Rock Eyez


 
REVIEWS ARCHIVE
A B C D
E F G H
I J K L
M N O P
Q R S T
U V W X
Y Z #
BACK TO CD MENU

UNSIGNED BANDS:
To submit your
material for
review contact rockeyez@comcast.net

Get Firefox!



BACK TO CD MENU
The Color of L.A.
BAND:
ALBUM:
YEAR:
GENRE:
REVIEWER:
WEBSITE:
Facebook Site:

AOR
The Color of L.A.
2012
Classic Rock
Brian Rademacher
aorboulevardrecords.weebly.com/
N/A

Rating:
4.0 Stars

I gotta tell you I'm really not a fan of a kind of compilation release with musicians and vocalist being different on each track. I feel I was thrown back to when K-Tel Records were in business but I'm also not saying that AOR "The Color Of L.A." doesn't have some quality players. One of my favorites as a matter of fact being Philip Bardowell and the list goes on after that with the likes of Tommy Denander and Steve Lukather. Also some of the tracks were on past AOR releases and re-recorded which for me is just a waste, why not just include new songs? Anyway let's get to it, the opening track "Jenny at Midnight" is sung by Joe Pasquale. Joe does a phenomenal job that makes a smooth approach to a disc that I wasn't in favor of. The song is one of those tunes you would listen to over and over again. The soaring guitar work and melodic overtones really hit a high note. Loved the track! 
Jerry Hludzik (DAKOTA) captures another worthy tune with "Benedict Canyon" and what I really liked about the tune is the collaboration between the keys and Jerry's vocals, which made a huge impact.
Track three "Kimberly" is sung by Steve Newman and it has a style of Paul Sabu with heavier vocals but I feel the guitar work on the song could have been a bit cleaner, all in all not a bad song.
You know you hit the home run ball when you start a song with heavy keys, thunderous drums and soaring guitar and then add an angelic voice of Joey Summer on "Under Your Spell". So far AOR "The Color Of L.A. " is making me eat my words about not liking a certain kind of compilation CD.
One of my personal favorites Philip Bardowell handles some vocals on three tracks "Kimberly", "Just One Kiss on Your Heart" and "You're My Obsession" all three tracks are amazing. Phillip has that same aura that John Waite possesses and he can turn dust into gold, my favorite of the three tracks are all three! The guitar work on "You're My Obsession" also bellows greatness making this my favorite of the three by a hair.   
Rick Riso kicks the disc into high gear with "Halo of Light" as the music sounds a bit in the mold of JEFFERSON STARSHIP's "Jane" just slightly. It has that sound of the vintage days when music had some depth.

The last two tracks "Grace" and "Never Gonna Let Her Go" are both instrumentals. I was more partial towards "Grace" because I love the keyboards as they were highlighted on the track.

AOR "The Color Of L.A." has some very special songs and many enjoyable to listen to over and over again. Melodic rock fans will love this so pick this one up.     

Band Lineup:
  • Frederic Slama: guitars, keyboards
  • Tommy Denander: all instruments
  • Christian Tolle: all instruments
  • Bruno Levesque: all instruments
  • Philip Bardowell: lead and backing vocals
  • Jerry Hludzik: lead and backing vocals
  • Steve Newman: lead and backing vocals
  • Joey Summer: lead and backing vocals
  • Rick Riso: lead and backing vocals
  • Joe Pasquale: lead and backing vocals
  • Steve Lukather: guitars
  • Michael Landau: guitars
  • David Williams: guitars
  • Michael Thompson: guitars
  • Peter Friestedt: guitars
  • David Foster :piano
  • Randy Goodrum: keyboards
  • David Diggs: keyboards
  • Morris Adriaens: keyboards
  • Brandon Fields: saxophone
  • Tom Saviano: saxophone
  • Hussain Jiffry: bass
  • Vinnie Colaiuta: drums
  • Joey Heredia: drums
  • Miri Miettinen: drums
  • Bill Champlin: backing vocals
  • Geir Ronning: backing vocals
  • Kristoffer Lagerstrom: backing vocals

 

Track Listing:
  1. Jenny at Midnight
  2. Benedict Canyon
  3. Kimberly
  4. Under Your Spell
  5. Brittany
  6. Halo of Light
  7. Just One Kiss on Your Heart
  8. Dreams from Silver Lake
  9. You're My Obsession
  10. Teach Me How To Love You Again
  11. Grace instrumental bonus track
  12. Never Gonna Let Her Go instrumental

 





JOIN US ON FACEBOOK


Share


Rock Eyez Ratings
Best
Worst

Ratings effective 4/13/05

Rockeyez.com © 2005 - 2007. The contents of this site may not be reproduced without the expressed written consent of Rockeyez.com.
Site design and layout was created by Carlos Rodrigues. Site Maintained by Stickman-Radio.com