Vega Stereo Messiah
Vega return with the follow up to last years excellent " What The Hell " cd and also return to the Frontiers label with their new cd " Stereo Messiah " due to be released on October the 17th.
Recorded over the course of 2 weeks at Outhouse Studio's in Reading with It Bites's John Mitchell as producer, then sent over to Harem Scarem's Harry Hess who mastered the cd in his studio in Canada.
The 2 guys have done a great job giving the band a real gloss for the first time, and giving every instrument space and time to breath and the quality the band deserve.
Vega are more than lucky to have 2 guys that can write huge anthems in their sleep. The Martin brothers compositions have songs that build with huge stadium size choruses that once in your brain struggle to leave and don't wipe their feet on the way out.
With Nick Workman on vocals the band have the focal point and star quality many bands don't have the luxury of. The songs are all made for his range and he doesn't disappoint on any of the 12 new songs on offer. His vocals reach for the stars.
Ably backed up by the Martin brothers Tom on guitar and James on keyboards, Dan Chantrey on drums and touring guitarist now full time member Marcus Thurston Vega are now ready for the big time.
Working on the premise that if it isn't broke don't fix it and right out of the blocks the band hit hard with the title track. Big riff, soaring vocals, kick ass drums and a huge chorus it is destined to be a classic.
The only real change to the last album is the extra prominence of keyboards. Where as before they added depth to the sound they now lead songs and also coil themselves around the guitar riffs. Brings to mind FM to me and that is never a band thing!! The guitars are still there in fact with some extra crunch with the superb mix bringing it all out.
" All Or Nothing " , " The Fall " , " With Both Hands ", " Wherever We Are " and " My Anarchy " all have this new approach with keyboards and guitar both leading the way. Never against each other but working together to create more.
All of these have the Vega attributes that always build up to the chorus that seems to explode with riffs, drums, bass , keyboards and vocals all merge as one. Built for radio or to be screamed back by adoring fans.
" Ballad Of The Broken Hearted " gets my vote as favourite track at the moment although with this quality it continues to change. A strummed electric guitar intro with a smooth vocal before bass and drums join in with a big electric riff kicking in just before the first chorus. Superb use of light and shade as the song ebbs and flows and a wonderful Marcus melodic guitar solo that hits the mark.
" Gonna Need Some Love Tonight " starts with a U2 style jangly riff before drums and bass build the song before a guitar and keyboard riff take the song to the huge chorus.
" Neon Heart " has an acoustic picked start before the albums biggest riff starts for a song built for the upcoming live shows.
Joe Elliott of Def Leppard has contributed a song to the band " 10 x Bigger Than Love " from the "Slang " sessions and duets with Nick on a song lead by its Eastern style riff. Perfect Vega style song which again has a huge chorus.
" The Wild The Wierd The Wonderful " has a chugging driving riff with a keyboard riff that embeds itself in the huge chorus.
" Tears Never Dry " is an excellent ballad with a slower pace and Nick showing his star with an emotion filled vocal matched by Marcus's two solo's including the outro one. With the song running at over 6 minutes as the last one on the cd it maybe could have been placed in a different order on the cd . I do like an album to end on a real high and although a great song at track 6 it would have fitted better. Like the last cd's " Hands In The Air " a superb ending.
Vega deserve to be huge. If you love melodic rock with huge singalong choruses then this is the cd for you. I'm sure this will be high on many critic's end of year lists mine included and I await their upcoming dates with Newman with bated breath.
They also support Joe Elliott's Down N ' Outz in December.
Recorded over the course of 2 weeks at Outhouse Studio's in Reading with It Bites's John Mitchell as producer, then sent over to Harem Scarem's Harry Hess who mastered the cd in his studio in Canada.
The 2 guys have done a great job giving the band a real gloss for the first time, and giving every instrument space and time to breath and the quality the band deserve.
Vega are more than lucky to have 2 guys that can write huge anthems in their sleep. The Martin brothers compositions have songs that build with huge stadium size choruses that once in your brain struggle to leave and don't wipe their feet on the way out.
With Nick Workman on vocals the band have the focal point and star quality many bands don't have the luxury of. The songs are all made for his range and he doesn't disappoint on any of the 12 new songs on offer. His vocals reach for the stars.
Ably backed up by the Martin brothers Tom on guitar and James on keyboards, Dan Chantrey on drums and touring guitarist now full time member Marcus Thurston Vega are now ready for the big time.
Working on the premise that if it isn't broke don't fix it and right out of the blocks the band hit hard with the title track. Big riff, soaring vocals, kick ass drums and a huge chorus it is destined to be a classic.
The only real change to the last album is the extra prominence of keyboards. Where as before they added depth to the sound they now lead songs and also coil themselves around the guitar riffs. Brings to mind FM to me and that is never a band thing!! The guitars are still there in fact with some extra crunch with the superb mix bringing it all out.
" All Or Nothing " , " The Fall " , " With Both Hands ", " Wherever We Are " and " My Anarchy " all have this new approach with keyboards and guitar both leading the way. Never against each other but working together to create more.
All of these have the Vega attributes that always build up to the chorus that seems to explode with riffs, drums, bass , keyboards and vocals all merge as one. Built for radio or to be screamed back by adoring fans.
" Ballad Of The Broken Hearted " gets my vote as favourite track at the moment although with this quality it continues to change. A strummed electric guitar intro with a smooth vocal before bass and drums join in with a big electric riff kicking in just before the first chorus. Superb use of light and shade as the song ebbs and flows and a wonderful Marcus melodic guitar solo that hits the mark.
" Gonna Need Some Love Tonight " starts with a U2 style jangly riff before drums and bass build the song before a guitar and keyboard riff take the song to the huge chorus.
" Neon Heart " has an acoustic picked start before the albums biggest riff starts for a song built for the upcoming live shows.
Joe Elliott of Def Leppard has contributed a song to the band " 10 x Bigger Than Love " from the "Slang " sessions and duets with Nick on a song lead by its Eastern style riff. Perfect Vega style song which again has a huge chorus.
" The Wild The Wierd The Wonderful " has a chugging driving riff with a keyboard riff that embeds itself in the huge chorus.
" Tears Never Dry " is an excellent ballad with a slower pace and Nick showing his star with an emotion filled vocal matched by Marcus's two solo's including the outro one. With the song running at over 6 minutes as the last one on the cd it maybe could have been placed in a different order on the cd . I do like an album to end on a real high and although a great song at track 6 it would have fitted better. Like the last cd's " Hands In The Air " a superb ending.
Vega deserve to be huge. If you love melodic rock with huge singalong choruses then this is the cd for you. I'm sure this will be high on many critic's end of year lists mine included and I await their upcoming dates with Newman with bated breath.
They also support Joe Elliott's Down N ' Outz in December.
