Released by : earMusic
Release Date: Out Now!!!
Genre: Rock
Links: http://www.reeftheband.com/
Line Up:
Gary Stringer – Vocals, acoustic guitar, tambourine
Jesse Wood – Guitar
Jack Bessant – Bass guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboard, backing vocals
Dominic Greensmith – Drums
Tracklist:
Reef ‘Revelation’ Review
1) Revelation
2) My Sweet Love
3) Provide
4) How I Got Over
5) Don’t Go Changing Your Mind
6) Precious Metal
7) Just Feel Love
8) Ball And Chain
9) First Mistake
10) Darling Be Home Soon
11) Lone Rider
12) Like A Ship (Without A Sail)
After seeing Reef in The Cavern in Exeter many years ago, and enjoying a touch of body surfing to ‘Raise Your Hands’, I was looking forward to hearing this, their fifth studio album. Boy, was I in for surprise….
‘Revelation’ is a lively, upbeat opener, with a surprisingly ACDC quality about it. This really is a revelation with the most awesome old school rock vibe, great backbeat, great gravelly vocals…loving this!!!! Please, please, please let the whole album be this good!!
Delivered with aplomb and with an unapologetically country feel to it, ‘My Sweet Love’ has guest vocals from no less than Sheryl Crow. Kick back with a beer in your hand on your porch and ENJOY! This really is class!
The bongo drum and keyboard mellow start to ‘Provide’ produces an uplifting stunner of a track which is slightly reminiscent of the The Black Crowes and does not disappoint…the harmonies of the backing choir make this the perfect summertime song. Whilst ‘Don’t Go Changing Your Mind’ is in the same vein but with more defined gospel choir harmonies.
‘How I Got Over’ brings a real dose of deep south evangelical joy to the fray with superb call and response vocals and the perfect gospel blues drums and keyboard to accompany it.
‘Precious Metal’ is a total turn around back to rock with a hint of a Hawkwind opening and then straight to it with a deep down and dirty….well….preciously heavy metal track. A call to rock rallying cry completely.
‘Just Feel Love’ ….fools us again with a very heavy Black Sabbath beat to its dark, dark, sexy love ..Or is it lust….song. Black, beautiful, hot and heavy …..Just marvelous!
With ‘Ball And Chain’ galloping us through a chomping, cheeky chant and then the soulful ‘First Mistake’ bringing us to a bar drowning our sorrows, Revelation is refreshing as it is surprising, constantly changing tempo and genre, but this is done very, very well indeed.
The album starts to draw to an end with the cheerfully upbeat ‘Oh Darling Come Home Soon’ and ‘Lone Rider’, with its honky-tonk piano, slide guitar and crescendo of backing singers.
The finale is the perfect end to the perfect album. 70’s groove is revisited with ‘Like a Ship (Without a Sail)’, LOVE this track! Think of old Stevie Wonder combined with Shaft and sit back and just drown in those harmonies once again. AMAZING!
I can count on one hand the number of albums that I actually LOVE listening to all the tracks too, and now, I have added one more to my very short list. Although ‘Revelation’ has hints of influences of many music genres (which album doesn’t to some degree?), Reef has put their own stamp on this sound for sure.
Gary Stringer has cleverly changed his vocals to suit each track so well, that sometimes it could actually be someone else singing, but then his liquid gold presence comes back each time and never disappoints the listener.
This is a bloody excellent…..you are CRAZY if you don’t buy this…..
Score: 10 out of 10
Reviewed by: Francijn Suermondt
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