When I first heard it I said -"You gotta be kidding me! is this man for real?,this is the kind of music most bands can only dream about doing but Brian Mcdonald has put life into his compositions in a way I didn?t think anyone could do........this is the truth and nothing but the truth but if you don?t like POMP stop reading here!
1."INTIMATE"-the opening track is the lift off for this rocket ride towards POMP MAJESTICA!
If you?re not convinced after this first killer you?re either deaf or an AOR hater.
2."YOU ARE WHERE I AM"-this is a flirt with Beatles ,Supertramp and Chicago but a little more bombastic, No, a whole lot more bombastic and with the Kansas smelling violin part plus the synthesizer solo that has that golden sound from the 70?s,I can only put a big smile on my face.
3."IN THE SHADOW OF ANGELS"-Goddamn,now we?re talking AOR/POMP of the millenium!
When did you hear such a masterpiece last time?... or has it ever been done?....oh my god,Choirs of angels, harmonies of heaven and history has been written!
I just tell you,when you think you?ve heard the bestpart, there?s more......oh yes and it sure do sound like YES!
4."PHOENIX RISING"-This aint happening?!,I can take out 3 of my all time favorite albums with Def Leppard?s Pyromania, Chicago 18 and Yes-90125!!!.....and you know what?!
They are all right here on this album together,just put on this track and get carried away by his fantastic vocals and the production,say no more say no more!
5."THE NIGHT YOU SAID GOODBYE"-I will be pretty damn angry if I see bad review on this CD if it comes from AOR loving people....it would be like giving MARIO LEMIEUX a bad review as a hockey player.
This half ballad is one of the ultimate favorites on the album or as my wife said who only likes AOR from the 80?s because she thinks everything after is crappy.......she said for the first time in 15 years -"I think I have a new favorite AOR song, who is the singer?"
Well,Chicago couldn?t have done this better!
6."VOYAGE"-The title track reminds a bit of the "In the shadow of angels" but has even more Toto harmonies a la Hydra and listen to the fantastic orchestral ending,it?s Orgasmic extasy into the 21st century,it doesn?t get any better than this.
I don?t believe that this piece of work exists and if it?s only a dream I wouldn?t mind because when you?re dreaming, you are high up walking on clouds and this is a cloudwalking tune you see.................
7."PATRIOT DREAMS"-the best and moving lyrics I?ve heard in a long time starts this song.....-"1972,I was 10 years old, I climbed over the fence,snuck out on Clark Airfield to watch the cargo planes load,a soldier walked up to me and took off his combat helmet and said...-do you know where I?ve been boy? I came from the killing field"
A real life experience taken from his childhood and a tear fell from my eye........I love you Brian!
The last time I heard such an enormous record was Steve Perry?s For the love of strange medicine in 94.
8."OUT OF TIME"-By this time of the record,it feels like I?m sitting and staring with a smile like Jack Nicholson in The Shining. This is a drug,all those heavenly choirs and the bombastic production........call me an AOR lunatic or a POMP idiot, I don?t mind,I?m out of time,I?m out brain but I?m full of life!
9."HEAVEN AND HEART"-The 2nd ballad and just as good. There?s not a bad song in sight or maybe I should say,there?s not a "good" song in sight because they?re all SUPER!
10."NORMANDY"-Give the man an award for the lyrics,they are perfect for the music or this soundtrack of the earth,that I want to call it,the keyboards on this song(and all the others) are out of this world,what have you done with us Brian.
A true sorcerer?s stuff........a magician of music has spoken!
11."LEGEND"-A song about our beloved hero Brian,ofcourse not but in my point of view...it is,so if you like Kansas I know you will be getting high over this anthem.
He should do something like Jean Michel Jarre did when he did concerts in in the middle of the city of Houston and the Docklands in London.
With this masterpiece,BMP should play at the roof on Royal Albert Hall or on the Chinese wall,those places will suit his music. 12."IN A WORLD FOR YOU"-One thing about this album that makes me so happy is all these uptempo rockers including this song! Brian is 100% POMP and AOR but still is a rocker and that?s why this album is an unforgettable piece of work.
13."UNFINISHED BRIDGES"-the last track has an intro and outro that echoes out some ABBA vibes the Arrival album.
This is an acoustic piece in the highlands of Scotland,but don?t be fooled because the POMP isn?t too far away..........and so to end this book of emotions,you have now witnessed and heard me writing about one of the best albums ever made.
According to the band Godsmack, they arrived at the name after one band member made a particularly inappropriate comment and another remarked "God will smack you for that one". Hence forth one would receive a "Godsmack" for bad behavior.
Godsmack is also an Alice in Chains song from the album "Dirt."
