Meisel, Hubi - Cut


Year of Release: 2002
Label: self-released
Catalog Number: n/a
Format: CD
Total Time: 30:49:00

Ex-Dreamscape singer, Hubi Meisel, is now out with his first solo album. I was first introduced to Hubi's talent when I bought Dreamscape's fantastic second CD Very a few years ago. Since then I've been waiting for a new Dreamscape CD and was very sad to hear Hubi and Dreamscape had parted ways. I am very pleased to see him back in action with the Maeve of Connacht CD and now, his solo debut.

Hubi has gathered a handful of talented musicians including Marcel Coenen (Lemur Voice/Sun Caged) to put down his childhood dream of recording a number of his all time favourite songs. Originally, this CD should have 10 songs but unfortunately Hubi didn't get permission for 3 of those songs and ended up releasing a shorter album. Let's begin: Cutting Crew's - "Just Died In Your Arms Tonight," Real Life's ? "Send Me An Angel," The Cars' "Drive," Frankie Goes To Hollywood's - "Relax," Aha's - "The Sun Always Shines On TV," Mr Mister's - "Broken Wings," and Rush's - "Red Sector A".

I remember most of these songs as big hits from the 80s and it is quite cool to hear the transformation into catchy melodic metal tunes. Marcel Coenen proves once again to be a sensational guitarist and he shines especially on "The Sun Always Shines On TV" and "Just Died In Your Arms Tonight" making these superb catchy rockers. Hubi's emotive, soft voice works well with these songs and although some people may be turned off by his soft approach, I really enjoy his voice. I think he would make an excellent AOR vocalist. Doing hard rock covers of such famous songs is a big risk with the chance of failing to deliver much more likely than to succeed, but in my opinion this crew has pulled it off. The arrangements are very well worked through, the choice of songs is smart and they balance each other. On top, the production is quite good and the musicians are top notch.

One minor problem, however, is that the two songs that I haven't heard before are also the weakest songs. Not sure if this is a coincidence or not. I think the feeling of nostalgia is very important on this album and would probably decide to which extent you'll like this CD.

To sum it up, Cut is a worthy tribute to the 80s and absolutely worth checking out for AOR and melodic hard rock fans. The CD will be sold for the price of an EP, which makes this an even more worthwhile purchase.

[This review originally appeared November 2002 at the ProgPower Online review site -ed.]


Tracklisting:
Just Died In Your Arms Tonight (Cutting Crew) (4:28) / Send Me An Angel (Real Life) (4:09) / Drive (The Cars) (3:49) / Relax (Frankie Goes To Hollywood) (3:41) / The Sun Always Shines On TV (Ah-ha) (4:36) / Broken Wings (Mr. Mister) (4:35) / Red Sector A (Rush) (5:22)

Musicians:
Hubi Meisel - vocals
Frank Pfeffer - keyboards
Marcel Coenen - guitars
Frank Brunier - drums
N-Dee - bass

Discography:
Triple X - Dreamdancer (1996)
Dreamscape - Trance-like State
Dreamscape - Very (1999)
Scenes - A New Beginning (1999)
Scenes - Understatement (1999)
Maeve Of Connacht - Imaginary Tales (2001)
Cut (2002)
EmOcean (2004)
Kailash (2006)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin DE

Added: January 17th 2005
Reviewer: Bjørnar Bevolden
Score:
Artist website: www.hubimeisel.com
Hits: 2284
Language: english

  

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