This is the second album from Daniele Liverani under the
Khymera name. The aim here is to resurrect unreleased or generally obscure
AOR songs and bring them to life. They crank up the electricity and just let the songs flow. The material is taken from a variety of sources and the quality varies now and then but it all gels for the most part.
Daniele handles bass and keyboards and is the band leader. On the first album they had Steve Walsh aboard singing but he has been replaced by the surprisingly capable Dennis Ward. Dennis is known for his bass playing in
Pink Cream 69 but has not taken the lead on the mic til now. He proves himself to be a nice
AOR singer, with a natural sounding voice for the music. A little reminiscent of Dan Huff and the lower register "mature" sounding Lou Gramm from the 90s "Mr Moonlight" Foriegner affair.
The ballads seem to be lacking some pizzaz and come off being limp and lifeless. Anyone could have churned these out really. It's when the midtempo or uptempo or moody keyboard filled type stuff fills the airwaves that you get that crackling vibe going. When everything is just coming together perfectly and the choruses are ringing through the air like melodic rock magic. That kind of experience can be enjoyed on
"Looking For You" and the sizzling
"Give in to the World", two songs that are knocked clean out of the box.
There's a giant flame lit under
"Fields of Fire" which is another track that sizzles and crackles with showers of uptempo hard rock spark. Ward's voice is comfortably at home here and just sounds fantastic on this.
"Tomorrow Never Comes" is centered around piano and explodes with luscious melody, making it a piece that sticks in your head. Nicely done and all the right emotional buttons are pushed to maximize the sentimentality factor.
My biggest issue with the disc is for every few songs that click, you get one that just seems to move through the paces without much regard to finding that special niche to take it to the next level. It's not as if any of the songs are poorly done, they are just unremarkable and blend together, making for a tedious ride when the disc is taken in its entirety, single sitting style. Maybe they are playing it a bit too safe and could have used some spice a'la
Silver and
Radioactive to jazz up the proceedings.
The most devastating disappointment is the full fledged ballad of the record,
"All Is Gone". It was selected to be the closer of the disc and unfortunately just fizzles out. The vocals might sound nice but the song is boring and uninviting. It leaves the album on a rather poor note.
However, when
Khymera is good, they are great, and for those looking for a serving of well performed
AOR in the style of
Giant meets
Pink Cream 69, then you can't go wrong here. If they could become a little more diverse and a tad more daring next time around then they could turn into a superb band. It is worth a listen anyway for Dennis Ward's vocal debut.
Written by
Alanna Saturday, January 7, 2006
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