Artist: Ladder, The
Label: Escape Music
Released: 2007
The Ladder is a band that, with the names of former members of the famous British AOR rockers FM (Steve Overland, Pete Jupp and Bob Skeat), at first promised a classic FM reunion. Well, that never happened. The guys decided to form a new band called The Ladder, which in 2004 put out an album of previously unreleased FM songs titled “Future Miracles”. The guys re-recorded those tracks completely from scratch. The album also featured the excellent guitarist Vinnie Burns, formerly of Dare and Ten.
A good three years have gone by since then. In that time Overland released the new Shadowman album “Different Angles” (2006). But those three years were very productive for The Ladder too, which has obviously grown into a proper, permanent band. The lineup of Overland, Jupp, Skeat and an interesting pick on guitar, Gerhard Pichler (Poley/Pichler), has written 11 brand-new original songs.
The music on “Sacred” is, compared to what Overland does in Shadowman, a bit more wound up, with the riffs noticeably pushed to the front and a somewhat tougher production. Still, it’s Steve Overland’s voice that leaves the biggest impression when listening, in The Ladder too. Anyone who knows Shadowland will quickly notice that the choruses in particular are built very similarly in The Ladder’s music. It’s a careful blend by old foxes who perfectly understand how to fuse the lead vocal melody with vocal harmonies. The choruses are totally subordinate to the vocals and hit the kind of melodic perfection we expect from these seasoned masters of the AOR trade. Steve Overland is the single most important factor that keeps The Ladder away from anything you could call a cliché. His tone is as clean as ever, and his singing stands out nicely from peers who stick strictly to the classic melody, because the man always adds a terrific pinch of soul/bluesy touch, which effectively kills any chance of monotony and enriches the album with heartfelt painting of moods. The man is once again top-notch in his approach.
That said, The Ladder is clearly a step away from Shadowland in that the whole album sounds quite a bit darker and heavier, and the guys left the guitars with a slightly dirty, modern-sounding “groove” in the production. Those riffs also build most of the framework of the sonic picture that Overland’s vocals lean on, and with them most of the melody. Interestingly, the mid-tempo opener Body & Soul fools the listener here, since with the multi-part vocal harmonies in the chorus, Overland is absolutely the dominant figure of the song. The very next track, Sacred, then flags the point with a distinctly dark and emphatic riff. This intriguing fusion of ultra-melodic vocal arrangements with a harder, darker, more prominent riff puts Sacred in a really interesting spot.
Generally speaking, with the way he builds his vocal arrangements and with the sheer color of his voice, Overland would do great in pop. Some of the material on Sacred carries those tendencies too, like the ballad Something To Believe or the melodically standout, faster Run To You, and right after it another superbly melodic gem, Here I Am. But broadly speaking, the album marries a prominent riff with commercial-sounding melodies. In other words, modern, contemporary-sounding classic AOR with a tougher riff. The drama is boosted by added samples at the openings and endings of songs, which lifts the album’s dynamics. The tightly wound riff and the sampling are both subordinate to the melody throughout, and “Sacred” is still basically a typical AOR album, just taken out with a lovely dose of freshness and the modern sound of the new millennium. Besides the title track, moments like that include Sea Of Love, Make A Wish and Mean Streets. The old cats know their stuff, they know exactly what they want, with a heart set on the eighties but with excellent studio mileage and a modern sonic upgrade of the classic.
So The Ladder isn’t the same as Shadowman, but it’s close enough that Shadowman fans will find something to love in The Ladder too. That The Ladder are (roughly speaking) a modern-day FM hardly needs saying, so they land on the radar of all FM fans as well. “Sacred” is an interesting album, a classic commercial-sounding AOR record, but run through the currents of modern studio touches. An extremely fresh, flowing album, and within the confines of the genre the songs reach a high level of variety in their basic motifs. “Sacred” is a must, or at the very least a warm recommendation, for all fans of top-quality AOR.
Lineup
Steve Overland – vocals
Gerhard Pichler – guitar
Bob Skeat – bass
Pete Jupp – drums
Production
Steve Overland & Pete Jupp
Tracklist
1. Body And Soul
2. Scared
3. Something To Believe In
4. All Of My Life
5. Believe In Me
6. Run To You
7. Here I Am
8. Sea Of Love
9. Make A Wish
10. Mean Streets
11. Abandoned
Album length: 53.45
