Jimi Jamison's Survivor - Empires

1. Cry Tough
2. Run From Thunder
3. I'm Always Here
4. Empires
5. First Day Of Love
6. Have Mercy
7. Just Beyond The Clouds
8. A Dream Too Far
9. Love Is Alive
10. November Rain
11. Calling America
12. Burning Heart
13. Rebel Son
     

Album Cover:

Total Playing Time:  58:03 m:s

Review date: 05/01/2000

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Survivor's Vital Signs album is somewhere in my list of Top 10 albums and I rate Survivor above the mighty Journey as THE definitive AOR band. So this album had some high expectations to meet to convince me it was worthy follow up to Vital Signs, When Seconds Count, Too Hot To Sleep etc.

"Cry Tough" starts up and it's great to hear that Survivor vibe on some fresh material. Think what you like about the whole name business but just hearing Jimi's voice make you think about all those classic Survivor tunes. On "Run From Thunder" things get even better. This is maybe a little heavier than expected. "I'm Always Here" is the Baywatch theme slightly reworked. Surprisingly it doesn't sound out of place here. I've always liked this song. "Empires" is a splendid ballad with Lisa Frazier complementing Jimi's voice beautifully. "First Day Of Love" starts off like something from Vital Signs before getting surprisingly heavy yet retaining a sense of melody. "Have Mercy" changes pace a few times, but is a good AOR rock tune. "Just Beyond The Clouds" is a ballad. "A Dream To Far" is a mid-tempo AOR rock tune that rocks out more that expected. A little bit of funk gets added on "Love Is Alive", but it doesn't quite work and the song is just about the only one on the album to lack impact. The acoustic guitars of the ballad "November Rain" creates one the album's sparser moments. "Calling America" is a cover of the Tom Cochrane tune. Live versions of "Burning Heart" and "Rebel Son" are tagged on the end of the album, presumably to remind us of Survivor's past triumphs, but really aren't needed as the new material stands perfect well on it's merits.

Without the presence of Jim Peterik & Frankie Sullivan, apart from song writing credit on "Empires", many question whither or not the use of the name "Survivor" is justified. Whatever the rights or wrongs, the bottom line is that this is a great album which is a successful follow up to previous Survivor releases.