Artist: Action
Label: Frontiers Records
Release: 2007
Rating: 2/5
It doesn’t get much more retro than this! Old-school AOR with tangible nods to the foundations laid by Boston (in places the vocals sit in the mid-range) and the way the basic riffs are built (the songs Destiny, Someday, Is It Love, Heaven Tonight, Feel The Fire), with solos that often flirt with the long “pull off” bends of Neil Schon’s (Journey) melodic, wailing guitar. Of course, they can’t match such a bright, clean arena-polished production, or the magic touch Schon has, but that Journey melody does pop up here and there on “Action”.
The songs swing in quality from one to the next. They don’t reach an equal level of consistency when it comes to polish, and the dramatic atmosphere that’s conjured up successfully in some tracks often slides into run-of-the-mill pathos. That’s not so much down to the vocals, which are clean, charismatic, expressive, assured, polished and melodic, with a sweet yet charismatically calm approach in the gentler parts of the songs, as to the predictability and at times excessive formulaic feel of the riffs (the songs Loveless, Here In My Heart). The only ballad, or rather power ballad, Forever, ignites masterfully though!
“Action” is the debut of the band of the same name, which formed 20 years ago but was buried pretty quickly, so releasing it in the eighties never happened. So this is a living relic, which can boast a more mature, i.e. modern-sounding production, with much livelier contrasts between the riffs, the vocals and the rhythm section.
This release will appeal to everyone who’s dying for the sounds of classic eighties AOR bands from the US like Boston, Danger Danger, Nelson and, of course, Journey. The only thing missing is a somewhat “bigger” arena sound. The keyboards in particular are buried too deep in the overall sound, and the album lacks bombast. The riffs don’t get that “push up” that the right keyboard backdrop provides (in AOR). The multi-part vocal harmonies, which the band definitely knows how to carve nicely into the peaks of individual verses or use to drench the choruses, don’t manage to fully fix that either. Action haven’t said their last word yet. There’s still plenty of room to maneuver and step up from an otherwise perfectly decent, above-average AOR debut.
Lineup
Jack Marques – vocals
David “Chip” Ramos – guitar
Ruben Demello – keyboards
David Choquette – backing vocals
Dave Wilding – backing vocals
Chris Sutherland – bass guitar
Chris Longo – drums
Mark Duane – drums
Production
Ron Vining & Action
Track List
1. Without Your Love
2. Someday
3. Here In My Heart
4. Destiny
5. Forever
6. Loveless
7. Don’t Leave Me Lonely
8. Heaven Tonight
9. Cinderella
10. Feel The Fire
11. Is It Love
Duration: 47.48
