Escape\/Sound Pollution<\/p>\n
Let\u00b4s put in reverse and return to 1983. Tom Galley conjured up a couple of transcendental stories backed by the record label Bronze. The finalized product, the self-titled album, appeared in 1985. Nothing much you may say, but the project engaged such luminaries as Glenn Hughes (ex. DEEP PURPLE, BLACK COUNTY COMMUNION), Cozy Powell (RAINBOW, WHITESNAKE etc. (R.I.P.), Don Airey of just about every major band, Neil Murray, likewise, and the elite force tag was there. The second outing, \u201cPhenomena II \u2013 Dream Runner\u201d came out in 1987, and was also well-received. Slight musical changes had taken place, but there was new breed like Ray Gillen (BADLANDS, BLACK SABBATH (R.I.P) , Scott Gorham of THIN LIZZY fame and the almost totally impeccable voice of Max Bacon (BRONZ, GTR). Third time around, 1991, \u201cPhenomena III \u2013 Inner Visions\u201d, there were further changes, but still Mel gathered the likes of Brian May (QUEEN), Keith Murrell (AIRRACE, MAMA\u00b4S BOYS), and Scott Gorham returned. In 2006 the project was brought back to life. Glenn Hughes returned, but the rest were new but hardly inexperienced, and included Tony Martin, ex. BLACK SABBATH. It seems the project got new lease cause in 2010 \u201cBlind Faith\u201d appeared, this time with new blood like Rob Moratti (ex SAGA) and Terry Brock of STRANGEWAYS. So now it\u00b4s time for number five, this time around there has been injected a host of Swedish musicians. Can the idea hold for so many influences and musicians? <\/p>\n
Opener \u201cSmash It Up\u201d boasts SHY starlet Lee Small, who featured on \u201cPsycho Fantasy\u201d back in 2006. Guitarist Magnus Karlsson is a rising Swede and all seems well, but there will be even classier moments. Toby \u201cPride of Lions\u201d Hitchcock barely escapes \u201cReality\u201d, which, to me, is too close to the poppier third installment for comfort. The same overly lightweight surprise comes from Ralf Scheepers of all people. The ending of \u201cDancing Days\u201d sung by Niklas Swedentorp, backed by COLDSPELL has a more Swedish ring to it, maybe too much for an English project? And the gospel choir spiced up final track \u201cStand Up for Love\u201d spearheaded by Chris Antblad, a Swedish AOR personality and multi-instrumentalist, is not bad but feels slightly off the point here. But fear not, the likes of James Christian, slightly doctored in the studio perhaps, Lee Small (again), and Mike DiMeo (RIOT, ex. MASTERPLAN) sure raises everybody\u00b4s blood pressure with their efforts. The style is mostly in the vein of the gentler but still excellent second installment. We all know that the winner takes it all, and so does Terry Brock! Eight track \u201cFighter\u201d has a distinct ring of the heyday of PHENOMENA, paired with the typical action movie score that lifted so many careers back then. That song alone is enough reason to buy this album. But all in all, the mark 4\/5 is barely reached, and next time around I hope for a more unison effort with clear British roots. <\/p>\n
Track List
\nSmash It Up
\nReality
\nHomeland
\nGoing Away
\nGotta Move
\nHow Long
\nShake
\nFighter
\nDancing Days
\nStand Up for Love<\/p>\n
www.escape-music.com www.myspace.com\/tomgalleysphenomena<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Escape\/Sound Pollution Let\u00b4s put in reverse and return to 1983. Tom Galley conjured up a couple of transcendental stories backed by the record label Bronze. The finalized product, the self-titled album, appeared in 1985. Nothing much you may say, but the project engaged such luminaries as Glenn Hughes (ex. DEEP PURPLE, BLACK COUNTY COMMUNION), Cozy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cd_reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/120"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1709\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}