SILENCE – City Days (2012)

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French musician Bruno Levesque is not much known outside Melodic Rock / AOR music circles, but he has been working in his project / band SILENCE since the late nineties.
It started as an instrumental affair (2 CD’s), but during the last decade Levesque has delivered a very good triad of full-band albums.

Now, Silence is ready to release not 1, but 2 albums simultaneously; “City Nights” and “City Days”.
While Levesque had been recording with a variety of vocalists in the previous discs, a new chapter opened with the arrival of Benjamin Venet (from the Belgian band Jayhawkers) in 2008’s last album ‘Open Road’.
Now firmly established as stable member in Silence, Venet has noticeably evolved on this new recording. Not only did he co-write most the songs on offer, he performs them with an enviable ease and freshness.
His vocals range from a sweet timbre to a slightly raspy tone resembling a young Jon Bon Jovi, which perfectly fit Levesque’s sonic universe. The chemistry between them jumps to the speakers and sparks on every song, on both CD’s.
The excellent “City Nights” was already presented here in this blog, now let’s take a look on “City Days”, no less good than the other, believe me.

First track “Beggar’s Day” is a poppy melodic rock, light musically during the verses, but with a strong upbeat break on the modern chorus.
“Father” is one of the winners on this CD. An extremely melodious rocker featuring an unconcealed Euro style much in the vein of Last Autumn’s Dream. Venet vocals reminds me Mikael Erlandsson indeed, while Levesque delivers a memorable melodic orchestration.
The midtempo “Footprints” has ‘that’ special AOR feel which made the Scottish band Strangeways famous. A lovely laid back tune for sure.
“Brand New Start” is musically pretty urban, with a moody melody driven both by acoustic / electric guitars and a subtle organ in the background. An interesting track, different from the rest of the material, which adds a welcomed variation.

Now we have another highlight. A song with a female name presumes a ballad, and “Jenny” is exactly that, in a midtempo pace. The melody is simple yet enchanting, with a vocal performance and an overall sound of Fred Hendrix’s (Terra Nova, Aquila) factory. This tune is the best representation of this “City Days” CD; laid back Melodic Rock. And a good one.
“Guardian Angel” is a track penned by Mark Spiro, who has approved Silence’s version with joy. Thier version is uptempo and catchy in a Nelson mould, with a passionate performance by Venet. His vocalization here truly elevates the song.
I love “The End Of The Day”. Some people may find this song too simple, but it’s a marvelous Melodic Rock tune with great harmony vocals and an organic instrumentation, warm and comfortable. This is pure Melodic Rock guys.
The gentle “Lift Me Up” features a female (not listed) singer duet with Venet, a good song in any average album, but not in the high quality bar set by this CD. Anyway, again, offers variation adding some strings and a little sax arrangement.

The more uptempo pace returns with “Daydreaming”, another song between my favs as sounds as Nelson (I am a big fan) with superb harmony vocals and two short but great guitar solos.
“Business” adds more variation to the disc. Starts slowly, but then explodes into a melodic rocker with a potent riff. A track with a Tommy Denander style, in fact he is playing here. The second part of the song features a dark speech and furious drums. Another really good, interesting track.
Last one, “Waiting For Dawn (Lullaby)” is obviously, a ballad. Acoustically driven with some pianos, Venet delivers his best Jon Bon Jovi impersonation here, and in very good way. Why this guy is not in major band is a total mystery.

I am completely in love with “City Days” and the other CD simultaneously released (‘City Nights’) by Silence, one of the most organic, sweet, harmonic, pure Melodic Rock collection of songs appeared in many, many years.
With these albums, Silence has marked a clear difference with rest of bands in this genre: Emotion. All the songs on both CD’s will lodge in you blue collar Melodic Rock heart, meticulously arranged and handmade produced with love.
Great songs, great musical melodies, great vocal harmonies: all are here.
I’m sold.
Highly Recommended.

You’ve seen it first here, at zerodayrock

1 – Beggar’s Day
2 – Father
3 – Footprints
4 – Brand New Start
5 – Jenny
6 – Guardian Angel *
7 – The End Of The Day
8 – Lift Me Up
9 – Daydreaming
10 – Business
11 – Waiting For Dawn (Lullaby)

Ben Venet: Lead & Backing Vocals, Guitar
Bruno Levesque: Guitars, Keyboards, Bass, Drums
Tommy Denander: add. Guitar, Keyboards
Mark Spiro: Songwriting* on 6

BUY IT !
www.amazon.com/City-Days-Silence/dp/B007CDDYHE