Simonz, Kelly - Silent Scream

Year of Release: 2002
Label: Lion Music
Catalog Number: LMC 2207 2
Format: CD
Total Time: 62:16:00

Being from Japan, we know that Kelly is not Simonz's real first name. In fact, I'm pretty sure Simonz is not his real last name either ;-). So, an unidentified man from Japan with a strangely English-oriented name releasing an album. :-) For those interested (and I hope you would be if you're reading this), Kelly Simonz is a guitar nut and this is not a "new" album as such, as it was originally released in Japan in December of 1999, but here it's been re-mixed with bonus tracks and picked up by the wonderful people at Lion Music. Silent Scream is Kelly Simonz's second album following 1998's Sign Of The Times.

Guitar wise, Kelly is a mixture of Yngwie Malmsteen, Jarno Keskinen (ex-Kenziner), Akira Takasaki (Loudness) and Michael Romeo (Symphony X), with a heavy dose of hard rock vocals (courtesy of Simonz himself) and of course, many a classical influence. At times, the melodies are dominated by hard rock elements venturing into bands like Glory or Ten, but Simonz adds plenty of symphonic touches, particularly in the keys, and he keeps the pace moving with a serene, heartfelt feel. Simonz adds a touch of acoustic/flamenco guitars and there're bouts of shredding to accompany the album, which centres heavily on song-writing rather than guitar wankery. Simonz also plays all of the instruments on the album which is a credit to him, but you can tell he excels on the guitar as they are much more varied than the other instruments he plays. Silent Scream is also not the fastest album on the planet and instead it concentrates heavily on the vocals, but there are a couple of instrumentals thrown in as well.

As a vocalist, Simonz is not bad and not as heavily accented as I expected, and he sounds like others in the melodic rock region (in other words, pick any Z-Records, Frontiers Records, MTM band and the comparisons are pretty apparent). Like his playing of all of the instruments, he does struggle, but he keeps a close check on his range so as not to over exert himself, but at times there is a distinct lack of power and the instruments often take over the sound.

Overall, a good, solid album that will hopefully lead in to bigger and better things now that he has more worldwide exposure through Lion Music.

Similar To: Ynqwie Malmsteen, Akira Takasaki

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

Tracklisting:
Silent Scream (5:24) / Time (5:14) / One And Only Love (1:58) / Girl... I Give My Life For You (4:47) / Angel Eyes (5:45) / Fly Away (4:31) / Paradise Lost (9:01) / Forever (4:36) / Lies (1:36) / Tears In Your Eyes (5:50) / Aftermath (5:24) / Blue Monday (6:06) / Without You (4:44)

Musicians:
Kelly Simonz ? guitars and everything else

Discography:
Sign Of The Times (1998/2002)
Silent Scream (1999/2002)
The Rule Of Right (2002)

Genre: Progressive-Power Metal

Origin JP

Added: February 20th 2005
Reviewer: Gary Carson
Score:
Artist website: www.kellysimonz.com
Hits: 1651
Language: english