Vivid Glimpse is a new British duo formed in 2009 by the brothers Andy and Richard Vellacott. Into The Precipice is their debut album containing eight tracks with pop, rock, ballads and great instrumentals. Their music is powerful and moving but also atmospheric. Let me try to give you an idea of the individual songs. Miracles Don't Happen To Me is a joyful tune, up-tempo pop music typical of the eighties or you could say a light version of Mike & The Mechanics. The middle-section contains a kind of short synth solo, but I guess that most prog rockers don't like this song. Undermined begins with a typical Genesis-riff of the album And Then There Were Three. It's again up-tempo with some smooth synth solos, but with passionately played drum breaks as well. Mesmereyes is slightly better than the first two songs. It sounds like a Phil Collins solo track - listen to the words tonight, tonight - although it has some electronic drumming as well. The end is quite symphonic and contains the first interesting guitar solo. The title track sounds nice with many breaks; the middle-section is filled with synth and drum solos. I like this one very much. A Stone's Throw From Paradise could also be a track of Mike & The Mechanics. It's a ballad with cheerful rhythms and verses, but at the end too many repetitions. Deep Inside My Heart is a rather mediocre song with nasal singing. The penultimate track Broken Arrows is a smooth instrumental track in the vein of Genesis during the Wind And Wuthering- era with again an interesting duel between the synthesizer and the drums. It has a nice ending full of surprises and is one of the best songs on Into The Precipice. The final track Take My Hand is also quite similar to the music of Phil Collins: the same drum sounds, the same vocal style and well-produced; you can hear the drums all around your Dolby-set. It's an ideal track to conclude a live concert with as the audience can easily sing along with the lyrics. After reading this review, you might be thinking that Vivid Glimpse is a blend of Mike & The Mechanics, Genesis and Phil Collins, but I think that these guys have enough musical talent of their own to surprise us in the near future. *** Cor Smeets (edited by Peter Willemsen) Where to buy? |
