Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Bailey
Label: Frontiers Records
Release: 2014
Length: 54:26
Rating: 4/5
This year’s drought of melodic rock releases from the British Isles is actually being rescued by Nigel Bailey, who pulled his studio debut »Long Way Down« together just before the year ran out. The guy is a hugely experienced musician with a long career behind him, yet he’s only recently started flagging his presence on the melodic rock horizon to the wider music public with official releases. The seeds of Bailey go back to the Three Lions project, under which Nigle Bailey put out a self-titled debut last year (most likely his one and only) alongside his former Ten and Dare buddies, the superb guitarist Vinnie Burns and drummer Greg Morgan.
This time around, Nigel Bailey surrounded himself with a crew of (proven) excellent Italian musicians, which is no accident, since the man signed with the Italian label Frontiers Records. But because he keeps the reins firmly in his own hands, and on top of the vocals he contributed all of the bass lines, most of the rhythm guitars, and the lead guitar phrases and arrangements as well, »Long Way Down« can without any doubt be filed among the textbook examples of the British melodic hard rock and AOR school.
»Long Way Down« draws obvious parallels with the debut »Three Lions«, except that the guitars in the production are a bit »beefed up« and »pushed forward« in the sound picture, which means the album squeezes out a few more decibels and a bit more heft. Individual tracks can sensibly be compared to the solo studio work of Bailey’s countryman Steve Overland, partly thanks to the occasionally similar color of the vocals (Ticket to Yesterday, the opener Feed the Flames). Stay, meanwhile, recalls the songwriting approach of another countryman, Steve Newman, and the same goes for the vocal delivery, as Nigel Bailey adjusts his voice by adding a touch of dark sheen and a pinch of bitterness, which brings him close to Steve Newman again. All in all, though, »Long Way Down« shares family ties with the vibe of British melodic hard rock and AOR acts like Heartland, Kix, and FM too. Since Bailey is a representative of the old school, the songs are now and then weighed down with a classic hard rock moment that stems from the musician’s upbringing on the sounds of blues. Either way, the whole thing is packed with a seriously infectious melodic payoff, which naturally grabs your attention in greedily catchy chorus lines. Amid all the dynamic folding and unfolding of the album’s sound picture, the superbly crafted lead guitar solos in the middle instrumental passages deserve a special mention.
Still, »Long Way Down« doesn’t bring anything the scene hasn’t heard before. Even so, it will surely bring plenty of joy to fans of classic AOR and the melodic rock school established on the British Isles by the bands and artists cited above. A very nice, somewhat predictable record, where the only occasional annoyance is choruses that repeat for too long at the end of songs, it will surely get a studio follow-up in two or three years.
Line-up
Nigel Bailey – vocals, backing vocals, bass guitar, guitar
Mario Percudani – guitar
Alessandro Mori – drums
Alessandro Del Vecchio – keyboards, backing vocals
GUEST MUSICIAN:
Andy Bailey – backing vocals
Production
Alessandro Del Vecchio
Track list
1. Feed The Flames
2. In The Name Of The King
3. Dirty Little Secret
4. Bad Reputation; Stay
5. Somewhere In Oslo
6. Long Way Down
7. Spend The Night
8. Love Falls Down
9. Ticket To Yesterday
10. Dirty Angel
