit ‘Little Lies’ turns out surprisingly well moulded into Human Temple’s hard rock blueprint.  Despite the hard rock guitars, this tune is recognisable from the off thanks to Tojander reproducing the keyboard line faithfully, albeit with an unsubtle 80s rock sound.  Hurme’s curly lead voice does its best to pull emotion from the original lyric and although he oversings a tad (again), it’s a reasonable performance on a track which really shouldn’t work in this format.  Maybe the fact that it works at all is tribute to Fleetwood Mac’s gift for writing timeless songs…or maybe it was dumb luck.  Naturally, none of this Finnish band’s chutzpah makes up for either Fleetwood Mac or Lindsey Buckingham’s level of finesse, but all the same, it’s quite fun.

You certainly won’t find any surprises on this album (save for perhaps the audacity of tackling the Fleetwood), but more often than not, what Human Temple do, they do very well within their chosen sub-genre of (very) Scandinavian hard rock.  In fact, it’s fair to say that if you’re undemanding and have a liking of old-school arrangements, this is a band which ought to be on your radar, assuming they aren’t already.

February 2012

Lee Small is a British vocalist who has been slowly putting together an impressive CV since the 1990s, including performances with UK rock bands Native Soul and Pride.  With the latter, Small was given the opportunity to tour with melodic rock heavyweights Winger and British favourites Thunder.  For lots of people, however, he will be best known as being Tony Mills’s replacement with UK rockers Shy, whose 2011 self-titled disc was one of the year’s melodic/classic rock highlights.

Celebrating the styles of his biggest influences, ‘Jamaica Inn’ is Lee Small’s second solo album, following 2008’s ‘Through The Eyes of Robert Lees’.  Inspired by the famous Cornish inn, many of the songs have a nautical theme, something strongly reinforced by the packaging.  In this sense, it could loosely be seen as a concept album of sorts, but each of the songs stand alone very well.  Looking beyond the smuggling and piracy, simply put, what we have here is a fine release, capturing a gifted vocalist in great form.  What’s most obvious here – from about halfway through first listen – is that Small’s range is greater than his rather big performances on that aforementioned Shy release would ever suggest.  Yes, he can still do big and powerful, but it’s the more subtle elements within his performances here which really lend the album that extra something.

The title cuts kicks things off in classic fashion with a slab of 70s inspired hard rock. Behind the drumkit, Salute drummer Imre Daun packs a hefty rhythm, presumably in an attempt to echo drum parts of Zeppelin’s past, while the main riff swaggers with a touch of reverb, not unlike the best moments of Black Country Communion. The influence from Glenn Hughes, particularly, is one which is unavoidable in Small’s performance.   And what a great performance it is, with Small chopping in the big wails of his previous work with Shy, and instead channelling the best parts of Hughes and Paul Rodgers, often in a manner which never feels overdone.  ‘Captain’s Quarters’ brings more subtlety, as the musical edges are somewhat softened.  Coloured by some old fashioned organ (courtesy of Saracen’s Paul Bradder) and bluesy guitar runs, the tune is well-structured, as once again, Small adopts a tone not unlike classic Glenn Hughes.  In all, a superb track which doesn’t ever labour the point even though it’s stretched out over six minutes.  In fact, the soft bluesy guitar moments could possibly have been extended – such is the professional nature of Small’s hired hands on this particular number.

Showcasing a still softer mood, ‘I Am The Sea’ is a thoughtful piece bringing acoustic guitar work, gentle percussion and strong harmony vocals against sounds of the sea.  With a sleepy delivery, its lulling nature can be seen as mimicking the tide rolling back and forth.  Just as you think it’s building to something, it’s gone.  ‘Smuggler’s Blues’ begins with a similarly gentle air, but once it warms up, the listener gets treated to another great slice of bluesy hard rock.  Again, there’s more than a hint of Deep Purple Mark III and Glenn Hughes at play (okay, comparisons are somewhat unavoidable), but it’s a style which will be welcomed by a great many fans of classic rock, especially when Small sounds so natural filling such a role.  Like the title cut, Daun’s drums have a dominant part to play, but the guitar riffs come hard enough throughout to be an equal match for them.  It’s also great to hear Small exploring the bass a little more, laying down a few very busy parts on occasion.  Very enjoyable, indeed.

‘Walk The Plank’ brings something a little more throwaway, as the band move from blues based material to something more akin to boogie-rock.  As expected, Small takes the change in pace in his stride, while the rest of the band also performs well.  The guitars have a crisp tone while the drum lines are busy and slightly playful.  It could be said that the sense of fun here – and its overtly pirate-based nature – makes this track one of the less essential cuts, but the guitar playing and drumming help lend some weight throughout.  It’s certainly not bad by any stretch of the imagination.  Returning to a more serious mood, ‘Shine a Light’ doesn’t offer anything greatly different to much of the best material showcased throughout ‘Jamaica Inn’, but still manages to be a highlight thanks to a great chorus and some lovely lead guitar work (both electric and acoustic).  Those with decent speakers may enjoy the sense of warmth Small’s bass work brings to the number, occasionally breaking from rhythm work into more complex styles.

