THE TALL SHIPS

After the cooperation of John Beck with John Mitchell at Kino there was already talk of a reformation of It Bites with Mitchell replacing Frank Dunnery who lives in the States now. This took place in 2006 with a number of concerts and resulted in the live album 'When the lights go down'. Rumors of an upcoming studio album followed, but nothing happened for a long time, probably due to Mitchells various main and side jobs (Arena, Frost*, etc).

Another problem causing delays was the commitment, or lack thereof, of Bob Dalton. The band eventually decided to sack him and complete The Tall Ships 'Genesis style' (And then there were three...) with Beck/Mitchell playing bass guitar. Meanwhile Dalton has been replaced by Lee Pomeroy.

And now to something completely different... the music. With John and John being the main protagonists in both projects it is not really a wonder that you are more than once reminded of Kino when listening to The Tall Ships. The writing style is similar even though TTS is probably more poppish than Picture was. But it is very nicely done, the hook lines which firmly attach the songs to your ears are all over the place. Their keyboard and guitar playing is distinct and easily recognisable as is JM's voice. The arrangements are 'fat' so to speak and at times even bombastic. The sound is great, considering that this is a 'home made' production.

So what have we got here? A power pop rock album with progressive leanings. A number of good to great rock songs, like The Memory Of Water, The Wind That Shakes The Barley or Fahrenheit. Two songs that could actually become hit singles if they were ever released as such and played by radio stations: Playgrounds (which was already included in 'When The Lights Go Down') and Great Disaster, even if they overdo the background vocals with the ongoing 'dumbriumbrieo'. And even a real long track, This Is England, which clocks at just over 13 minutes.

Overall a very good album that should appeal to fans of Kino or Frost*. Fans of the old It Bites (with Francis Dunnery) should approach it on a 'try before you buy' basis because I don't know if you'll like it or not. Four stars because for my taste they have it all got right.

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