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After
an absence of over ten years since their last album ‘Back on Track’,
they once again combine to produce one of the finest pieces of quality
music I have heard for sometime.
Paul Shortino’s vocals are still as strong as ever and this album
takes you back to his Ruff Cutt days with the quality of song writing
and guitar work by Jeff Northrup is second to none.
The opening track 'Here I Am' is a perfect example of the quality you
can expect from the rest of the album, some brilliant guitar work and
the unmistakable vocals of Shortino are quite superb.
The title track 'Afterlife' has the perfect mix of keyboards and guitar
and once again Shortino's vocals shine through, but they are at their
best on 'Like A Stone' one of the highlights for me with its meaningful
lyrics that bring a lump to the throat. 'Crazy Mind', a track co-written
with Johnny Edwards, who also duets on this track. 'Feel Again' is a
quality power ballad that is backed up by the warm drums of B.E.
Haggard.
The next two tracks ‘Crossfire’ and ‘Slave’ both have that
Whitesnake feel about them with the latter being written again by J
Edwards. The slide guitar on ‘Crossfire’ definitely has that Mickey
Moody feel. The sultry vocals on 'Slave' make your heart melt and the
guitars are equally as intense.
The instrumental ‘Mark My Words’ is a track just waiting for the
right words to be come along and do the quality of the musicianship
justice. Northrup is the saviour of ‘As I Fall’ as he makes what
would be a second class track come to life. The final track
‘Prisoner’ is a ballad of the highest calibre and a worthy end to a
superb album lets hope its not 11 years till the next collaboration
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