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Artist: China Blue |
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name Eric Ragno will probably be well known to the majority of melodic
rock fans as keyboard player for hire. What we have here is an
excellent slice of melodic rock with Eric not only playing, but also
co-writing and producing the songs with
JK Northrup mixing the whole shebang. With the boot on the
other foot so to speak Eric brought in some of melodic rock’s finest
exponents. Doug Odell and
Fabrizio Grossi provide bass, Zane Petersen and Pete Newdeck on drums.
Pete Newdeck has said he played on 5 songs, but can’t remember which
ones unfortunately and my promo copy doesn’t supply that info.
The one and only Josh Ramos provides the Journey style riffing and lead.
On vocals we have the talented Tony Mills, although I didn’t instantly
recognise his vocals. This
release sees Tony stretching himself vocally.
The man himself, Eric Ragno, provides the lush swirling
keyboards. First out of the block
with it’s atmospheric keyboard opening is 'What Do You Need But Love'.
Tony Mills nearly morphs into Hugo on this song and in fact it would
have fitted perfectly on the Ramos/Hugo release.
There are a lot of layers on here but it’s all down to the
catchy chorus Next up is the more
straight ahead 'I Feel Like Dying'. Josh Ramos throwing out the
riffs with ease and Tony Mills delivering the anthemic chorus Another atmospheric
opening, ushers in 'Changing Ways'. This song has a prog feel to it as
Eric’s keys swoop and swirl while Josh riffs out. There’s a bit of a
gothic opening to 'So Wrong', until Josh Ramos’ guitar kicks.
This is a song that has to be listened to a few times to
appreciate it’s intricacies. 'Don’t Be A Stranger'
is a ballad with Journey tones to it.
Tony Mills vocals swoop and soar on this one. 'Moving On' is just awash
with multi-layered vocals and lush keyboards. The penultimate track is
the up-tempo and straight-ahead 'Take Me As I Am'. This is definitely not
your run of the mill melodic/AOR release.
A lot of thought has gone into the making of this and requires
the listener to play it a few times to appreciate it’s beauty.
My only issue is with the production as I feel Eric may have been
to close to the material. The
drums and bass don’t have that edge to them and the vocals are
sometimes awash with effects. Saying
that this is definitely not a CD that can played in the background,
while you do something else, so give it the time it deserves.
All the musicians on here have stretched themselves and come up
with a release that stands out for being a bit different.
Review by: Brassy |
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| Tracklisting:
1. What Do You
Need But Love |
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