Artist: Ray Wilson
Title: Chasing Rainbows
Genre: Rock/ Progressive Rock
Release Date: 19th April 2013
Label: Jaggy D
Album Review
Ray Wilson had the dubious honour of fronting Prog-Rock titans GENESIS when they were at their least popular, stumbling through an unloved album and an aborted American tour. Despite his obvious vocal talent, he was never going to find it easy measuring up to the recently resigned Phil Collins, and he was dumped by the band as they decided an indefinite hiatus and regrouping was in order. He enjoyed moderate success with the band STILTSKIN prior to this, the album ‘The Mind’s Eye’ and single ‘Inside’ charting well worldwide. Described as Post-Grunge at the time, success was short-lived, although he revived STILTSKIN again after the GENESIS debacle for the album ‘She’ and a live release. As a solo performer, the Scotsman has distanced himself from any grunge or Post-Grunge labelling, wrapping his warm vocals instead around more tradition rock, and bar-room balladeering. After three solo albums, 2013 sees the release of ‘Chasing Rainbows’.
As an opener, ‘Take It Slow’ is a belter. The husky vocals of the verse soar into the kind of big chorus beloved of many MOR rock bands, but this is also nicely constrained and mature, not venturing off into histrionics or becoming overblown. It’s a fine, solid introduction to Wilson’s style and forte. ‘Easier That Way’ also pushes his smoky voice through a more urgent verse, lyrically tackling how many feel right now: ‘there are people all around me/ struggling to make ends meet / while those who are responsible / are living down on easy-street‘ and although it’s a rather obvious rhyme, the song moves at a gallop and doesn’t allow too much lingering over the fineries of his words.
‘Follow The Lie’ is the unofficial title track, and it’s another mid-paced song, with key changes in just the right places, and excellent use of backing vocals. In fact by now, it’s clear this is no simple solo album, the impressive list of personnel contributing to the album giving it a real band feel, rather like SPRINGSTEEN when he’s paired with the E-STREET BAND. This lot are clearly all accomplished musicians, and Wilson allows them space and time to be heard and to flourish, fleshing out songs most likely composed on a piano or with a simple 6 string. Vocally, here, he comes close to the sound that gave him the post-grunge tag in his former band, it has slight shades of Vedder in its range and emotional depth.
‘Shouting In My Sleep’ puts itself lazily in the corner of a whisky bar and beckons the slow-dancers onto a sticky floor. It’s heavily Country-tinged and does its job well enough, nothing particularly special, but then not outstaying its welcome either. It’s followed by ‘Wait For Better Days’, which is eerily close to any number of CROWDED HOUSE songs. I even checked to see if it was a cover. But sounding like the Finn brothers is not too shabby, and it’s competent enough. Things get really patchy by the time of the dreadful ‘Rhianne’. It dresses itself as a sentimental ballad, awash with soft-focus vocals and finely picked guitar, the floating instrumentation timidly swirling around it all.
Girls’ names as song titles seem rarely to work, although it would be cruel to compare this to horrors such as Manilow’s ‘Mandy’, but it’s totally mawkish and sits way to far over the MOR fence. The tendency towards the bland continues with badly titled ‘She’s A Queen’, although this is rescued somewhat by some gorgeous violin work. But the chorus, repeating the song’s title unconvincingly, knocks it back down into the bland again. ‘Whatever Happened’ will be played somewhere on a pirate radio station at 3 in the afternoon, to a happy, but unchallenged group of Garth Brooks fans, and clearly by now, this album has dipped into something far removed from the promising and inventive early tracks. It’s as if Mr Wilson has got bored, settled himself on a barstool and decided to sing his way through a load of old standards.
It does pick up again, thankfully, violins again bathing ‘I See It All’ in a hazy beauty, and it bursts into a rousing and confident finale. ‘The Life Of Someone’ is a further return to form, and final track ‘No Dreams Are Made Of This’ is one of the strongest songs here and goes a long way towards erasing the disjoined middle section of Chasing Rainbows. It’s patient and sombre and comfortable as it rumbles its way towards the finishing post. Clearly Ray Wilson has got a foot in the rock and Prog-Rock door, a singer-songwriter easily able to switch his style when necessary. Perhaps a few too many toes in the bland and unadventurous world of MOR and Country, but on the whole this is a good, solid album.
Tracklist
01. Take It Slow
02. Easier That Way
03. Follow The Lie
04. Shouting In My Sleep
05. Wait For Better Days
06. She Don’t Feel So Loved
07. Rhianne
08. She’s A Queen
09. Whatever Happened
10. I see It All
11. The Life of Someone
12. No Dreams Are Made Of This
Line-up
Ray Wilson – Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Ali Ferguson – Lead Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Backing Vocals
Lawrie MacMillan – Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals
Steve Wilson – Acoustic and 12 String Guitar, Backing Vocals
Ashley MacMillan – Drums and Percussion
Alicja Chrzaszcz – Violin
Barbara Szelagiewicz – Violin
Darek Tarczewski – Piano and Keyboards
Website
http://www.raywilson.net / https://www.facebook.com/RayWilson.Stiltskin
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 7
Sound: 8
Total: 7.5 / 10
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