- New Music Reviews
- |
- Archives
- |
- News
- |
- Submissions
- |
- About
- |
- |
New Music Reviews, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Progressive Rock, Progressive Metal, AOR, Alternative Rock, Alternative Metal
27.07.14
- Unisonic: Light of Dawn
- Sunless Sky: Firebreather
- Johnny Touch: Inner City Wolves
- Knifeworld: The Unraveling
- Dreamside, The: Sorrow Bearing Tree
- Alestorm: Sunset on the Golden Age
20.07.14
- Red February: On The Run
- Rush: Presto (SACD)
- Heylel: Nebulae
- Derdian: Human Reset
- Grave Digger: Return of the Reaper
13.07.14
- Eye Jabs, The: Sounds of the Fourth Dimension
- Uncommon Evolution: Uncommon Evolution (EP)
- Crystal Eyes: Killer
- Forensick: The Prophecy
- AOR: L.A. Connection
- Yes: Heaven & Earth
- Van Burens, The: Presidential Lovefest (EP)
- Ichabod Krane: Day of Reckoning
- Reaper: An Atheist Monument
06.07.14
- Night By Night: NxN
- Steel Prophet: Omniscient
- Distorted Harmony: Chain Reaction
- Intelligent Music Project II: My Kind O' Lovin'
- Relapse Symphony, The: Shadows
- Bowness, Tim: Abandoned Dancehall Dreams
Summer, Joey: Written on the Horizon
Melodic Rock/AOR
Rating: 3.25/5.0
Avenue of Allies Records
www.myspace.com/joeysummer2009
www.joeysummer.com
Review: Craig Hartranft, 06.14.2010
Veteran Brazilian vocalist and guitarist Joe Summer pushes into the international scene with his first all-English album, Written on the Horizon. The substance of the work is, as in the past, pure melodic rock akin to the best of the Eighties. Mr. Summer is a strong vocalist, a sound guitarist, and a skillful song writer. On the last, he gets some help from significant contributors including Goran Edman and Fredrick Bergh providing (and performing on) two Street Talk songs (Don't Believe and Tables Turning), Michael Bormann (Anymore), and ex-Europe guitarist Kee Marcello (Rough Ride to Paradise). Longtime friend and keyboardist Daniel Lamas cowrites with Summer for the other songs.
With depth of Summer's skills and the quality of the contributors you would expect Written on the Horizon to be a brilliant dynamo of melodic rock, and you would be right to do so. Yet, though every composition and performance is sound, Summer really does not offer anything tremendously new, or unexpected, here. Written on the Horizon is neither mediocre nor earthshaking, merely consistent melodic rock, with sometimes a harder edge. Few songs jump off the disc, enlighten your ears, or encourage you to blow out your speakers. If I had to pick Rise Up, Written on the Horizon, and Brand New Day would be the songs that represent the strongest caliber of Written on the Horizon. Otherwise, at this point and beyond review purposes, this will qualify for repeated listens. Nevertheless, Joey Summer's Written on the Horizon remains solid, consistent, but typical melodic rock.