Hess
Living in Yesterday

Now that is a name we all shall remember, Rudolf Hess (or Heß as the German spelling suggests) deputy führer of the third reich. Living in Yesterday seems like an appropriate title for a man that has been dead since 1987. Although Hess can also be a Canadian guy named Harry, a guy who might be known for singing in the band Harem Scarem or working with tons of known artists as a writer or producer. Anyway whichever Hess you prefer this album is made by the latter one who has put together a collection of songs that is supposed to be Harry going back to certain atmospheres and sounds which should read to melodic rock or AOR as it might be called.

Living in Yesterday seems appropriate in many regards concerning the name, the album and whatever as AOR is a genre that is really living in Yesterday considering the fact that it hasn’t really renewed itself for millennia. It is the catchy choruses, the melodic sounds, the keys, a touch of strings, high pitched passionate vocals, songs about love and other disasters like it, the characteristic guitar lines, it is all there. The production is polished to perfection and you can almost see your own reflection in the soundwaves, not that you’d want to considering how you look but you could. Fortunately he has been living in yesterday when putting tracks on the album as well the good Harry, it has ten of those tracks playing for 37 and a half minutes which is a vinylish playing time, the music storage of yesterdays.

For the melodic rock or AOR there are really two ways to get noticed and the easiest one would be to make something different which is why no one does it, because it is too easy. Then there is being amazingly good to rise above the rest with sheer quality which a few bands manages to do and Hess is one of those I think. The album has no uniqueness whatsoever but the songs are so good that it doesn’t really matter that it is as creative as a wooden table. The opening title track is like a well directed kick in the nose and bleeding from the nose you deduce that Falling Down along with the poppy I Don’t Wanna Want You are two more kicks in your face. That does not mean that the rest of the tracks makes the bleeding stop, they may not increase it but nothing else. It is an album that gets your blood going so to speak.

I see no real negatives with this album, the songs are all good and there aren’t any time to get bored as the album is short enough to keep your interest for the duration. It might possibly be that it is a bit Frontiersish and not really doing anything that hasn’t been done before a gazillion times. Another negative might be the nose bleeding, you have to clean blood from the floor. This might also mean that it may not be a perfect driver’s album as blood on the floor and the seats might decrease the value of the car, and loss of blood reeks havoc on your ability to focus as well. Which this review might indicate.

Anyway, it may not be a Rudolf but well a Harry and that isn’t too bad, is it? And it is a harry that sings well and writes good songs with power to kick your nose bloody, catchy melodies and AOR performed as one imagines it should sound. You could actually say that it is AOR For Dummies explained with example here, and isn’t that cool? I should think so but before my blood loss makes me go unconscious I musct find the time to recommend this albgftw

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