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REVIEW: July 19th 2009 / Tommy Hash
/ Score:4/5
Approaching a more singer/songwriter driven pop feel to AOR/melodic
rock in the vein of Alien, Robert Berry/Alliance, Brian McDonald,
& Daryl Braithwaite, England's Radio Silence has executed
a record that does not bound itself by stereotypical boundaries,
melding modern elements of sophisticated pop into the arena
ready rock sound, adding this edge to a the music to define
themselves in more ways than one - similar to the way Frost*
produces their music in the progressive rock genre.
While the addition of occasional drum loops and the dancy feel
give it somewhat of a commercial vibe, you won't hear any adult
contemporary or teeny bopper sounds here. The brainchild of
songwriter/producer Alistair Gordon, Whose Skin Are You Under
is a record where the tunes themselves spark the intrigue -
and it's something different from what we would normally expect
in the world of AOR/melodic rock. The stand out tracks are the
groove driven "Wall of Silence," the upbeat "Another
World," the emotive "Heart of Hearts," and the
acoustic "When the Lights Go Down" which offer up
counterpoint to the often over-the-top, big synthesizer &
big guitar sound that we know and love - but the things that
remain big are the big melodic hook lines and the big choruses
- although there are textures of guitar crunch and textured
synths to lend to the musical focus.
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