Category Archives: rock

TERRY BROCK – Diamond Blue

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Despite stints as vocalist with Kansas, Giant and Louisiana based melodic rock outfit Le Roux, Terry Brock will, to most people, be best known as the vocalist with Strangeways, the AOR band with whom he recorded two excellent albums – 1987’s ‘Native Sons’ and 1989’s ‘Walk In The Fire’. In 2003, Brock released ‘Back To Eden’, a solo album on Frontiers Records. Including material co-written by Survivor’s Jim Peterik, the album featured some great moments; however, as good as the songs were, the demo quality of the recording let the side down somewhat.

Early in 2010, the announcement came that Brock would be reuniting with Strangeways, which was good news for AOR fans across the globe. While fans anticipated the arrival of the proposed 2010 Strangeways “comeback” disc, Terry Brock paved the way with the release of his second solo album, ‘Diamond Blue’.
Teaming up once again with Frontiers Records, Brock’s second album is far stronger than his debut. This is not least due to ‘Diamond Blue’ actually having half-decent production values – there’s a lot to be said for releasing something which sounds finished, as opposed to polished demos (something so many small melodic rock labels seem to fall into). Take Brock and an album which sounds like a finished product, and then add City Boy/Steelhouse Lane man Mike Slamer on guitar and you have the right ingredients for a fantastic melodic rock disc.

Essentially, ‘Diamond Blue’ won’t give you any great surprises if you’re already a Terry Brock or classic Strangeways fan, but you likely wouldn’t have wanted it to… The title track, which opens proceedings, captures the brilliance of the Brock/Slamer team in an instant. Brock’s soulful vocal is the perfect foil for Slamer’s mid-paced riffery, which at first uses a couple of chords which appear slightly edgy, but he soon settles down. Good use of harmonies beefs up an already solid chorus – it’s the kind of stuff these guys have been doing for years and, by now, could do in their sleep. The same could be said for ‘It’s You’; while not as immediate as the opening number, it’s mid-paced riff and lead guitar harmony have the makings of absolutely classic AOR.

‘Jessie’s Gone’ (a title which, naturally, makes me think of Rick Springfield’s ‘Jessie’s Girl’) is special in that it was co-written with Strangeways man Ian Stewart. While it’s chorus isn’t quite as strong as I’d hoped for (just a little bit too simplistic), a detailed pre-chorus is proof enough that Brock and Stewart still have their old magic. Combine that with a decent punch on the verses and a superb Slamer solo it’s another of the album’s stand out cuts. ‘No More Mr Nice Guy’ is heavier – giving Mike Slamer more opportunity to rock out – and while the lyrics are a quite silly, Brock delivers them with conviction – ever the absolute professional.

‘Broken’ is interesting in that the opening riff promises something quite heavy. This doesn’t last, as the riff gives way to a gentle mid-paced rocker, allowing Brock to use the softer edge of his voice during the verses. Its chorus, which makes full use of harmony vocals and the harder edge of Brock’s range, is faultless in its delivery. ‘Face In The Crowd’ provides the album with something a little more uptempo than Brock and Slamer’s usual approach, built around an acoustic jangle. Slamer contrasts this with some excellent electric counter harmonies (including a cracking solo). Brock, meanwhile, demonstrates that he’s vocally at ease with whatever is thrown his way.

The end of the album tails off a little for me. ‘Too Young’ falls foul of 80s rock “she’s jailbait” style lyrics; I could tell you that Slamer’s hard rock guitar riff packs a decent enough punch, but once Tezzer starts singing about the 16 year old who could be 30, the cringe-factor is just that little too high. While ‘A Soldier Falls’ is certainly heartfelt, its pro-American anti-war stance is so unsubtle it becomes hard to swallow and ‘Face The Night’ – the ballad which closes the disc – has too much of a saccharine factor to make it stand up with the album’s best moments. Minor complaints though, especially when you consider how superb the rest of the songs on this album are.

Despite my misgivings of the last few tracks, ‘Diamond Blue’ is one of the best melodic rock releases of 2010. Fantastic vocals, the inclusion of the god-like Mike Slamer and decent production for a small label make Brock’s second solo venture a winner. If you’re a fan of solid AOR, get this as soon as you can.

