Voice of British AOR legends FM Steve Overland is back! He has a history that goes way back into the late seventies, his first major recording was with the band “Wildlife” in 1980. After the demise of “Wildlife” Steve went on to form the cult British melodic rock band “FM”, a band that released many great albums throughout the eighties and nineties and more recently in 2013. Their popularity has always been at the forefront of British Hard Rock.
It’s now time for one of the finest starts to 2014 you could possible want to wish for, the album “Epic” which is the brand new release from this famous vocalist. With Mike Slamer and Billy Greer of Kansas involved in the proceedings then we are in for a big big album. “Radio Radio” is one of the most radio-friendly tracks you could ever wish to hear and so easy on the ears. Rockers abound with “If Looks Could Kill”, “Rags to Riches” and the awesome “Down comes the night”. It’s the quality of the songs and musicianship on this album that makes it so special and credit to Christian Wolff (Rob Moratti) who has also made this album so remarkable with his great guitar playing and song writing.
This is a perfect album from Steve, if you have a penchant for perfect harmonies, big guitars and soaring keyboards topped off with a top-notch production then look no further than this. Very like FM of recent years, this is bound to appeal to their fans. It’s worth a crack for the other fans of classic 80s AOR sound. Opener “Radio Radio” has all that made 80s rock so good. If I were to be hyper critical, the production sounds extremely reminiscent of the 1980s – keyboard and guitar sounds that don’t break new ground sonically – although there is a very “Epic” (see what I did there?) nature to the album cover, almost hinting at symphonic metal …. it certainly isn’t that! Smooth to the point of almost representing the soundtrack to a beautiful evening in your favourite, rocking, wine bar – at times slick but quite one-paced. That said there is no doubt that this represents the level of quality Steve Overland is known for.
Tracklist:
1-Radio Radio
2- If Looks Could kill
3- Stranded
4- Rags To Riches
5- Liberate My Heart
6-Down Comes The Night
7- If Your Heart’s Not In It
8- Rock Me
9- So This Is Love
10- Wild
11- The End Of The Road
12- Time For Letting Go
Guests:
Billy Greer (Kansas / Seventh Key) – Background Vocals
Billy Trudel – Background Vocals
Fredrik Bergh, Additional Keys on “Liberate My Heart” and “Down Comes The Night”
Produced and arranged by Mike Slamer
co- produced by: Christian Wolff
Mixed and mastered by Mike Slamer at Shattered Studios ,ValenciaCA
Executive Producer: Khalil Turk for Escape Music ltd.
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