After his stint with Swedes’ Street Talk, singer JOEY SUMMER started a solo career releasing quite good Melodic Rock albums featuring collaborations from the likes of Tommy Denander, Michael Muller (Jaded Heart), Frédéric Slama or ex- bandmate in Street Talk Fredrik Bergh.
As requested, here’s Joey album “Even The Saints Are Sinners” released by Perris Records, perhaps his strongest CD to date. This new recording brings again Michael Muller and also new Jaded Heart guitarist Peter Ostros to the fore, together with Sacha Spiegel (AOR, Chasing Violets) on drums, while we can hear a couple of solos by David Mark Pearce (Strange Ang3ls, Oliver Wakeman Band).
The disc opens with the pretty modern melodic hard rocker “Another Shot” showing a strong European sound, a melodious refrain and a smooth chorus.
Perhaps the most surprising cut on the album arrives next: a cover of the ’80s Euro-dance / italo-disco hit “Happy Children” by P. Lion. The version is really cool, where the synth bass of the original were replaced by distorted guitars and there’s a weird (and nice) keyboard bluster all over.
Midtempo “Our Love Is Waiting” is one of the best tracks, driven by a pumping bass, a somnolent AOR chorus in the classy Scandi way, surrounding keys and an effective guitar work. “The Lucky One” can be tagged as ballad, where the keyboards take a central role and the guitars draw the organic background. I like the harmony vocals provided by Markcell which together with Joey’s leads give to the song an even more AOR feel.
“One The Road” returns to Melodic Rock and the ‘mysterious’ eighties synths provide a great atmosphere, and later a highly melodic solo by Peter Ostrons rounds this good tune.
Now is the time for “Hearts In Flames”, another favorite of mine. It’s purely ’80s in its conception, inspired by Survivor and their typical climatic pre-chorus / soaring chorus. David Mark Pierce drops a short but kinky solo enhancing the song. “No Matter Where You Go” is the real ballad here, a radio oriented mellow tune with pianos and synth orchestrations.
“Looking For Love” has a Scandi scent recalling Tommy Denander’s project Prisoner. A traditional melodic rock track in structure, but brings lots of synthetizers and modern elements that make you feel it kind different among the other songs.
“Shot In The Mirror” is the hardest number on the CD, written by Joey Summer in the ’90s when he performed alive with his old band named Witness. The rhythm section – especially the drums – are bigger, and the backing vocals huge. This strong rocker works really well, and perhaps Joey should try more in this style in the future.
We liked Joey Summer’s previous albums, but “Even The Saints Are Sinners” is the most solid, well- written of all.
The guy is in love with the ’80s and ’90s sounds, occasionally adding some modern touches here and there, and his sense of melody is really tasteful. I hear some improvement in his vocal delivery, while the session musicians in this recording do their job efficiently.
“Even The Saints Are Sinners” is a highly enjoyable MR / AOR album in the Euro tradition, plenty of good songs and melodies.
Highly Recommended
01 Another Shot
02 Happy Children
03 Our Love Is Waiting
04 Lucky One
05 On The Road
06 Hearts In Flames
07 No Matter Where You Go
08 Looking For Love
09 Shot In The Mirror
Joey Summer – Even The Saints Are Sinners (2013)Perris Records , MP3+FLAC, CD-Rip
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