Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews

N.O.W. – Force of Nature

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‘Force of Nature’ is the debut release by N.O.W., a Brazilian based melodic rock outfit formed by bassist Alec Mendonça. The music was recorded in Rio de Janeiro (aside from a few drum parts recorded in Sweden) and the tapes were then sent to Los Angeles, where ex-Unruly Child vocalist Philip Bardowell laid down his vocal tracks. The resulting album offers thirteen hook-laden songs which push all the right buttons – especially for Philip Bardowell fans.
‘Can’t Make It (Can I)’ opens the album with the band in full-on rock mode, focusing largely on Caio de Carvalho’s guitar riff, although there are moments where some classic sounding AOR keyboard work breaks through. Although this is great, it’s on the slower numbers where the band sounds more comfortable, particularly those with a traditional mid-paced arrangement. ‘Listen To Your Heart’ is the album’s masterpiece. It’s a classic example of AOR – the keyboards take a stabbing approach and the bassline is uncomplicated, but it’s the vocal arrangement which is key: Bardowell sounds absolutely at ease and his lead vocal is fabulous; on the chorus, it has a well-placed backing vocal as a counter-balance. ‘Once That Feeling Comes Again’ is a standard mid-paced rocker, but stands out due to another use of stabbing keyboards, as well as featuring a couple of pleasing keyboard flourishes. ‘You’ begins as a grandiose piano-led piece, where Bardowell could be accused of over-singing. Things settle down with the addition of drums and guitars, at which point the track becomes another in a long line of songs which sound like they’ve come off the AOR factory’s production line. There’s nothing wrong with it, but ‘Force of Nature’ offers better moments.
‘Lonely Soul’ is an excellent soft rocker, which should please fans of Jeff Scott Soto and ‘Long Way From Home’ features some well played pompy keyboards, before settling into a techy 80s groove on its verse; this track sticks out a little, as its stylistically quite different to the other songs. ‘Hail Mary’ opens with some terrific soaring guitar lines, before the main riff kicks in. As with most of N.O.W.’s material, it has a mid-paced approach. The pre-chorus feels a little out of place but a couple of effective guitar fills help to make it work; when the chorus eventually arrives, it resembles melodic rock at its best, with another big hook. ‘I’m Free (But Not Ready To Go)’ is slow-burner of a song which seems to take a long time to get to the chorus. While the chorus is memorable, I would have shoehorned an extra one in, before the two minute mark, especially since verses are in a key not best suited to Bardowell’s voice. Once it hits its stride and he gets to hit the higher notes, though, it becomes another standout track. The closing number comes with a great lead guitar part, full of vibrato. With regard to the lead guitar in the end section, Caio almost steals the show here with some smart fretboard work. It never upstages the song, though, as once again the chorus here is incredibly strong.
Although there are no bad songs here, the (polished) demo quality of the recordings stops the album being truly great (it’s also worth mentioning that for some reason ‘Long Way From Home’ has also been mastered at about a third of the volume of the rest of the disc). However, fans of melodic rock – and particularly fans of the mid-nineties releases via labels like MTM – should find plenty of enjoyment here, even if ‘Force of Nature’ sounds like something you’ve heard a thousand times before.
March 2010

JAYCE LANDBERG – Good Sleepless Night

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Erik Jayce Landberg is a Swedish guitarist and composer, specialising in chorus driven hard rock. His 2008 album ‘Break The Spell’ was praised in melodic rock circles due to its solid musicianship. It’s also impressive that ex-Yngwie Malmsteen and Vindictiv vocalist Göran Edman was also on board for that release, given that Landberg was relatively unknown at that time.Landberg’s second offering ‘Good Sleepless Night’ is a more than worthy follow up, featuring its share of enjoyable tracks. The album opens with a heavier number, ‘My Valentine’, which comes with a chuggy riff and slightly treated vocals. During the mid-section, Jayce launches into a superb guitar solo, which features some decent metal shredding; what’s most amusing here is that the band speed up just to accommodate the solo (a technique used to great effect on the self-titled album by Swedish cult band Pole Position). Luckily, Landberg shows some restraint and this is one of the only times he takes this approach. ‘The Devil’s Wine’ and ‘Skyscraper’ are more mid-paced, providing classy examples of melodic hard rock. On the latter, Göran Edman is in great shape vocally. There’s something unmistakably Swedish about the style of hard rock here and I’m pretty sure it’s not just Edman’s accent.

