‘A Touch of Heaven’ is the results of demos that were originally conceived back in 2002.
Now then, Serpentine released their album back in March but their sound goes further back. Way back, in fact, as far back as the 1980’s when AOR was at its most popular.
‘A Touch of Heaven’ is the result of demos that were originally conceived back in 2002.
Judging by the cover of the back of the CD you’d be forgiven for thinking that the guys on it could be six random fellas you’d see down the pub all be it six very musically accomplished chaps; the playing is tighter than two coats of paint!
Serpentine worked with producer Chris Steinmetz, who has worked with bands such as Survivor, White Lion and Styx. The result is an album that sound very polished but because they play a genre that stems from the 80’s you know as soon as you hear the first notes it could sound dated.
'A Touch of Heaven' opens the album with proper old skool keyboards and synths. Tony Mills then reveals a cracking set of pipes when he gets beasted into the song.
There are certainly influences from the likes of Journey and other acts from the decade that fashion and taste forgot. One of the highlights on A Touch of Heaven is ‘Let Love Rain Down’. It starts with a proper air guitar riff and then continues into a solid driving song.
Singer Tony Mills replaced American singer Greg Flores, but with Mills they have found the right front man for the band (even if he does look old enough to have fathered some of the other members!)
Whilst there is no disputing the musicianship, the songs do sound extremely dated. Again it’s because of the decade many elements of the music come from.
However, Serpentine will certainly gain plenty of fans on the underground scene where their music will be appreciated the most.
Although, having said that, stranger things have happened. Look at one of Serpentine’s influences, Journey. They’ve made more money from ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ in the past few years than what they did the first time round!
To conclude, Serpentine have produced some good but slightly dated music.