Dominoe
No Silence, No Lambs (Director's Cut)

Dominoe celebrates 35 years and they do so by releasing some albums, like this one called No Silence, No Lambs, in director’s cut versions. Robert Pabst, the guitarist figured that this album that was originally released in 2002 sounded very dated so he fiddled with it to change most everything in order to make it sound punchier. And here we have the result, eleven tracks and little under forty minutes of music that probably sounds a lot more relevant now than it did before. Too bad they didn’t do a massive overhaul on the ugly cover art, but perhaps they are targeting the streaming digital crowd where the cover might play a lesser part in everything, so what about the music?

It is classic melodic rock or AOR as it is also known as. It plays on the usual strings of that genre with catchy choruses, distinct melodies, some choirs and powerful ballads, you get what you can expect from an album in that genre. That includes a vocalist with a typical voice, but also some female vocals, even a duet which is a good break, but not unusual. The variation isn’t deviating from the norm of the genre, we get the song selection that can be expected, and some of the songs feels very familiar, perhaps there are some borrowed stuff here. I haven’t heard how it sounded before, but this album has a quite relevant and fresh sound with some sense of retro to it, a well-balanced sound.

It is an accessible album with songs that are easy to like, but also a little easy to grow tired with. I see no major negative issues here, it is a good album to play through, I like the songs. None of the songs stand out though, and I can find the lack of a standout hit song to be a slight negative. It is an album that doesn’t stand out much, I have heard many that are better and many that are worse, so the issue might be that it is another one of those albums that are good but that will not be played as there is too much competition that is better.

You will not go wrong with this album; the songs are good enough and everything is fine. It is far from one that would disappoint a buyer. And if you are into the AOR and melodic rock music it is probably an album that you should have a look at – there is a good chance that you will enjoy it.

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