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Frontiers [Release date 12.05.23]
Michael Thompson may be one of the most gifted, sought after rock guitarists in the business – his pedigree must run to several volumes – but the Michael Thompson Band, known as MTB, will forever be associated with their breakout album, How Long, from 1989. The elongated reissue in 2007 was the first of 4 albums on the Frontiers label.
(As an aside, Thompson’s storied career has a lot of high points, too many to recite here, but the more interesting might be that he has worked on several film scores, with Hans Zimmer, and James Newton Howard.)
This new album, The Love Goes On, reunites Thompson with How Long vocalist, Moon Calhoun. They are joined by bassman Tom Croucier and drummer, Annas Aliaf.
Something of a cliché to suggest that The Love Goes On album could have been beamed down from some Eighties’ AOR Time Capsule orbiting the planet, but clearly, that’s the point here.
This is quintessential Westcoast Rock, with the band showing off their compositional abilities and undeniable songcraft, skills shaped and honed through hard work and inspiration.
The title track, ‘The Love Goes On’ and ‘Whispers and Dreams’ are presented as AOR at its most elemental, pared down, with few frills, both elevated by poised performances from Thompson and Moon.
‘In Your Arms’, heavy with longing, is the album’s obligatory ballad. ‘A Picture Of You’, fuelled by mood and melody, sounds like it’s going in the same direction until it suddenly moves up a couple of gears, catching us by surprise. A neat trick.
Thompson’s anticipatory filigrees on guitar, opening the tracks at the album’s core, ‘All Of It’ and ‘What It Takes’, are the perfect launchpad for Moon’s assured vocal dynamics. Either of these songs would have been nailed on chart material back in the days of the genre’s dominance.
Unquestionably, it’s the kind of album that will make “Underrated” lists at the end of the year. Don’t wait that long. ***1/2
Review by Brian McGowan
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