TERRY BROCK - review added 18th August 2010
Album Review: Diamond Blue (2010)
For fans of: Hard Rock... and Seventh Key & Slamer
Diamond Blue is the second solo album from Strangeways/Giant vocalist Terry Brock, and follows "Back to Eden" from several years back.
In the creation of the album, Terry (vocals, guitar) teamed up with Mike Slamer (guitars, bass, keyboards). The two of them have already worked together on the two Seventh Key albums, plus Mike's last solo release "Nowhere Land". Completing the line-up is Andy Bigan on drums.
It'll come as no surprise that there's a real familiarity to this release. The sound very obviously follows the path trodden by Terry and Mike's previous offerings. This is no bad thing as all three of those releases were exceptionally good. Diamond Blue is a very classy album with lots of loveable hooks, big guitar sounds, a production you could marry and have kids with, and performances that verge on flawless.
Every song on Diamond Blue offers something interesting, although they don't necessarily all grab you by the throat and shake you into a fit of excitement. There's a certain layer of character missing, but in all fairness that's a small moan. Best moments include the gloriously upbeat 'It's You', the verging-on-stunning 'Jessie's Gone', the lovely ballad 'The Rain', the achingly cool 'Face In The Crowd', the laid-back self-assured 'Why', and the verging-on-phenomenal 'Soldier Falls' which is comfortably the finest track here.
Diamond Blue is a mighty fine release with all the ingredients you could ask for in a hard rock or AOR album. It isn't as good as the other albums these guys have worked on, and I don't think it quite matches Terry's brilliant stint on the Giant album earlier in 2010. As is, this is still one of the year's better soft and silky albums.
Check out... 'Soldier Falls'
Track List:
01. Diamond Blue
02. It's You
03. Jessie's Gone
04. No More Mr Nice Guy
05. The Rain
06. Broken
07. Face In The Crowd
08. Why
09. Too Young
10. Soldier Falls
11. Face The Night
Label: Frontiers Records
Artist's website(s): Facebook