September 2010

TERRORVISION – How To Make Friends and Influence People

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Watching Terrorvision playing in a small tent at the 2010 Sonisphere Festival feels a bit like having your mates come and play at a particularly rowdy summer party. By the time Terrorvision take the stage, sometime after 11pm, that evening’s main attraction, Alice Cooper, has finished performing his morality play – soundtracked by so many of his classics – and left the stage. Normally, after the headliner has vacated there’s little more to see, but for this particular festival, the small Bohemia stage has been set to go on for a few hours longer.

As Tony Wright beams “We’re Terrorvision from Bradford”, I’m transported back in time, having last seen the band at the 1997 Reading Festival and fronted by a seemingly worse-for-wear frontman (four years before disbanding – eventually reforming to play sporadic live dates in 2005 and beyond); earlier memories of seeing them headline an NME sponsored night at the London Astoria also come flooding back – remembering the extremely pumped audience bouncing in unison to ‘Oblivion’ and the building (by then not the youngest, or indeed safest, of London’s venues) feeling like it’s floor could give way under the immense enthusiasm of a crowd caught in a moment of togetherness. I’d seen Terrorvision at other times too, but the details of where and when aren’t so clear now.

At the late night Sonisphere show, Terrorvision are surprisingly on the ball and as a result, I’m thinking about listening to them when I get back home (something which has happened to me previously while watching them playing). As always happens after seeing Terrorvision live, their second album, ‘How To Make Friends and Influence People’ makes it’s inevitable journey into the CD player and I come crashing back to Earth, since, although brilliant in its own way, the album never sounds quite urgent enough.

Recorded in New York with producer Gil Norton at the helm – then best known for producing albums by Pixies and Echo & The Bunnymen – Terrorvision’s second album, ‘How To Make Friends and Influence People’ features Terrorvision as a far more confident and musically varied unit compared to their debut. As the staccato chords build tension behind ‘Alice What’s The Matter’ and Wright begins his slightly shouty delivery, the opening of Terrorvision’s second outing promises we’re about to embark upon a fun journey – and despite that lack of immediate energy of their live set, the album’s not short on fun moments. It’s immediately obvious that ‘How To Make Friends…’ stretches beyond Terrorvision’s previous works and despite some rather silly lyrics which appear to have been thrown together for the sake of simple rhymes, ‘Alice…’ gives the album a confident opener and at under three minutes it’s brevity made it a deserved hit single for the band.

The ultimate party anthem, ‘Oblivion’ – scene of much live energy – lumbers out of the speakers like something that’s slightly low on batteries. The structure of the song is great and Wright delivers its fun lyrics with a suitable amount of enthusiasm and Mark Yates’s guitar work alternates between rhythmic choppiness and an almost old fashioned rock ‘n’ roll twang; however it struggles throughout, since the drum work just doesn’t cut it. You can almost imagine drummer Shutty sticking out his tongue as he plays, concentrating hard and trying to keep a steady pace. The mid-pace of ‘Middle Man’ makes the track one of the album’s highlights. Shutty doesn’t have to struggle here; the band’s love of seventies rock shines through – and combining a great guitar riff with a memorable chorus, Terrorvision hit their goal square on. The addition of some gentle orchestration adds a bit of sophistication (okay, sophistication Terrorvision style) and each of its winning elements ensures that ‘Middle Man’ holds its own. Rather interestingly, it’s not a case of Shutty not being able to hammer out a fast rhythm, since he drives ‘What The Doctor Ordered’ at full pelt, against something that occasionally resembles a Metallica riff. Rather heavy for Terrorvision – possibly even heavier than most of previous album ‘Formaldehyde’ – at just over two minutes, there’s no messing with its combination of punk speed and metal riffs.

