IN FLAGRANTE DELICTO

Ian Parry is back with his fifth solo album for Metal Mind Productions, his thirtieth studio album for one band or another, and for this one he has brought in the likes of guitarists Stephan Lill (Vanden Plas) and Patrick Rondat, drummers Casey Grillo (Kamelot), Imre Daun (Brian Robertson band), Andreas Lill and Gary King, bassists Barend Courbois (Blind Guardian) and Torsten Reichert, keyboard player Jeroen van der Wiel and many others. The press release states the album covers a 'diverse style ranging from Yes style synthesizer atmospheres, to Whitesnake/Foreigner classic rock and a hint of Rammstein together with a commercial heart felt Bad English/Peter Gabriel'. Actually, when the album is at its best, it sounds a little like classic Magnum, especially on the likes of album closer 'So Far So Good', but unfortunately there is too little of this style throughout.

One can never doubt Parry's vocal abilities, singers rarely have a career lasting nearly 40 years without being able to perform, but not only is there a lack of continuity throughout the album, there is also a lack of good material. I found myself repeatedly coming back to the word 'pedestrian' when trying to think of a good description for the album, which is never good, especially when the genre is melodic/prog/pomp rock. There are some fifteen musicians on the album, and one wonders if this would have been better if it had been a proper band as opposed to a project, where an identity could have been developed. When it is good it is very good indeed, but there are just too many times when I just want to skip to the next track to see if it is any better, which is really annoying as 'Wish' has a great hook and will be a great singalong in concert, but is surrounded by others which aren't at the same level.