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There
is no doubting that Takara are more than your
average run of the mill melodic rock band. This
18 track collection is the very best of Takara
from the Jeff Scott Soto years, icluding some
bonus tracks clocking in at almost 80 minutes
of classic melodic hard rock. There is a definite
80's feel to the music and thats down to classy
melodies and big guitar riffs and parping keyboards.
No one needs to go on about the stunning vocal
capabilites of Jeff Scott Soto, but this album
reiterates once again what a stunning vocalist
he is. Neal Grusky, the driving force guitarist
behind Takara shows also what a superb songwriter
he is with this collection, there are also a number
of tasty solos throughout.
However, as good as this material
is I hope that this release will lay the focusing
on the Jeff Scott Soto era of the band to rest
as Neal Grusky has a superb replacement in Michael
Flatters (James Byrd). The band have a new album
with Flatters out later this year and if it builds
on the basis of 2001's Perception Of Reality then
it should be one to watch.
Rating - 82%
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Over
The Edge - S/ T featuring Mickey Thomas (Frontiers
Records - Out Now) |
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Mickey Thomas the voice of Starship
is back with Over The Edge, an extremely polished
melodic AOR album that will be a winner to all
fans of this genre.
The big open summer Californian sound is here
in all its glory, Huge hooks combined with the
right blend of guitars and keyboards. Mickey has
also roped in some of the biggest guitar names
in AOR to add guitars solos including Neal Schon
(Journey), Steve Lukather (Toto) and Richie Kotzen
(Mr Big).
Stylistically the album is nothing new, nor is
the sound. But its the sheer amount of quality
songs that makes this such an enjoyable listen.
Fans of AOR add this to your wish lists now.
Rating - 85% |
Genius:
A Rock Opera - Episode 2: In Search Of The Little
Prince (Frontiers - Out Now) |
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Danielie Liverani returns with
the second part of the Genius: Rock Opera saga.
Much a long the same lines as the first part.
Again there are multiple guest appearances, inc
Mark Boals (Ring Of Fire / ex Malmsteen), Russell
Allan (Symphony X), Eric Martin (ex Mr Big), Johnny
Gioeli (Axel Rudi Pell) and many more.
Once again the sound is big and
bombastic with a power meets prog metal sound.
Its all solid stuff although I never find myself
paying much attention to the story on these kinds
of things. The musicianship is good, the production
is good, but it seems to lack that special something
that keeps me coming back for repeated spins.
Rating
- 30% |
White
Skull - The XIII Skull (Frontiers Records - Out
Now) |
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The second release from White
Skull, how dish out power metal by numbers. Unfortunately
the band lack little finesse and originality and
come acorss as pale imitators of the leaders of
this genre. Couple this with poor vocals from
Gustavo Adrian Gabarrò and cliched lyrics
of good vs evil do little to help. On the plus
side there are some strong riffs and the lead
work is respectable enough. Unfortunately this
isn't enough to rescue the album.
Frontiers are marketing this release
as their heaviest album to date, sadly that does
not equate to anything other than that despite
being the heaviest, its also possibly the labels
worst.
Rating
- 30% |
Smeer
- Loud & Clear (Lion Music - Out Now) |
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Smeer hail from
Canada and are presumably Lion Music's attempt
at getting a huge selling release as it seems
tailored for the modern nu-metal scene that is
all over MTV etc. and vastly different that what
else is on the labels roster.
What does this mean? Well it means
expect chunking riffs broken up by harmonic clangs,
very little soloing and what there is is normally
a simple melody with fx piled on top. This album
seems to be straight out of the modern nu-metal
rule book.
I am not a fan of this genre to
be honest, and this does seem to have the same
qualities as the stuff I will hear when flicking
channels, but never actually stay on long enough.
Fans of bands such as Staind, Evanescence
and Creed will probably enjoy this a lot. So maybe
that is the best indicator of the bands potential
within their genre.
Here at virtuosityone.com its a
little lost. Rating
- 50% |
Under
Radio - Bad Heir Ways (Lion Music - Out Now) |
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Progressive rock/metal
with a modern and original twist from guitarist
Eric Zimmermann which also features the rhythm
section of Mark Zonder (Fates Warning) and Gregg
and Matt Bissonette (David Lee Roth, Joe Satriani).
Relatively quirky and original sounding with
lots of atmospheric samples thoughout. Its hard
to compare this to any other band out there and
that wins it points. But the nature of the album
is that there is very little to remember even
after a few spins and ultimately its likely to
appeal to the more esotheric fan out there.
Rating - 50% |
