Review Newman - Under Southern Skies 2011

Tracks
01 Killing Me
02 If He Loves You
03 Under Southern Skies
04 Strength To Carry On
05 Ghost In The Night
06 Without Warning
07 She’s Gone
08 Fire With Fire
09 Save No Prisoners
10 Wish You Were Here
11 Montserrat

Band:
Steve Newman: Vocals, Guitar, and Keys
Rob McEwen: Drums & Percussion
Shaun Bessant: Lead Guitar on “If He Loves You”

Discography:
S/T (1998)
One Step Closer (1999)
Dance In The Fire (2000)
Sign Of The Modern Times (2003)
Heaven Knows (2006)
Primitive Soul (2007)
Decade (2008)
The Art Of Balance (2010)

Guests:

Info
Produced by Steve Newman at Blue Room Studios
Live Band:
Dave Bartlett : Bass
Nic Lipscombe : Drums
Steve Newman : Vocals
Paul Boyle : Keyboards
Shaun Bessant : Guitar

Released 23/9-2011
Reviewed 12/9-2011

Links:
newmansound.com
aorheaven

Well, this band has a name that makes me think of the very fat and very american mailman in the comedy tv-show Seinfeld, but I suspect that they are not idolising that guy and the name is because of a guy named Newman. And my suspicion just proved correct as the brain behind this band is called Steve Newman and he does most of everything but plat the drums on this album, the tour band is another matter though. This album which is the ninth of Newman is called Under Southern Skies, it features a decent sized observatory or optical telescope if you only look to what the building house. I believe it is a small portion of the observatory at Mauna Kea in Hawaii we see on the cover but as the band has decided to not reveal which observatory it is in the promo information I really don’t know which it is as there are a few telescopes like this on high altitude around the world, it could be one of those in the Atacama desert in Chile or maybe on the Canaries or somewhere else. The songs don’t give any clues either as the only one that is named as a place is Montserrat and even if it was an observatory there it was devastated in the volcanic eruption with pyroclastic flows that wiped out most of the settlements in this british oversees territory in 1995. The eruption has caused a big exclusion zone where no one is allowed to enter and they are currently building a new town for the little islands government. This place had no mountains that high anyway so it could not be there.

Musically there is not much space related or even related to observing objects in space, it is melodic rock or AOR as it is also called and it is much similar to what the band Big Life in which Steve Newman is also involved put out earlier this year. Meaning hook-laden melodic rock songs with crystal clear production, catchy choruses and a very melodic disposition without any kind of rough edges. Newman who handles the vocals himself in this band does not have the typical AOR voice but keeps to a lower vocal range and does not really bother with much of the higher notes which is the main difference between Big Life and this band I would say. This album is quite long counting in minutes with the eleven tracks reaching fifty five minutes, and nowhere amongst those many minutes I can find the name of the observatory or telescope on the cover.

I would say that this is a very solid release in the AOR genre, the production and sound is great and the songs are good. I would however say that it feels a bit safe or made on routine meaning that there is no real standout material on the album, just eleven solid songs. I would say that the finishing track Montserrat and the opening track Killing Me are two slightly better tracks though, not fantastic but very good nonetheless. But after having heard this album many times now I feel that it just doesn’t grab me and every time I hear it I loose interest after a while even though the songs are quite good, but they feel a bit too safe and too ordinary for me to really like them.

Therefore I would say that if you are a fan of Newman or Big Life I am sure you will find this amazing and brilliant, if you are not and you do listen to much AOR like I do I believe you will find this album being one of those good albums that don’t really do anything for you. Solid and good but nothing to really grab you or make you remember it, therefore the rating will end up in the middle of our seven grade scale.

HHHHHHH

Newman Under Southern Skies

Newman
Under Southern Skies