PAUL MENEL – Into Insignificance I Will Pale

www.paulmannel.com (Released 5th Nov)

Paul Menel was the vocalist in IQ in the late 80′s and appeared on the band’s two most commercial albums ‘Nomzamo’ and ‘Are You Sitting Comfortably?’. He then bowed out of IQ in 1990 and not much was seen or heard of him until a couple of years ago when he started touring again and now we have this rather wonderful album. Joining him are amongst others drummer Tim Churchman (ArK/Darwin’s Radio), guitarist Steve Harris (ArK) and his co-songwriter/keyboards player Ian Diment.

The album is full of pop rock delights and a few surprises like the reggae lilt on ‘This Is The Thanks I Get’. The album starts in fine style with ‘Under Your Wing’ which features a children’s choir at the end and it’s lyric of remembering lost loved ones, makes it sound a little like Mike & the Mechanics ‘Living Years’.

‘The Nurse’ is a jaunty pop song with a blissful melody, something that ‘Twenty One’ shares as well. Both could fit nicely onto daytime airplay. Those looking for a bit of Menel’s prog rock routes look no further than ‘This One’s For You’, a song that mixes real life commentary into the song to provide a string anti-war message. At the other end of the scale you have ‘Little Gorgeous Fool’, which for the most part is a jaunty pop song before launching into some heavy guitar playing and solos.

Great to have Paul Menel back and once you start playing the songs on this album you find yourself coming back again for more. Don’t let this one pass you by as it is well worth getting.

****1/2

Jason Ritchie

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)