‘Invasion’, another track with a mid-paced fists-in-the-air approach, features vocals by another ex-Malmsteen man – Mark Boals. For those of you familiar with the styles of Edman and Boals, you’ll know they take a similar vocal approach. Personally, I’ve always favoured Edman, given the choice. This album is no exception, since although ‘Invasion’ features some decent musical moments, Boals’s vocal is a little too squealy for my tastes. Once again though, Landberg is on form and the guitar solo here is a belter, despite wandering into neo-classical territory on occasion.

‘Sun Dance’ is a driving instrumental, highly reminiscent of Joe Satriani, maybe with a little Gary Hoey thrown in; overall, it has a very natural flow. Interestingly, for someone who’s been compared to Yngwie Malmsteen, the main focus here is on groove and melody, rather than shredding and virtuosity for the sake of it. For ‘The Thorns’ Jayce trades in his guitar and plays the Steinway piano. During this somewhat melodramatic ballad, Göran Edman is in fine voice and, once again, harmony vocals are used to great effect. ‘Abduction’ is a piece of guitar virtuosity that feels like Lanberg’s answer to Eddie Van Halen’s ‘Eruption’. Naturally, it’s not as good as that Van Halen landmark and I’d say it felt like filler, but it redeems itself at the last moment by featuring a flashy bass solo, played by Europe’s John Leven.

With so much solid material on offer, it seems unfortunate to mention the album’s bad moments, but I feel it’s only fair I should do so for a balanced review… ‘Bitch Is Back’ provides stompy hard rock enjoyment on the surface and makes excellent use of harmony and multi-tracked vocals, but is let down by poor songwriting and an unnecessary phased vocal effect on the verses, but thankfully, its punchiness means it’s short. Also letting the side down lyrically is ‘All I Wanna Do’, which wanders past the point of tacky and becomes slightly embarrassing. It’s nowhere near as bad as Chad Kroeger’s smutty meanderings on Nickelback’s ‘Dark Horse’, but it’s still one of those moments where you’ll find yourself wishing that musicians would leave keep their sexual ardour to themselves.

Although it features those couple of dodgy tracks, ‘Good Sleepless Night’ is a strong album. It’s been said that it comes recommended for Yngwie Malmsteen fans – probably due to its connections with both Göran Edman and Mark Boals. While on that basis Malmsteen’s followers are likely to give this a listen, I feel this is an album an appeal beyond that, as it offers far fewer neo-classical influences than most of Malmsteen’s work and, as consequence, feels less self-indulgent. Most melodic rock fans should find something to enjoy here as, like Landberg’s debut, ‘Good Sleepless Night’ offers accessible songs and musical prowess.

March 2010

RABBIT IN THE BLOOD – Little Ray of Sunshine EP

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Rabbit in the Blood is an acoustic based duo featuring Neil Luckett – a singer-songwriter best known for his work with alternative rock band tvfordogs – and composer, songwriter and producer Mark Lord. It pushes asides the hard rock and power pop edges of Neil’s band in favour of gentleness, of warmth and acoustic finger-picking. Musically, it may appear light upon the surface, but there’s something sinister lurking beneath.

The title cut has a very European feel, thanks to some keyboard work evoking an accordion sound, while the addition of strings (arranged by Mark Lord) is a nice touch. It’s a positive and upbeat musical arrangement, but looking closer, the lyrics are a cry of desperation, especially as the protagonist’s happiness seems to depend entirely upon the one closest to him. ‘Do You Feel the Sun’ makes great use of harmony vocals against the finger-picked guitar. Musically, it has a much deeper feel than the opener; the arrangement has a haunting ‘Scarboro Fair’ quality and Luckett’s guitar work is brilliant but not too showy. It’s song which looks for the positive, but again there’s a melancholy air.

‘A Day at the Beach’ has a musical and vocal fragility. On the surface, the lyrics deal with unhappiness; the narrative would suggest that it’s no ordinary seaside trip – if we go, we may never come back. If the kite doesn’t lift our troubles away, if we can’t dig deep enough to find the answers, we’re headed for a new life on the sea bed… Looking deeper, I think the seaside is just a metaphor for a “happy place”; that place of carefree innocence; a place where we feel safe and without responsibility…if we could throw the shackles of the real world away, forget everything and go back to a happy place, would it change things for the better? If we stayed somewhere without responsibilities, would it be possible to reconnect with the happy feelings buried inside us, or are they buried so deeply, there’s no chance of escape?