Aside from the material penned especially for this release, the disc is padded out with a couple of well-chosen cover tunes.  A faithful cover of Gamma’s 1980 track ‘Voyager’ allows Small to stretch his curly voice over a bluesy rock riff.  Musically, it may seem fairly standard fare for these particular musicians, but the combination of another truly effortless vocal and atmospheric guitar work makes Small and Carl Anthony Wright a winning team.  It’s a great track from the outset, but becomes a cut above once Wright gets to cut loose on a smart solo.  It’s wonderful to see Gamma getting some attention, instead of Ronnie Montrose’s much lauded eponymous band!  Boyz II Men’s worldwide smash ‘End of the Road’ may seem like a left-field choice, but with the soulful elements pushed farther toward a bluesy direction, like ‘Voyager’, it proves to be a great vehicle for both Small and Wright. Both musicians sound perfectly natural on their take of the well known track.

Given Lee Small’s past work, ‘Jamaica Inn’ always had the potential to be a good record, but it has surpassed expectations.  In short, as an album which features plenty of well-crafted tunes, for many classic rock fans, it should be one on the “must buy” list.

January 2012

Despite gaining reasonable accolades from the melodic rock community for their previous releases, in terms of stability, Californian rockers Talon had far from settled beginnings.  2011’s ‘III’ is a third attempt in more ways than one: not only is it their third album, but also begins an association between the band and a third record label.  Three record labels for three releases isn’t very good odds. Not only that, but this release also marks the arrival of another new lead vocalist (also their third over the course of three releases).  If nothing else, they get full marks for believing in themselves and not throwing in the towel at a time when other bands would have just given up.

On their strongest cuts, Talon is a band which delivers good, fist-pumping 80s rock. One of the album’s best numbers ‘You Don’t Know Me’ pitches Shawn Palata’s reasonably decent vocal against a backing harmony to achieve a result guaranteed to thrill a proportion of retro-rock fans.  Its riff, too, is of the simple chugging kind – and it’s often with such musical simplicity Talon excel.  Even better is the big sweeping solo, played with a great clarity by Jim Kee.  The keyboards are very low in the mix; sometime Takara man Eric Ragno deserves to be heard much more clearly here, even though his contributions are purely for colour.  The driving rock of ‘Walk Away’ ups the ante with the choppy riffs providing a decent basis for Pelata’s voice which, too, turns up a notch in an attempt to not be outdone by the general riffage.  If you imagine the most melodic end of Yngwie Malmsteen’s work with Mark Boals on the ‘Trilogy’ album crossed with the Heaven’s Edge debut, you’ll get a hint of what this track sounds like.  The chorus is relatively strong, but it’s not as strong as the guitar fills.  Before too long, it should be obvious to most that Jim Kee is Talon’s real star.

Eric Ragno gets time in the spotlight on the mid-paced ‘When Will I’, a track frontloaded with a pompy keyboard intro.  Beyond that, it’s business as usual with meaty mid-paced guitar riffs, of course, but it’s another example of Talon’s strongest side.  Pelata is in particularly good voice throughout, the solo is short but of a good standard and there’s also a rare example of bassist Phil Keller being high in the end mix.  It’s another solid, more than commendable effort, which is more than can be said for a couple of ballady efforts.  ‘Brothers’ offers too much schmaltz and treads the well worn path of a soldier’s tale of loss while remaining musically mediocre and ‘Maybe One Day’ is a predictable “contractual obligation” style acoustic sap.  Yes, it could be said that Pelata is in good voice on these numbers, but they’re both blandness personified.

‘Take You All The Way’ features a lead vocal by special guest Jeff Scott Soto.  As any self-respecting melodic rock fan knows, JSS is a legend.  Almost everything he’s lent his voice to – at least since his post-Malmsteen days – has been of a superb standard.  Sadly, he doesn’t appear in such great voice here, but the material isn’t that great either.  Since the song is written in Talon’s style – and possibly in the right key for Pelata – Soto’s performance is a little too waily.  It’s nowhere near awful, of course, but he is capable of far better.  Jim Kee more than makes up for the song’s weak points by offering at least two fantastic solos.  With ‘The Last Time’, you won’t get any great surprises from Talon: the key-changes are text-book, the featured solo is more than suitable for its purpose and the vocal harmonies are quite strong.  Despite their best efforts, though, there’s nothing which sticks out here in the long-term.  Like a good chunk of the album, it achieves those goals it sets out to achieve, but there’s a sense that Talon’s core audience are made up from those narrow-minded folks who listen to AOR/melodic rock…and enjoy nothing else.

The disc closes with a cover of the Jefferson Starship classic ‘Jane’.  Naturally, Pilata is no vocal match for Mickey Thomas, but looking beyond that, it’s a rather fun cover.  The riffs are obviously meatier than those ever delivered by any of Starship’s incarnations, while those riffs are topped by a great set of stabbing keys, which obviously are essential if anyone is to cover this tune properly.  It manages to bring a tiny amount of Talon’s melodic metal edge to the table without ever being disrespectful to Jefferson’s 1979 hit.  And, once again, it’s nice to hear Ragno out front and not buried beneath the guitars.

Overall, Talon volume three is a solid but undemanding record.  There are more than reasonable choruses and riffs scattered throughout the album and the band are all more than competent players, particularly guitarist Jim Kee.  Talon’s ‘III’ might just have enough charm to attract a reasonable amount of fans with it’s over familiarity.  For others, though, that just might not be enough to set Talon apart from the hundreds of other second division melodic rock bands releasing albums via the Escape Music and Frontiers Records stables.

December 2011