Faithealer's mainmen are Ivan (Balance of Power/Pride) Gunn on keyboards and Jason (SIN) Marks on vocals. Several more ex Pride men round out the band.
25 years ago this would have been a monster release.
But this is 2011.
And while it's true that
AOR and Melodic Rock have continued to flourish in downsized form, below the mainstream rock'n'roll radar, its continued survival is due either to those bands who were huge in the eighties, or today's bands who give the past a modern spin.
In their obvious belief that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, this release is an unashamed tilt at recreating dramatic, upscale, pomp tinged melodic rock of the type that thrilled so many, way back when.
And on those terms, this is a success
. 'Who Will Stop The Rain' and
'Stronger' are skilfully executed, making all the right moves and throwing all the right shapes, thanks to arrangements and production that are both suspended in eighties' aspic.
That said, there's a tendency to suffocate the material by over-production. Yet it works on some. It works on one the album's standout songs,
'Lay Down And Die For You' by not allowing the "everything but the kitchen sink' approach to deflect focus from the song and the melody.
'Just Give Me Tonight' shows a subtler approach and a gentler touch, capturing the real spirit of eighties'
FM Radio, though it's nearly undone by the overused sample that intros the track.
The balladic
'Last Teardrop Falls' coulda been a contender. It starts out bright and aims high but it loses direction and focus and ends up messy.
It's crystal clear by now that a passionate love of the genre drives the combatants on this recording. They pour themselves into every groove.
But too often it's just too generic, and occasionally soulless, despite the passionate performances.
Perhaps if it had been trimmed from 14 to 10 tracks and a handful of grit had been thrown into the mix, 'WTTEOTW' would have struck a few more chords.
It's a good eighties' melodic rock pastiche, but not a great album.
Written by
Brian Monday, April 4, 2011
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