Artist: Airrace
Label: Frontiers Records
Release: 2011
Runtime: 42:27
Rating: 4.5/5
“In the rock world, Airrace are known mainly as the launchpad for Jason Bohnam, where the son of Led Zeppelin’s legendary drummer John Bohnam kicked off his music career, though those in the know will tell you the band was once highly regarded in melodic rock circles. Airrace released their debut album “Shaft of Light” in October 1984, and the pages of music magazines practically buckled under the weight of the superlatives that the freshly released debut collected in reviews. The strong label backing that was propping up the hot fashionable rock style of the day is confirmed for Airrace by the choice of Beau Hill at the producer’s helm (Ratt, Winger, Fiona…). Despite the positive reception and shows alongside giants like AC/DC, Queen and Meat Loaf, Airrace evidently didn’t take the whole thing seriously enough and soon, in the summer of 1985 to be exact, they called it quits” – Urba Bolta, RockLine. 23.05.2011
“Back To The Start” is exactly what the album title hints at: picking up right where “Shaft Of Light” left off. And the new album sounds like it was written, recorded and released in 1985, not 2011. That also hints at the fact that the band has revived and reactivated old, long-matured musical ideas for the new record, because they reach an exceptional structural variety, and the album as a whole, as a result, shows clear variety and high, vibrant dynamics across many different moods. The band has poured the whole essence of what it embodied during its short-lived existence in the mid-eighties into the new album. The songwriting style, the arrangements, the production, the feel of a live record, as if the band had played a concert and recorded it in the studio, which these days only rock dinosaurs like Uriah Heep, Journey, Foreigner and Deep Purple still pull off when they get down to their studio work. That feeling that “Back To The Start” was played as a studio concert is the first solid proof that even if you’ve never read a thing about Airrace before sticking the new album in your CD player, it’s obvious that what’s spinning inside is the real deal from the old rock school. As for the new production, it’s a lot wiser and more mature in its design and confirms the band’s tremendous experience. It has fully captured the spirit of the eighties and dressed it in a lively, dynamic, juicy and full-bodied sonic outfit.
The track Two Of A Kind is a direct mix of quips drawn from the pioneering rock bands of the late seventies. The decorative harmonized guitar motif over the lead phrase revives the production pioneering methods of Boston, the backing vocal harmonies in the chorus smell like they came straight from the cues laid down by Uriah Heep or The Sweet, while Keith Murrel, throughout the song (especially in the chorus), brings to life an erogenously potent feel that doesn’t hide its flirtation with the energy of Foreigner (the recent stuff too). These elements show up on the album in different doses, wisely worked into the cores of the songs, fanning and strengthening their moods and atmospheres.
Further in, it’s interesting how some motifs recall classic riffs in rock and heavy metal. This isn’t copying, the Airrace guys don’t need that. It’s simply a matter of absorbing the phenomenon of music that’s in the band members’ DNA and in their very “upbringing” listening to heavy rock bands of the late seventies. The middle instrumental section of Better Believe It is underpinned by a guitar phrase that bears an unmistakable structural resemblance to the guitar phrase of Strong Arm Of The Law by Saxon, though otherwise the song has nothing to do with Saxon.
Of course there’s no shortage of AOR contagiousness on the album, it’s simply soaked in it. Sometimes more, sometimes less. In terms of purism, three tracks stand out. The album opener Keep On Going, an effectively fermented combination of rock punch and pompous melodics taken from the Journey recipe, is recapitalized even more effectively later on the album with the dramatic So Long, as well as in the closer What More Do You Want From Me?, where Airrace lean most noticeably on the old-school sound of late-seventies synthesizers, the kind once used long ago by bands like Triumph, April Wine, Trillion, Angel,….
Keith Murrell is an interesting vocal blend, embodying the high melodic flexibility of Steve Perry (Journey), but adding a pinch of improvisation, in its energetic shades occasionally brought close to the excellence of Glenn Hughes. The sweetly catchy Call Me Anytime, where Keith exploits that wonderfully subtle feel for adding pinches of soul improvisation, sounds at first listen as if Glenn Hughes had landed in the middle of a band that merges members of The Sweet and Foreigner into one, especially because of the poisonously catchy piano work that takes the initiative over the guitar phrase.
The return with “Back To The Start” recalls the power and unbreakable charisma of today’s Foreigner, who released their one-of-a-kind comeback album “Cant’ Slow Down” in 2009. The songs have a clear expressive definition and exceptional motivic variety. Every one of them has tremendous charisma and expressive power and a clearly emphasized accent all its own. No cosmetic makeup here, Airrace don’t love overcomplicating things, all that counts is a feeling of aliveness that convinces you in every second of this album. This is an album whose good 42 minutes spin by before you even realize it. And when they’re done, you hit “play” on the CD player again without any trouble. An album that, from the moment of its birth, clearly hints it’ll easily stand the test of time. We waited 27 years for it. Times have changed, so only those listeners who lived out their “teenage” years in the mid-eighties will cherish it. Let’s hope Airrace get an invite to open for Foreigner on a future European tour. The material on “Back To The Start” simply has to ring out on European stages!
Line-up
Keith Murrell – vocals
Laurie Mansworth – guitar
Dean Howard – guitar
Chris Williams – keyboards
Jim Reid – bass guitar
Simon Dawson – drums
Track list
1. Keep On Going
2. Two Of A Kind
3. When Baby
4. Call Me Anytime
5. So Long; Back To Start
6. Just One Kiss; Wrong Way Out
7. One Step Ahead
8. Enough Of Your Loving
9. Better Believe It
10. What More Do You Want From Me?
