| CD REVIEW Airrace |
 |
|
Band : Airrace Airrace? Who did you say? I couldn’t remember ever having heard of this band, yet the biography told me the were formed in 1982, and released one album in 1984, Shaft Of Light, and disbanded the following year. The reason why they disbanded isn’t mentioned, yet it cannot have been for lack of talent, since the band consisted of Laurie Mansworth (ex-More) amongst others, and had none other than Jason Bonham on drums. Yet it must have been a rather good album they released, since it got good reviews. When in 2009 an anniversary re-issue of their debut album was released by Rock Candy, the band reunited to play a few gigs. This must have inspired the guys, cause original members Laure Mansworth, Jason Bonham, Keith Murrell and finally keyboard player Toby Sadler joined forces again, and enlisted a second guitarist Dean Howard and bass player David Boyce, and played a few more gigs. Jason Bonham however left the band again, and was replaced by Simon Dawson (ex-The Outfield). But the problems were not over yet. Since Toby Sadler resided in Germany, it was nearly impossible for him to play on a more regular basis. Hence his place was filled by Chris Williams, and finally Jim Reid succeeded Dave Boyce on bass. They recorded their second album. And a cracking goodalbum it is. It took me some time to get used to the vocals by Keith Murrell, who has quite a distinct sound, but the album grew on me. To think these guys are Britain’s, and yet they’ve recorded a very American sounding album. This is melodic rock at its finest, the guitar parts are very prominent, and once you’ve got used to the vocals, who, I must admit it now, are nothing but stunning. Strongly recommended. 95/100 Erik Morren. |