This compilation has been put together by Escape label boss, Khalil Turk, to celebrate his thirty years in the buzz and head of Escape Music. The participants are a who’s who of the underground melodic rock/aor scene. Of course some of the players you will have heard of, as they have played with some of the biggest names in the genre. There are 13 tracks on offer here and I will go through some of the best.
Live Again opens up the album after the intro and is sung by Kansas vocalist, Ronnie Platt. A superb melodic rock gem with a great hook and chorus, and some killer playing, it was written by Steve Newman. Crazy Days is an absolute monster of a tune with all aspects of melodic rock represented, with titbits of prog thrown in. Epic vocals from Jerome Mazza and killer guitar from Joel Hoekstra on this one. Another Kansas member, Billy Greer takes lead vocals on Bad Enough, another killer tune that will have you humming the hook and chorus, and again Joel provides the crunch.
Harder They Fall is my favourite track on the album and a freaking monster track with Jeff Scott Soto on vocals, and again Joel ripping on the guitar. The tempo is grooving on this one and there is a slight Deep Purple feel with the keys. Belly Of The Beast sees Chris Ousey singing his ass off with a killer aor monster. This is a must have album if you are remotely interested in aor/melodic rock. Escape have been releasing albums for over thirty years and helping keeping the genre alive.
10/10 from The Grooveman.
