Salem Hill |
| Salem Hill
are : Carl Groves on keyboards, Guitars, Vocals and Rainsticks Kevin Thomas on Drums, Maraca, Bells, Tabla, Vibraphine, Rainsticks and Vocals Michael Dearing on Electriv Guitar and Vocals Special Guest : David Ragsdale on Violin and Baritone Violin The tracks are : 1. Overture (4:43) 2. Swerve (3:05) 3. When (5:58) 4. Someday (6:13) 5. Blame (4:00) 6. Dream (4:14) 7. Father And Son (3:16) 8. To The hill (6:32) 9. Revenge (7:31) 10. Trigger (6:24) 11. Interlude (2:43) 12. Epilogue (7:00) The Robbery Of Murder is a concept album about a young boy who witnesses his father being killed in a car crash. The boy can't understand why his daddy doesn't come home anymore and dreams of seeing his father again. The first track is 'Overture', which is an instrumental. Starting fairly quietly with lots of percussion and guitar. This is then followed by a haunting keyboards sound before the track settles down. This track shows elements of rock, progressive rock and jazz. This track to me shows a Zappa influence. There's a nice combination of bass, guiatr and keyboards. The next track is 'Swerve', starting with the sound of rain, there are some nice keyboards and some great guitar that sounds a bit like Dave Gilmour influenced. Great vocals, great paino and some more great guitar, The track fades to a young boy saying "Daddy, daddy". The third track is 'When', starting withsome nice piano and acoustic guitar. Again great vocals that show a lot of emotion. There's some nice harmonies, nice keyboards and string's are used to good effect. Nice changes in direction, mood and tempo within the track and the track finishes with some superb keyboards and guitar and again the track fades to a young boy calling "Daddy, daddy". The next track is 'Someday', this track is slightly heavier than the previous three tracks, infact, this track leans more towards the rock spectrum. Great vocals, Great keyboards and some superb guitar work. The vocals are Pink Floyd and Genesis influenced in style and delivery. Catchy tune. 'Blame', starts off slowly, but builds up gradually. Nice vocals, acoustic guitar and keyboards. Catchy chorus. The sixth track 'Dream', again another track leaning more towards the ROCK style of muic. Great guitar, nice keyboards, catchy chorus and there are some nice changes in direction, mood and tempo. The next track is 'Father And Son' and is an instrumental, starting off with just a piano with some guitar coming in fairly quicky. A vibraphone is soon added and then the drums come in. There's also a nice combination of violin and guitar. 'To The Hill' is a mellow track with some nice vocals and keyboards and violin. The ninth track is 'Revenge', starting with some excellent bass klines, in comes some superb guitar. The vocal delivery is a lot more powerful on this track. Some parts of the song remind me of King's X. There are some nice changes in direction, mooda nd tempo, superb keyboards and outstanding guitar work. The next track 'Trigger' is slow and emotional with some great vocals. There's a nice combination of keyboards and guitar. mid-section a violin is added and this track now has a classicl feel to it. Again there are nice changes in direction, mood and tempo. 'Interlude', is another instrumetal, played on acoustic guitar, but played with a lot of feeling. Very emotional. The final track is 'Epilogue', starting with piano, before some heavy guitar riffs come in. Once again, nice vocals, nice keyboards and some stunning guitar work. Overall, an excellent album, It's not one of those albums you take to straight away, or at least it wasn't for me, but it is one that grows on you, after a few listens. Highly Recommended!!! Released On Lazarus Records. Salem Hill Website : http://www.salemhill.com |