TALON - review added 24th November 2011
Album Review: III (2011)
For fans of: Hard Rock
American band Talon was born from the remnants of Voxen, a group with the claim-to-fame of having a song in the Dustin Hoffman film "Outbreak". Since the name-swap, a few line-up changes have taken place including the coming and going of Outloud singer Chandler Mogel. The current line-up contains a few names Eric Ragno and Shawn Pelata that crop up now and then on various projects, so this is definitely a band to take notice of.
The sound is a bright and spunky rock that treads the middle ground between heavy rock and AOR. Singer Shawn really sounds like Ted Poley from Danger Danger in places. I don't think he's as good as TP...but not as good as is, in this case, still very good. The musicianship is absolutely fine, although there is little to ignite the blue touch paper. It pretty much does what it does without pushing the envelope.
Same goes for the songs. There is a lot to like, not a lot to dislike, but equally not a lot to love. Plenty of the songs, 'Everytime', for instance, are really catchy but those last few percentage points of awesomeness are missing.
In Summation:
This is a perfectly good album, but it suffers from a lack of greatness. Even Jeff Scott Soto is missing a certain something from his one song. Worth a purchase, but don't expect your pants to be set on fire.
Entertainment/Enjoyment:
Musicianship:
Vocals:
Song Writing:
Production:
Overall (Not An Average Of The Above):
Track List:
01. Crying To Me
02. The Last Time
03. Did You Have To Say
04. Everytime
05. Take You All The Way
06. Maybe One Day
07. You Don’t Know Me At All
08. Walk Away
09. Brothers
10. When Will I
11. You Got What It Takes
12. Jane
Band/Performers:
Shawn Pelata - Lead and Backing Vocals
Kory Voxen - Rhythm Guitar, Acoustic Guitar
Jim Kee - Lead Guitar
Phil Keller - Bass Guitar
Eric Ragno – Keyboards
John Parker - Drums
Guest musician Jeff Scott Soto: lead and backing vocals on “Take You All The Way”
Other Info:
Produced by Ty Sims
Label: Escape Music
Artist's website(s): Facebook
