SEVEN HARD YEARS (7HY) – Stories We Tell (2016)
7HY / SEVEN HARD YEARS, the British Melodic Hard Rock band led by ex-SHY Alan Kelly returns with second effort “Stories We Tell“. Shawn Pelata (ex Line Of Fire) remains on vocals and, as in the past, contributions to lead guitar work come from some substantial guests. These include Pete Fry (Farcry), Calle Hammer (Houston), Dave Martin (Marshall Law), Danny Beardsley (Emperor Chung), with Eliot Kelly (Alan’s son) and Paul Kelly (his brother).
When 7HY debut appeared two years ago, we highly recommended the record to all Melodic Hard Rock / AOR aficionados, and the same goes with this sophomore CD “Stories We Tell”.
If the band is new to you, the the music, given Kelly’s history, Seven Hard Years delivers classic Melodic Hard Rock in an AOR wrapper. It’s Eighties deja vu, all over again.
Kelly, Pelata, and friends don’t reinvent the wheel by any means. Rather they strengthen and embellish the fundamentals. At the heart of their tunes are harmony, melody, and groove, the essentials.
Then they twist these elements to craft songs with catchy melodies, equally engaging refrains, crisp riffs, and vibrant guitar solos.
Pelata’s clean melodic vocals stand tall whatever the occasion, songs with stronger riffs and presence like ‘I’ll Survive’ or ‘Driving Me Crazy’ or something slightly more subtle like ‘Only Human’ and ‘Wasn’t Always Like This’.
Which leads to a curious observation. There may be those songs with more subdued moments, but most everything here are straight up rockers. Midtempo ‘Only Human’ is probably the lightest song, but I’m not sure it qualifies as a ballad.
Alternatively, Kelly and Pelata take the otherwise rockin’ tune ‘Driving Me Crazy’ and turn into an acoustic psuedo-ballad in duet, Pelata singing with Robyn Kelly (another relative?). But even this track, after the middle, turns rocking.
Fundamentally, with the significant experience and talent from Alan Kelly, Shawn Pelata, and their contributing friends, Seven Hard Years delivers more polished and entertaining MHR / AOR in “Stories We Tell”, much better stuff than many ‘big names’ from the current scene.
Highly Recommended
01 – I’ll Survive
02 – Break The Spell
03 – Don’t Believe A Word
04 – One More Day
05 – Only Human
06 – Church
07 – Into You
08 – Broken Man
09 – Driving Me Crazy
10 – I’ve Been Waiting
11 – Sweet Sensation
12 – Wasn’t Always Like This
13 – Driving Me Crazy Duet (Bonus Duet Mix)
Alan Kelly – guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, backing vocals
Shawn Pelata – lead & backing vocals
Tom Dwyer, Roy Davis, Martin Walls, Claire Kelly – bass
Robyn Kelly – guest vocals
Paul Kelly, Calle Hammer, Pete Fry, Dave Martin, Danny Beardsley, Eliot Kelly – guitar solos
PRE ORDER:
www.amazon.co.uk/Stories-Tell-Seven-Hard-Years/dp/B01JMBUVZQ
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