JOHN NORUM – Gone To Stay (2022) *HQ*
JOHN NORUM will release his 9th solo album titled ”Gone To Stay” on October 28th, 2022. While mostly known as the founder and lead guitarist from the rock band Europe that quickly took the name as Sweden’s biggest rock export with the songs “The Final Countdown“, “Carrie” and “Rock The Night“, and has sold over 15 million albums worldwide, Norum is without a doubt one of the best guitar players and songwriters of his generation.
Wig Wam vocalist Age Sten Nilsen sings two tracks, Europe’s Mic Michaeli plays keys on one song, former Talisman guitarist Fredrik Akesson has a few contributions. Main contributors here are drummer Peer Stappe, who co-produced the album with John, while also playing keyboards plus bass player Fredik Bergenstrahle, the steady man on the four strings.
Kelly Keeling (who sang on John’s albums ‘Another Destination’ and ‘Worlds Away’) is back for a part during the hard rocking song ,,Terror Over Me’’, one of the best moments of the whole album. John sings the rest himself and he does a satisfactory job on that.
Mr. Norum is wearing a few hats here, being a composer, singer, and, of course, a guitarist. He wears them all with enviable equal ease, which is a sign of true talent.
As per usual John’s guitar work is finger licking good. Overall, he sounds a bit more bluesy in comparison with his very early releases like ‘Face The Truth’ or ‘Total Control’. Albums that really put him on the map as a major player after his 1986 departure from Europe.
Style wise, ”Gone To Stay” is blues meets hard rock. To an extent, this feels like a new installment of Deep Purple, with reminisces of their earlier days (‘Voices Of Silence’) through David Coverdale’s era (‘Sail On’ – to the point where you may wonder if this may actually be Mr Coverdale on vocals, sounding just as hoarsely, sexily confident), to their more contemporary era (‘Calling’).
Another true sign of good music is variety, not sticking to the same style all along. John does that too. ‘Sail On’, for instance, as much as it may remind us of Deep Purple, goes on as a Soundgarden type of song, adding to the Purple vibe a prominent darker tone.
The album also features some proper hit material, like ‘One By One’, where the catchy melody is delivered by another great voice – Åge Sten Nilsen’s.
A particularly strong song is ‘What Do You Want’. Delivered in that very Purple style still, this is confident, mature musicianship: taste of that good old wine. If you have not heard Mr Norum’s solo stuff previously, this may make you go: “Wow, the man can make music – and sing it!”
Another fantastic track is ‘Norma’. It has a Led Zeppelin vibe, Ian Gillan type of vocals (again Nilsen’s), and features Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra which takes it up a notch to another level and gives it more depth and layering.
John has also paid tribute to the classics with an interesting choice: David Bowie’s ‘Lady Grinning Soul’, which brings out the bluesy side to his voice sounding just as confident as the rest of his vocal parts.
Another song from the past is a track from mere 30 years ago, ‘Face The Truth’, this time without the contribution of Glenn Hughes, revisited beautifully with delicious jazz vibes. At first, I did not even recognize the track, that’s how much it has changed. But the more you hear it, the more you will love it.
In ‘Terror Over Me’, you will hear three singers: John, Åge Sten Nilsen, Kelly Keeling, which gives it another dimension of vocal depth.
Throughout the album, there is plenty of guitar craftsmanship on display – so we don’t forget that this is, after all, one of the world’s leading guitar players we are listening to. But this is a ‘rock’ album, varied, always interesting, carefully produced.
HIGHLY Recommended
01 – Voices of Silence
02 – Sail On
03 – Gone to Stay
04 – One by One
05 – What Do You Want
06 – Lady Grinning Soul
07 – Norma
08 – Calling
09 – Terror over Me
10 – Face The Truth (Revisited)
Pre order:
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