The singer of 'Riot V' had the idea of releasing a solo album after his stint on the American show 'The Voice', having been spotted by country music singer 'Blake Shelton'. With the collaboration of guitarist 'Kurdt Vanderhoof' from 'Metal Church' his first baby 'Sonic Healing' was released in May 2021. Although these two artists are part of heavy metal bands that are not known for being in lace, the compositions of this opus are much more moderate and oriented towards a rock melodic that flirts with the great classic rock and hard-rock formations and we find as many influences of groups like 'Foreigner', 'Deep Purple' or 'Uriah Heep' or even 'Status Quo' to name only groups from the 70s who have released albums in recent years.
In the energetic register, the introductory track 'Overdrive' is a pure jewel of effective hard rock with good incisive guitar riffs and with a singer who ensures a high-level vocal performance. We can also cite compositions like 'Let Loose Tonight' with its catchy rhythm driven by an irresistible bass, the mid-tempo 'All on the line' which give an irresistible desire to move or 'Like No Other' which brings us back to a more classic hard-rock and whose song of Todd shows the full extent of his vocal palette or the muscular melodic hit 'Long Lost Rock & Rollers' which reminds me of certain titles of 'Status Quo'. In a more measured and just as addictive style, 'Running After You' moderates the ardor and the eponymous title of the album also brings more lightness to the whole, just like a very good 'Somebody's Full' with its less strong riffs. We can also cite blues/rock that 'Led Zeppelin' would not have denied with 'Love Rain down' and its swaying rhythm and the two bonuses 'The Other Side' and 'Not with a Sword' which have nothing to envy to other titles.
In short, failing to revolutionize the genre, this solo album by 'Todd Michael Hall' is very pleasant to listen to and contains good rock that feels good and if you like the bands I mentioned above, you should definitely join this 'Sonic Healing' which should take you on a beautiful journey with two talented artists who demonstrate all their talent for this style of music... | |
