Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Mecca
Label: Melodic Rock Records
Release: 2016
Duration: 33:52
Rating: 4/5
Joe Vana is a name AOR and melodic rock fans know very well. He’s the man behind the Mecca project. Two albums have come out under that name, in 2002 and 2011, and after a five-year break, here’s a third one: »Mecca III«. The first two albums were the fruit of pure perfectionism in polishing the sound and arranging the songs, squeezing every last drop out of the music and hooking you effectively from the very first spin, so expectations ahead of this release were, of course, sky-high.
This time Joe Vana once again turned to top-notch musicians for help. If the previous Mecca album had Tony Levin and Pat Mastelotto (both of King Crimson) as its rhythm section, this time Vana went looking for a rhythm duo in Toto. Bass is handled by David Hungate, and drums by newly minted Toto member Shannon Forest (whose credits include Tim McGraw, Michael McDonald, Kenny Rogers and Don Henley), who also produced the entire new Mecca album. Then there are a few other aces who can boast the kind of first-rate feel that was chased in the pop music of the eighties, like David Browning (Katy Perry, Amy Grant, Hollywood Heroes) on synths and Tim Akers (Rascal Flatts, Amy Grant, Kid Rock, Alabama), who took care of the Hammond B3 organ and piano.
On »Mecca III« the guitars are a bit sly and tucked away this time. At least, that’s the feeling the album gives as a whole. Production-wise, the songs hit an incredible balance, with every building block of the sonic picture evenly distributed. That goes for all the little details and finesses Vana sweated over while making the new album. From the brilliant placement of vocal harmonies within the arrangements, which accompany Joe Vana’s new, sensual and imposing vocal performance, to the gradual layering of sonic textures as the songs develop, to the integration of extra programmed loops that here and there add drama and beef up the atmosphere. Honestly, any one of these songs could slot onto a Toto album. It’s an excellent album of incredible balance, bringing hard rock, pop and flirtations with jazz and blues under one roof. Lost in time and space. It’ll blast you straight back to the eighties, when AOR was at its peak. Compared to »Mecca II«, a.k.a. »Undeniable«, this one is once again a little softer, with the guitars perfectly balanced against the other ingredients, especially the keyboards, so there’s a bit more pop aesthetic shining through and the flirting with jazz comes across more strongly. Still, some cleverly placed modulations in the arrangements show that real masters of their craft stand behind all this. It’s precisely these vividly seductive modulations, which lead the melody somewhere you don’t expect, like in the excellent Alone, that give a sense of artistic insight and fresh songwriting, even though in AOR pretty much everything was invented long ago. We’re talking about the west coast AOR approach, of course, which Vana, together with a top-class crew of studio collaborators, as a herald of the generation that put AOR on its feet in the eighties, nails like it’s child’s play.
True fans of the genre have had this album in their collection for ages already. It’s expressively powerful as hell. What you might miss is a song or two pushed along at a faster tempo and with a bit more guitar bite, like in the opener, the otherwise splendid Take My Hand, since the album is dominated by songs fixated on stringing together soft sounds, which toward the end really tips the scales in favor of ballad territory. Even so, the songs deliver a distinct duality. A calm verse and a build-up of mood (a gradation) through the pre-chorus into a catchy chorus that crawls under your skin in no time. The album doesn’t even reach 34 minutes. There are barely eight songs on it. But that’s enough. Vana doesn’t let up an inch in ideas or inspiration. In a year with slim pickings for new studio releases in melodic rock and AOR, “Mecca III” is a proper balm for fans of both genres, and it’ll cheer them up and comfort them big time.
Mecca – Take My Hand (official audio):
Lineup
Production
Shannon Forest
Tracklist
1. Take My Hand
2. Unknown
3. Alone
4. Gone
5. Cry
6. A Kiss On the Wind
7. Let It Go
8. Believe
