| CD REVIEW Menchen |
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Band: Menchen Here’s a story you might’ve read before: when, in the Fall of 2007, Retroactive owner Matt Hunt asked guitarist Bill Menchen (whom you might also know from Titanic and Final Axe) to make a new The Seventh Power album (we’re still waitng for that one to come over to Europe, a review – by yours truly – for the 2006 self-titled album having been posted on 22/06/2008), with the aid of drummer Robert Sweet (of Stryper, you know?), he also asked him to make an additional instrumental album, seen as they’d be sessioning already, and that extra “work” wouldn’t really be much trouble! In a weird inspiration mood, Bill indeed put together the necessary material in time to record it in the same sessions...and once Sweet’s participation was recorded he recruited Tony Franklin (The Firm, Whitesnake, Blue Murder) for bass duties. When Hunt heard what the three had come up with, he went “This is too good not to have vocals!”…so a search for a singer ended up with Ken Redding (formerly of Numbers & The Omega Band) of His Witness (who should be having their debut album out on Retroactive around by now as well), and apparently a good friend of Bill’s as well! The end result is a very nice album (which already had a US release somewhere late November/ early December of last year!) with great vocals, and a musical direction which ain’t quite as heavy as we’re used of Bill’s previous outings (with The Seventh Power, Final Axe, or Titanic)…in fact, you might just as well call Red Rock the man’s most Hard Rock oriented collection of songs…with a touch of the progressive! I haven’t heard Redding’s work on the His Witness album (recorded back in 1988 but never released) yet, but apparently he sings in a slightly lower register here. His voice has been compared to a mix of Deliverance’s Jimmy Brown and Savious Machine’s Eric Clayton, but with a touch of Geoff Tate…and somehow I can indeed agree with that! Evidently, the lyrics are inspired by The Lord and his works, although not always as clearly put! The band apparently felt there was still something missing about the track “Wild Wind Blows”, as they invited former The Omega Band’s keyboardist Daryl Ballou to play the B3 Hammond organ on that track, which has given it an extra warm touch! No credits mentioned for the piano played in the opening pheze of album closer “Desert Rain” though! Get acquainted with Menchen music (the band took on that monicker at the suggestion of Hunt, the word “mench” meaning “good guy” in Yiddish…”menchen” being the plural, get it?) by surfing to myspace.com/menchenmusik, where the band posted two full-length tracks off the album. For samples of more, log onto amazon.com! 84/100 Tony. |