Romeo’s Daughter
Spin
RD Records
2015
When Romeo’s Daughter debuted, back in 1988, I was less than 10 years old, so I never really discovered them until much later, in my teens and being a raging hormone factory and a silly close minded metal-kid, it was a little hard for me to understand how good they actually were, but I didn’t fail to notice what an absolutely incredible “babe” Leigh Matty was… lol, but I had to subscribe to the local “metal-journos” expert opinions that promoted, some incredibly shitty metal for a variety of reasons (some of them were working for the companies that imported certain albums, some were in some “historical” Greek metal bands and so on… at any rate, because of a “phase difference ” back in the 90s Greece, was still stuck in 80s metal and without the internet, information etc. was scarce… but well, “hard rock” was almost a dirty word… you were a “poseur”… What bollocks… apart from the fact that most of the musicians in melodic bands can play circles around most metal and especially nu-er, metal musicians, there’s nothing “wrong” with melody… even the extreme metal bands have “evolved” to embrace it, but in their case that is a bit of a contradiction...
At any rate, some tree decades later and with the whole record industry, almost lying in tatters, whoever wants to express themselves artistically is out there, trying to reach directly to the audience and connect. Romeo’s Daughter, might have been a short-lived affair lasting from the mid-80s to the early nineties, but they did reunite a few years ago and eventually released an album, “Rapture” some three years ago, that was pretty good, all things considered, if not a little poppier, than usual.
Now they are back, once more with yet another album, called “Spin”, that seems to be even better and closer to capturing the band’s older style, which however is a little more mellow, some twenty years down the line, a bit more mature and probably not as sexy and in your face, as the early material but, still charming and alluring… the band hasn’t missed a bit performance wise, I suspect actually the time that has passed might have made them even better musicians. Leigh Matty’s voice has held up remarkably well and in fact, being lucky enough to watch the band perform live, I must say that they actually were almost better than on the albums. The crowd gave them an ovation that lasted several minutes, (at least 3) and it was a standing one, since most of us were in the arena :D (already standing!)…
The music is more or less what you would expect, or might remember, only a bit more reserved and sweeter, lighter, which isn’t as bad, since the majority of the songs are pretty great.
“Touch” is one of the songs that’s more reminiscent of the “80s” version of the band, sexy sleak, with an excellent chorus… Quite the rocking start...
“Already Gone” has a “bigger” sound and some chords that mimic sitars, it’s a great pop/rock ditto with an arena sized chorus.
“Love Will Come to Those Who Wait” is a bruised ballad, which turns into a power one, midway, with yet another amazing chorus.
“Enemy” is typical of how Romeo’s sound at their mid-tempo. Slightly syncopated, with Matty, sliding efortlessle and elegantly on top of the simple arrangement...
“Didn’t See It Coming” is another “soft” one, a simple bittersweet song, that has some great little melodies.
“Radio” I must say, up until it’s chorus, that is basically enveloped in some thick keyboard layers, actually reminded me pretty much of The Corrs, (who incidentally have a pretty nice song called “Radio” that has actually nothing to do with this one), not bad, but quite poppy, if not for the solo and odd chorus.
The “stripped down” approach comes back for “Tonight” with the rest of the band joining in at the half minute mark, but remaining rather transparent... it’s a smooth, yet uplifting number, that’s pretty “acoustic”... both those things...
“All Because of You” again is some softer “mid-tempo” RD and it might have not made the most solid impression on me, but with the amount of catchy choruses and melodies this album has, it’s got some pretty fierce competition... actually the song picks up some steam towards the end and I’m guessing that a bit more rocking, wouldn’t have hurt it...
“Perfect Plan” has some nifty riff and playful verses, almost reminiscent of something by Belinda Carlise, but while there melody/idea isn’t bad, the overall song feels a little “underdeveloped”.
“Tall Buildings”, the albums closer, is closer to the band’s more rock oriented sound and it’s pretty good, if not for the little unimaginative chorus, which is however set against some pretty good music... also the solos in it are pretty rad, probably some of the more imaginative ones on the entire album… a better chorus would have made this one an instant classic... oh well can’t have it all, but I’m glad we’ve got Romeo’s Daughter back…
A must for fans and everyone open-minded enough to appreciate some great music even if it borders on pop/rock... so what?!
At any rate, some tree decades later and with the whole record industry, almost lying in tatters, whoever wants to express themselves artistically is out there, trying to reach directly to the audience and connect. Romeo’s Daughter, might have been a short-lived affair lasting from the mid-80s to the early nineties, but they did reunite a few years ago and eventually released an album, “Rapture” some three years ago, that was pretty good, all things considered, if not a little poppier, than usual.
Now they are back, once more with yet another album, called “Spin”, that seems to be even better and closer to capturing the band’s older style, which however is a little more mellow, some twenty years down the line, a bit more mature and probably not as sexy and in your face, as the early material but, still charming and alluring… the band hasn’t missed a bit performance wise, I suspect actually the time that has passed might have made them even better musicians. Leigh Matty’s voice has held up remarkably well and in fact, being lucky enough to watch the band perform live, I must say that they actually were almost better than on the albums. The crowd gave them an ovation that lasted several minutes, (at least 3) and it was a standing one, since most of us were in the arena :D (already standing!)…
The music is more or less what you would expect, or might remember, only a bit more reserved and sweeter, lighter, which isn’t as bad, since the majority of the songs are pretty great.
“Touch” is one of the songs that’s more reminiscent of the “80s” version of the band, sexy sleak, with an excellent chorus… Quite the rocking start...
“Already Gone” has a “bigger” sound and some chords that mimic sitars, it’s a great pop/rock ditto with an arena sized chorus.
“Love Will Come to Those Who Wait” is a bruised ballad, which turns into a power one, midway, with yet another amazing chorus.
“Enemy” is typical of how Romeo’s sound at their mid-tempo. Slightly syncopated, with Matty, sliding efortlessle and elegantly on top of the simple arrangement...
“Didn’t See It Coming” is another “soft” one, a simple bittersweet song, that has some great little melodies.
“Radio” I must say, up until it’s chorus, that is basically enveloped in some thick keyboard layers, actually reminded me pretty much of The Corrs, (who incidentally have a pretty nice song called “Radio” that has actually nothing to do with this one), not bad, but quite poppy, if not for the solo and odd chorus.
The “stripped down” approach comes back for “Tonight” with the rest of the band joining in at the half minute mark, but remaining rather transparent... it’s a smooth, yet uplifting number, that’s pretty “acoustic”... both those things...
“All Because of You” again is some softer “mid-tempo” RD and it might have not made the most solid impression on me, but with the amount of catchy choruses and melodies this album has, it’s got some pretty fierce competition... actually the song picks up some steam towards the end and I’m guessing that a bit more rocking, wouldn’t have hurt it...
“Perfect Plan” has some nifty riff and playful verses, almost reminiscent of something by Belinda Carlise, but while there melody/idea isn’t bad, the overall song feels a little “underdeveloped”.
“Tall Buildings”, the albums closer, is closer to the band’s more rock oriented sound and it’s pretty good, if not for the little unimaginative chorus, which is however set against some pretty good music... also the solos in it are pretty rad, probably some of the more imaginative ones on the entire album… a better chorus would have made this one an instant classic... oh well can’t have it all, but I’m glad we’ve got Romeo’s Daughter back…
A must for fans and everyone open-minded enough to appreciate some great music even if it borders on pop/rock... so what?!