Compared to
MPG´s debut this follow up is more complete and consistent. Regardless of high expectations "Road to Salvation" is the best album one could have wished for and the diversity doesn't only make this album succeed but also exceed the expectations.
Guitarist Martin Slott has been co-writing several songs and the pairing of Martie Peters and Martin Slott is a match made in heaven. Slott's guitar playing is unique and his distinctive playing definitely suits Martie Peters Group.
"Road to Salvation" has a modern twist to it and even though
MPG keeps the style within the hard rock boundaries they still innervate themselves on a few songs and try a couple of new things, which makes this album rather refreshing.
MPG covers new ground with drum loops, piano and distorted vocals - listen
to the piano on
Swimming In Your Blue Eyes, which sets a brilliant mood for the rocking song.
If "Road to Salvation" is to be described by one word only - groovy surely is the right one.
Fallen opens in album the best possible way with a groovy rhythm permeated by Peters´ unique voice, Martin Slott´s leads and an up-tempo chorus. Another groovy rocker is
Chosen One, which ranks among highlights on "Road to Salvation" and also contains some great lyrics. The raunchy rocker
Wish has the best verse on the disc- the lyrics deal with the increasing number of reality shows with the message to the potential contestants "you better be careful what you wish for - dreams come true".
The album is packed with great tunes and only
The Clown and
All I Have are anonymous tracks, which I haven't embraced totally. Those two aren't bad, but they don't reach same high quality as the other 10 bulls-eye hitters on the album.
The first single
Shallow is a modern Hard Rock song and while it captured me right away, it still holds up after lots of spins.
Silence Sits At My Throne is another melodic rocker with a well crafted verse. Check out the heavy guitars for the verse! Sometimes I have seen
MPG labeled as
AOR and while Peters voice is a bit light his voice is the only thing that comes close to
AOR. Heavy guitars, great melodies and Peters´ characteristic voice are the trademarks of the band.
For What It's Worth is the big ballad of the album, which continues where
Takes some Time from the debut album left.
Kill The Pain starts out as a power ballad, but ends more as an emotional rock song with big leads from Slott.
Martie Peters once again copies the old
Whitesnake trick by redoing older songs. Martie Peters doesn't hide from his past fronting the Hard Rock quartet
Push, which recorded 4 albums. On the last
MPG album 2
Push songs from "For the Love of the Game" got a proper treatment and now it's
Waitin' in Line from "On the Run". The song is my favorite off that
Push album and while I thought the original was flawless this version is better.
While the album opened with thunder - it ends with the easy going
Road to Salvation, which sounds like a minor hit to me. The verse builds up and Martie´s high falsetto vocals sound smooth. Slott´s adds great slide guitar after each chorus preventing this from being polished
AOR. The title track has several layers to it and constantly changes between up-tempo hard rock and touchy melodic rock.
Martie Peters' voice is either a hit or miss which influences whether the average listener will precept this album. However, if you have an open mind I am sure that you'll find plenty in this album. It's up-dated groovy melodic Hard Rock when it's best.
Written by
Michael Tuesday, May 8, 2007
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