‘Stop The Bus’, at first, isn’t as instant as some of the album’s tracks, but another simple, classic Terrorvision bouncing riff, slightly sneering lyrics and hard bass line from Leigh Marklew means it’s not without charm. It was never going to have the longevity or ‘Alice What’s The Matter’ or ‘Obliviion’, but what it lacks in good time spirits, it makes up for with musical ability. The slightly harder sound is far more in keeping with Terrorvision’s earlier work and the guitar solo shows more focus than some of the others on the album. ‘Discotheque Wreck’ has the amount of punch the studio recording of ‘Oblivion’ really should have had. Another tough, bouncing rhythm combined with tongue-in-cheek lyrics about a bloke in a nightclub who’s hopelessly out of place but still thinks he’s cool make it classic Terrorvision. A chugging guitar riff and a spirited vocal make it decent enough, but once they’ve thrown in a reference to ‘Do You Love Me’ by The Contours – while sporting huge grins, no doubt – and it’s a winner.

The middle of the album presents a huge curve-ball in that the fun rock elements of Terrorvision’s sound take a back seat, as the band tinker with a few more rather grown up styles: For ‘Still The Rhythm’ a sparse arrangement featuring twangy guitar gives Wright’s vocals plenty of room during the verses, while the band bring a rock element to an almost non-existent chorus. A bridge section is also uncharacteristically shouty. The verses work well, but combined with those other elements, ‘Still Is The Rhythm’ is the album’s weakest point. ‘Ten Shades of Grey’ combines an almost fifties doo-wop sensibility with a couple of bluesy edges – Yates’s guitar solo making good work of a wah-wah pedal at first, before descending into a handful of long, seemingly un-connected notes. His wah-wah steps to the fore of ‘Stab In The Back’ which has verses echoing the funk scene of the 90s, while the chorus – although not lyrically memorable – rocks in a simple but effective way that makes me think this could have roots dating back to the sessions for ‘Formaldehyde’.

Following that, it’s business as usual, as Terrorvision turn up the fun with ‘Pretend Best Friend’ (arguably the best of the albums five single releases). Tapping into a memorable riff, sounding not unlike a hard rock version of the theme tune to “The Munsters”, it respresents one of the few times that ‘How To Make Friends…’ captures the real essence of a Terrorvision live performance. Coupling this with a lounge jazz element – complete with flugelhorn – on the pre-choruses, the great contrast shows that someone in the band isn’t short of great ideas; it’s just a shame that in various places on this album they struggled to arrange the songs in a manner which brings out their best qualities. ‘Time O The Signs’ employs some decent funk chops but doesn’t end up being too memorable, despite one of Wright’s most urgent vocals and a great groove in places. It’s possibly a case of bad album sequencing – it’s hard to follow ‘Pretend Best Friend’.

The slow pace and orchestration of ‘Some People Say’ (the closest the album gets to an epic rock ballad) lends a sense of moodiness lacking elsewhere. Wright’s vocal is one of the album’s best, capturing the spirit of the arrangement very well, pushing his voice beyond it’s usual flippant rock shoutiness. Not sure what Mark Yates was thinking though: he’s chosen a completely inappropriate guitar solo, comprising of discordant notes – heavy on the whammy-bar. The pace and mood may be right, but the style is very misplaced. Since ‘Some People Say’ has a melancholy vibe – something generally not associated with Terrorvision – you’d hope he would have managed something a little classier.

Closing the album, ‘What Makes You Tick’ employs a huge guitar riff in a style which, again, displays an obvious love of seventies rock. Wright seems fairly at home vocally with the increased volume, although it sounds as if it was a slight strain on his limited vocal skills. A multi tracked vocal on the chorus is a nice touch (presumably used at the suggestion of producer Gil Norton) since it balances out the simplicity of the hard rock riffing. The track threatens to build to a climax but stops short of a big crescendo, resulting in only the multi-tracked vocal being left. This is, in fact, the same multi tracked vocal that appears briefly at the beginning of the album, before the proper opening of ‘Alice What’s The Matter’; I assume it was designed so they’d (almost) link up if the CD was left on repeat… Sadly, this idea (used to fantastic effect on Pink Floyd’s album ‘The Wall’), goes straight out of the window since someone in the band/at the record company decided to include a bonus track on the CD after several minutes of silence. As far as “hidden” bonus tracks are concerned, this one is a complete non-event, since it comprises six minutes of distorted voices (presumably over a telephone recorded on a Dictaphone). Supposedly, parts of it feature Wright and the chaps on the wind up with a few New Yorkers, but the sound is so poor most of the words are inaudible. Aside from a mention of Jimi Hendrix and a woman unhappy with her recent hair appointment, it’s near impossible to make out any of it.

