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SILENCE - NOSTALGIA (2004,
VINNY RECORDS)
Jerome Cazard - vocals,
mandolin, accordion; Bruno Levesque - guitars,
bass, keyboards, mandolin, backing
vocals
Faustine Bosson - guest lead vocals on
'Where No One Lives'
Everytime an
album comes along where the main guy is the
keyboardist, you just know something rewarding
will result. The French duo Silence do exactly
that. The project is the brainchild of Bruno
Levesque, who had prior to this, released a
handful of instrumental albums, before hooking
up with talented singer Jerome Cazard. The
result is a beautiful AOR mixture of
Newman and Street Talk - combining
the production ideals of Englishman Steve Newman
and the lush but commercial styling of Frederik
Bergh respectively. You could even chuck in the
likes of Dare, and certainly with a pair
of mandolins twanging away in the background,
the good ol' Mid West comparison comes into play
- a la the Norwegian outfit On The Rise.
If that has you salivating, then so it should.
It certainly got me going!! What is evident, is
that the album is very atmospheric.
The
pairing got together in 2001, and not long after
released an album on MTM called 'Utopia'. Not
having heard that effort, I guess it passed the
world by, because otherwise we would have heard
through the grapevine. Now with Spanish label
Vinny Records in tow (91 Suite,
Coastline etc), Messrs Levesque and
Cazard have an enthusiastic vehicle to send
their latest musical endeavour out into the
world. There are thirteen tracks, and 65 minutes
of material - enough to partake in at least two
strong cups of your best coffee before you get
to the end!!
The album gets underway with
the rather beautiful 'Stupid Man' (no, not the
Thomas Helmig version), the intro is
outstanding, and the chorus will get into your
head before too long. The mandolins lead us in
on 'Electric Harps', the track taking on a
Frontline like stance - structure wise.
Gorgeous keyboards waft over us on at the start
of 'My Sight'. Approach wise we're in the same
zone as the UK act Newman, stabbing
pianos, strutting guitars.. everything really.
Taking time out in the mid-west atmospheric wash
a la On The Rise is the song 'Where No
One Lives'. If you can imagine open plains, vast
roads, and small town USA - then your're halfway
there.
Heading off down the highway is
'Chrome And Glass' - a song about cars. It
combines the raciness of Newman and the
melody of On The Rise to perfection. In
fact, On The Rise is the best reference
point for the next few tracks: 'Family Home',
'Time', and 'Just Us' all have that flavour that
made Terje Eide and his Norwegian cohorts so
popular in 2003. The album ends on an
instrumental track, entitled 'Oceana'. An AOR
keyboardists wet dream is this one, or if you
are into melodic new age music, then this will
surely get your chakras churning!
A good
listen throughout, a bit samey toward the end
there, but ovreall it is a damn good listen. I
predict that I will spend some time with this
CD, taking the opportunity to immerse in its
depth and atmosphere. Even though this album was
late getting to us as a 2004 release, it
certainly gives us hope that 2005 will be good
year with quality releases. If the power metal
genre can do it, then why not AOR? Make sure to
check out the sound samples via the URL's listed
below.
Review By: George
Thatcher
URL: http://www.vinnyrecords.com/;
http://silenceprod.free.fr/
Track
Listing
01 Stupid Man
02 Electric
Harps
03 My Sight
04 Where No One
Lives
05 A Passing Show
06 Chrome And
Glass
07 Brother
08 Family Home
09
Time
10 Just Us
11 In Between Days
12
Easy Way
13 Oceana
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