Artist: Jamison, Jimi
Label: Frontiers Records
Release: 2012
Running time: 46:17
Rating: 4/5
With Jimi Jamison, it was always mostly other people writing his music. He doesn’t need more than the vocal brilliance that was laid in his cradle, where he’s ruled since forever, ripening over the years like good old wine on the back of a heartfelt devotion to the legacy of the west-coast AOR principle.
On the previous album, the partnership with Jim Peterik, his former Survivor companion, seemed almost inseparable. The result was a fantastic record, »Crossroads Moment« – RockLine review HERE, one of the best in melodic rock in 2008. The year before last, Jimi released a joint album with Bobby Kimball, the legendary original voice of Toto, “Kimball/Jamison” (2011) – RockLine review HERE, and he pops up on stages around the world with his backing band every now and then. No rest for the wicked, in other words. Peterik, though, didn’t have much time while Jamison’s new album was coming together, since he was busy with the new Pride Of Lions album »Immortal« (2012) – RockLine review HERE.
Every change, however small, within the narrowly defined expressive range of the AOR genre is always welcome, and Jamison took advantage of that. For the new album »Never To Late« he gathered a trusted crew of European musicians around him. He didn’t want to leave anything to chance, so he picked Swedish players, known for their exceptional precision, flawless instrumental polish and an innate feel for melodic perfection. And none of this would be possible without the Scandinavian devotion to AOR. Erik Mårtensson (Eclipse, W.E.T.), who worked on the Jamison – Kimball album, contributed the bulk of the arrangements for Jamison’s record too. Most of »Never To Late«, was made in 2011 and 2012.
No Peterik, so “Never Too Late” doesn’t lean toward the sound and style of Survivor, but that’s still far from putting off fans of Jamison’s work from his new record, or Survivor fans for that matter. First and foremost, “Never Too Late” leans toward Journey. The Swedish AOR school learned from the pioneering school of AOR giants from San Francisco. And that feeling is reinforced across the whole album by Jamison’s vocals, the very color of his voice, which still hits on all cylinders in the highest vocal registers, while the middle range has a warm velvetiness that only gets thicker and denser in expressive color and sentiment as it matures. There’s sensuality in abundance on this album. I Can’t Turn Back – a mid-tempo track, is the highlight of the first half of the record, and what gets you in particular is its outstanding chorus melody, which grabs you by the ears in an instant, since it packs a hefty dose of pure-blooded AOR bombast.
Never mind that Jamison and the crew of musicians, led by Mårtensson, aren’t inventing anything we haven’t heard before, this album bursts with hypnotic AOR conviction. In every note hammered out, every lead motif, every vocal line, the specifics of Jamison’s voice. Simple as that. Seasoned old foxes with all that “streetwise” mileage, years full of accumulated experience, can’t wade into currents that would knock the solid ground from under their feet in a musical environment where they feel right at home and which they’ve always handled with serious conviction.
Jamison’s new solo album also has more liveliness and sonic warmth in the production, which is of course partly down to its “Europeanization”. Still, the instruments are played with more softness than on the Jamison Kimball album. Since Mårtensson’s W.E.T. are extremely close to Journey, and Eclipse like to flirt with a metallic edge in their production, we can say that »Never To Late« is Jamison’s hardest record of his career. The hardest? Hello? The adjective “hard” is almost too coarse a term for the sort of thing Jamison has achieved. The hardest since his work with Cobra. But that was a long, long time ago, wasn’t it, Jimi? The guitar edge in the production is emphasized especially on the uptempo numbers, like Street Survivor.
An album of full dynamic development, with an all-round full-blooded sweep of the tried-and-true AOR template, from the uptempo, through the mid-tempo, to the ballad moments (The Air I Breathe). Flawless. With perfection and a hefty dose of routine. A very, very nice record. Nothing new, even if it’s a notch different in style and sound from its predecessor “Crossroads Moment” (2008), but it’s proven to work. Just as you’d expect from Jamison and, last but not least, just what you’d expect from his vocal caliber and performance.
Line-up
Jimi Jamison – vocals
Erik Mårtensson – guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
Magnus Ulfstedt – drums
Jonas Öijvall – Hammond B3 organ, piano, synthesizers
Magnus Henriksson – lead guitar on “Street Survivor” & “Heaven Call Your Name”
Production
Erik Mårtensson
Tracklist
1. Everybody’s Got A Broken Heart
2. The Great Unknown
3. Never Too Late
4. I Can’t Turn Back
5. Street Survivor
6. The Air I Breathe
7. Not Tonight
8. Calling The Game
9. Bullet In The Gun
10. Heaven Call Your Name
11. Walk On (Wildest Dreams)
