Artist: Voices Of Rock
Label: AOR Heaven Records
Release: 2007
How do you at least partly dodge the usual stereotypes of melodic hard rock? You write ten songs, invite 10 different vocalists who, with 10 different voices, are supposed to bring the required diversity, a kind of invisible veil that could successfully cover up the clichés of a genre that was invented and explored to death long ago.
The masterminds behind the Voices Of Rock project, let’s call it that, are German guitarists Michael Voss (Mad Max, Casanova) and Chris Lausmann (Bonfire, Jaded Heart). This duo supplied the main riffs for all the core ideas and shaped them into melodic hard rock songs.
The song structures and the vibe they capture feel very German, so this album will make fans of Jaded Heart, Frontline and Fair Warning happy. Pink Cream 69, by comparison, already sound a bit heavier, but I’m namedropping them on purpose so you get a better feel for where “MMVII” sits. So: guitars that keep their liveliness and a bit of bite in the production, hugging the central vocal and the multi-part vocal harmonies tightly. Despite that general German feel in how the riffs and riff structures are built and played, the individual singers manage to put their own stamp on it and lift that first impression, to the point where some songs pick up echoes of the singers’ own bands.
You get that confirmation right away in the opener Voodoo Woman with James Christian (House Of Lords) on vocals, which could easily pass for a House Of Lords song. Great, grabby riff, but the chorus is missing that last touch of perfection and somehow never takes off, given how impressively the drama builds toward the way into it. Jean Beauvouir, of Plasmatics and Crown Of Thorns, also breathes a pinch of Crown Of Thorns atmosphere into the album’s second track, Wild Thing – poisonous eroticism runs right through it, it’s a superbly dressed-up tune with multi-part vocal harmonies, one of the album’s peaks, and the chorus especially is dangerously deadly! The album then swerves nicely in both dynamics and mood into Nightingale, a mid-tempo, dramatic, punchy ballad with Slammer/Strangeways singer Terry Brock, whose vocal color and approach bring a whole new energy and a breath of fresh air to the record. It loses some atmosphere and dynamite in the rather predictable Over And Done, built on a repetitive motif of broken bare chords and with Dan Reed (Dan Reed Network) vocals that come off way too sugary. Phoenix Rising does the exact opposite, with the unmistakable stamp of ex-Hardline and Axel Rudi Pell singer Johnny Gioeli and one of the more impressive choruses on the album. The track that follows, Irresistible, is compositionally dressed practically perfectly from head to toe, which is a real surprise given the probably short-lived nature of the Voices Of Rock project. Everything clicks here. Harem Scarem singer Harry Hess is incredibly effective in the chosen melody and the contrast, flowing smoothly from chorus to pre-chorus and back. A song that breathes high and carries a high level of drama. The fatal attraction of the scent of a woman, brrrrrrrrrr… Gentlemen, every last one of you with pants on, surrender to the sweetly intoxicating venom of the black widow! The album loses its edge again with the cliché-ridden China In Your Head, whose opening motif sounds like the great Phil Lynnot (Thin Lizzy) himself handed it to Voss, and of course a melodic hard rock detour follows in the chorus, but very, very predictable… heard too many times under different directors, and not even the quality vocal performance by former Y.J. Malmsteen’s Rising Force singer Göran Edman, also a member of AOR rockers Street Talk, can save it. From here the album turns downright cheesy, as Underloved follows, with vocals by Robin Beck. God forbid I come across as a male chauvinist, but her “dolly” voice simply doesn’t fit the general energy that drives the heart of this album. Two excellent songs in the closing stretch pull the album out of that pit. The first is a proper AOR rocker with softer guitars and a better balance between the instruments in the production, with Steve Overland (FM, Shadowland) on vocals, and of course his voice, with its mild soul touch, is so distinctive that the song gets wings, which fans of good old FM in particular will love. That track is phenomenally built up, dramatically, by what comes next, Love Is Blind, which, alongside Irresistible, is another pure-as-a-tear gem of the album: again a somewhat sharper hard rock riff, but with a typical AOR chorus and multi-part vocal harmonies that even recall the “John Payne Asia era”. A highly dramatic ending to the album, with the bulk of the tragedy delivered by a one-of-a-kind vocal performance from Gary Barden (ex-Michael Schenker Group).
Voices Of Rock and the album “MMVII”? Really. The album is interesting, simply appealing enough when you size it up quickly from head to tail. On it you’ll find three mild misfires and two superbly polished tracks. Everything in between is quality, and the ideas stand convincingly side by side, adding up to an album that, taken as a whole, boasts high-quality compositions and rolling dynamics, and reaches an enviable level of drama, which is the key to smashing hard rock riff templates in general. Voss and Lausmann, seasoned old cats that they are, clearly can’t hide it, and the partnership works. The hyperactive Denander and former Bonfire guitarist Angel G. Schleifer pulled off a nicely calibrated, rhythmically synchronized parallel slalom of guitar solos, which put the dot on the “i” of the songs’ overall tightness. Like I said. An interesting album, a slightly different album, one that isn’t perfect but has surprising gems, as well as two mild “swings and misses”.Try letting it surprise you. Melodic rock fans won’t exactly be thrilled – you won’t find a revelation in “MMVII”, but you definitely won’t be disappointed after listening.
Lineup
James Christian – vocals, track 1
Jean Beauvouir – vocals, track 2
Terry Brock – vocals, track 3
Dan Reed – vocals, track 4
Johnny Gioeli – vocals, track 5
Harry Hess – vocals, track 6
Goran Edman – vocals, track 7
Robin Beck – vocals, track 8
Steve Overland – vocals, track 9
Gary Barden – vocals, track 10
Michael Voss – guitar
Angel G. Schleifer – guitar solos
Tommy Denander – guitar solos
Chris Lausmann – guitar, bass, keyboards
Bertram Engel – drums
Production
Chris Lausmann & Michael Voss
Tracklist
1. Voodoo Woman
2. Wild Thing
3. Nightingale
4. Over And Done
5. Phoenix Rising
6. Irresistible
7. China In Your Hands
8. Underloved
9. Slip Away
10. Love Is Blind
Running time: 44.16
