Johииy Hαtes Jαzz - Turи Bαcк Tнe Clocк (1988)

One of the unlikely success stories of the late 80's New Romantic FM world and a prime example of that intriguing subgenre known as "sophisti-pop", JHJ's 1988 one-shot is mostly remembered as an interesting footnote here in the U.S. due to the #1 status of hit single "Shattered Dreams", a textured slice of Yamaha-led fun that still holds up rather well today.

That being said, this album is severely underrated within the context of the time period as whole: it's right up there with the best material of Swing Out Sister, Prefab Sprout and even The Blue Nile in sheer sonic crafture. Lead vocalist Clark Datchler is confidence personified and a minor songwriting genius: he wrote or co-wrote every cut here, including the shoulda-been-a-hit-but-wasn't 'Listen' and minor-key curio 'Don't Let It End This Way', which features a strangely haunting keyboard refrain between verses. His smooth tenor gives even the ballads, particularly the title track, a kick they wouldn't have had with a lesser singer.

Bubbling synths, layered guitar, gated drums and plenty of personality: you guys know the drill. Evidently they're due for a brand new record sometime this year after a two decade hiatus: we can only hope it lives up to the commercial appeal that these cuts have in spades.

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Tony Stone - For A Lifetime (1988)

Born Tony Devenport at Battersea, South London (where the famous power plant on Pink Floyd's Animals was immortalized) and growing up with soul, pop and blues at equal lengths, tonight's star player adopted the stage name Tony Stone as a youngster and began something of a solo career at whatever pub might have him, bringing his Steve Winwood meets Bill Withers to many a delighted attendee wherever he happened to be performing.

After making friends with Westcoast luminary Ned Doheny and a number of others through the years, 1988 saw the release of this unusual fellow's one and only studio outing For A Lifetime to little fanfare on either side of the Atlantic despite lots of catchy, intelligent songs that fall in some wonderful space between L.A. and Motown circa 1979.

Crossover territory along those line is best illustrated through songs like 'My Good Friend James', with its soaring bridge and pulsating groove, but there's plenty of fun to be had in the occasional left turn sonically: 'Perish The Thought' is a Hi-Tech midtempo romp that should have put Tony right up there on the art-pop map alongside Yes and The Outfield: smooth as smooth gets, fellas. 

Despite a couple of questionable ballads and R&B elements throughout, Mr. Devenport was certainly more interesting than a lot of crooners from the late 80's, and although he's been fairly low-key musically since this came out, he's welcome back to it anytime!

 

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Uиitopia - Aяτificiαl (2010)

One of the best progressive rock bands on the planet today happen to be Australian, led by the charismatic, Gabrielesque tone of Mark Trueack, eclectic soundscaping (think the pop sensibility of The Alan Parsons Project colliding headlong with Rush) and, in the context of this particular album, a surprisingly literal take on the concept of an overly-artificed world that has alienated your average person due to excessive technological and multimedia innovations and associated baggage.

Fans of modern progressive rock with big ideas, assloads of sax and a surprisingly immersive sense of songwriting, the line starts here!

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REVIEW: Sonic Station - Sonic Station (2012)

The pet project of guitarist/producer Alexander Kronbrink and singer/songwriter Marika Willstedt, this modern day Westcoast/AOR offering certainly couldn't have come at a better time: stalwarts in the genre such as Toto aren't recording new material, and the international commercial landscape musically has gone through some major continental driftage -- the decade where sumptuous stuff like this ruled the charts is already ancient history.

Featuring three other vocalists besides Ms. Willstedt and a surprising amount of variety as far as the tracks themselves go, I found myself glued to my speakers, salivating all the while: opening number 'Love's Gonna Show The Way' is straight out of 1988 with those blazin' keyboards, an infectious rumbler that wouldn't have been out of place on The Seventh One or that debut by fellow Swedish luminaries Time Gallery. Wow!

Four of the tracks here are led by the previously mentioned Marika Willstedt, and all in all she's probably an AOR fan's top reason for tuning in at all: Carole King don't got nothin' on this talented lass, and her voice is heavenly on songs like 'I Wish I Could Lie', 'Last Refrain' and 'Running Through The Night'. Earworm choruses I tell ya, earworm choruses!

The record is shiny enough to eat off of, immaculately produced and coated with a modern sheen that enhances the mix immeasurably. It's at least on par with Ole Borud's Keep Movin' mixwise, and the majority of the songs prove just as catchy and mesmerizing as any of the Westcoast classics of the early 80's, or, hell, even Jay Graydon's flawless work with Airplay and related studio work.

From ballads to highway groovers to fist-pumping anthems that validate every goodhearted feeling you've ever felt towards the world, Sonic Station stands alone in 2012 as an AOR release that goes the extra mile, even when you least expect it.

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Яetuяn To Forεvεя - No Mystεяy (1975)

Classic fusion delicacy from the masters of space and time. It's a bit more funk oriented, (and, dare I say it, heavier) than their past or subsequent albums circa 1975, but that's definitely not a bad quality to have under any context.

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Splεndεr - Hαlfwαy Down Thε Sky (1999)

Along with Vertical Horizon, pop savvy alternative rockers Splεndεr had a brief moment there at the end of the 90's where the public was warming up to anything commercially viable that wasn't techno, Britpop or Nirvana. The other factors involved here, such as catchy songwriting, admirable performances, and the legendary Todd Rundgren at the production reins don't really hurt either. Have fun!

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REVIEW: Suspyre - Suspyre (2012)

Few bands in the progressive metal spectrum showed as much promise as Suspyre did when they stormed the world with 2005's The Silvery Image. That particular debut was a brilliant monstrosity, off kilter whilst remaining nigh-classical in its curious contortions and motifs. They drew favorable comparisons with everyone from Dream Theater to Meshuggah, and have since continued to refine and reinvent themselves as an entity beyond that crop of colleagues.

Thus, we come to their self-titled here in 2012, and in doing so have not only shattered expectations, but have gone far, far beyond their peers into places mostly unexplored in a metal subtext, bringing in everything from bossa nova elements to beach pop...hell, even smooth jazz. The riffs dazzle, the keyboards accentuate the instrumental crossfires, and vocalist Clay Barton has evolved into a real wonder over the last seven years, a soaring talent capable of handling everything from radio-friendly melodic material ('Divided Son', the beach-metal 'Cancun') to more challenging blitzkriegs that harken back to the over-technical velocity that turned these boys into a household name in the first place ('Tranquility And Stress', 'The Man Made Of Stone').

All in all, these songs prove to be some of the coolest and catchiest Suspyre have put to posterity as of the present, and the whole album thrills the senses even at its strangest, unmetallish moments. I honestly can't recommend it enough!

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