November - Demo Tape
A list of song titles wasn't provided, so here are my guesses: I Won't Turn Away New Day Rising September When It All Comes Crashing Down Here Comes The Rain Again The Flower Welcome To The Revolution Why Do We Die So Young The Wicked Man
Blane Gilbert, the drummer with November, first got in contact with me following my review of Rainbow's Stranger In Us All. Luckily he hadn't actually heard the album yet or he might have been one of the several irate Rainbow fans who thought I was rather harsh in my comments. Anyway, based upon my comment in that review about Rainbow's Gates Of Babylon being a candidate for my Top 10 favourite songs, he suggested I might be interested in hearing a demo by his band November.
His first attempt at sending me the tape failed due to the US postal service. Several months later he decided to try again. This time I received the tape. In fact, the wait had been beneficial because the band had remixed the tape in the intervening months.
Having listened to the tape over the last month, my one line description of November is - " traditional hard rock with a twist of the 90s". I was listening to the track called September when I realised that the guitar playing reminded me of The Scorpions. Having made that association, on subsequent listens to the tape I heard this influence on several of the other tracks as well. Elsewhere I hear elements of Rainbow/Dio and Black Sabbath. I'm sure there are further comparisons I could make but these are enough to give you an idea of where November are coming from. So where does the twist of the 90s come into the equation? At first I thought it was the vocals, but now I'm beginning to think it's the pace of the songs. I think all I'm trying to say is that somehow November have a slightly modern approach to what is basically traditional hard rock.
For me, the highlights occur at the start of the tape with songs like I Won't Turn Away, New Day Rising and September. These are the most immediate numbers.
This is the first time I've reviewed a demo tape. So I'm not quite sure what to expect in terms of sound quality etc. I guess something along the lines of radio sessions might be a good reference point. The cymbals are too high in the mix for my tastes, but I think the same thing when I listen to Van Halen records and it hasn't exactly held them back.
At one stage my tastes in music had drifted away from traditional hard rock towards AOR. Now I use the term Melodic Rock to describe what I listen to. Any traditional hard rock CDs I've bought in the recent past have been older albums, usually replacing vinyl. I can't remember the last time I bought an album by a new band playing this genre of music. So whenever November get a record deal and release an album will I go out and buy it? Yes! There's not really anything more I can say, that's the ultimate question.
Rating: 8
If you’re interested in this one, then go to the Links page where you can surf on over to their web site.
