DENNIS CHURCHILL DRIES – “I” (2015)

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Vocalist / bassist DENNIS CHURCHILL DRIES is known to lovers of melodic rock as the vocalist in White Sister and their successor band Tattoo Rodeo. White Sister issued two immense melodic rock / AOR albums in the ’80s, reformed in 2008 for Firefest and a new album was on the cards, this sadly was not to be with the passing of the band’s guitarist Rick Chaddock in 2012.
Dennis Churchill Dries withdrew from music until he met another melodic rock legend Paul Sabu and this album simply called “I” is the outcome of that partnership.

The loss on his long-time friend sent Dennis into the wilderness. During this time he started writing music as a form of therapy and the teaming up with Sabu in 2014 this in turn helped the singer to heal spiritually.
The result is ‘I’, which recalls the heavenly days of radio-friendly melodies and great songs.

Each song here is a masterclass in great Melodic Rock music.
The eleven tracks easily up there with his work in White Sister and Tattoo Rodeo and time has done nothing but be kind to Dennis’s vocals which are still as silky smooth, yet rough when needed.
With albums like this, I honestly believe that listening to it in the car with the windows down, the sun blazing is how Dennis and Paul would want you to listen it. “I” is perhaps a snapshot of a bygone time when good music was all that really mattered for a band to secure a multi digit record deal.

“Heard It On The Radio” starts the album off in great fashion, and with a title like this you know what to expect; a rocking, melodious tune with an ’80s feel-good vibe. The production of Sabu is first class, as mostly he touches, literally turns to greatness.
The title track “I” opens with some of the best acapella lines I have heard this year and you just know that there is no auto tune involved here, it’s just a pure, faultless delivery by Churchill Dries. I know it’s been said an awful lot over the years but this guy could easily sing you a takeaway menu and you would be washed away with it.
More fun come in “She Loves You”, the type of songs that turn any road trip in a clapped out Cruiser into a Ferrari charged romp.

“Song For The Living” meanwhile is one of the most heartfelt songs I have heard for quite some time. The emotions that Dennis must have felt while writing this record must have been truly cathartic. You can almost feel the heartache in every word of the album, built in a celebratory fashion.
“Pictures” feel very intimate too and give some introspection into Dries personal battle back to form as a solo artist after several decades having honed his craft in bands. He describes musically coping with the personal battle losing great friends and professional stage partners and we share the journey in the powerful yet at times subtle, bitter sweet vocals.

As the man himself says “These songs are not ground breaking, and they don’t fit neatly into a genre, but they’re completely from my heart. This isn’t a conceited statement, but I don’t care whether I sell 100 or 100,000 copies. I did this for me and true fans of my art.”
That for me is the mark of a true musician and Dennis Churchill Dries is one of the best!

“I” is the stuff of dreams – I mean Dennis Churchill Dries, the singer of White Sister / Tattoo Rodeo, teaming up with none other than Paul Sabu (as if he needs any introduction)?
C’mon… “I” is everything you could ever wish for from a Melodic Rock / AOR album and so much more.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

01 – Heard It On The Radio
02 – “I”
03 – Home
04 – Unbroken
05 – Song For The Living
06 – Pictures
07 – Can You Feel It
08 – Pieces
09 – She Loves You
10 – So Good To See You
11 – Home (acoustic version)

Dennis Churchill Dries: vocals, bass, keyboards, acoustic guitar
Paul Sabu: guitars, keyboards, backing vocals, production

BUY IT !
www.aorheaven.com/index.php/german_b/churchill-dries-dennis-i.html
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