HIGHEST DREAM - review added 31st March 2009
Album Review: Far Away From Here (2009)
For fans of: hard rock... and occasional hints of soft prog
Brazilian band Highest Dream is Riq Ferris on vocals and Leo Mendes on, well, basically every instrument, programming and production. Marcelo Nami, Marcio Loureiro and John Cassio, between them, provide the majority of the guitar solos, and Maila Kaarina does a vocal intro on 'Not An Angel', but otherwise it's Leo and Riq all the way. The songs were also written by the pair.
The story of Highest Dream started several years ago when the guys were working in a covers band. After drifting apart when that project ended and following different paths for a couple of years, they finally met up again to make this album.
The sound is a neck-breaking nod towards the lighter end of hard rock. There's a flaming beacon of 80's hair rock in the mix and a few touches of prog, but the overall vibe is synth-orientated and as fluffy as a cotton wool cloud.
Riq Ferris' vocals are not the best. He has a nasal quality that skirts between modern Steve Walsh... and Doogie White holding his nostrils. He's more often in tune than not, and in the softer moments there's a sort of warmth to his voice, but the resulting sound could never be described as beautiful. Unfortunately, he's managed to skirt round the magic of being 'characterful' and spends way too much time toying with 'painful'.
The faux-Arabian chanting and electro-rock during the intro set a precedent that lifts expectations to an intriguing plateau, but as soon as 'Restless Dreamer' starts the desire for something utterly fresh and different is forced to take a back seat. The song is pleasant enough, with the chorus worthy of note, but after the musings of the intro it's a disappointment. The title track is a tad better. It isn't by any means a brilliant song, but there's an underlying mystique in the lyrics and musicianship.
'All I Want' is one of the better tracks. The verse structure has a nice build-up and the chorus is chilled and cool-sounding. There's a hint of Toto in there, and a fantastic guitar solo courtesy of Marcio Loureiro. Perhaps he should have played on more of the album. 'Love Makes You Cry' is arguably the best track. A surprisingly beautiful ballad, the song is something of a saving grace for the album. Riq's voice is as close to tuneful and characterful as it gets. If he'd spent more time like this everything would have been considerably more peachy.
'I Will Find You' is a good song, spoiled in places by the singing. Again, Riq's voice isn't quite as far out there as the rest of the album, and the result is bordering on pleasant. 'Not An Angel' sounds very similar to a Gary Hughes/Ten song at the chorus. The harmonies are uncannily familiar which could be taken as a good or bad thing, depending on your perspective. Final song 'Never Be Apart' is, again, rather pleasant... even though it has a good stab at being as ropey as possible.
The actual structures of the songs on Far Away From Here are okay. The musicianship is agreeable and the writing is, whilst not world endingly brilliant, far above average. The big problem, unfortunately, is the vocals. It's not a nice thing to say, but with a different singer this could have been a top release. Unfortunately Leo Mended has undersold himself here and that's a shame. As is, it's worth a listen but... you quite possibly won't like it.
Check out... 'Love Makes You Cry'.
Track List:
01. Intro
02. Restless Dreamer
03. Can't Fight Hearts
04. Helpin' Hand
05. Far Away From Here
06. All I Want
07. Reach Higher
08. Love Makes You Cry
09. I Will Find You
10. Not An Angel
11. Never Be Apart
Label: Escape Music
Artist's websites: MySpace
