WORLDS APART - review added 12th April 2010
Album Review: Clean Slate (2010)
For fans of: Hard Rock... and Bay Area but not thrash
Worlds Apart, who have performed and recorded together since the early 1990s, hail from San Francisco. Clean Slate is the band's 4th album and sees the return of original guitarist Ritch Cedillo. The remainder of the band is Jay Davids on vocals, Jason Granucci on guitar, Gary Silva on drums, and and JAS on Bass. JAS also produced and engineered the album.
The sound is typical hard rock fair with a portion of flamboyance and sleaze. There are moments when the band REALLY sound like Johan Fahlberg-era Jaded Heart, although you certainly couldn't describe them as power metal.
There are a few good moments on the album, but in general Clean Slate is a collection of likeable second-tier tracks and performances. There's something missing from the album, but it's hard to put a finger on exactly what it is. The playing isn't quite perfect, the songs vary in strength, the singing is only just above average, the production is nothing special...and I think that's the problem. Every aspect of the record is not quite as good as it could have been, meaning the whole is considerably less than the sum of its parts.
I wanted to like this album, and songs like 'Heaven Sent' and the excellent 'We Can't Go On' did push me towards adoration, but the overall effect simply isn't good enough. There are going to be people out there who get something from this, but not me I'm afraid.
Check out... 'We Can't Go On'
Track List:
01. Heaven Sent
02. All Your Lovin
03. The Light
04. We Can't Go On
05. Two 4 Nothin
06. Fight Hard
07. Hard Times
08. Body Double
09. Center Stage
Label: Perris Records
Artist's website(s): MySpace
