JIM STAPLEY – Long Time Coming (2014)

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There’s a bit of a buzz in UK going on around JIM STAPLEY at the moment and, on the evidence of “Long Time Coming”, his debut album after over ten years as a professional musician, it’s more than just hype.
If you pair together a talented up and coming singer-songwriter with a veteran Rock producer, sparks will surely fly. Jim Stapley is no ordinary singer and Tony Visconti is an A-list producer, and “Long Time Coming” is a great record because of the quality and variety of Jim’s songs, which are strong enough to house Tony Visconti’s expansive arrangements and polished production.

“Long Time Coming” is full of passionate vocals, great playing and songs that have commercial pull to stand out in a crowded marketplace.
Jim explores raw boned, bluesy tinged Classic Rock, white boy soul with sandpaper vocals, shades of traditional hard, and heartfelt ballads with a big chorus resolution.
The album treads a delicate balance between all those elements. And while Jim opens in rock bluster mode on ‘No Good Reason’, he’s just as happy on weepy ballads such as ‘Heartstrings’, ‘My Own Worst Enemy’ or the soulful closing ‘Shield’.
He has both the vocal range and musical vision with which to leave his personal stamp.

From the opening exclamatory yell of ‘No Good Reason’, Jim’s unashamedly draws on such retro influences such as Paul Rogers and Steve Marriott, but he has his own vocal styling (at places akin White Lion’s Mike Tramp) and above all, his own quality songs.
He’s also a young man in a hurry, as barely 40 seconds into ‘No Good Reason’ he impressively hits his stride on the booming chorus.
‘Laid To Waste’ has a similar contemporary feel with its quiet-to-loud dynamics as producer Visconti fills the chorus with an expansive string quartet arrangement and a layered sound which gives it a feeling of grandeur.

‘Hurricane’ is a potential single, that opens quietly as Jim portentously sings: “You leave the devil on the corner but he’s never more than a block behind.” As the track explodes, he soars over the repeated chorus and finishes on a descending primal growl.
The album gains strength from its subtle sequencing as evidenced by the change of pace on a brace of songs that showcase a more restrained side of his impressive vocal range.
The beautifully phrased, long distance relationship song ‘Heartstrings’ is worthy of the big string arrangement, as Jim balances feel with gravitas and slips up a gear into a Tim Buckley style falsetto for emotional emphasis. His voice soars again over a sonorous cello and string section, on a chorus that perfectly offsets his soulful delivery.

‘New Religion’ is a piano and Hammons B3 led ballad with gospel backing. Jim meets the challenge head-on in a Steve Marriott and Joe Cocker mode. It’s a great example of white boy soul singing on another album highlight.
‘My Way Home ’ is a rock ballad with an acoustic opening, some vicious slide playing and a British feel, that is notable for the double tracked harmonies and a melodic chorus.
He further rocks out on ‘Made Of Stone’ and brings real presence to bear on the passionate ‘My Own Worst Enemy’.

I’ve been enjoying this album for the last couple of weeks and it just seems to get better and better with every listen.
“Long Time Coming” has certainly got an old-school vibe similar to Bad Company but an updated sound which highlights perfectly the magnificent voice of Jim Stapley. His pipes are really melodic but the range when he turns the wick up is special and he makes you feel his emotion like very few other singers I’ve heard recently.
This is a stunning Classic Rock album folks. Don’t miss this one.
Highly Recommended.

01: No Good Reason
02: Laid To Waste
03: Hurricane
04: Heartstrings
05: New Religion
06: My Way Home
07: Made Of Stone
08: My Own Worst Enemy
09: Out Of Sight
10: Grey Matter
11: Breaking Out
12: Shield

Jim Stapley (vocals, guitar)
Ricky Glover, Johnson Mewik-Daley (guitar, vocals)
Josh Phillips (Hammond organ, keyboards)
Tom Swann (bass)
CJ Evans (drums)
James Arben (horns)
Rachel Dawson, Sarah Tuke, Polly Wiltshire (strings)
Mollie Marriott, R. Leavesley, J. Morgan (backing vocals)
Tony Visconti (producer, string arrangements, vocals)

BUY IT !
www.amazon.co.uk/Long-Time-Coming-Jim-Stapley/dp/B00INBYEEG
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