JOHN HEINRICH - 2015 (1 ALBUM)

"3 FACES"

2015

LEAP INTO THE STORM - The opening track of the album is a light, mid tempo Rock song. It very much reminds me of Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers with that laid back, cool style.  It is a Country Rock Pop track which includes a great guitar solo interlude at around the 3 minute mark!It is a fine album intro!

ANSWERS - This is an unusual and strange track.  The music is Alternative 80s Pop Rock and that is fine by me.  I am never negative in my reviews but the singer Billy Anderson's vocals seem a little out of place in the song.  The monotone Bob Dylan style drops the song into bland territory.  It seems to just meander along and the vocals just don't work for me, but it is just my opinion.  The music is great but is dragged down by the voice.  However, the big redeeming feature is the 20 seconds or so Rock guitar near the end but its a little too late to save it.  More of the guitars and a different singer may have got five stars from me.  Not my favourite but many may disagree.

HEY MOLLY - A great pick-me-up from the previous song, this one is a bright, breezy, cool Rock N' Roll/Country/Folk mix.  An upbeat, positive tune with a sweet, catchy chorus that makes this memorable.  It gives you a nice upbeat feeling although the lyrical story sounds a little sad.  This reminds me of Simon & Garfunkel and similar Folk style Rock bands of the 60s.

SO SLOW - I love this track, a great Rock mash up of the 60s, 70s and 80s.  The 60s Folk/Psychedelic feel of the 60s and 70s and a great Pop Rock chorus akin to the late 80s melodic based bands such as Del Amitri and Deacon Blue.  A top song.

BED, BATH & BEYONCE - An interesting one for me.  A melancholic 80s Pop intro with a bit of sax and a lady laughing.  Actually reminds me of those quirky songs my idol Prince made from time to time.  Various echoed vocals, special effects and a mish mash of experimental musical phases with sax make this a big favourite with me.  Excellent experimentation I like when it really pays off.  Nice one!

LONER - Sax and guitars compliment each other superbly here to create a great Rock based track.  There are more experimental electronic noises in the middle but it is just a kickin' rockin' instrumental! I think this is my favourite on the album. When the guitars help out the sax its a little Classic Rock and ZZ Top blues. Masterful.

WILD DARK HORSES - If you like early Heart or Fleetwood Mac this is for you.  The soft and pure vocals from Lori Hall here are sublime reminding you of Ann Wilson and Stevie Nicks.  They mesh excellently with the musical backing to create a hypnotic, ambient Classic Rock track.  Another exceptional composition.

SHAZAM - Another change in direction here, hints of Jazz forms on this track.  This is like a movie soundtrack moving from melancholic romance to Bossa Jazz to Classixal Jazz to Salsa and Ballroom.  It is an eclectic experiment.  Interesting and creative, giving the musicians a workout, jam style.

TIT FOR TAT - Again, am instrumental mash up.  I would suggest this for a definite movie soundtrack in the background.  There is a lot going on to be any kind of "radio freindly" and is not really a straight forward track.  Orchestral pieces, flute, medieval style and cinematic romantic imagery abound.  Intriguing but hard to review as there is so many styles interspersed with each other.  There is no definitive genre or pattern.  A+ for the musicians though, they can definitely do their thing.

ZO KEWL - Another Prince instrumental style track so already this has a plus point with me.  When saxophonist Candy Dulfer played with Prince there were a lot of these funky jams in the shows.  Even though this is an instrumental it keeps you gripped and at 1 minute 50 seconds there is a nice guitar solo just to break it up a little.  Then it eases back slowly into the original funky flavour.  Great song and great ending to a fine album.