July Album of the Month
This is unfair! Most rock albums have, if they are lucky, one great song for radio. This album has three, four, five… yes, that’s the real and very rare dilemma with this album: which song to play?! I was very fortunate to be given the opportunity to give the first radio play to Tokyo. This was a perfect rock single in so many respects but I will never forget my first listen to the four promo tracks I was sent. I played Tokyo. It rocked. I then listened to Ratio and thought ’hang on a minute, this is an opus!’ And whilst wondering whether it should be Ratio I played instead of Tokyo, then came Fee Fi Fo Fum – a rip-roaring party song that many a rock band would be thankful to have as an album opener and lead single.
No need to mince words here, Welcome to the World is an exceptional album, and it’s one that has certain shelf life. The album was released in April, but I have taken a few months to digest this album and see how the songs have translated during the band’s summer tour and festival dates.
With this new album, the band has taken a giant stride forward from their earlier material and it marks the arrival of a band that simply cannot be ignored. Melodic, dramatic, powerful and well produced.
In The Day We Fell and Sixteen (B side to Tokyo) the band showcases the sheer musical diversity they are capable of and with Ratio they showcase their qualities for great and clever lyrics.
In Barry, rock has another great showman in the British rock tradition but don’t be fooled by his fun-loving stage antics. The vocal performance on this album has a quality and a range that mark him out as one of today’s great rock singers.
2016 has been a year when we have lost many of our musical heroes. It is a fitting time, perhaps, to focus on the young bands that will give rock a future and free radio from re-playing endless yester-year hits from yesterday’s great bands. For anyone that thinks rock is dead – it’s time to open your eyes to the new generation of bright young rock bands that are making their mark. And on the merits of this album, your journey begins with Welcome to The World, an early contender for rock album of the year.
