KANE ROBERTS has a cult melodic rock following, but it's been how many years since he actually recorded a melodic rock record?
That question will remain open, as this is nothing like his Self-Titled and Saints & Sinners records that fans have always hoped he would return to. Rather it is an amped up and further modernized version of Under A Wild Sky from way back in 1999.
So, a few problems with this record. First of all, the sound and style is modern rock – but a version that is now at least a decade (or two) out of date. Secondly, the production is atrocious yet again. The programmed drums and the thin sound just sound so ‘one-man band’.
Third – once you get past the aggression of the first two tracks, the rest of the album is a pretty mellow affair. And it’s a struggle to get through. If the sonics don’t damage your ears, Kane’s constant yelling will finish them off.
I dig a few of the songs – the opening duo offer some definitive hooks. One of the album’s best belongs to Beginning Of The End, but the arrangement and production is an absolute mess, all over the show.
There are tracks here that just sound so devoid of hooks and direction, they place the few that do in an uncomfortable position – raising them above the grade they probably deserve.
There are some decent hooks, ideas and riffs here, but the album is too much of a mess to appreciate. Production is horrible, execution is questionable and the style…the less said about that the better.
