Mecca - Undeniable

Nine years have passed since Mecca I. The band’s debut was an excellent AOR record indeed. Great musicians such as David Hungate (bass, ex-Toto) and Fergie Frederiksen (vocals, ex-Toto) have co-operated with the band’s singer/songwriter/mastermind Joe Vana. Let’s not forget the great Jim Peterik (ex-Survivor, Pride of Lions) who contributed to the songwriting and production of the album.

 

The songwriting of the second album started in 2005 between Vana and the Swedish guitarist Christian Wolff. Two years later, in 2007, Joe banded with the Swedish producer/songwriter/guitarist Tommy Denander and started delivering some new tunes. But then again, several problems took the project back, including the death of Vana's longtime friend and co-producer/engineer Bryan Mitchell which made the completion of the recording process extremely slow. Thankfully, Joe didn’t call it quits and continued working on the album with the help of session musicians such as Pat Mastellotto (King Crimson, Mr Mister), Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, King Crimson), along with Denander and Wolff. He also prepared the Mecca band with Mark Alano on guitar and his son Joey on guitars and backing vocals, Rick Vitek on drums, Brian Moritz on keyboards, Wally Hustin on bass and Eric Ragno on keyboards.

 

Musically, the album is AOR, but this time the music is more Westcoast oriented than on the debut album. The album does not have those straight forward AOR songs that the debut used to have… it was Jim’s (Peterik) contribution to the debut back then. In “Undeniable” the musical approach has changed a little due to Tommy Denander. Tommy likes to deliver more complex, technical & funky elements on his songs. The performances on the album are simply fantastic, everyone has played a major role on the songs, Joe sounds great behind the microphone and Tommy along with Wolff have delivered some killer solos. The production is crystal clear and the album’s mix is brilliant (Chuck Macak takes the credit).

 

The album is really enjoyable and easy listening but it needs several spins in order to get into it. Some may prefer the more straightforward songs of the album over the Westcoast and more complex ones and vice versa… but in the end, they will all agree that this is a brilliant album. It’s really hard to distinguish some songs from this album ‘cause it flows very smoothly (the song order is being done wisely) but if you put a gun in my head then I would probably pick: “Perfect World”, “Ten Lifetimes”, “I Know”, “Did It For Love”, “From The Start”, “Deceptive Cadence” (just love the moody instrumental part on the last 2:30 minutes) and “As I Walk Alone” (very emotional indeed).

 

No second thoughts here… if you like the debut then get this album without ado… moreover, if you love AOR/Westcoast music then this is one of the best choices for you this year.