In
Belgium lives Kurt Vereecke, a music teacher with
a huge AOR-heart who had for many years a dream to record his own
rock album. Despite lots of songwriting and ambitious efforts with
a first incarnation of Frozen Rain in
the eighties and with Rhyana in the beginning of
the nineties with which he released a single that got a pretty good
success on the Belgian radio in 1992 - Kurts discography was limited
to an admirable 3–CD children album project from the millennium.
Until now that was… Thanks to the combination of inspiration
and transpiration and through a world wide contact net within the
melodicrock world and with support from Avenue of Allies Music
Vereecke has now produced an album that pops up like a bottle
from the sea and sounds like a lost FM album from the mid eighties.
Already from the first notes of the strong opening song ”Waiting
for you” the romantic pop rock bursts like birds in
the dawn of a summer day. The influences from the British AOR act
FM shine through as well in most of the up tempo songs. Vereecke’s
keyboards create a solid foundation to the melodic pieces and build
up the verses in an effective way. Tommy Denander’s
tasteful and drilling guitars add to the songs another notch. The
five lead singers do a pretty good job. Great songs are “Park
Café” with a laid back swing, “Red
LightZone” with a Foreigner style
and the soulful ballads ”My heart believes it´s
true” and”Tomorrow”. Frozen
Rain is a great album and will inspire not at least talented songwriters
and musicians who have the songs but may lack a band. For Kurt Vereecke
this means that he will not have to beg for a backing band after this
debut.
Review by Jukka Paananen |
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