This one is nice, Melodic Rock and AOR with heart and soul from the opener ‘Play To Win’ right till the very last note. Now the name Jesse Damon might not be familiar to many but if you ever caught Silent Rage back in the day you might recognise his voice, the band were briefly signed to Gene Simmons’ label and after the band split Damon kept friendly with Gene co-writing ‘Thou Shalt Not’ from ‘Revenge’. That friendship kept up with Simmons co-writing ‘Everybody Needs Somebody’ on Damon’s own debut solo record. Four more followed mixing ballads and rockers before album number six ups the ante and the Rock content…
Opener ‘Play To Win’ is a nice gutsy opener that really lays out the stall; and reassuringly next up ‘Love Gone Wild’ (the first of two co-writes with producer Paul Sabu) takes a more mid-tempo route to the brain which it achieves courtesy of a simple but effective refrain and some nice wailing guitar. It’s a great start and one that is backed up by the light and melodic Foreigner-style ‘Shadows of Love’ and the darker self-referencing title track.
‘Electric Magic’ that follows is one of those songs that has something you cant quite put your finger on it – a great slice of light AOR with a touch of Pop, that is probably one of my favourites here. ‘Love Is The Answer’ adds some suitable tugging of the heartstrings before ‘Tell Me Lili’ gets a little mystical before delivering a really satisfying rocker that is certainly one I keep going back to.
The album keeps on giving with ‘Here Comes Trouble’ which has a real Classic Rock feel; and ‘Lonely Tonight’ which has a Southern twang; before ‘Flying Dutchman’ has a feint echo of Kashmir and ‘Adrenaline’ kicks back into hard rocking mode.
‘Wildest Dreams’ the second co-write with Sabu that closes, might be the one that most pleases those that love those grand melodic epics.Its a song with a lot going on and one that really reaches for the sky. This is great stuff.
Track List: 1.Play To Win, 2.Love Gone Wild, 3.Shadows Of Love, 4.Damon’s Rage, 5.Electric Magic, 6.Love Is The Answer, 7.Tell Me Lili, 8.Here Comes Trouble, 9.Lonely Tonight, 10.Flying Dutchman, 11.Adrenaline, 12.Wildest Dreams