Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Overland
Label: Escape Music
Release: 2014
Running time: 53;39
Rating: 5/5
Behind the name Overland hides the surname of the splendid English singer and songwriter Steve Overland. Steve Overland is one of the most important, if not outright most influential, names who helped popularize the AOR genre through the eighties, especially after he and his brother Chris, following the breakup of Wildlife, founded the cult band FM. Today FM are considered one of the central bands on the planet, who with their very first album »Indescreet« (1986) defined AOR served up »the British way«.
One thing holds true for Steve: the more mature he gets, the busier he gets. And, luckily, apparently the more creatively prolific, too. Here we have the third Overland studio album, which came out five years after its predecessor »Diamond Dealer« (2009). In the meantime FM reactivated at full throttle and released three excellent studio albums (with a new one currently in the works), while Steve was also involved in the Shadowman project (a team-up with Heartland guitarist Steve Morris), which put out its last album in 2011. So Steve has barely released his new Overland studio album, and he’s already promising that this year will finally see the debut of The Ozone project, this time teaming up with yet another splendid British singer, Chris Ousey (Heartland, Snakecharmer).
So in that overstuffed schedule there was finally enough time for new Overland material too, and for the occasion Steve shook up the crew of collaborators who helped »embody« all his fresh musical ideas in the studio. In place of the Swedish multi-instrumentalist and producer Martin Kronlund, who helped out on »Diamond Dealer«, we find the no less talented hired gun Christian Wolff! He’s a Canadian musician who previously worked with Rob Moratti (Final Frontier, ex-Saga) and in the band On the Rise, among others. Larry Antonino, a name from the legendary American band Unruly Child, picked up the bass, and the outstanding Jay Schellen, also tied to Unruly Child, sat behind the drums. He’s also played in Asia, Hurricane, World Trade, Circa, GPS (and the list isn’t over yet). If you add one of the sharpest and most refined guitar wizards, as well as arranger and producer, Mike Slamer (Seventh Key, ex-Steelhouse Lane), who contributed extra guitar solos and also played bass and keyboards on this album, then it’s clear this record features an exceptional gang of magnificent musicians. By the way, as a special guest Kansas bassist Billy Greer also contributes backing vocals. Together with Slamer, he forms the core creative nucleus of Seventh Key.
The new album offers a more measured sound, let’s call it a more radio-friendly sound compared to its predecessor »Diamond Dealer«, where the guitar could in places really »growl« harder as it let loose its riff decibels. Anyway, it’s hard to say which Overland album is the more radio-friendly one, but the finesse is audible. And in how it wins you over with concise melodicism, »Epic« is instantly, poisonously contagious! The keyboards once again get more expressive character (as on the debut), and the album also sparkles with even greater expressive power in the arranging of outstanding vocal harmonies, which accompany the ever full-bloodedly soulful Steve Overland, a man with a typical vocal hairdo, a specific weightiness laced with subtle soul-pop sentiment.
We can say that on »Epic«, in terms of sound production, Steve Overland has delivered the most mature product of all three Overland releases to date. All the building blocks of the sound sit within the arrangements in perfect sonic balance. The sonic picture is used to the fullest. Even where a guitar riff could dominate the other elements, the guitars never push to the front, but are cunningly balanced with the keyboards throughout.
Once again the album is outstanding at hitting the qualities that are the most prized and sought-after noble ingredients in AOR and melodic rock! The build-up of mood from verse (optionally through a pre-chorus) to the chorus peaks in a chorus that, without fail, catches fire with perfected melodies on the very first listen. Overland pull this off with the pinky of their left hand. The mileage, the experience, the routine are all here! And above all that sits the most important thing, the innate sense for setting up melodic brilliance. Over the years of musical maturing, Steve Overland has honed this to the optimum of his own perception of »perfectly defined melodic catchiness«
From Radio Radio to the last track, Time To Letting Go, the album »Epic« grabs the listener firmly by the ears and, through the extraordinary pomp of its tunes and top-notch melodic stance, keeps them firmly in check. There are no quality dips between the compositions on the album. Fans of perfectly polished AOR, welcome home! This is an album that practically bursts with all that melodic contagiousness and all the little filigree touches. Subtle embellishment of the arrangements. Since you’ll have to pick your own favorites, I’ll personally single out the middle tracks as the album’s highlights. First is the semi-ballad Liberate My Heart with one of the most beautiful choruses on the record, right behind it comes the bombastic AOR beauty Down Comes The Night, which works best on long night drives, and then If Your Heart’s Not In It, which leans toward pop (a »Toto-like« chorus) and where Slamer creates some outstanding guitar moments. Of course, by naming these I could do an instant injustice to the other compositions, which are just as optimally detailed. There’s no getting around the album’s toughest track, which is exactly why it stands out on it. That’s the song Rock Me. It’s brewed in the traditional old-school Deep Purple Mk III manner, or the manner of early Whitesnake. Overland’s typical vocal approach deepens that feeling even further alongside the arrangements, as his soul hairdo evokes possible parallels with the vocal characteristics of Glenn Hughes.
»Epic« occasionally carries arrangement touches and solutions that, in a different musical environment, could drift toward progressive rock. But since what you see and hear is what you get with Overland – a constant, that is – the most you can say under such a feeling is that this is the album with the most »art aesthetics« among the three Overland albums. So what Overland offer with »Epic« definitely stays close to the Shadowman project, and certainly to parts of FM and The Ladder!
»Epic« is an extremely strong album. In terms of songwriting. As far as message goes, very predictable (which AOR album isn’t?), but in terms of composition it belongs right at the peak of AOR craftsmanship! Production-wise, in perfect metrics, down to finely worked-out »mid –eight« passages where Mike Slamer’s knowledge and power run rampant. Every move on the album is subordinated to the absolute construction of gripping emotional states.
Back when FM put out the albums »Rockville« and »Rockvile II« last year, it struck me that Steve Overland and his crew are masters of the craft of repackaging a trick that’s been sold a million times so it hits full-blooded again. As if it were being sold for the very first time. And his prolific streak isn’t fading. »Epic« is the latest proof. A masterpiece!
Lineup
Steve Overland – vocals, backing vocals
Christian Wolff – rhythm guitar, lead guitar, acoustic guitars, keyboards
Mike Slamer – rhythm guitar, lead guitar, keyboards, bass
Larry Antonino – bass
Jay Schellen – drums
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Billy Greer (Kansas/Seventh Key) – backing vocals
Billy Trudel – backing vocals
Fredrik Bergh (ex-Street Talk) – keyboards on tracks 5 and 6
Production
Christian Wolff & Steve Overland
Track list
1. Radio Radio
2. If Looks Could kill
3. Stranded
4. Rags To Riches
5. Liberate My Heart
6. Down Comes The Night
7. If Your Heart’s Not In It
8. Rock Me
9. So This Is Love
10. Wild
11. The End Of The Road
12. Time For Letting Go
