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The
eagerly awaited return to the studio for Harem Scarem has finally born
fruit and brings forth the bands latest and finest album to date.
‘Higher’ brings you more of the finest classic AOR you’ll ever get
the chance to experience from one any one band in this lifetime. The
very fact this band haven’t received greater acclaim for their
extremely worthy offerings is a complete and utter mystery to me (and
probably them as well).
With such a radio friendly sound that sits firmly in the rock category
but gentle wanders into pop and commercial camp just enough to make it
thoroughly digestible, this album should appeal to a much wider audience
than so many other bands in this particular genre. Harem Scarem really
must be one of the AOR scene’s best kept and most golden of all
secrets.
This latest album ‘Higher’ carries on where the last studio album
‘Weight of the World’ left off. Opening up with ‘Reach’ that
does just that by reaching down inside you and touching your very soul.
‘Waited’ and ‘Torn right Out’ keep you’re juices flowing with
the kind of rock that would melt even the hardest of hearts.
‘Give it to You’ ups the tempo without losing you in a mass of over
the top guitar and drums. A true mark of class that is shown throughout
the entire album. The title track ‘Higher’ is very Def Leppardish in
its guitar style. The rest of the album is all typically Harem Scarem
trademark catchy choruses married together with understated guitars
resulting in a polished album that I personally feel is their strongest
and best album yet.
‘Lucky Ones’ is perhaps the closest track to having that ‘Weight
of the World’ feel about it, although the closing track ‘Lost’
would also sit nicely in that category. ‘Lies’ in complete contrast
to them for some strange reason entices me to compare it to some of the
classic Vaughn anthems. No doubt about it, this is the track that will
have fans singing along from start to finish when performed live.
Anyone unfamiliar with this band would do a lot worse than to start
their collection off with this album. Closely followed by ‘Weight of
the World’; which still takes a regular hammering on the CD system
both in the house as well as in my car. I find myself once more living
in hope that the band will one day (soon) return to these shores and
share these beautiful new songs with us all in the audience and band
friendly surroundings of The Gods. Perhaps if the gods were to smile
down on us they might even sanction a few more dates following straight
on from that performance?
The only down point to this album is it’s so packed with goodness when
it comes to an end it leaves you hungry for more. How these guys manage
to keep the momentum and the high quality of the songs coming at us at
this furious pace is a complete mystery. The more they offer the more we
want more. They feed our hunger for great songs but leave us hungrier
than we started out by giving us so much more than we could ever dreamed
or hoped for.
No word as yet as to how long it will be before we’re greeted with
another album so for now we feast on the audible food they’ve given us
both I this album and the three we were blessed with last year. What can
you say to such an amazing band? Words are simply not enough. I only
hope they realize it’s not just the media that love them, it’s their
fans who love them most of all and it’s because of bands like this
that the AOR and Melodic Rock scene is still very much alive and well
these days.
Thank you so very much for making music because it’s what’s in your
hearts and souls and nothing to do with selling out and improving your
bank balance. Your passion for what you do shines out in your music and
the words that you write reaches out and touches so many people in so
many ways all over the world. These songs will not be played once and
then placed on some dusty shelf to be forgotten. They will be cherished
and listened to by a great many people for a great many years to come.
Perhaps the greatest gift that any band can have is to know their songs
will live on forever and although the financial rewards may not be as
great as those enjoyed by some far less talented bands and artists, the
enjoyment those songs bring with them and the recognition and
appreciation shown by their fans, those being people who have chosen
their songs because they truly appreciate them and not because the mass
media dictates they should buy them, is far greater a reward in the long
term.
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