DION BAYMAN – Better Days (2018)
We were already impressed by Australian DION BAYMAN‘s previous works (featured here on the blog) and his irresistible, infectious Melodic Rock hooks.
Today September 21, Dion Bayman is back with new album “Better Days”, and he is back in a big way.
The ten tracks of “Better Days” show the unquestionable skills of Dion Bayman in capturing the essence of a catchy and up-to-date FM sound, built on high quality songwriting reminiscent to the likes of 90’s Bon Jovi, Rick Springfield, Richard Marx and Bryan Adams.
I am such a big fan of this guy. He writes incredibly catchy songs, has a terrific voice and is just one talented son of a gun. Proof of that is that he writes, records, mixes, produces, sings and plays every instrument in his music. Pretty damn impressive if you ask me.
Dion recently said that “With each new release my goal is to make it better than the last in every aspect. I think I’ve grown as a songwriter, and production wise it’s the best sounding album I’ve produced. I am extremely proud of this record“.
Well he has done just that here.
Three demo CDs were recorded by Bayman before being pulled. ‘Truth Or Dare’, ‘Rise’ and ’Standing Tall’ were decent efforts (and some songs from those have been re-done and included in later releases) but in 2013 Dion took giant strides forward in his music when he released ‘Smoke And Mirrors’ and it was miles ahead better than those demos.
In 2014 he dropped ‘Afterburn’ and it blew ‘Smoke And Mirrors’ out of the water and I really did not think he would be able to top that record. It was simply excellent.
I was very wrong in that thinking as he proved in 2016 when the smashing ‘Don’t Look Down’ released and he showed that he would indeed make every effort to make his music better with each release.
That record was amazing with song after song being better than the last and after that album then I was sure of myself when I thought that there was no way in hell he would ever be able to outdo that one. It was so strong I felt sure he could not top it. Ever.
Wrong… I should have known better than to challenge Dion. The man has made a career out of making music better with each new record and this new one is no different.
Well, there is one thing that is different with “Better Days” : Dion has self-released all of his albums independently, however with the release of this fifth album we see him joining forces with Art Of Melody Music / Burning Minds Music Group for the record.
The opening track, ‘Ready For The Real Thing’, seems to be a little more rocking than his usual fare (in fact that stays true through most of the album) and I think it is one of the heaviest songs he has done. Fantastic rocker and an excellent start for the record.
Around August of 2017 Dion shared a song on his Facebook page called ‘Rise And Fall’, the first taste of new music from him, but there was no announcement of a new record at that time, that came early this year. I loved the song back when it released last year and I still love it now. Excellent song.
The title track is available to hear on the video below, and it is another great, upbeat song very much in the usual vein we are used to hearing from Dion.
The next cut, ‘The Best Times Of My Life’ has a kind of Bryan Adams feel to it and is just a terrific song and one of my favorites from the album while the sensational, mid-tempoed ballad ‘Leap Of Faith’ is, in fact, the best song of the record in my opinion. It is the kind of song that I think Dion really shines on and I absolutely love it!
‘Fallin’ For You’ is a wonderful pop rocker with a very infectious melody and beat and it takes us into the another that will have you singing along with ‘Pieces’.
The record ends with a trio of fine, upbeat tracks that fit in nicely with the rest of the album.
‘Out Of Mind Out Of Sight’ and ‘Cold’ and ‘If I Could’ are exactly the kind of songs we have come to expect from this man, both influenced – or written – with the late ’80s in mind.
If you have heard Bayman previous albums – and you need to – you’ll love this new one : just expect everything about it to be better! He does not step outside of his usual style too much, but that is not a bad thing in any way.
“Better Days” is a thing of beauty, an ode to other – and ‘better’ era when radio used to play melodic, feel good music. This is a record, and artist, that chooses melody, message and instrumentation that showcases those things instead of blowing your eardrums away (not that hard rock and metal can’t contain all of that either, of course).
With the ability to deliver catchy as hell songs at every turn, time and time again, Dion Bayman stands at the forefront of melodic pop rock and is one of the greatest artists that niche of the genre has seen in quite some time. Production is fantastic, Dion sounds amazing both vocally and on the instruments and the songs are phenomenal.
This is absolutely THE best album Dion has ever released. Every one of the ten tracks and every second of the 40 minutes and 45 seconds playtime of this record is absolute melodic rick perfection and a how-to for anyone wanting to know how a melodic pop rock record is supposed to sound.
Very, Highly Recommended
01 – Ready for the Real Thing
02 – Rise and Fall
03 – Better Days
04 – The Best Times of My Life
05 – Leap of Faith
06 – Fallin’ for You
07 – Pieces
08 – Out of Mind out of Sight
09 – Cold
10 – If I Could
Dion Bayman: all vocals, instruments and programming
BUY IT !
www.amazon.de/Better-Days-Dion-Bayman/dp/B07GXY3BKQ
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