Avenue of Allies/Sound Pollution
As one of the Westcoast stalwarts, David Roberts decided to show more of himself after a 26 year long hiatus. He has after all written and recorded a load of songs, many of whom was picked up by famous acts like STARSHIP, BAD ENGLISH, JIMMY BARNES etc. This albumn fesutes musicians like Randy Goodrum (writing credits for TOTO, STEVE PERRY and CHICAGO), John Albani (ex WRABBIT, ex LEE AARON) and Stan Meissner (solo, plus writing for ALIAS and TRIUMPH). 25 years output has a touch of songs that could have made it, but are also fabulous without major spotlight glory. There is material that was written with BAD ENGLISH, CELINE DION, TOTO, and his own kids in mind. I believe nothing has been spared, neither scrutinization, nor studio time. Ok, convince me!
Out of the fifteen tracks on offer, I feel strongly about five. The almost BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN-like (in his soft moments) “Run Back”, The anthemic light rock of “Forbidden Fruit”, the arch-Westcoast in “Nothing Matters Tonight”, the sing-along friendly “One Soul” and the sheer magic of the unforgettable “I Still Believe”. As always with this kind of music you also get the somewhat blurry and pointless ultra soft but forgettable like “I Love You so Much It Hurts” and the over-sugared “Until Your Heart´s Content”, about his infants looking for safety and comfort. Betwixt the gems and lows there are a number of more than average strong refrains with a lot of production work behind them. I believe that the genre buffs will have a field day since this is a re-release with two exclusive bonus tracks. Those who are into heartache, love and very elaborate arrangements will have a field day, you can take that to the bank!
Track List
Run Back
Misunderstood
Gone But Not Forgotten
Until Your Heart´s Content
Run Away with Me
Forbidden Fruit
Nothing Matters Tonight
I Love You so Much It Hurts
Higher Power
One Soul
No Ordinary Girl
Cry Me a River Tonight
I Still Believe
Bonus Tracks
Love Waits for No-one
The Sun Will Rise Again
www.avenue-of-allies.com www.myspace.com/davidroberts2
