NEWMAN – Aerial [Japan Edition +1] (2017)

“Aerial” is album number eleven by NEWMAN, the band formed around British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Steve Newman, a man who as been crafting high-quality melodic hard rock for two decades.In Europe the album is being released via AOR Heaven, and this Japan Edition including a bonus track through indie label AnderStein Music.
For this new recording Steve once again has teamed up with drummer Rob McEwen (who has played on the last nine Newman albums), and also features long time friend Mark Thompson-Smith on vocals on two songs.
The album’s mastering was taken care of by none other than Harem Scarem’s Harry Hess in Canada.

Busy time for Steve Newman as he is also part of the revamped BURN line-up who have a stupendous new album featured on this blog. But let’s concentrate in NEWMAN’s “Aerial”, an album where you’ll find solid, catchy melodic rockers and some of the best material the band has done to date.
Namely the superb ‘Fear Of Flying’ which gets the album off to a great start, and ‘High Tonight (Aerial)’, that almost delves into a little prog a la It Bites with the mid-section keys solo giving way to a stonking guitar solo.

‘You Don’t Know Me’ is one of those uptempo, feel good tunes Newman does so well, and along with ‘Always Strangers’, would sound good in the live environment.
‘Can’t Stop Loving You’ is pure AOR resembling Newman’s early works, and in a similar path you have the pomp-tastic ‘Don’t Wake The Lion’.

Japanese bonus track ‘Give Me A Sign’ is on par in quality, beginning quite ethereal but soon builds into a pretty anthemic melody and a rousing chorus.

NEWMAN albums rarely let you down and in “Aerial” we have one of their strongest to date.
It’s musically varied – always revolving around classic Melodic Rock / AOR but updated to modern times with some electronics – very well arranged and performed with quite dexterous musicianship.
Highly Recommended

01 – Fear Of Flying
02 – Don’t Wake The Lion
03 – Can’t Stop Loving You
04 – Life To Remember
05 – High Tight (Aerial)
06 – Vertigo (Leap Of Faith)
07 – Two Sides
08 – I Am Your Man
09 – Always Strangers
10 – Nothing Left
11 – Steel Bleeding
12 – You Don’t Know Me
13 – Give Me A Sign (Japanese bonus track)

Steve Newman – vocals, guitar, keyboards
Mark Thompson-Smith – backing vocals
Rob McEwen – drums, percussion

BUY IT !
www.anstemusic.com/product/5017
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