Crowning Glory
As the promo note states 'we've got something on the go, but we're lazy and need a kick up the arse'. Thankfully that boot seemed to be on the end of the foot of new vocalist Barrie Jackson. With a name more Wheeltappers than Madison Square Garden, he (Jackson) proves to be Angel Or Kings missing link, and not in a neanderthal way either. Joking aside, Jackson has a voice that'll have grown men crying into their Top Deck Shandy's, or whatever else the discerning AOR crowd drink in the 21st Century.
Angel Or Kings album has more polish than a Brasso and Mr.Sheene factory combined. A fault with many of the modern melodic rock bands is writing to a formula, and they try to make every song an anthem. There's nowt wrong with that, but Angels Or Kings are old school and their craft comes from a time when some of the greats put immense time and effort into their writing. Think of some of your favourite melodic rock bands – Journey, Giant, & Giuffria from the past and the newer age such as HEAT, Vega and Eclipse; well Angels Or Kings ride this AOR train hot on the coat tails of these luminaries both past and present
Any Other Girl is a song that just slaps you around the face and deserves to be heard. After just one listen you'll be humming and singing into your hairbrush (if you still have hair) along with Barrie, making 5 part harmonies, and begging for more. Well...Kings of Nowhere doesn't disappoint, Ice Turned To Rain is a song that would be a huge in 80s FM Radio America. Real Life is the type of song the likes of FM tried to write in the early 90s – it's a blood and guts, fire and brimstone epic number. Same Star is the type of song that 5 northern lads shouldn't be capable of writing, it just oozes class. Halfway through and you begin to run out of superlatives to describe this crackin' slab of loveliness!
Left In Love has yet another singalong chorus and again keeps the Angels Or Kings momentum up high. Keyboards feature high on the "AoK Jonathan Cain scale" and they definitely add to the quality, with Another Lost Boy being a prime example. If Her Tears Could Talk and Kings Of Nowhere keep the album strong to the bitter end.
There's nothing to criticize here, only to enjoy. Jackson proves he's a mighty fine singer, and is given a belting set of songs to prove his worth. If you love melodic rock and love well crafted little nuggets of gold then look no further than Kings of Nowhere. Its the best AOR album of 2014 bar none.