Armed with a determination to leave no melodic rock cliché left unturned, Pierpaolo and Amos Monti - the musicians behind this project - clearly headed into the studio brandishing a dog eared copy of the
Bon Jovi songbook, obviously convinced they could come up with something original.
The only surprise then is that it turned out as good as it did.
The Montis masterstroke was to invite and involve a bunch of consummate rock musicians. . . the movers, shakers and wonderful album makers who are (arguably) directly responsible for today's melodic rock resurgence.
Like Harry (Harem Scarem)
Hess, Erik (WET/Eclipse) Martensson, Mikael (Last Autumn's Dream) Erlandsson, Michael (Von Groove/Boston) Shotton, Michael (Casanova) Voss and numberless others.
Two European musicians on the rise - Alessandro (Edge Of Forever/Moonstone) DelVecchio on keyboards, and Mario (Hungry Heart) Percudani on guitars - played a key studio role in the construction of the album, with the Montis contributing drums and bass.
You can't help but be impressed with the duo's songs. Derivative perhaps, at times too closely modelled on the eighties'
AOR template. But in the main the album comes across as reverential, full of verve, vigour and determined performances.
It's front loaded with the good stuff.
'Amy' (Harry
Hess on vocals) and
'Strong Enough' (Robbie LeBlanc on vocals) being the highlights, but it loses a bit of momentum after that.
Robin Beck emotes for all she is worth on
'Heat Of The Light' and Erlandsson sweats the detail on '
Can't Stop The Rock's clunky, clichéd lyrics and chorus. The album now threatens to tip over totally into formula.
Fortunately,
'Still In Your Heart', with Sue Willets and Bob Harris provides the push to take the album into its second half, where Percudani's David Gilmour impersonation on instrumental,
'Under Silent Walls, Part 1' raises this track above the average.
His own light touch and thoughtful style becomes apparent on '
Under Silent Walls, Part 3', a wonderfully apposite album closer.
The album is clearly a labour of love and if you are fan of any or all of the above artists, you'll find something to like here. But, shouldn't that be Shining
Light?
Written by
Brian Sunday, August 8, 2010
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