Sometimes out of the blue a gem comes in and the debut album by AQUILLA sits firmly in the Diamond category of gems. Titled “The View From Here” this release has a great back story to it as well…
Take five guys all having enjoyed their sixtieth birthdays, who have music in their veins and have in their earlier years enjoyed various degrees of fame and success.
Those guys join up to perform at Dave Trant’s (vocals) milestone birthday party and blow the cobwebs off some classic melodic rock tracks. That successful night leads them into regular live spots around their home county of Devon including supporting Wishbone Ash no less!
Fast forward 2025 and those same guys have written and recorded twelve original songs which are a joy to behold. As lovers of 70s and 80s Rock, the album evolved into somewhat of a concept which sees the good ship Aquilla (a spaceship) returning home after many years away in the cosmos.
What we get here is great rocking music, impregnated with that wonderful sound so hard to replicate nowadays.
On to the music, track one ‘Perspectives’, kicks off with the ship announcing its arrival and docking ahead of swirling synth pads and choral passages which sound simply huge. The title track launches in, and a classic rock riff courtesy of Matthew Finnish and Graham Keeling rings out. Harmonised vocals and a tight rhythm engine from Jim Chapman (drums) and Barney Callister (bass) keep things locked down but take no prisoners.
The clock ticks to introduce ‘Turn The Page’ before twin guitars ring out on what could be a distant cousin of Mott The Hoople’s ‘Roll Away The Stone’. The guitar solos here put many a guitar hero to shame. ‘Dissimulato’ thunders out like a freight train rolling down the tracks and brings in a superb hook line. Trant’s gritty vocals blended with great harmonies make this a killer track.
‘My Father’ ushers in sweet, clean, jangly Spanish guitar in this softer but intricate piece. The vocal tone here reminds me of legendary English man David Essex. ‘Your Masters Name’ is a slower, almost psychedelic sixties style track, but it still packs a punch with some sweet guitar soloing.
‘Friends Of Mine’ is no holds barred rocker that has elements of Status Quo, The Eagles and Steve miller leaping out. ‘The Golden Road’ from the start has flavors of Queen and Bowie in this rocky ballad.
The wind blows hard as ‘Calm Before The Storm’ starts off acapella and a Morse code signal paves way for the mighty chords of ‘Welcome The Tide’, where a rocking edge peeps through between the twin guitars and harried vocals here.
‘Altair’ with its haunting guitar and Hammond organ intro is an anthemic track with crashing guitars and a great chugging rhythm is ’80s Stadium rock territory. We finish with a massive track with a pounding, balls to the wall beat, glorious synth pads, scraping guitar sounds and screaming solos.
These tracks are so well written, performed and produced. They could so easily have been done by any of the rock greats, but what is most astounding is that the band that created this are not youngsters and do not perform on the world’s stages. That being said, after this maybe they should!
If you are a fan of 70s and 80s Rock with melody, this album will blow you away.
Get it or regret it!
Tracklist:
Disc 1 (44:37)
1. Perspectives (02:03)
2. The View from Here (03:01)
3. Turn the Page (03:13)
4. Dissimulato (03:26)
5. My Father (05:05)
6. Your Masters' Name (03:39)
7. Friends of Mine (04:23)
8. The Golden Road (05:26)
9. Calm Before the Storm (01:15)
10. Welcome the Tide (04:55)
11. Altair (05:41)
12. The Balance (02:24)
AQuilla – THE VIEW FROM HERE (2025)
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