COLOURS

A year after the brilliant The Seasons Turn, Lee Abraham returns with Colours, on which he still uses a prog blueprint, but in which he has examined his AOR influences with a nod to Toto, Asia and FM.

Also this time the same band with Gerald Mulligan (drums), Rob Arnold (piano), Alistair Begg (bass) and Lee on guitar and keys. Robin Armstrong, Marc Atkinson, Dec Burke, Simon Godfrey and Steve Overland take care of the honors for the vocals, while Gary Chandler is chartered for the closing hit The Mirror Falls.

On his previous albums Lee Abrahams always did a song for his AOR love, but this time it is exactly the other way around and the listener is treated to six AOR songs to end up with a song in prog style. Textually, the songs about love and relationships, both good and bad, but also how bad things take place in our modern life, which do not seem to have any effect on us at all. Because we just go on and ignore almost everything.

In addition to the aforementioned influences, Always Yours sung by Rob Arnold shows a strong Journey sound. Find Another Way is really written for Robin Armstrong, while closing track The Mirror Falls leans on IQ and is laced with guitar work à la Steve Lukather. Lee Abraham shows himself on Colours from another side and delivers a great album with a select group of artists.

Possibly not in the style everyone had expected of him, but perhaps that is the strength of Abraham. He sails his own course averse to public expectation with the strong Colours as a result.