‘How To Make Enemies…’ isn’t an especially coherent listen, but what it represents is an album brimming with decent ideas and brilliant choruses. The arrangements could sometimes do with a bit of work, but generally, it’s easy to see what the band were attempting to achieve musically with each of the album’s thirteen numbers, even if things don’t always work out perfectly. On record at least, Terrorvision never bettered it (the subsequent album, ‘Regular Urban Survivors’, contained brilliant singles coupled with instantly forgettable album tracks). Now, if only they could have captured the extra pace and spark of their live show on record, they really could have been on to something…

August 2010

SAVING ABEL – Miss America

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Formed in 2004, Saving Abel is a hard rock band which combines crunchy riffs with a slight Southern drawl. Supposedly their self-titled debut album was a big hit in the US, but we didn’t even get a sniff of it here in ol’ Blighty. ‘Miss America’ – their 2010 sophomore release – is one of those albums which sounded like it may be enjoyable to begin with, since it’s opening number is delivered with enough gusto to grab the attention and is co-produced by Marti Fredriksen (who may be familiar to some of you as being the man who provided Jason Lee’s vocals in the classic Cameron Crowe movie ‘Almost Famous’, among other things), but as it turns out, the presence of Fredriksen just gave me false hope.

That opening number – ‘Tap Out’ – combines slightly fuzzy hard rock guitars with a decent punch delivered by Blake Dixon’s drum kit. Vocalist Jared Weeks has a voice which has a presence in a 90s style (I’d hoped that with Fredriksen on board that there may be more of a classic rock feel, but you can’t have it all); as far as openers go, Saving Abel push all the right buttons here. However, by a couple of minutes into the album’s second track – ‘Stupid Girl (Only In Hollywood)’ – I’m feeling rather let down, as any promise the track may have had gets watered down into something which sounds like latter-day Nickelback. Released as a single, this plods a down well-worn path that holds no great interest. ‘Contagious’ sounds like it could push the album in a heavier direction, but after about thirty seconds of hard riffing, the band opts for a Nickleback-esque approach again and delivers something so predictable. There’s a half decent guitar lead break, but nothing else of any worth.

The acoustic touches and Southern twang permeating the verses of both the title cut and the second single ‘The Sex Is Good’ offer a welcome lighter musical standpoint – there’s often enjoyment to be had from multiple acoustic guitars – but bad song writing means I won’t be spending too much time listening… (I mean, ‘The Sex Is Good’? Oh dear lads…did you get song writing lessons from that Kroeger when you supported Nickelback in 2009?). The semi-acoustic ‘Angel Without Wings’ with its very 90s rock edge and hard drum sound provides some enjoyment, but you’ll find similar stuff done better elsewhere, particularly if you’re a Creed or Alter Bridge fan. Likewise, ‘Hell of a Ride’ shows glimspses of something half listenable with decent use of slide guitars, but a heavy handed leaning towards 90s rock masks the decent bluest elements, which is a great shame.

This second album features a slightly heavier approach in places than the band’s self-titled debut, but generally, there are no surprises. The safe brand of alt-rock displayed throughout Saving Abel’s second disc will make them a few doubloons – but for me, the album sounds like a three song CD single, stuck on repeat until it reaches album length. In all truth, Saving Abel aren’t that interesting a band. In addition to their limited musical palette wearing thin very quickly, their obvious Chad Kroeger influences are extremely off-putting. Is there any point in Nickleback Mk 2? Still, I suppose they make Josey Scott’s band Saliva sound like a ground-breaking phenomenon.

See the video for ‘Stupid Girl (Only In Hollywood)’ here.

August 2010

JON MULLANE – Shift

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Jon Mullane may be familiar to North American listeners since this album’s opening track, ‘Make You Move’, was used on NBC’s trailers for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Released two years later (talk about not cashing in on potential advertising), this album’s biggest interest lies in the fact that Mullane’s co-writer Creighton Doane – one time drummer with the mighty Canadian rock outfit Harem Scarem – is also in the producer’s chair and the drum stool…and what’s more, he’s bought Harem Scarem’s Pete Lesperance along to play guitar.

