Chris Ousey has seemingly been around forever and has been knocking on that door, but never quite gaining the recognition he deserves. Most people will know of him from fronting the band Heartland. He is blessed with a voice that many would die for, with those silky bluesy tones, it’s the perfect vehicle to showcase that voice to the max.
Ousey is joined here by a killer backing group of Billy Sheehan on bass, Nigel Glockler on drums, Jim Kirkpatrick on guitars, and Didge Digital on keys – this is high grade melodic rock. There are times when Mr. Big pops into your mind like on Fight Or Flight where Chris’ tone reminds me of Eric Martin. All songs are co- writes between Ousey and Kirkpatrick, so the overall vibe has a British Whitesnake blues and groove feel, with a hint of mid eighties US big hairorama.
Highlights for me are Dangerous Dawn, Fight Or Flight, Overdrive, and my two favourites: the title track The Flood and Stand Up. Both of these rips at a fair pace compared to the rest of the tunes, but the hook and chorus are right on point.
I’m not sure if there will be a Flood 2 but I hope so because this is a very classy set of songs.
8.5/10 from The Grooveman.
