"Long Time...No Sing"? Could there possibly be a more misleading title for an album?
John West has been positively all over the place for the last ten years or so. A staggering seven albums with progressive noodlers Artension, a couple of solo albums back in the 90s, a long stint with
Royal Hunt that continues to this day, not to mention the "Earth Maker" project. Maybe he is just referring to being out and about solo under his own name which has not happened since "Permanent Mark" in 1998. Whatever the case, it has not been a long time out of the loop for his voice. West usually is spotted fronting bands that are more on the progressive side, and with the sole exception of his first collaboration with
Royal Hunt in their melodic phase with "Fear" his abilities seem misused. John's voice is more adapatable to hard rock and that is exactly what you will find here in a few precious places. The rest... well he is not sounding so powerful and mighty but rather laid back to the point of indifference.
John handles all the lead guitars this time, which is a first for him and he does an admirable job. The challenging riffs are handed off to others. West is joined by accomplished musicians such as two from Savatage,
Chris Caffery on keys and guitars and Jeff Plate on drums. There's Lonnie Park on keys as well and Kevin Hampton filling in the remainder of the six string action. Production is nice and makes the album have a sense of polish which is a much appreciated bonus. The album is also quite diverse and difficult to pinpoint under just one single banner since a wide array of styles are played with. Some work - some don't and unfortunately, a large portion of the songwriting falls a bit on the flat side.
Take the first full piece for instance,
"Fade". A slow, lumbering pacing that grinds into modernistic boredom and irritatingly flat vocals just finish it off and leave it for dead. The little talk box bit is a real turn off as well. Not an inspiring way to kick off an album.
"Set Me Free" fares much better but then again, comes from the hair decade, having been written in 1988. A strong bluesy feel on the vocals and a strong chorus make it a winner.
"Give Me a Sign" builds on that intensity with striking guitars from Caffery and another powerful chorus that harkens back to the days of
Whitesnake/
Deep Purple/groovy bluesy
Joe Lynn Turner Rainbow. Lyrically focusing on hope for a sign from some higher power gives it an inspirational boost. Could even be compared to his work with Badlands, which never came to light.
Pulling us even deeper into retro reflection is
"Highway Roppongi". This is a direct steal from the laid back blues of 70s Coverdale fronted
Deep Purple or anything coming out of the first few
Whitesnake albums. A cool return to a largely forgotten sound that wraps its coils around the inspiration of the bluesy rock from years gone by. This is a niche sound that has been largely ignored and its a real treat to hear it resurrected in such a polished and well thought out fashion. If only more songs from
"Long" would have been so juicy and a joy to dig into.
"Over My Head" follows the road of mid tempo rock on the dragging side. It's like pulling a chunk of roadkill behind your vehicle as it bumps and wastes away. Vocally West sounds bored and never pulls out any stops to keep you wanting to carry on.
"The One That Got Away" trades off of a nice chorus but everything inbetween falls back into that plodding territory.
"Falling Down" whips out the acoustic and while it stays in that midrange with the darker moody thing, the guitars are harsh and bitter, grinding with a cool groove. It is just enough to save this track from extinction.
"Slipping Away" is aptly titled since this is so comatose and simplistic with ultra laid back vocals drenched in apathy. West could atleast make an attempt to sound like he gives a damn instead of just drifting through the song like he cut it during his lunch break.
"One More Lie" is another modern rocker switching between indifference and crunchy distorted music. West himself compares it to Hoobastank...just so you know what you are in for. Really he's not that far off the mark.
"Better Believe" is a loosely played out ballad that could have been a country/pop crossover song. You don't need a sedative to fall asleep, just pop this baby on and you will be out cold for the best restful night of your life.
"Puerto Amor" moves in for the drowsy kill with sad, drippy guitar and a splash of Mexican flavor. It is a nice instrumental and ends the album with a thoughtful touch.
"Long Time...No Sing" is ultimately an indulgent album for
John West. He wanted to express his thoughts and have control over his musical direction and that is exactly what he did. Kudos for him. For the listener though, this is a disc that is really laid back (not in a good way either) and seems scattered all over the place. The choruses could have used more work and John should have put more passion in the mix just to shake the foundations. There are a few songs that definitely are worth looking into, and those fall at the front of the disc,
"Set Me Free",
'Give Me A Sign" and
"Highway Roppongi" - three tracks with little in common with each other but have spark, punch and that cozy nostalgia factor. If these three songs could represent the entire cd, then it would rate quite highly, but three good ones and maybe one or two that are mildly tolerable don't really make a cd. The rest you can live without, unless you are searching for something of this type, then have at it. I think most fans of
John West will be disappointed though with this boring, tedious effort.
Written by
Alanna Tuesday, July 11, 2006
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