FROM THE FIRE – OctOpus (2016)
FROM THE FIRE’s debut album Thirty Days And Dirty Nights is considered a classic among AOR / Melodic Rock fans – and rightfully so. After a 22-year break the band returned 2014 with a strong new record titled Evil Men Do (you can check both here), and now 2016, signed by Lions Pride Music, From The Fire are back with third effort “OctOpus“.
Always with founding members J.D. Kelly (lead vocals, keyboards) and Tommy Lafferty (guitars) at the helm, this From The Fire 2016 returns refreshed by a new, young line-up.
Carefully crafted songs plenty of delicious melodies – a trademark from this band – and mixing classy ’80s AOR sounds with more contemporary Melodic Rock are the heart of this new album “OctOpus”.
As usual with the previous two albums, the band opens this “OctOpus” with an uptempo number called “Left Him Lonely” and it’s a highlight conjuring the best of ’83 Journey with Steve Perry solo material. A stupendous AOR song. I am surprised by the top notch production as well.
Also, typical from this band, the rest of the disc explores their wide range of melodic tastes, going from the straight forward melodic rockers like “Perfume and Leather” with some Night Ranger over it, to the catchy AOR of ‘Every Beat of My Heart’ (great harmonies).
J.D. Kelly yield the microphone to Jenni Cue for the leads on ‘Cry For Me’, which smooth female vocals provide a nice variation to the disc. More different stuff arrives with the classic rock / hard oriented ‘Madman’, the only track I don’t dig here.
But you got sold again with the awesome ‘Every Beat of My Heart’, a pure ’80s AOR tune with a Survivor feel, a monster chorus and melodic guitars.
Speaking about Survivor, there’s a touching ballad in the Jimi Jamison tribute song ‘You Will Survive’ including pianos & acoustics at the beginning and then develops again into a Survivor-like wonderful tune.
‘Night I Made You Mine’ is another terrific midtempo AOR / semi-ballad which reminds me of Pride Of Lions, yet less bombastic and more ‘earthy’, emotional.
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Creating a new album to match an awesome debut is an almost impossible task, but From The Fire are pretty close with this “OctOpus”. While the return record a couple years ago showcased some flaws, this new line-up has been together for almost 2 years now, and the band feels really homogeneous.
And we have some truly terrific AOR / Melodic Rock tracks in the classy vein of the genre. There’s a couple I don’t like much – not bad at all, just the band exploring something different – but overall it’s a melodic effort plenty of harmonies and lovely choruses where the band excels.
Production is very good as well, not surprising with talented Pete Newdeck (Eden’s Curse, In Faith) mixing and involved in many ways.
Highly Recommended
01 – Left Him Lonely
02 – Perfume and Leather
03 – That’s How Love Starts
04 – Every Beat of My Heart
05 – You Will Survive
06 – Madman
07 – Cry For Me
08 – Requiem / Ground Zero
09 – Night I Made You Mine
10 – Right Down the Middle
J.D. Kelly – lead vocals, keyboards
Tommy Lafferty – guitars, vocals
Jenn Quereau – keyboards, vocals
Kenny Kaufman – bass, vocals
Gannett Reis – drums
Jenni Cue – keyboards, lead vocals on ‘Cry For Me’
BUY IT !
www.cdbaby.com/cd/fromthefire4
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