Melodic Rock
Frontiers Music srl
Release date – February 17th 2023
Line Up:
Robin McAuley – Vocals
Andrea Seveso – Guitars
Alessandro Del Vecchio – Bass/Keyboards
Nicholas Papapicco – Drums
Tracklist:
1 – Alive
2 – Dead As A Bone
3 – Bless Me Father
4 – Feel Like Hell
5 – Can’t Go On
6 – The Endless Mile
7 – Fading Away
8 – My Only Son
9 – When The Time Has Come
10 – Stronger Than Before
11 – Who I Am
Robin McAuley, he of the big voice and even bigger hair, held the mic for Grand Prix, Far Corporation, Survivor, Black Swan and not forgetting two tenures with Michael Schenker. Now, here we have a solo effort featuring the obligatory Frontiers maestro Alessandro Del Vecchio who handles the production, bass, and keyboards plus Andrea Seveso on guitar and Nicholas Papapicco on drums.
A lilting piano begins ‘Alive’ which is then joined by a gritty guitar line and before you know it, we’re off on a dark melodic rocker. McAuley is in a fine voice full of power and precision and there’s a wonderful background melody by Del Vecchio. ‘Dead As A Bone’ is a mid-paced rocker then things get heavier on ‘Bless Me Father’ which has another superb performance from McAuley. ‘Feel Like Hell’ has a Scorpions feel – arena-sized modern heavy rock before the ballad ‘Can’t Go On’ which is pretty generic and plods along. Things pick up with ‘The Endless Mile’ where Seveso brings some heavy lines before it gets downright dirty and sleazy on ‘Fading Away’. ‘My Only Son’ sounds very NWOBHM believe it or not then it’s hair metal time on ‘When The Time Hs Come’. The riff to ‘Stronger Than Before’ bears more than a passing resemblance to Ozzy’s ‘Bark At The Moon’ and then its hair metal again on the final cut ‘Who I Am’.
This is a fine effort from McAuley, his performances on this is world class and he uses every bit of his range and power which is impressive. Here’s my gripe – Frontiers are flooding the market with records that pretty much sound the same – something’s gotta give. It’s becoming a bit generic and sterile, maybe letting someone else loose on the production and writing. Just a thought.
Score: 7/10
Reviewed by: Smudge
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