SEDONA – Golden Valley [reissue +4]

SEDONA is a French band (not to be confused with the Northern California hard rock group) that has been on the road since the early Nineties and released a bunch of albums locally. Not so long ago, the mastermind of the band, singer / guitar player Patrick Liotard, inspired after a concert sharing the stage with his idol Steve Lukather, decided to breathe new life into SEDONA’s activity.
Then, it is not surprising that “Golden Valley” sounds heavily influenced by TOTO, LITTLE RIVER BAND, DAKOTA, but above all: STEVE LUKATHER.

The guitar work, solos as well as the vocals strongly reminds me of Lukather’s solo recordings. Liotard is an accomplished arranger & instrumentalist, and also knows how to sing those typical Westcoast AOR harmonies. The singing is in English and one can hardly hear an accent or figure out they are French.
I loved the dreamy mid-western guitar lines of ‘Magic Dream’, and the subtle brilliance of ‘Sweet Wave Of Sunset’ will warm the cockles of your heart.

For Toto fans, check out ‘You Choose Fanatic’, the Lukather-like guitar licks are guaranteed to stun. It’s hard not to miss the delicious harmonies of ‘Golden Valley’ and equally ‘California Ballad’, where the combination of AOR, acoustics and melodic steel guitar is a winner.

When Sedona decide to rock out, a track like ‘Rock Board’ goes to show this lot aren’t just about slick smoothness only, this one is a fun time melodic rocker with big melodies.
Even when they change to instrumentals, Sedona know how to mix it up with stunning musicianship. ‘Laguna’ features magic landscapes, and closer ‘Sedona’ is classic L.A. Session type of material, ala Jay Graydon. One should listen to it with headphones and dream away.

“Golden Valley” is a very good album that will be warmly embraced by friends of classic bands like Toto, Dakota, Tim Feehan, Joseph Williams, Jay Graydon’s Planet 3, Peter Beckett, Nielsen/Pearson, etc.
Originally released by themselves only in France featuring eight tracks, this reissue adds 4 songs to the tracks list making it more complete, and largely enjoyable.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

 

01 – TFC Magic Dream
02 – Surfing State Of Mind
03 – Golden Valley
04 – California Ballad
05 – Sweet Wave Of Sunset
06 – Laguna (Instrumental)
07 – Rock Board
08 – Southern California Dream Space
09 – You Choose Fanatic
10 – The Story
11 – Tessalia
12 – Sedona (Instrumental)

Patrick Liotard – vocals, guitars
Stephane Larribat – drums
Jack AnDouar – bass
Laurent Darmon – keyboards

 

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www.merchbar.com/vinyl-records/sedona/sedona-golden-valley-cd-854898