Lee Abraham, the former bass player of Galahad, made with Black & White his third solo album after previous releases of Pictures In The Hall (2004) and View From the Bridge (2005). His latest effort opens promising with a Pink Floyd-like intro and lots of distorted guitar, swiftly turning into a Dream Theater-like continuation in the first real track Face The Crowd. This one, however, as well as The Mirror and Celebrity Status, turn into rather mediocre prog songs with lots of sing-along choruses in the vein of for instance Shadowland. Besides, you get guitar solo intermezzos in ‘muscle hard rock’, that reminds me of Threshold with Karl Groom on guitar. While - amongst others - guest musicians Gary Chandler (Jadis), John Mitchell (Arena, It Bites), Jem Godfrey (Frost*), Simon Godfrey (Tinyfish) and Steve Thorne played on different tracks. Black & White could be one of those numerous releases that disappear unnoticed without leaving any trace. I hope this will not happen, because it seems that Abraham saved his inspiration and his musical creativity for the last two tracks: Black and indeed White. These tracks are rather long, have many tempo breaks, are very interesting and they sound as prog should sound. And that saves the day for this album! *** André de Waal (edited by Peter Willemsen) Where to buy? |
