I introduced you to the duo 'David Cagle'/'Jim Shepard' with their second studio recording 'Over The Edge' released in 2020 which was followed a year later by 'Fractured Mirror' and the one-year frequency between two albums continues for 'Lastworld' with a new baby released two weeks ago. Despite the close releases, we could have feared a breathlessness of creativity from our two Americans, but it is not so because 'Escape the Eclipse' continues the road mapped out from the previous albums with a radiant AOR which offers us new catchy melodies. Listening to the first titles, we embark on compositions that smell good of the 80s and this, from the start with 'The Sanity Is Lost' which automatically triggers the foot tapping machine, then, 'I'm Never Gonna Let You Go' continues in this melodic style with a chorus that we have the impression of already knowing by heart but of a formidable efficiency. The sequel is the image of this beginning'Just the Same' offers us keyboards from another era and, in the same lively and accessible style from the first listen, we can mention 'She Wants More' which has a little air of 'Old Time Rock And Roll', the energetic 'Take Me Away' and 'Tonight I Don't Wanna Die' in a more hard rock style or even the melodic jewels 'Go' beginning in a ballad and continuing in a catchy rhythm and 'It's Hard' with its addictive chorus. And our two Americans also know how to vary the atmospheres well since they offer us much quieter compositions with, first of all, the magnificent ballad 'Who Holds Your Heart' which 'Elton John' would not have denied, then the acoustic 'A Letter to a Friend' on which we completely abandon ourselves, the album ending with the title song in the form of an instrumental highlighting the talent of 'Jim Shepard' who rocks us with his guitar accompaniment. In short, with their project 'Lastworld', 'David Cagle' and 'Jim Shepard' shows that you don't need to be super famous to make good melodic rock and 'Escape the Eclipse' is the proof and, you who love beautiful melodies between pop, rock, and hard rock, linger over this latest American baby and you will see that you will have a wonderful time listening... | |
