Steve Adams |
| Steve Adams
plays all the instruments , except for the following : Desha Dunnahoe, who is also an ex-member of Pete Bardens' band, plays some keyboard parts on "Highlands", she did the keyboard solo in "Cry of Love", and all the keyboard parts on "Opa's Garden". Also, Desha and Steve's friend Andy Varble helped on backing vocals on "Sheltering Sky", "First Rains", and "Mystified". The tracks are : 1. Maiden Voyage 2. Sheltering Sky 3. 11th Hour 4. First Rains 5. Highlands 6. Cry Of Love 7. Mystified 8. Opa's Garden 9. Tribes 10. Animated Steve is a Los Angeles based artist with an impressive track record. Having played in many bands in the San Francisco Bay Area, Steve gained session work with the likes of Michael Hossack (Doobie Brothers), Myron Dove (Santana), and many others. He was a highly regarded "hired gun" whose fretwork was in demand by many of the top local acts for years. Steve met Pete Bardens in 1989, around the time of Pete's "Speed of Light" tour. The following year he played guitar on a few demo songs for Pete, which were released later on his "Big Sky" CD. When Bardens' guitarist, Neale Heywood, left to join Lindsey Buckingham's band, Steve was a natural choice to fill his position. He knew all of the material from each of Pete's solo albums, and had a strong affinity for Pete's writing. For several years Steve recorded & performed with Pete in the U.S. Then, in 1994 the two joined up with ex-Camel drummer Andy Ward, David Sinclair, Pye & Jimmy Hastings from Caravan, and bassist Rick Biddulph for a short tour of the UK and Holland as "Mirage", resulting in a live CD recorded at London's Manchester Apollo theatre. Following that, Steve and Pete reformed the band with Dave Cohen & Desha Dunnahoe under the name "Pete Bardens' Mirage", and toured Europe again - this time in March of 1996, recording another live CD. After doing a few live shows in the U.S. during May of 1997, the band dissolved, and Steve, Desha, & Dave reformed as Hush. Steve has recently completed his solo CD "Maiden Voyage", scheduled for release soon on his own label, Flying Cat Records. The opening and title track is 'Maiden Voyage', a great track with a strong melody, starting with nice atmospheric sounds and some nice percussion. There are some nice keyboards sequences and great soaring guitar. When the main part of the song starts Steve's guitar is in a similar style to that of Andy Latimer of Camel. Later when the music changes direction it becomes more keyboard based which is very fluid then the music returns for more great guitar. But this chops and changes quite a few times. There's some stunning guitar work and the track ends with wind sounds, atmospheric/spacey type keyboards and more soaring guitar bits. The next track is 'Sheltering Sky' this track has just an amazing drum sound that carries on throughout. There's some superb guitar and nice vocals from Steve. This track is melodic, powerful and emotional. Again I found a slight Camel influence. Catchy tune and chorus and some stunning guitar solos. The third track '11th Hour', starts with a nice keyboard sequence, theres a slight jazz influence. In comes a some nice soaring guitar lead which is repeated quite often throughout the track this is interspersed with guitar lead breaks. In my opinion, it doesn't quite flow the same as the first two tracks, but it will certainly make you take notice and listen. The next track 'First Rains' has some nice mellow atmospheric keyboards which become more and more dominant as you progress into the track. You will hear the sound of rain in the background which adds more depth. There are nice changes in direction. Theres some nice drums, percussion and keyboards and acoustic guitar work. 'Highlands', is a nice instrumental with some great acoustic guitar work, and theres some nice keyboards, but these are mainly in the background. The sixth track 'Cry Of Love', a great track that features Pink Floyd/Camel style guitar, excellent keyboards and nice vocals. Also the drums are just outstanding. Theres also a stunning guitar solo. The next track 'Mystified' is a nice track with a nice melody. Great vocals and a superb solo. 'Opa's Garden', is an instrumental, nice acoustic guitar and keyboards. Nice melody. The ninth track 'Tribes', as you would expect from the title does contain a tribal drum kind of beat. This is intermingled with some superb keyboards and guitar. The final track is 'Animated', starting with some nice drums and keyboards, the vocals are soft and quiet, theres a little sampling on this track and some excellent guitar work. I thoroughly enjoyed this album and it's one I will be listening a lot more too. If you are lovers of good progrock, Camel, Pink Floyd then I am sure this will appeal. Website : http://www.hush.net Email : sramusic@earthlink.net |