I knew nothing about ‘Tug of War’ when I hit ‘play’ and that to me is always the best place to start with a new band or project – immerse yourself in the music before you start looking for other people’s opinions. As it happens this is the sort of album that does have you reaching for the press release, it’s huge and it draws you back again and again – is it too early to call Melodic Rock release of the year?
Opening track, the classy ‘Toto meets 38 Special’ AOR standard and first single, ‘Before I Know’ introduces you to one of the things that really make this album stand out – the wonderful, warm voice of BK Morrison, a man who has a powerful, blues-edged set of pipes which come with a hint of Danny Vaughn in his phrasing and more than a pinch of Max Carl in his delivery.
Musically this debut plays to its strengths and treads the well-worn path of Melodic AOR, and remember just because something is well-worn doesn’t mean it’s not a place that’s not worth visiting. If you rate bands like Foreigner highly then ‘Bullet With Your Name’ is groovier and rides a nice funky riff that should satisfy.
The other big news is that guitarist and keyboardist Tommy Denander, who also serves as producer and creator for the project has really put the miles in. There’s a quality and consistency here that some of his projects over recent years don’t get close to. This indeed might just be some of his best work to date.
Cutting to the chase – this is an album with an interesting mix of funky AOR and great guitars and whilst it hints at the greats like Toto, 38 Special, Foreigner and others it’s all seen through an impeccable mid-eighties AOR gauze with the quality control set to ‘high’.
Tracks are more varied that you might imagine though – ‘Come Home’ has the smoke and groove of pre-1987 Whitesnake (there is of course the Chris Ousey ‘Snake-charmer’ connection there so it makes sense); ‘Confess Your Demons’ keeps that bluesy fun Rock and Roll vibe and ‘Fade to Black’ sets the cat amongst the pigeons with a chugging riff and vintage rolling drum sound. It’s one of our favourites here.
And whilst some albums of this ilk may suffer from ‘second half blues’ where the quality dips, this one just keeps on giving. ‘I Won’t Surrender’ chugs along at a pleasing mid-pace but the melodies are to die for and the chorus huge; ‘Have Mercy’ is more assured classy Melodic Rock; ‘My Soul is a Ghost Town’ drops the pace even lower and has those wonderful early Coverdale echoes again; and ‘On The Other Side’ swaggers into town with an assured step.
The album you just don’t want to end delivers to the last drop though: ‘Somewhere in the Past’ is the most gentle moment here, and drips with all the AOR trappings you’d expect; ‘Walk Like a Man’ that follows retains that thought but imbibes more keys and a there’s a little more thrust. That just leaves us with what you might think is the antithesis of those mellow moments – ‘Full of Sh*t’; but it’s not as aggressive as you might imagine and the song rolls along on a groove like those conjured up by bands like Thunder. This one will stick with you for days, perfect to sing along to at the office!
Every so often you hear an album that just ticks all the boxes, where every song is gold, the band play up a storm and all you want to do after it plays through is hit ‘repeat’. If you love AOR and Melodic Rock and love a few soulful touches this should be the next album you listen to. If you’re a fan of Tommy Denander you’ll know wheat he’s capable of but this really is, I think, his best and most consistent work to date. The kicker though as I said at the start is your introduction to BK Morrison who sounds amazing.