RAMOS – My Many Sides (2020)
Guitarist for some of the greatest AOR acts of the last 30 years (Hardline, The Storm, Two Fires) it was time that Josh RAMOS released his debut album; ”My Many Sides’‘ will be released by Frontiesrs Music tomorrow.
Of course, there’s a terrific cast of session musicians, and some incredible vocalists as wel such as Eric Martin (Mr. Big), Danny Vaughn (Tyketto), Harry Hess (Harem Scarem), Terry Ilous (XYZ), John Bisaha (The Babys), Tony Harnell (ex-TNT), and the late Tony Mills (ex-Shy, TNT).
A real tour de force of Melodic Rock from this fiery six-stringer, this album will thrill and delight lovers of genre around the world, and yes, it’s one of the gems of the year
Despite its title, there’s not many sides of Josh Ramos on display here: the man is a classic rocker. Of course we have hard rockers, melodic tunes, bluesy rockers, a ballad and an AORish number. Varied, but all these revolving around melodic hard rock.
Joe (Heaven & Earth) Retta features on 4 of the 12 tracks (there are another 7 vocalists spread across the album). He does a solid job on ‘All Over Now’ ‘Today’s The Day’, ‘Same Old Fears’ and ‘Too Good To Be True’.
Terry (XYZ) Ilous can sing anything, however on ‘Unbroken’ his vocals are abit low into the mix, with Ramos multi-tracked guitar lines dominating the scene.
Danny (Tyketto) Vaughn pops up on ‘Blameless Blue’ for a stupendous performance, same with Harry (Harem Scarem) Hess on ‘I’ve Been Waiting’, one of the best written songs on the album. Both are framed in doomy guitar arpeggios and darkly atmospheric keyboard swells to begin with, but fairly quickly burst out into the brightness and lightness of brief, and very welcome melodic rock arias.
Tony (TNT) Harnell then picks up the baton with all the confidence of an experienced relay runner on the bluesy ballad ‘Immortal’, skillfully merging his voice with the song’s mix of psychedelic swirls and pugnacious axework.
Another highlight, ‘Forefather’, an old time spiritual, really shines with Eric (Mr Big) Martin carrying the song’s epic emotional weight, helped along by a gospel choir.
Surprisingly perhaps, there’s only one instrumental, ‘Ceremony’. It’s a mix of the visceral and the expressive, with some moody introspection thrown in. It carries a dazzlingly simple tune, edgy and not obviously lyrical. It would have been good to see a few more like this sprinkled across the album’s heavy grooves and jagged riffs.
Then it’s a pleasure to hear Tony Mills on closer ‘I’m Only Human’, a midtempo bluesy number which has some connection with Ramos’ previous band Two Fires.
Ramos’ ”My Many Sides’ showcases the guitarist skill not only with the 6-strings, but also writing songs.
The personnel is top notch, and while the songs are varied, the songs are bluesy hard rock oriented: it’s Josh heart and the music he loves.
It isn’t so polished like his previous bands though, is quite visceral and rocking as a whole, with the cream of the genre’s vocalists providing their incredible pipes.
Highly Recommended
01. Today’s The Day (Joe Retta on vocals)
02. Unbroken (Terry Ilous on vocals)
03. Blameless Blue (Danny Vaughn on vocals)
04. Immortal (Tony Harnell on vocals)
05. Same Ol’ Fears (Joe Retta on vocals)
06. I’ve Been Waiting (Harry Hess on vocals)
07. Moving On (John Bisaha on vocals)
08. Forefather (Eric Martin on vocals)
09. Too Good To Be True (Joe Retta on vocals)
10. Ceremony (Instrumental)
11. All Over Now (Joe Retta on vocals)
12. I’m Only Human (Tony Mills on vocals)
Josh Ramos – Guitars
Tony Morra – Drums
Fabrizio Grossi – Bass, orchestration
Michael T Ross – Pianos, Keyboards
Alex Alessandroni Jr – Hammond
Eric Ragno – Keyboards
Vocals – Joe Retta, Tony Harnell, Danny Vaughn, John Bisaha, Harry Hess, Eric Martin, Terry Illous, Tony Mills
PRE ORDER:
www.amazon.co.uk/My-Many-Sides-Ramos/dp/B088GMJ3J8
