Arguably, the shallow lyrical themes of the eighties, awash with sentimentality and simplistic storylines just aren't enough for the here and now. The world's changed dramatically in the last 25 years and is an entirely different place.
But equally, there's an argument that says the recent resurgence in the popularity of
AOR is a backlash against those changes. New fans appreciate the simple dramas played out within compact, 4 minute bursts of colour, brimful of driving verse and heartstopping hook. Old fans wallow in new music that makes them nostalgic for the old stuff.
Cue
Moritz.
Thanks to public demand, this Brit band's legendary
'City Streets' eventually saw the light of day a couple of years back. It contained 8 tracks recorded from 1984 to 1986, and presented a convincing argument that here was a UK melodic rock band with songs and talent, who had been badly served by labels, major and minor.
Encouraged by the acclaim, 25 years on from those first recordings, the band have released an album of 12 brand new tracks, under the clarion call, '
Undivided'.
The good news is that they continue to mainline into the mood of North American melodic rock circa 1985. Guitarist Greg Hart and his collaborators are still writing songs that bring to life, in vivid hi def, the sound of the greats, Survivor, Journey, Foreigner.
They are not those bands of course, and time has moved on, but if any album of recent times has recaptured the past, without resorting to slavish imitation, then
'Undivided' is it.
The opening track is an unashamed, outstandingly good tribute to yesterday's musical heroes; a sound suspended in aspic, extolling '
The Power Of The Music', fuelled by fanboy enthusiasm and the nous of someone "who was there".
I've criticised bands for not hauling their sound into the present, for merely aiming to recreate past glories, but few in that category have generated the excitement and freshness as
Moritz have done with
'Undivided'.
Pete Scallan has a suitably urgent
AOR voice. It's nowhere better showcased than on the title track, a sub Survivor, chest beating 'Eye Of The Tiger' companion piece.
But everybody shines on this one, with guitar and keyboard frills and fills both emblematic of an era.
The balladic
'Should've Been Gone' and the unashamedly overblown
'Who Do You Run To' closely conform to tried and tested melodic rock templates, with naggingly familiar hooks and head turning arrangements. All done with confidence and skill.
The brilliantly grandiose
'Can't Stop The Angels' and the pulsing, pounding, albeit less compelling
'Same But Different' carry the brightly burning
AOR torch into the album's second half.
It spits and splutters a bit on weaker tracks like '
Any Time At All' and the under-recorded
'Never Together', and despite the fact that it flares vigorously on the harder edged
'Without Love', you can't help but feel that the band ran out of steam and ideas by the time side two was underway.
Still, this Lazarus like resurrection and bravura performance is to be warmly welcomed.
Hopefully more to come.
.
Written by
Brian Monday, October 25, 2010
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