Kjetil By
Better Days (feat. Robin Beck)
Hit Music
2014
Kjetil By is a Norwegian guitarist, with a number of solo albums under his belt. On this his fourth one, he enlists the aid of rock goddess, Robin Beck, her husband, House Of Lords frontman, James Christian, along with bassist Morten Skaget (TNT), drummer Steinar Krokstad (Stage Dolls), and keyboard player Dag Selbosakar (Da Vinci). Quite a fine gathering of melodic rock talent then.
Kjetil has been going on since the mid-90s and 4 albums in the span of nearly twenty years wouldn’t place him in the category of super prolific writers, but at least he seems to be giving sufficient time to himself to be visited by the muse, instead of releasing albums out of contractual obligation. He did collaborate with lyricist Claudia Scott to write “Better Days” and asked Robin Beck to sing on the album, which she did, obviously attaching James Christian to the project as well.
“Better Days” has simple, but not simplistic performances that flow nicely, a general feel-good tone and a rather upbeat feeling on most of its tracks and when it becomes mellow, the melancholy is sweet and not overbearing.
“Better Days” opens with a title track, a sleek and sexy tune that starts off a little jaded, to only come around when its uplifting chorus impacts.
On “New York Rain” Robin pays tribute to her hometown wishing she could be back in the Big Apple.
“Everything Has a Price” is a lot more melodic, heartaching and even heartbreaking, but not all black n blue.
“Carry On” is a heartfelt piano ballad, which Beck really shines on.
“Dancers” is a danceable, radio rocker with a strong beat and chorus. Mellow disco rock at its best much better than the “sunblock” remake of first time that happened a few years ago.
“Only Myself to Blame” has lots of multi-tracked and stacked vocals and without being “TON” worthy, feels like it was indirectly influenced by the legacy of that album. The chorus especially.
“White Nights” is another rocker with a beat that initially seems uninteresting, but starts working past its first verse, thankfully.
“Superseded” is a bit of a weird word to use and the track doesn’t work perfectly, due to that despite having a few nifty ideas and good moments.
“Autumn Winds” is a breezy rocker that gets some wind in its sail, as soon as the first verse is through, a bit of a recurring theme, with all these KJ tunes… maybe it’s got something to do with his writing style and how everything came together… I dunno.
“Guide You on Your Way” is probably one of the best songs on the album, a great ballad with a heartfelt performance by Beck.
Alternative “funkier” versions of “Better Days” and “Dancers” serve as bonus tracks, but I think some of the beat ideas would have worked if they were sparingly used in the original tracks and not just layered on top of everything else.
The album is not bad, by any means, but its mix could have been a bit more fleshed out, it sounds a little empty, clean by not fleshed out enough, which is a shame. The songs are not bad and Beck’s performances add a lot to them, but I’m guessing that a definite “hit”, a big “single” is missing really from the album, which is also a bit of an issue. It’s however very pleasant in its lighthearted and bright, mostly uplifting way, so it’s not too hard to recommend to fans of Robin or glossy melodic rock with poppy hooks.
Kjetil has been going on since the mid-90s and 4 albums in the span of nearly twenty years wouldn’t place him in the category of super prolific writers, but at least he seems to be giving sufficient time to himself to be visited by the muse, instead of releasing albums out of contractual obligation. He did collaborate with lyricist Claudia Scott to write “Better Days” and asked Robin Beck to sing on the album, which she did, obviously attaching James Christian to the project as well.
“Better Days” has simple, but not simplistic performances that flow nicely, a general feel-good tone and a rather upbeat feeling on most of its tracks and when it becomes mellow, the melancholy is sweet and not overbearing.
“Better Days” opens with a title track, a sleek and sexy tune that starts off a little jaded, to only come around when its uplifting chorus impacts.
On “New York Rain” Robin pays tribute to her hometown wishing she could be back in the Big Apple.
“Everything Has a Price” is a lot more melodic, heartaching and even heartbreaking, but not all black n blue.
“Carry On” is a heartfelt piano ballad, which Beck really shines on.
“Dancers” is a danceable, radio rocker with a strong beat and chorus. Mellow disco rock at its best much better than the “sunblock” remake of first time that happened a few years ago.
“Only Myself to Blame” has lots of multi-tracked and stacked vocals and without being “TON” worthy, feels like it was indirectly influenced by the legacy of that album. The chorus especially.
“White Nights” is another rocker with a beat that initially seems uninteresting, but starts working past its first verse, thankfully.
“Superseded” is a bit of a weird word to use and the track doesn’t work perfectly, due to that despite having a few nifty ideas and good moments.
“Autumn Winds” is a breezy rocker that gets some wind in its sail, as soon as the first verse is through, a bit of a recurring theme, with all these KJ tunes… maybe it’s got something to do with his writing style and how everything came together… I dunno.
“Guide You on Your Way” is probably one of the best songs on the album, a great ballad with a heartfelt performance by Beck.
Alternative “funkier” versions of “Better Days” and “Dancers” serve as bonus tracks, but I think some of the beat ideas would have worked if they were sparingly used in the original tracks and not just layered on top of everything else.
The album is not bad, by any means, but its mix could have been a bit more fleshed out, it sounds a little empty, clean by not fleshed out enough, which is a shame. The songs are not bad and Beck’s performances add a lot to them, but I’m guessing that a definite “hit”, a big “single” is missing really from the album, which is also a bit of an issue. It’s however very pleasant in its lighthearted and bright, mostly uplifting way, so it’s not too hard to recommend to fans of Robin or glossy melodic rock with poppy hooks.