The Italian label 'Frontiers Music' is not idle at the moment because on August 7th saw the release of 4 albums which have already been the subject of a review on myprogmusic, with 'Artic Rain', 'Dukes of the Orient', 'Lionville' and finally 'Black Rose Maze' and it’s yet another opus, this time from 'Hardline' guitarist, 'Josh Ramos', who also released his first solo album 'My Many Sides' the same day. For the occasion, he invited singers from different backgrounds with other 'Eric Martin' from 'Mr Big', 'Danny Vaughn' from 'Tyketto' or even 'Harry Hess' from 'Harem Scarem'. He offers us 12 varied compositions ranging from syrupy ballads to muscular hard-rock, passing by lighter AOR, all this being judiciously placed to vary the moods, in short, all good melodic music with, of course, the cherry on top of the cake, his masterful guitar solos.
And to start, what better than a little solo by Sieur Josh who from the first notes of 'Today is the Day' drops us a few notes close to 'Eddie Van Halen', the vocal performance that follows from 'Joe Retta' ('Heaven & Earth') not being outdone for this energetic track, then, 'Unbroken' softens the tone for a mid-tempo with its haunting rhythm and the Frenchman 'Terry Ilous' ('XYZ') who looks like
‘David Coverdale’. Follows 'Blameless Blue', sung by 'Danny Vaughn' in AOR rock style with a classic but so effective melody, 'Josh Ramos' spicing it up with a remarkable guitar solo, then 'Immortal' continues in this calm ambience under the form of a ballad which hardens the tone in a few passages, 'Tony Harnell' (ex TNT) showing a full vocal palette depending on the intensity and 'Josh Ramos' still rewarding us with an admirable guitar solo. With 'Same Of Fears', the catchy tempo gives an irresistible urge to swing your head, 'Joe Retta' returning to offer us a remarkable new performance, then, 'Harry Hess' takes over on 'I Have Been Waiting' for a beautiful ballad, with a chorus to make an entire audience ripple, and 'Moving On' continues in a slow but powerful rock reminding me 'More Of That Jazz' from 'Queen'. Follows 'Forefather', a new ballad which offers us a magnificent guitar / voice duo between 'Josh Ramos' / 'Eric Martin' with a syrupy melody but so effective, then the intensity increases again with 'Too Good To Be True' which gives us a good dose of good melodic hard rock from the 80s with again 'Joe Retta' in an Olympic health. The end of the album offers us, first of all, a quiet and relaxing instrumental in which 'Josh Ramos' literally makes his guitar sing, then the fast and direct 'All over Now', more classical but very pleasant to listen to, and finally, 'I'm Only Human' with the late 'Tony Mills', who died in 2019 of cancer and who released a last album in 2019 'Beyond The Law' and who has recorded this magnificent song shortly before his death, whose lyrics obviously take on a whole new dimension.
In summary, 'Josh Ramos' released a remarkable album and thanks on the one hand to his talent as a guitarist but also thanks to the talents of this beautiful range of singers invited for the occasion, 'My Many Sides' should without no doubt to satisfy an audience loving a melodic hard-rock inherited from the 80s... | |
