On disc: Spin Gallery

 
 Standing Tall
 
- Sandra Bucher -
 
 


 
 Embrace
 
- Lars Björn -
 
 


 
 Embrace
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 

Embrace

(Frontiers - 2009)



 
 

 

This is a very special album, one of these kind of albums where you get 12 songs, and only a few of them are interesting. Such is the case, but of the 12 songs on this new CD 3 of them are out of comparison with the rest of the songs. Just A Momentary Why is a good and guitar / drum oriented song, has a nice personality about it, and it has an extra quality that Robin Beck is guest performing as singer.

Eyes Wide Open is another special song with a completely different singing style where it is built like soft footsteps, that is really something you could listen to many times without getting tired of it.

The most spectacular song is called Blood In My Veins. A very, very beautiful ballad where you are taken back in time thinking of Led Zeppelin's Stairway To Heaven, but even though it is not the same song, Blood In My Veins gives new life to one of the most famous songs ever written.

Tommy Denander has written all songs on Spin Gallery's second studio album Embrace. He teams up with singer Kristoffer Lagerström to get a good balance of the new album, their second, since debut album Standing Tall came out in 2004. Guest musicians are singer Robin Beck, drummer Glen Marks, Marika Willstedt on cello and Dan Reed is featured on the song You Do The Things You Do. An album which is quite ordinary, but is saved by 3 splendid songs.
 
 










Lars Björn


  
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Embrace

(Frontiers - 2009)



 
 

 

Spin Gallery is another band project of Mr. Tommy Denander, this man seems to play, write and produce music 24/7! Again he teamed up with Kristoffer Lagerström to create rock with pop elements and on a technically high level. Something bands like Mr. Mister and Toto offered... But there is a bit more into it... Some songs fit the description prog pop best, even if it has some rock elements.

They kick off with the title track Embrace which somehow reminds me of Threshold, even if not as progressive. But the vocals of Kristoffer Lagerström sounds a bit like Damon Wilson - at least to me. With Stone By Stone they change slightly, a bit more pop and with a bombastic edge. At Just A Momentary Why Spin Gallery are joined by Robin Beck, a radio-friendly tune. Brilliance Of The Drugs I wouldn't miss at all, too mellow. But with Eyes Wide Open they get back my attention, a keyboard-laden pop rock tune. Quite catchy.

The acoustic Blood In My Veins is enchanting! The combination of acoustic guitar and Marika Willstedt's cello is very cool! I would like to hear more of this stuff! One of the real highlights on Embrace! When I heard that Dan Reed is singing one song I had high hopes, and I'm not disappointed by his performance, just the song You Do The Things You Do doesn't thrill me... Indulge is a good pop tune with a rock guitar riffing. Tic Toc is a happy pop song to sing along, but that's it. And with The End they come to the end of Embrace.

Well, technically there is nothing to complain, but the album is neither a true pop album nor a rock album. It's somewhere in between... But the album has too many songs which are just average, even if their are some good ones.
 
 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
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Standing Tall

(Atenzia - 2004)



 
 

 

Another album where Tommy Denander was involved with. Denander wrote and produced Spin Gallery's Standing Tall. If Mr. Denander is involved you can bet it's AOR. On Standing Tall you can here the voices of Chris Antblad, Kristoffer Lagerström and Magnus Weinemo who is the new Arena Sweden singer. The others are known from other Denander works. The production is powerful, but details and filigree parts aren't overlapped by the powerful production. The song I Still Recall sounds a little bit like Toto and Living Without You could have been from Steve Lukather. Beside the AOR rockers and ballads there is Waiting In My Dreams which is more 80's pop. But that's easy to explain, coz it's an unreleased song of Mr. Mister who had in the 80's with Kyrie a top 20 hit.

More then an average AOR album, but not a milestone. If you like Tommy Denander's work then you should check this out.
 
 










Sandra Bucher
(translation: Claudia Ehrhardt)


  
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           ©2008-2010 by Claudia Ehrhardt • E-Mail: contact@ice-vajal.com