On Harem Scarem’s early albums, Pete Lesperance proved to be a decent guitarist (their first three albums are well worth checking out if you like melodic rock and haven’t already done so – their third, ‘Voice of Reason’ is particularly underrated by the melodic rock community). Then, about the time of Harem Scarem’s fifth album ‘Big Bang Theory’, Lesperance traded in his best styles for a more “modern” approach…and sadly, on Mullane’s ‘Shift’, he seems to favour a similar style – a slightly distorted rhythmic choppiness replaces his classic, medium range fretboard gymnastics. And so, the potential excitement surrounding Lesperance’s contribution to this disc, for me, had all but vanished by the end of the second track.

With that, it’s down to Jon Mullane – whom, we shouldn’t forget is running the show here – and his songs to stand on their own. Overall, there are only flashes of greatness among a quagmire of dullness, I’m afraid. It suffers from the complaint that its songs are essentially 80s rockers, but they’ve been dressed up to appear more cool and alternative. I never understood that emperor’s new clothes thing and Jon Mullane is no exception.

‘Make You Move’ plods along predictably; a fuzzy edge to the guitars and a slightly gravelly approach to some of the vocals attempt to give the impression that the track is more modern, but at the heart lies something that is unashamedly 80s. Handclaps and woo-woo’s kick start ‘Got It Goin’ On’, which typifies driving music for those who never quite made it out of the 80s. Having half of Harem Scarem on hand really should have helped pick this up a gear, but as mentioned, Lesperance’s guitar tone has no shine and once you factor in Creighton Doane’s drum sound being quite weak (it appears to have been given some electronic oomph elsewhere on the album), it doesn’t fire up the listener in the way it really could have.

A couple of tracks try far too hard to be edgy: ‘Sin City’ has distorted keyboards providing its muscle – which irritate fairly quickly (interestingly though, Lesperance’s solo is half decent, though nowhere near as good as he’s capable of); ‘Missing Time’ utilises a similar mechanical, distorted sound, interspersed with a ticking effect to highlight the little meaning behind the song (like you were too stupid to get it…) There are occasional appearances of some eighties synth pop keyboards which sound like novelty doorbells, but generally, there’s nothing here to keep you coming back for more.

There are a couple of decent numbers, but those only really pull the album up to a middling standard, given the low batting average here. ‘The One That Got Away’ is a decent ballad, which, with a bigger set of boots could have fit snugly on a latter day Vertical Horizon disc, or maybe that overlooked sole album by Neve. With a bit of luck, it wouldn’t sound out of place on a montage scene in a hit US teen drama; ‘You Get What You Get’ provides some one-two marching on the spot punchiness and momentarily gives the impression that the album is about to pick up, while the gentle rock of ‘Change Your Life’ shows promise, despite its by numbers approach; the piano flourishes help lift it a little farther, but a weak chorus lets the side down.

To be honest, unless you’re a Harem Scarem completist, or else wondered what that music was on the Olympics trailer (although, since this album was delivered some two years after the event, it’s likely you’ve forgotten about it), you could probably live without this album.

July 2010

TRAIN – Save Me San Francisco

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Like most people in the UK, I first became aware of Train when the title cut from their second album ‘Drops of Jupiter’ became a hit. Mainstream UK success eluded the band for some time after that, but they continued to be major players in the US, with their brand of pop/rock (It is likely that elsewhere on the net you’ll see Train referred to as ‘modern rock’. I’m not going to make such claims since I feel that [a] The bulk of Train’s material is often too pop-based to be lumped in with other band’s who’ve gained such a tag; [b]that’s a rubbish term coined by people who enjoy melodic rock music but hated the term post-grunge and [c] the idea of branding anything ‘modern’ is a mistake; after all, it won’t always be modern – and what are you gonna call it then?). After enjoying ‘Drops of Jupiter’, I tracked down their debut, which also had a lot going for it. Although the slightly rockier edge of their third outing ‘My Private Nation’ gathered mixed responses from fans, it did nothing to damage their solid US following and the release of ‘For Me It’s You’ in 2006 continued their success.