‘The House of The Dead Stereo’ has a similar reflective quality, telling a tale of somewhere once full of music, happiness and laughter; a place fondly remembered, but a place now soundless and empty. It captures a feeling of going back somewhere and it having somehow changed, even though you desperately want that place to feel the way it always did. ‘The House of the Dead Stereo’ is a piece I believe could resonate with those who often see things through rose-tinted glasses. Musically, it starts gently but builds to a climax with an upbeat drum shuffle, while an out of tune trumpet creeps in and helps to keep things off-kilter. There’s a sadness surrounding the sounds of happiness and the laughter from ghosts of the past here – and it’s that unsettling quality which makes this EP alluring.

Despite sounding musically light, ‘Little Ray of Sunshine’ is a downbeat journey which takes the listener through moods of with unhappiness, depression and disappointment. For those of you who like acoustic work and songwriting to think about, this EP should be on your list of things to check out.

Visit Rabbit in the blood here.

March 2010

STEVE LUKATHER – Ever Changing Times

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I’ve been a melodic rock fan for a long time. However, as much as I love the classic mid-eighties stuff, a lot of the later releases don’t always do much for me. Back in 2005, I got bored with the genre’s predictable nature. Every week, there seemed to be small armies of bands signed to small labels who seemed to think that just because they’d heard some of the genre’s classic albums from the 80s and could reproduce that style, it’d make for a great album. Many fans seemed to lap it up, but for me, it often felt a little forced and lacking in real heart. Couple that with the average fan’s attitude of ‘our music is better than yours’ (even when most of the music churned out between 1994 and beyond is distinctly production-line stuff…), and you might understand why I distanced myself from AOR for a time.

However, even when things aren’t as rosy as they used to be, there’s always the odd decent album coming through. Most of the old guard can be relied upon to make an enjoyable album and Steve Lukather is no exception. There’s already a comfort barrier, as you know whenever he releases an album he’ll rarely let you down. On ‘Ever Changing Times’, he’s surrounded himself with some of the best session guys – John Pierce, Abe Laboriel Jr, Leland Sklar, Randy Goodrum… If you’ve ever been a fan of Westcoast style AOR, these guys will require no introduction.

The title track opens up proceedings with a riff that’s slightly heavier than the norm, but not altogether out of character for Luke. By the time the chorus comes, you know what you’re in for. It’s pretty much by-numbers melodic rock, which coming from one of the best, is precisely what you’d want from this album. Fans of Toto’s slightly edgier ‘Kingdom Of Desire’ tracks will enjoy this a great deal, as well as a couple of tracks further on. It’s topped off with a faultless guitar solo. ‘Without Letting Go’ is softer; Luke is at the top of his game on a song which for all the world sounds like it was written with Toto in mind – a soft ballad, soulful but not quite syrupy. ‘Never Ending Night’ falls into the same category and highlights Lukather’s great vocal style. ‘Jammin’ With Jesus’ leans towards the harder, slightly bluesier sound explored on Lukather’s ‘Candyman’ album, but here, it’s probably the closest the album gets to filler. Some of the guitar work is notable as usual, but the (I assume) tongue-in-cheek lyrics are a little grating.

‘I Am’, again is soft, but nowhere near as effective as ‘Without Letting Go’. There’s a part of me which feels Lukather is on auto-pilot here. There’s something about this track which sounds like Toto’s ‘I’ll Be Over You’, but with the notes played in the wrong order. An absolutely beautiful, soaring guitar solo hits the mark though. At first, the jazzy intro of ‘How Many Zeros’ lead the listener into thinking it may be another ‘Dave’s Gone Skiing’ workout (still one of my favourite moments from Toto’s ‘Tambu’), but it soon settles into another piece of guitar-led AOR, complete with well placed, big backing vocals. It’s definitely another stand-out. ‘New World’ is at once both tough edged and melodic. There’s not the usual smoothness here, but there’s something unmistakably Toto about it, until the chorus when things speed up just a touch, but just enough to make the song not quite work – it’s probably the only skipper here; from eleven songs, that’s not so bad.

