Album Review - Takara - Invitation to Forever

This invitation only seems to go on for forever... Takara's fifth studio album in twenty something years sports a change of direction and a new vocalist. They have changed from a cushy AOR outfit with Jeff Scott Soto breathing life into the music with his expressive and oftentimes soulful vocals - to a power/prog kind of band that borrows a great deal from early Yngwie Malmsteen. Not to mention Gus Monsanto's in the lead singer spot (spot him previously in Revoultion Renaissance and Adagio). Instead of finesse, he just kind of wrestles the music and takes it by force. Instead of catchy and soothing, this is like being run over by a tank and alot of crazy pointless shredding to go along with it. Then there's those out of key parts, especially apparent in the higher registers. Gus can't handle it, the music just slaughters him, no remorse. So when he's not grating on the nerves, he's sounding almost as bad as Michael James Flatters was... (and that's pretty bad).

It's like a freshly hit piece of roadkill - it may look mostly intact and alive for the most part - then you look in the glassy eyes and realize there is no one home. A soulless vessel. The spark that marked the living essence of Takara has been over most thoroughly, crushed into senseless oblivion like that smashed critter. This band was never truly "lite" listening in the AOR strict tradition, there was certainly something extra added to the punch. It sparkled joyfully, the music invigoratingly uplifting. A refresher for the soul.

This "Invitation" is merely a barren borrowed wasteland that claims no identity to call its own. Even worse, its awkward to listen to. Like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole by beating the mismatched peg with a marshmellow. Futile, messy and plain ridiculous. Take "Riders on the Road" for instance. It is a hard rock song, but what else can be said about it really? The song is flatter than a soda left out in the heat for a week. Gus has a range that he can deal with here, but he does nothing but phone in a lackluster performance. Guitars are well done and the rhythm section solid, and that amounts to squat when the chorus is garbage. Neither memorable OR good.
The whole album is like this song...lifeless. Tracks are interchangeable and instantly forgettable. The band is so urgently ripping everyone else off in the effort to be as generic as humanly possible that they neglect their own identity in the process. Ah but this is some kind of 'rebirth' or 'renewal' for the band. More like a shambling piecemeal corpse than a triumphant phoenix-from-the-ashes revival.

Take for instance, "Final Warning". Hard, heavy and boring in the sense that it just drags on repetitively. "555" tries a cooler, thawed out approach but the chorus is atrocious. Nondescript and flat as a pancake chorus is helped none at all by the singing. Gus' harsh, jagged edged vocals come across as cheesy and disjointed. The Rainbow-ish "Spotlight" is early 80s in essence and a slightly broken unexpected delight (and written/recorded for Takara's debut album in the opening of the 90s). A cracking chorus and upbeat melodies give it an instant flow. This is easily squashed by the vocals... again. The whole album is a repetition of these same complaints. Songs fall flat, are too repetitive, or hopelessly ruined by the bludgeon-the-listener-against-the-head-with-a-blindsiding-blow singing approach. What happened here? It's like witnessing a train wreck and makes you think that perhaps Neal Grusky's seven year break was a bit too long. Although remembering the Michael James Flatters belted disc that came before isn't exactly a redeeming favorable point.

To make matters worse, Jeff Scott Soto is actually on board in the backing vocals slot. His barely-there support is far from enough to save this from the hole it is focused on digging. With every song, the chasm gets deeper, wider. A dive into boredom unrelenting. This disc is so out of step with past Takara discs such as the sweetly addictive AOR pastry, "Taste of Heaven" or the blues brushed "Eternal Faith", that it doesn't deserve to even share the same band name. Takara's "Invitation to Forever" is one you might want to pass up on unless lifeless Malmsteen inspired music is your life's blood. Past Takara fans are more likely to just be...disgusted.

Written by Alanna
Friday, April 17, 2009
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Ratings

Alanna: 3.5/10

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