Ivory is basically singer Michael Cardenas, who recorded
Ivory's debut album in close collaboration with Enuff Z'Nuff's Chip Z'Nuff.
Ivory's trademark is Michael's light vocals, which suits the songs quite well. The material is soft rock, sometimes with a cheerful up beat to it marked with pop influences. Chip Z'Nuff is all over the record since he is co-writer on all songs and even though not listed I am pretty sure that he hides under the synonym "Tara" playing guitars, bass and adding vocals. His vocals are very recognizable, especially on
Perfect Team and
Gorgeous.
The inconvenience of
Ivory is the monotone beat to songs like
Alone With You and
Love to Love. Also I think Michael Cardenas' vocals are a bit too inexpressive for me. He sings quite well but I need more power and more elements to his voice. An example is
No One could ever take your place, which comes off a bit too polished that way.
Mostly the song structure formula is a mellow verse followed by a more up-tempo chorus.
Coming Home is made from that formula and it's among the best songs. Chip's vocals on the chorus add more body to the song.
Gorgeous is the album's diamond. The chorus is so melodic and it really suits
Ivory with a up-tempo rocky beat. The song has a very special meaning to me since Chip played it to me when I visited him at Star Trax studio March 2004 - ever since I have been humming the ultra melodic chorus and happy to finally have it on disc. The song should also be featured on the new Enuff Z'Nuff disc in a slightly different version
The last party of the disc is the better part.
Breathe (Let It Go) is a cool mid-tempo rocker and
Thankful finally introduces a really cool rock axe.
Back To Your Heart closes the album on a very positive note.
Ivory aims at making the songs radio ready and viable for soundtrack pitching, which I agree on. Separately the songs are great, but I feel that the album is a bit unexciting as a whole, so maybe the soundtrack approach would be perfect.
As always on any Jeff Luif/Chip Z'Nuff collaboration the sound is very good.
I am a huge admirer and fan of Chip Z'Nuff's work. Therefore it breaks my heart to rate this CD a bit low, which is mainly caused by the material. Also I am not too fond of Michael Cardenas voice throughout a whole album.
Written by
Michael Monday, October 25, 2004
Show all reviews by MichaelRatingsMichael: 5.5/10Members: No members have rated this album yet.
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