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Traveller is the
latest release from the former Waysted/Tyketto/Vaughn frontman and is his
first under the new moniker Danny Vaughn. This is a much-anticipated
release for the fans of Danny and his unmistakable voice and style.
With this new
release Danny has not only put his name on it, but also his unmistakable
style and sound. This album is something that will be instantly
recognisable to his army of fans, although sadly for this reviewer it's
hard to find something new about it. Yes it's Danny Vaughn through
and through, and this is enough for his legions of fans, but will it bring
him new fans? I think not. If you weren’t already into Vaughn
or Tyketto, then this album will not change your mind about Danny.
This is not a bad album, but if you're expecting something new, then think
again.
Things get
underway with ‘Miracle Days’ and straight away the album is recognisable
as Danny Vaughn and that’s the sticking point for me as far as the album
goes.
The album
continues with ‘Badlands Rain’, another typical track that is typical
Danny from the off and very much in the same vein as the ‘Fearless’ album.
The title track
‘Traveller’ is up next. This track starts off well, but lacks that
certain punch that will drag the listener back the track. For me
that's what you want from a title track.
The album starts
to show some promise with ‘Restless Blood’, a rockier affair that takes me
back to the Tyketto days, which is a good thing as Danny originally wrote
this song for Tyketto.
‘That’s What She
Says’ goes back to the more sedate sound with this love song. The
same can be said about the next two tracks ‘The Touch of Your Hand’ and
‘Lifted’, both fine songs but still nothing new.
One track that
really gets my juices flowing is ‘The Warriors Way’, a track that Danny
had originally wrote for the mighty Bob Catley and shows that Danny can
rock things out when the inclination takes him. This is perhaps why
this is my favourite track off the album and this is where Heath’s guitar
talents really lie in my honest opinion.
‘The Measure of
a Man’ is a slice of pure American pop rock as Danny tries to reach out
over the big blue. Things return all too quickly to the more gentle
ballad tones with ‘Think of Me in the Fall’, a track that has been in
Danny’s back boiler for sometime and has finally found the light of day.
Danny is a
phenomenal song writer when he puts his mind to it and one of the tracks
that shows this is the Zeppelin-esq tones of ‘Death of the Tiger’, but by
the time this track comes around it all too late for me to find solace in
this album. After about ten listens I can only fast forward to my
favourites ‘Warriors Way and ‘Death of the Tiger’, but two tracks don’t
make an album, two tracks make an EP.
The album closes
with the end of time feeling of ‘Better By Far’, which once again returns
to the gentler ambience that most of the tracks represent.
I feel the whole
album doesn’t grasp the listener from the off like many of the other
melodic releases this year. Unless you’re a die-hard fan of Danny
and his other band incarnations, I feel that the talents of the band he
has gathered around him haven't been totally utilised. I for one
think Pat Heath is a great guitarist and has the talent to really go a
long way, and Tony Marshall, well Tony is Tony. As for Steve McKenna
and Lee Morris their pedigree speaks for itself. |
