Most people probably know of Trevor Rabin because of his time in Yes. This was one of his solo albums he released between his band Rabbit and that Yes tenure. As was the case with the self-titled release I am including this one under the progressive rock heading because of Rabin’s stint in Yes and not because of the music here. Overall this qualifies as pop rock with some hints of prog. It’s good – and has some foreshadowing of his Yes music, but it’s not progressive rock.
This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2010 Volume 2 at lulu.com/strangesound.
Track by Track Review
I'll Take the Weight
Starting with a retro rock based introduction, this turns out into a pop rocker that’s good. The chorus section reminds me a lot of something from ELO or Sweet.
Don't You Ever Lose More straight ahead, there are some points here that make me think of metal, but the overall effect is Sweet.
I'm Old Enough (To Make You a Woman) The intro here calls to mind Boston, but the track drops down to a balladic motif and then builds up from there. There are some hints of Boston later. The guitar solo, though, makes me think of Queen and there are some other nods to that band later in the piece, too. We also get one Yes-ish section closer to the end of the number.
Wanderer Here’s a definite Sweet-like rocker. This is tasty and a bit of a change of pace and it also has a bit of an April Wine element to it. Some hints of the kind of music Rabin would do later in Yes are also heard.
You An evocative ballad, this really reminds me a lot of Queen. Mind you, with Rabin’s vocals and not Freddie Mercury’s.
Now I hear Boston on the introduction to this one, too. When it drops down to the song proper, though, this is very progressive rock like, but less like Yes and more like 10cc perhaps. It rocks out harder as it carries on and the vocal arrangement is one of the real show stealers here. I can hear some Aldo Nova on this, too. Sweet does show up again in the mix at times and this turns quite crunchy at points. It’s a killer tune, but there’s a noodly little guitar solo segment that’s a little annoying. The outro, though, is more prog oriented and very cool.
Ripper A fairly straight forward rocker, there are still some intriguing twists on this cut.
Candy's Bar The opening motif on this reminds me of “Since You’ve Been Gone,” but it moves out to a different sound from there. This gets a little proggy at times, but overall is a good pop rock song. The chorus again calls to mind that previous reference (I’d think of the Rainbow version).
Always the Last One This doesn’t vary a lot from much of the music here, but the Sweet references are strong and it’s a catchy hard rocker with some intriguing alterations and variations during the ride.
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