Label: Battlegod Productions
Release date: 18.06.2019
Production: Tony Mills & Pete Newdeck
Album length: 42.12 min
Genre: AOR / melodic rock
Rating: 9.0 / 10
Tony Mills is one of the finest vocalists to make a name for himself back in the late, great eighties on the British Isles. He fronted the cult AOR outfit Shy, who, despite their incredible potential, sadly never managed to break through and climb into the upper ranks of what was then a hugely popular genre, and so remain unfairly overlooked to this day. He sang on the best and most highly regarded records of Shy’s career. In the new millennium he joined the Norwegian hard rock legends TNT and made three albums with them, which are light years away from the band’s golden days. At the same time, Mills really ramped up his solo career in the new millennium and lined up some very solid albums. The latest of them, “Beyond the Law”, came out just this June. Sadly, and quite literally, the last one, because Tony passed away this September, when he finally had to admit defeat to pancreatic cancer and lost his final battle.
What a shame. He wasn’t even sixty when the rattling old hag with the scythe called him over, just like she’ll call all of us. Some sooner, some later. Usually the best go first. Anyway, the name Tony Mills can’t and mustn’t be forgotten. In the last months of his life the man was working hard to make sure that a (posthumous) anthology of his musical journey could come out too, in the form of a double compilation CD. We’ll see whether his colleagues finish and pull off the project he set in motion.
In short, Tony Mills and his album “Beyond The Law” remain a typical example of the “British school” of AOR, but with modern production touches. Musically, Mills most closely follows his solo studio albums, of course. The soaring, highly contagious chorus melody remains the guiding principle, and the atmospheric crescendo in every song is backed up by a build-up of theatrical drama through the verse and pre-chorus. There’s a top-notch choice of modulations and transitional “connective tissue”, complete with solos tucked into the mid-eight passages. The man was always considered an excellent songwriter, and this time he’s got a solid backbone in the shrewd and incredibly experienced studio legionnaire Tommy Denander. The album delivers positive messages throughout, even though it touches on some dark themes too, and it’s interesting that it doesn’t give off even a hint of the quiet farewell of this singer, who, back when the album was being made, knew full well that his days were numbered.
A good 40 minutes of excellent music that will be tailor-made for all the “surviving” devotees of this style. For metalheads and punks it’ll be “too sugary”, of course, but the discipline of writing music like this is quite possibly the hardest thing rock’n’roll knows, though that’s a topic for a wider debate. Ten strong tracks, full of ideas and stylistically in tune with each other, guarantee the album’s high dynamics. In execution and production? No. Forget the polished sound of the eighties albums, with which “Beyond the Law” keeps a traditional bond. Mills went for as live a feel as possible on this album too, so the guitars build a noticeable “oomph” into the sonic picture. The guitar riffs are a little bit pouty in the production (by no means overdone, the way it goes with the German approach), although they’re often accompanied by that specific synthesized eighties sound, which Tony’s former Shy buddy Patrick McKenna brings to the album.
For the grand finale of his life’s journey, Mills delivered superb vocals once again. Across every register he shows off his authority and the greatness of an exceptional vocal talent with effortless ease, mastering every vocal challenge thrown at him. He’s explosive across the whole range, including the very highest notes that marked the unforgettable Shy albums. Yes. The material on the new album is also easily comparable to the Shy records, especially the two particularly perfect ones released in the post-millennium era (Unfinished Bussiness and Sunset And Wine). Black Sedan and Running Guns are cases in point, and these comparisons come to mind across the album’s entire running time. In short, it’s an album that zips through the player in a flash, it’s that varied and detailed. And last but not least, it’s also graced with remarkable sincerity.
“Beyond the Law” is “hard-sounding” enough, carries the production edge of slashing guitar phrases, and at the same time is extremely (and necessarily) musical. The inspiration behind it is laid bare by the album cover itself, which takes us back to the days of Prohibition, when the mafia ruled the American underground, and Mills also occasionally touches on the sixties in his themes, when he spent his childhood.
Behind his vocals stands a team of experienced and respected musicians, known for being remarkably quick on their feet in the studio, namely: the already mentioned Swedish workaholic Tommy Denander (Alice Cooper), who is also the main co-writer of the new album, then drummer Pete Newdeck (Midnite City) and Mills’s Shy colleague, keyboardist Patrick McKenna. Mills split the bass duties among several musicians, and his life partner Linda played the role too.
So what we’ve got here is an incredibly strong, emotional and masterfully composed piece of work, the final artistic statement from Tony Mills, a perfect vocalist whose far too early departure leaves a very real hole in the modern melodic rock scene. His voice radiates the musician’s lifelong devotion to the timeless, energetic universe of musical magic and his wish to keep creating, but fate had other plans. Rest in peace, Tony!
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Tracklist:
1. The Westside
2. Beyond the Law
3. Running Guns
4. F.B.I.
5. Black Sedan
6. We Sold your City
7. Crackin’ Foxy
8. Bonnie’s Farewell
9. Code of Silence
10. Gunfire
Band members:
Tony Mills – vocals
Patrick McKenna – keyboards
Tommy Denander – guitar
Christopher Aldridge – saxophone
Toine Vanderlinden – bass guitar
Josh Williams – bass guitar
Tony Forsythe – bass guitar
Linda Mills – bass guitar
Pete Newdeck – drums
