New Music Review : Target - In Range : Dangerdog Music Reviews : Craig Hartranft

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Target: In Range

Melodic Hard Rock

4.0/5.0

Website (Label)
Escape Music
Review: Craig Hartranft
Added: 18.10.2017

With Target we drift back into some serious classic rock history. The Memphis band features two notable players, though you may not recognize one of them. The first is exceptional vocalist Jimi Jamison, who went on to fame with Survivor and Cobra. The second is bass player Tony Cathey, possibly not quite so well known to some. He played with seminal Christian rock band DeGarmo & Key for many albums and many years. Cathey's on stage trademark look was a black suit and shirt with a white tie, white fedora with a black band, and sunglasses. I remember it well: I saw the band many times in the Eighties. Cathey was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall Of Fame in 2011 with Degarmo & Key (along with Johnny Cash).

Target was one of Jamison and Cathey's first bands. They cut two albums for A&M Records, 1976's Target and 1977's Captured. A third album was recorded in 1979, but was never published, until now. In Range surfaces thanks to the UK's Escape Music.

Target (circa 1978)

Being the late Seventies and hailing from Memphis, you can probably deduce the Target sound. The foundation to the Target sound is classic melodic hard rock, then drop in some Seventies blues, boogie, and Southern country, though the last is minimal. Next to the fine vocal harmonies and keen melody, the vital component is a lively and vibrant rhythm groove found in every song. It's the kind of groove you might both rock out to and dance to. Target rounds out this venerable sound with solid riffs, bristling solos, and a swollen rhythm section. The best representations of this formula come with the brisk Tight Wire, the low and groovy Hold Tight, the rowdy Means That Much, and the guitar-fired Come On. But the highlight might be Love Magician as it features some sweet saxophone from Gary Topper (Tony Bennett, Al Green, Keith Richard, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, among others).

While some might call it vintage or retro rock, Target's In Range is a fine album of classic Seventies melodic hard rock.

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