STRANGEWAYS - review added 4th October 2010
Album Review: Perfect World (2010)
For fans of: AOR... and Terry Brock...again
UK act Strangeways is one of those blast-from-the-past bands that pop up occasionally. Their history stretches back to the mid 1980s when the band released their Kevin Elson (Journey, Europe) produced self-titled debut. The well-received album featured Tony Liddell on vocals, but he was quickly replaced by American singer Terry Brock. The following year's 2nd album "Native Sons" garnered even better reviews, and the follow up to that "Walk In The Fire" did pretty damn well too.
Not long after, Terry Brock departed, and the band - with singer Ian Stewart - recorded another triplet of releases in 1995, 1997, and 2000.
Now, however, Terry is back. He is joined on "Perfect World" by Ian J. Stewart on guitars, Warren Jolly on bass, Jim Drummond on drums, and David "Munch" Moore on keyboards.
The band in all its original incarnations passed me by, so I cannot compare the new with the old. Judging by how well received the original albums were, I suspect this newby may come as a disappointment to those expecting another album full of killer AOR tracks. Don't get me wrong, this is a really good release full of mellow rockers and great performances, but there is nothing here that replicates the raging fire of the album cover. The music is more in the direction of smoldering embers.
Perfect World is an album which benefits from a lot of listens. I wasn't at all impressed after the first couple of spins, but I have definitely warmed to it now. The opening title track is a cool Journey-esque subdued rocker. 'Borderlines' is so mellow it might send you to sleep...but in a good way. 'Movin On' rocks it up, but it still isn't going to knock your head off. The Celtic-touched 'Time' is beautiful in the extreme. 'Crackin' Up Baby' is so chilled it's almost silent. You really get the impression the guys were writing songs to make love by...
'Liberty' is a tad livelier. The mellow 'One More Day' is sadly forgettable. 'Bushfire' has a memorable main riff (which is almost, but not quite heavy) and some wonderful Middle-Eastern influences. 'Too Far Gone' is another track that does little for me. 'Can't Let You Go' is a long one that never really gets going. Final entry 'Say What You Want' takes a while to get going...but it's worth the wait.
Perfect World has flashes of genius - a lot of flashes of genius - but also moments of tedium. The band don't seem to know whether they wanted to make a soft rocker or a chillout album, and in the end they're left somewhere in the middle. Without doubt there are tracks here that deserve a lot of attention on iTunes, but whether the album as a whole is a worthwhile purchase, I'm not so sure.
Check out... The good bits...
Track List:
01. Perfect World
02. Borderlines
03. Movin On
04. Time
05. Crackin' Up Baby
06. Liberty
07. One More Day
08. Bushfire
09. Too Far Gone
10. Can't Let You Go
11. Say What You Want
Label: Frontiers Records
Artist's website(s): Facebook
