I'm not normally a fan of these "multi-musician" projects. They seldom work, if only because they lack cohesion and continuity. A welcome exception is this second
Deacon Street album, which sees the cast list expand and the names get bigger, giving all us reviewers the opportunity to pull out the usual clichés . . . "veritable Who's Who of
AOR", "with a cast like this who needs a plot" etc etc. However, I'll resist the temptation and simply suggest you go online to MTM's
site and prepare to be impressed.
The project is of course yet another vehicle for the mega prolific Tommy Denander (and his business partner, Chris Demming) to strut his not inconsiderable songwriting, guitar playing and production stuff. If reports are true, it's maybe his last
AOR outing before he moves on to bigger and better things.
What's most notable on this album though is the fact that Denander very successfully matrix manages seven vocalists, nine guitarists, two bass players and four drummers. And ends up with a seamless, full on
AOR album (with the occasional westcoast flavouring), elegantly crafted, full of marvellous melodies, brimming over with harmonic invention and delicate compositions.
You'll hear echoes and shades of all the
AOR giants - Journey, Survivor, Toto - to name but three, but Denander is no imitator. Again, he takes a familiar template and applies his own unique spin.
'Save Me' (sung by Andreas Novak) and
'Now We Cry For You' (sung by Stan Bush) are gloriously reminiscent of
AOR's most hypnotic moments. On the other hand, the two Thomas Vikstrom tracks,
'Leann' and
'On Another Day' have a much darker perspective and a distinct contemporary edge.
Standouts also include
'Beautiful Chardaine' (sung by Peter Sundell), a track that you could easily believe got lost on the cutting room floor during Survivor's 'Too Hot Too Sleep' sessions, and '
Promise Of Forever' (sung by Chris Antblad) - an
AOR/Pop crossover gem, conjuring up visions of
Chicago fronted by the Backstreet Boys.
As per usual with Denander, there's as much going on in the shadows as the light, and if you listen hard you can hear his attention to fine textural detail packed into arrangements that convey exact nuances of mood without become clinical or heavy handed.
He shows a rare error of judgement by paying tribute here to his lesser known influences, Sweet and
Kiss (doesn't make him a bad person) on.ahem, an interesting cover version of '
Action' (half the rock bands of the western world have covered this one), and a more palatable, if reverential cover of
'Easy As Is Seems'. Frankly we could have done without these, and would have happily settled for the other twelve tracks, all of which are high calibre and worthy of the name.
Denander redeems himself with instrumental closers '
Them Changes' and '
Jason', and heard back to back, they form a splendidly apposite end to a (mostly) cracking little album.
Written by
Brian Tuesday, May 16, 2006
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