At the time of making this album, Lukather says his son has helped him stay youthful and up to date musically, but unsurprisingly, most of this album sounds exactly how you’re expecting. One track may surprise, though: ‘Tell Me What You Want From Me’ comes with a few sharper edges. Luke claims that “if you blindfolded rock critics, they wouldn’t tell who the artist was”. This is a bit of an exaggeration, as Luke has a very distinctive sound and most of the track sounds like Steve Lukather of old. The only difference is a really heavy and – dare I say – unnecessary guitar riff which kicks in occasionally. It spoils the track for me and sounds like a man trying to prove a point which doesn’t need proving. Most people know Luke can play in pretty much every style. Sadly, as is often the case with old-school musicians, their fan base will enjoy new material but it’s a struggle to win new fans – and even if he is trying to win new fans, I’m not convinced that trying something uncharacteristic is the way to go…Definitely one of the weaker tracks, alongside ‘New World’. ‘Stab In The Back’ has a jazzy groove which is an obvious tribute to Steely Dan, whom Lukather played alongside when he was young. Great stuff.

‘Ever Changing Times’ is a decent enough album. It showcases most of the different styles Luke is capable of. Even if not as good as his ‘Candyman’ masterpiece from the mid-90s, it’s a welcome addition to his back catalogue – an album from a man whom in ever changing times (mostly) knows what works for him and has pretty much stayed the same.

January 2008

VIRGINIA WOLF – Virginia Wolf

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Originally released in 1986, Virginia Wolf’s self-titled album is the album which first introduced rock audiences to the vocal talents of British AOR legend Chris Ousey. Its place in rock history is assured, since it features a young Jason Bonham (the son of Led Zeppelin legend John Bonham) on drums. Interestingly though, given the absolute power behind his father’s style of drumming – a style in which Jason is also capable of playing – you’d hardly recognise the drum work on this album as being that of anyone with the Bonham name. Under the album’s 80s sheen, the drum sound is thin and has no real oomph behind it and (as with a lot of other rock albums from the period) the bass drum is non-existent; in fact, for the majority of the album, the drums are such a non-event, they may as well have been programmed). The finger of blame there should be pointed at producer Roger Taylor (yes, the Queen guy); although the slightly synthetic approach was very in keeping with the times.
Those complaints aside, some songs hold up fairly well. The opening number, ‘Are We Playing With Fire?’ offers a hard rhythmic workout. Nick Bold’s spiky guitar chops are well suited to Ousey’s vocal style. ‘Livin’ on a Knife Edge’ again finds Ousey in good form and aside from a pompy bridge section leading into the guitar solo, it’d be the track most comparable to his later musical direction. The punchy ‘Take a Chance’ offers a strong chorus and some great vocal harmonies as well as a great guitar solo from Nick Bold. Okay, some of the more heavy-handed keyboard sounds let the side down a little, but that’s a minor point. ‘Only Love’ utilises classic stabbing keyboards during the intro and chorus, balanced by quiet verses featuring subtle, ringing guitar work. Even by 1986 this approach was unoriginal in the world of melodic rock, but there’s a reason it’s considered classic.

The album’s strongest offering ‘Goodbye Don’t Mean Forever’ features Ousey’s greatest vocal performance; musically it hints at other melodic rock of the times. Elsewhere, the rock balladry of ‘It’s In Your Eyes’ provides a decent listen. Again, it’s melodic rock by numbers and I’ll even forgive the saxophone creeping in at the end. With 80s melodic rock, it’s the mid-paced tracks which hold up best and this is no exception. During the feel-good ‘Waiting For Your Love’, Ousey has moments where he sounds like Eric Martin (not as good though, obviously); it would also be up there with the album’s best moments, since it’s musical arrangement is strong, but some overblown female backing vocals let the side down.

The band followed this with a second album ‘Push’ in 1987, which offered more of the same (although with a slightly warmer feel, thanks to a better production). To be honest, even though both the Virginia Wolf albums have enjoyable moments, they’re not the greatest examples of British AOR. They sound a little weak when held up against the albums Magnum released during a similar period and they’re certainly nowhere near as great as Dare’s ‘Out of The Silence’ (rightly regarded as one of the best British examples of the genre).

After the band’s demise, Jason Bonham moved towards a harder musical direction with his own eponymously named band. As well documented, Chris Ousey became the vocalist with Heartland, whose musical journey continued on a similar path as Virginia Wolf.As a footnote, some CD reissues of the Virginia Wolf albums proudly state “featuring Jason Bonham” on the sleeves. It seems for some people, Jason is the band’s main attraction: frankly, if that’s your only reason for investigating them, you’re likely to be disappointed. For Chris Ousey and Heartland fans, though, the Virginia Wolf albums are well worth checking out, even though they’re both hit ‘n’ miss.

February 2010