Album review: FIND ME- Angels In Blue
Release Date 22.02.19
For those in the know, Find Me has been one of the best melodic rock projects in recent years. A partnership between producer and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Flores and Blanc Faces singer Robbie Le Blanc, a stunning performance at Rockingham Festival last year raised expectations among existing fans and whetted the appetite of new converts like me for this, their third album.
One of the songs premièred that day, ‘No Tears in Paradise’ opens the album and sets the tone for what is to come- up tempo but extremely keyboards driven, with a lush chorus and big vocals.
Robbie has one of the classic AOR voices- soaring, expressive and crystal clear with hints of the likes of Mickey Thomas and Freddy Curci – and the production is bright. However on closer inspection too many songs sound similar and the likes of ‘True Believer’ have rather identikit choruses.
While not being privy to the recording process, I wonder if a clue lies in the fact that the songs are written by a whole series of Frontiers rostered artists (Michael Palace and Alessandro Del vecchio among others).
It is almost as if each of them was working to a blueprint for a typical Find Me song, and ended up in the same place. As a result every song seems to have a similar tempo, with the glorious exception of the dramatic ballad ‘One Last Kiss’ where Robbie’s voice soars above an almost choir-like backing chorus.
There is though much to be positive about the album, with strong choruses on the likes of the soaring ‘Can’t Let Go’ Me’ and ‘Waiting For A Lifetime. ‘Living A Lie’ epitomises the keyboard heavy nature of the album, while the title track has a distinct Magnum-esque feel in its chorus.
However the 13 track album could have done with some judicious pruning as there are a few fillers later on, sandwiching another song that had jaws dropping at Rockingham in their cover of Survivor’s ‘Desperate Dreams’.
Few singers other than Robbie could pull this off, but a respectable and pretty authentic version also draws attention to the fact that the rising generation of songwriters in the melodic field represented here still bow down before the original true masters like Jim Peterik.
The album was a very enjoyable listen – with that health warning that keyboards dominate over guitars- but the lack of variety means that this flawed masterpiece overall doesn’t quite live up to the high expectations place on it. ***1/2
Review by Andy Nathan
Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK
Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.
Next session: Sunday 1 December
Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio
David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 3 November 2024.
UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 29 October 2024.
How to Listen Live?
Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)
Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”
Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.
More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com
Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024
ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)
Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024
09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)