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Artist: First Signal |
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When Harem Scarem called it day there was a dark cloud over the Melodic Rock genre, a band that had been the darlings of the scene for many a year. Yes there were some rocky times, but all in all the fans loved what Harry Hess and the rest of the band had done. Many thought the band would come back in one form or another, and some still think that’s a possibility But in the meantime we'll
just have to settle for what is an
outstanding album from 'First Signal, a studio project featuring Scarem
frontman Hess and producer/bassist extraordinaire Dennis Ward.
Maybe this is indeed the "First Signal" to all those Harem
Scarem fans out there that Hess has indeed moved on in his musical
career and that they should do so too. Along with
Hess on lead and
background vocals and Ward on bass, background vocals and guitar, we have
Darren Smith on background vocals, Eric Ragno on keyboards, Michael Klein
on guitars and completing the line-up Chris Schmidt on drums. With
this wealth of talent on show you’d expect something special, well with
this array of talented musicians the album also boasts a wealth of talent
on the writing front too, with brothers Tom and James Martin (Khymera,
SUNSTORM, HOUSE OF LORDS), Erik Martensson (W.E.T., ECLIPSE), Ronny
Milianowicz (SAINT DEAMON), Robert Sall (W.E.T., WORK OF ART) and Mark
Baker (SIGNAL, HOUSE OF LORDS) among others So
what of the album itself I hear you cry, well all those who wanted Harem
Scarem to return to their earlier sound well you can put away those prayer
mats and uncross those fingers, because what we have here in First Signal
is that style of album with a modern melodic edge that will rock the
very foundations of the scene. From
the opener ‘This City’, it all comes flooding back, the great guitar
licks, the fantastic rhythms and of course the icing on the cake Hess’s
superb vocals. This is a superb opener which is only the tip of the
Melodic iceberg because this album just gets better and better as each
track unfolds. Next
up its ‘When You Believe’, a track that builds on a great intro from
Ragno’s keyboards and turns into a top notch melodic rocker. I said
earlier that this album had a modern edge and that is never more apparent than on the
superb ‘Part Of Me’. Again a great mid tempo rocker that is one of my
favourite songs on the album. It's
Ragno’s enigmatic keyboards that get the next track ‘Crazy’ underway, this is a
more gentler refrain and highlight’s Hess’s multifaceted vocal style
which we all love. The
band then bring a little groove filled bass into the funky tones of
‘Goodbye To Old Times’, a modern classic here for sure. The
tempo is picked up a notch or two with the title track ‘First
Signal’, again melodic heaven and one that will surely be a favourite
for most. You don’t hear enough slide guitar these days but this is
put right with ‘Feels Like Love’, again a melodic gem. It's more of
that pure Melodic Rock gold with ‘Into The Night’ and the excellent
‘When November Falls’, this one could easily been off Hess’s solo
album, whoever wrote this one got it right, this one really brings out the best
in Hess for sure. The
tempo is picked up once more with ‘Yesterdays Rain’ before the album
closes another gem in ‘Naked Desire’. This may not be a Harem Scarem
album but it’s as close as we are going to get so we should embrace it
for what it is, a great Melodic Rock album. |
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Tracklisting: 01.
This
City |
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All content copyright of The Mayfair Mall Zine unless otherwise stated. |
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