Seventh Key - Seventh Key


Year of Release: 2001
Label: Frontiers Records
Catalog Number: FR CD 065
Format: CD
Total Time: 54:20:00

As one comes of age, dimensions become increasingly smaller, so that the largest distances for a child become nothing but a few meters, unfathomable heights transform into reachable points, and the years turn into days. And when it comes to Billy Greer and his solo project Seventh Key, such is the case. Not because the musicians concerned have created a magnum opus that fifteen years ago would have been impossible for them, or because they have suddenly reached their all-time peak with this album, but because the years that have changed the face of modern music so deeply since Greer first entered the scene seem to have gone completely unheeded by them.

Stop right there. Rewind. The thought that just flashed through your mind is right on the money: if you went back fifteen years and had brought this record along, it could have been played on the radio and not missed a single step, whereas today is an entirely different manner. Make no mistake: there is absolutely nothing new about Seventh Key, it is generic music by all means, and it could have well been recorded by a crossbreed between Journey and Ozzy Osbourne at his relatively innocuous those aforementioned fifteen years ago. Don't make a second mistake though: it's remarkably well done under that license agreement.

And Greer immediately proceeds to strut his stuff with the help of trustworthy partner in crime six-string-slinger Mike Slamer via the rocking "The Kid Could Play," featuring a catchy chorus with the kind of attitude that pretends like its dangerous but is really just playing around; much like the rest of the album does. There's the anthem evocation of "Only The Brave," the hopeful upbeat rock of "No Man's Land," and a bunch of ballads that actually get the job done quite well, with the notable exception of the awfully hackneyed "Broken Home;" basically what one would expect after having listened to the first few seconds of the album.

And the truth is that one should expect that kind of outcome when considering the fact that Greer stems from Kansas, a band that ever since its origins has displayed an unusual liking for unappetizing kitsch in between the good moments. Alright, so this bassist gone solo temporarily, for the sake of finally singing lead on a record, joined the Kansas crew well into the game, but the affirmation nevertheless applies. And although Seventh Key is certainly no Kansas album, it's hardly likely to end up surprising the hell out of whoever listens to it, or to make the rounds on a CD player for a long and uninterrupted time. Instead, it's more the kind of album that finds its way eventually into the aforementioned player, stays there once while providing some aural enjoyment, and then disappears for an even longer time, resurfacing every now and then by chance more than by will.

Similar artists: late Ozzy Osbourne, Glass Tiger, Journey, Streets


Tracklisting:
The Kid Could Play (4:38) / Only The Brave (5:34) / Missy (4:11) / Surrender (4:54) / When Love Is Dying (5:16) / No Man's Land (3:57) / Every Time It Rains (4:14) / Home (5:35) / Forsaken (5:04) / Prisoner Of Love (5:17) / Broken Home (5:40)

Musicians:
Billy Greer - bass, acoustic guitar, vocals
Mike Slamer - guitars
David Manion - keyboards
Chet Wynd - drums

Discography:
Seventh Key (2001)
The Raging Fire (2004)
Live In Atlanta (2005)

Live In Atlanta (DVD) (2005)

Genre: Melodic Rock-AOR

Origin US

Added: July 16th 2002
Reviewer: Marcelo Silveyra
Score:
Artist website: www.billygreer.com
Hits: 1698
Language: english

  

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