2009’s ‘Save Me San Francisco’ reinstates the original Train line-up (last heard playing together on ‘My Private Nation’) and is produced by Martin Terefe – a producer known for his work with Jason Mraz, James Morrison and KT Tunstall. I find James Morrison to be a dullard, capable of churning out nothing more than easily listening tut and Jason Mraz is hopelessly overrated; however, I think most of KT Tunstall’s output is fab, so there was always hope that Terefe could work wonders for Train.

The single release ‘Hey, Soul Sister’ had major airplay on UK radio stations Absolute and BBC Radio 2, gaining the band a great deal of attention – perhaps the most they’ve ever had from UK audiences. Regardless of this, I hate the song. It’s lightweight, feel-good, here-comes-summer quality is extremely irritating – and having the main musical thrust (if that’s the appropriate word here, and I’m not sure it is) delivered on a ukulele does not help matters. Pat Monahan’s expressive voice also seems to have fallen foul of autotuning (and seemingly not the only time on this album, it must be said). It’s a surprise that this became a UK hit for Train at all; when I first heard it, I had trouble believing it was them. Although Train were never the most alternative of the late 90s radio-friendly bands, this song is so bland it hurts. File somewhere next to Jack Johnson and forget it.

Righto. With that out of the way, from the perspective of someone who owns the previous Train albums, how does the rest of ‘Save Me San Francisco’ shape up? I’m pleased to say that despite my dislike of the single and a small concern that Martin Terefe’s main concentration seems to be on Train’s most commercial aspects (leading to a few of the songs ending up a bit more Maroon 5 than I would have liked), the end result is pretty good – even if it never quite matches the best bits of the previous Train albums.

With an acoustic intro, ‘Save Me San Francisco’ instantly wrong-foots its listeners. Given the choice of producer, it was almost inevitable Train’s sound would lighten up a touch, but once the drums kick in, any big fears you may have had about the album being entirely too soft should be swept aside. What eventually develops over the course of just over four minutes is a decent and confident piece of melodic pop/rock with a slightly retro edge. While never as hard hitting as The Black Crowes, for example, this track has a similar bar-room quality, gathering momentum as it goes and eventually making good use of female backing vocals with a souly vibe. ‘If It’s Love’ goes for a quirky approach; initially, there’s a Collective Soul-esque rhythm, but the chorus is far more poppy. Striking a perfect balance between radio-friendliness and soft rock edge, once it finds its groove it has all the makings of a decent track, even if Monahan’s voice reaches slightly annoying pitch here and there and some of the verses’ lyrics decend into quirkiness for the sake of it.

‘Words’ marks the reappearance of female backing vocals and with the way they’re used evokes a soulful tinge, even though the song itself is pure pop; ‘Marry Me’ is complete acoustic sugariness and while the lyrics are syrupy, the sparse musical arrangement is effective. ‘Breakfast In Bed’ is the album’s other truly horrible affair, largely worked from a programmed loop somewhere between a bossanova nastiness and ‘In The Air Tonight’. However, that’s not its biggest crime: remind me to ask the band what “I wanna please you, I wanna Japanese you / You’re breakfast in bed” is all about. Very poor indeed. Some redemption comes from a heavily pounded drum kit during the end section, but it’s not enough.

If I had to pick a favourite track from ‘Save Me San Francisco’ it would be ‘Parachute’. It’s here Pat Monahan’s voice sounds at its most natural; the music is more dramatic – in fact, it’s great to hear guitarist Jimmy Stafford getting to play something a little harder. Overall, it’s far more in keeping with the rock side of Train’s radio friendly chops and probably could have fit snugly on to ‘My Private Nation’. ‘You Already Know’ also hits harder, but in a totally different way. A memorable chorus is laid over the top of choppy rhythm guitars and while it still has an air of slightly-too-calculated radio-friendliness, it represents part of the reason why Train’s popularity hasn’t wavered in the US.

Train have a sound which works for them on this album and rarely deviate from it (the most obvious stylistic difference being on ‘Hey, Soul Sister’); but overall, that more obvious pop sheen provides just enough variation from previous albums to keep the band from repeating themselves. Despite the album’s lead single being teeth-grindingly irksome and some of the songs occasionally blending into each other, ‘Save Me…’ is a worthy addition to the band’s catalogue, despite its faults. It features a couple of corkers among its eleven songs and on the strength of those, Train aren’t about to hit the buffers just yet.

May 2010