Mark Spiro - The Stuff That Dream Are Made Of | ||
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Album Cover: |
Label: MTM Music Producers: Mark Spiro Year: 1999 UK Distribution: Cargo Records Total Playing Time: 61:04 m:s Review date: 8 April 1999 |
| Web site: MTM Music
Email: | ||
| Rating: 9 | ||
| Verdict: The stuff that AOR dreams are made of indeed. | ||
| One of the first albums I reviewed in Mood Swings was Mark's 1996 offering 'Now Is Then, Then Is Now'. That was the start of Mark's trilogy of AOR albums that continued with Devotion, which I don't have but I believe was slightly disappointing, and finishes with this new album. I loved 'Now Is....' and this one equals, if not surpasses, the quality of that album. Mark has drafted in session heavyweights Dann Huff, Tim Pierce & Michael Thompson on guitars. It almost goes with saying that the guitar playing is excellent throughout. Vocals, keyboards & programmed drums are handled by Mark himself. Prior to these solo albums Mark was best known as a songwriter. No surprise then that the album is crammed full of great tunes, why wouldn't it be with co-writers such as Jim Vallance, Don Barnes and the aforementioned guitarists. Even where the song quality takes a bit of a wobble, such as 'Can't Take That Away', the performance rescues the day. The best bits, well, the tracks that are a cut above the rest for me are: 'I'll Be There' gets things off to a good start, 'Can You Hear The Night', the truely excellent 'Rhythm Of Your Soul', 'Rain In Her Heart'. Enough already & that is just the first half of the album. On tracks like 'Vendetta' Mark cranks it up more than I expected and this helps to add an extra dimension to the album. Before I started actually writing this month's reviews Von Groove was my favourite this month, the closer inspection required in writing the reviews has elevated Mark Spiro into top slot. Essential listening for all AOR fans. | ||
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