Label: Escape Music
Release date: April 22, 2022
Production: John Elefante
Album length: 56.21 min.
Genre: Art Rock
Rating: 9.0/10
John Elefante is a pretty familiar name to fans of melodic rock and AOR, mostly thanks to his brief stint with American prog-rock legends Kansas, with whom he put out two albums in the first half of the eighties. Elefante was a hugely important piece of the puzzle back then, and he did a lot to help Kansas successfully adapt their sound and style, which let them make it through the “crisis” years of the eighties that hit so many of their prog-rock contemporaries.
But Elefante isn’t known only as a vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and excellent songwriter. He’s also a very successful producer who has worked on a whole host of albums for plenty of artists. Over the years he’s also made a name with his project Mastedon and a handful of solo albums, the latest of which, “On My Way To The Sun,” came out nine years ago. Elefante is a huge perfectionist. Nine years is a long time, and the new album “The Amazing Grace” is basically a fresh, spotless distillation of the best this legendary musician can offer today. It blends hard rock, eighties pop, pompous AOR moments and highly inspired, playful detours into prog-rock territory (among others the songs Won’t Fade Away and Time Machine), which results in a one-of-a-kind stew that’s hard to compare directly with anything except, of course, Elefante’s earlier solo albums. “The Amazing Grace” will certainly be interesting to all fans of Kansas and Mastedon, and at times also to fans of The Seventh Key albums, the side project of Kansas bassist Billy Greer.
The album is incredibly cleverly detailed and polished in terms of production. Arrangement-wise it’s layered and lavishly rich. Guitar phrases are joined by string and woodwind arrangements, and the songs are often deftly decked out with top-notch vocal harmonies, especially around the pre-choruses and the insanely catchy chorus melodies. Elefante remains an amazing tightrope walker. Seasoned and refined. The musical payoff, in the art-rock fine mechanics that drive the content of Elefante’s new record without a single stumble, is basically flawless. The album worms its way into your ear instantly, even though it’s packed with finesse and a devoted stacking of the building blocks of a rich sonic picture, or musical landscape, which thanks to its perfect polish (to put it bluntly: “complicated stuff that doesn’t sound complicated”) wins you over at every turn.
A bunch of outstanding musicians guest on the album, which is incredibly lively in its aura and feels organic, with an organic sonic warmth running through it. It goes from playful moments that would make even someone like Jeff Lynne (ELO) bug out his eyes (Little Brown Book – the verse opens with a slight boogie flavor that recalls ELO’s Don’t Bring Me Down), to the brilliant art rock ballad Not Alone with its brilliant closing guitar solo, to the at times meditative mood-building of the opening City Of Grace, whose extended version wraps up this excellent album. “The Amazing Grace” is incredibly varied and diverse in its musical substance. Bold, at times unpredictable, and above all its dynamics and the theater of it all are lifted by the combination of a heap of finesse, superbly polished modulations and entrances into mid-eight passages, where the exceptional talent and polish of the album’s whole crew really sparkle.
Lyrically, Elefante remains a humble, God-fearing Catholic. He’s searching for higher spheres and a state of inner peace, and he knows there’s no enlightenment without walking the thorny path. At times the aura of this album, musically and not just lyrically, will feel kindred to fans of Neil Morse’s work.
“The Amazing Grace” is an album of extremely mature compositional rhetoric and brilliant production levers, one that fans of demanding music in particular will appreciate, even though it sounds so musical. With this record Elefante proves his exceptional musical maturity. Vocally, too, he remains a superb performer. “The Amazing Grace” is an album you simply enjoy. It’s that something we’ve always been used to getting from John Elefante. Once again, the guy didn’t disappoint in the slightest.
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Tracklist:
1. City Of Grace (4:12)
2. Stronger Now (4:40)
3. The Amazing Grace (5:18)
4. Time Machine (4:50)
5. Won’t Fade Away (5:15)
6. Not Alone (6:39)
7. Falling Into Place (5:24)
8. We Will Be Fine (4:21)
9. Little Brown Book (5:02)
10. And When I’m Gone (4:20)
11. City Of Grace (long version) (6:15)
Lineup:
John Elefante – vocals, backing vocals, guitar, keyboards
Jonell Mosser – vocals on tracks 1 and 11
Dave Cleveland – guitar
Frank Boxberger – guitar
Dave Cleveland – acoustic guitar
Dustin Blatnik – acoustic guitar on track 6
Jimmy Nichols – piano on track 10
Anthony Sallee – drums
Dan Needham – drums
Eric Darken – percussion
Chris Carmichael – string arrangements
