Even the most casual of melodic rock fan would be impressed to learn that the main constituents of
Slamer are : Mike (City Boy/Streets/Steelhouse Lane)
Slamer; Terry (Strangeways/The Sign) Brock and Billy (Kansas/The Sign) Greer.
But despite the fact that '
Nowhere Land' is the recipient of almost universal critical acclaim in the specialist music press, it's a hard album to love.
It makes all the right melodic rock moves (and there's no questioning Mike
Slamer's songwriting ability), it's shaded with prog overtones and is probably a lot heavier than anything
Slamer's done previously, but there's a problem.in fact there's a couple of problems.
One,
Slamer's production is so clear and so crisp that in places it ices over. Too often here, cold precision holds sway over ragged edged warmth.
There's no doubting
Slamer's skill as an engineer/producer, but that same technical expertise can squeeze out all the emotion from a recording. Perfection can often inhibit the expression of feeling.
Two, the tracks on '
Nowhere Land' sound like a cut & paste of all the best bits on every melodic rock and
AOR album released since 1980. That may seem an extremely attractive proposition to some, but others might just prefer the originals, warts'n'all.
Taking a more positive slant, one of the better tracks here, '
Higher Ground', could easily be Boston. If only Tom Scholz was writing anything this good nowadays. It builds up nicely through an anticipatory verse, full of promise. Then delivers bigtime, shifting up a gear and a key, accelerating into a chorus with a lip smackingly satisfying payoff.
'
Beyond The Pale' is slightly out of step with the bulk of
'Nowhere Land'.
It opens like one of John Wetton's epic narratives, full of quasi religious choirs and achingly yearning vocals. But it stands out here, simply because it's different.
Elsewhere and too often, bloated intros and inflated arrangements suffocate a bunch of good tunes and catchy hooks. '
Not In Love' and '
Jaded' are cracking songs with accessible melodies, but
Slamer's production freezes out all the colour. Like much of '
Nowhere Land', they end up with all the heart and soul of a Pentium processor.
Disappointing.
Written by
Brian Friday, September 29, 2006
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