You get full value for money on
Ken Tamplin's new album "Wake the Nations". The album contains 18 tracks and has a playing time of almost 79 minutes. The album would have been stronger if edited down a couple of songs.
First of all the album has a super production, amazing vocals and over the top guitarists.
Ken Tamplin is a great singer with smooth full vocals in the vein of David Coverdale.
Ken Tamplin's friends include some top-notch guitarists, who all shine on the album. This album is indeed a guitarist album. While the performances are excellent, the song material lacks the same high quality. I miss some more catchy choruses, which are very important in this genre. There are some catchy hooks on the album, but the choruses are often just one line repeated, for example
Livin' Large and
7 Eleven People, which both are too monotonous. Some songs like
Hare Kristians and
Peace on Earth sound uninteresting, but the fabulous guitarists playing on the album make even the weaker songs worth a listen.
Story of Love is a strong vocal duet with
Jeff Scott Soto and Philip Bardowell. There are lots of dept in both their voices making this among the album highlights along with
Falling Houses.
Falling Houses has the best chorus on the album and a thick vocal from
Ken Tamplin, which is reinforced, since his vocal is doubled in the mix. Howie Simon proves that he is an equilibrist on the six-string. Howie Simon plays 5 solos on the album, all of high quality.
There are plenty of fine moments from the guest stars. Reb Beach and
Marty Friedman duels on
7 Eleven People and Jeff Watson plays a
Van Halen inspired solo on
The man with a plan. Mattias Eklundh from
Freak Kitchen is also added to the luxurious list. Unimpressed he plays a solo that is so typical for his innovative style of playing. You can always recognize his tone and there is no doubt that he plays the solo on
Saints and Heros.
The shining star on the album is Scott Van Zen, who is unfamiliar to me. He is definitely gonna be a huge star with his explosive playing. He steals the spotlight from the already established names on this record with his tremendous playing. Scott Van Zen saves the title track, which sounds a bit like Tamplin's cousin Sammy Hagar's
One Way to Rock. Scott Van Zen plays fast and precise, but all his solos have an entertaining element also. Watch out for Scott Van Zen whose playing really gets you up from the easy chair
Overall there are some fantastic performances on this album, both vocal wise and especially the guitar solos. Tamplin gives his guitarists room to unfold. Overall the solos are quite long and they often save the otherwise standard song material.
Written by
Michael Saturday, July 26, 2003
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