City Of Sound
A Rough Guide To Gradings

As I will be writing for The Rock this year I'm bringing my grading system into line with theirs. Here is how it works.

A song is awarded points on a scale of 0 to 3, where 0 is considered to be crap, 1 average, 2 good and 3 classic. We add up the total and then divide it by the total points available - for ten songs that will be 30 (3x10), 11 songs 33, and so on. This figure is then multiplied by 100 to achieve the magical % rating.

Of course it is not an exact science and the rating is still very much a matter of opinion. Anything between 60-70% has to be considered a strong effort while you won't come across much above that very often.

100 - 91 Classic 50 - 41 Patchy
90 - 81 Essential 40 - 31 Below Average
80 - 71 Brilliant 30 - 21 Bad
70 - 61 Very Good 20 - 11 Very Bad
60 - 51 Good 10 - 00 Delete

September '98

Rokbox

ROKBOX
ROKBOX
BLUE WORLD RECORDS SW1267
55%

This album could have been conceived and recorded at almost any point during the last 15 or so years. If you like textbook AOR then there is plenty here to enjoy. Originality on the other hand is rather thin on the ground as Rokbox take us through a set that draws comparisons to just one artist in particular. "Too Young" is just spooky, this IS Journey, the whole thing, especially the Schon like guitar licks, are Journey to a tee. It's totally unoriginal but is done with such conviction and panache that they just about get away with it. "Anytime" goes for a midpaced groove and sees Marc Engeren throwing in some Perry patented "Wo-ohs". Elsewhere he sounds similar to Steve Augeri, although he goes a bit off key on a few occasions, on the chorus of "How Many Roses" for example (real good pumping AOR groove, not heard that in a while, nice solo as well). "Stop Waiting For The Moment" is another decent midpaced song, with a good hook and structure. There are a couple of big ballads, "Patiently" (I'm saying nothing) and "We Can Make It Last Forever", during the latter some friends of mine got out a lighter and started singing "When You Love A Woman"! "Going Nowhere" launches the set with a Diving For Pearls (for a change) rocking style sound. Actually the musicianship on the album is very good, with some good crunchy riffs and fine soloing from Engeren (a much better guitarist than a singer). As I said there is zero originality going on here but the guys manage to just about pull it off, thanks to a set of decent enough songs and the good performances (vocal weaknesses aside). If the band want my advice they could do a lot worse than to try and find a singer who can really do their songs justice, until then they will not achieve their full potential. Oh and add a bit more of their own identities as well. Apart from that this is well worth a listen.
Contact: http://www.blueworldrecords.com

Only Forever

PURESSENCE
ONLY FOREVER
ISLAND CID 8064
72%

Manchester's Puressence return with their second album and this time they are a bit more accessible. Mudriczki's vocals are sung slightly lower than his previous David Surkamp meets Fergal Sharkey falsetto but he still soars throughout the record and knows just when to sing like an angel. Musically they encompass elements of Radiohead and U2 and are more indie than straight rock. Delicate balladic numbers share space with bombastic anthems like "Street Lights" with huge riffs that are sharp enough to pin you to the wall. Imagine a less pretentious Radiohead with balls and you won't be far off. Their debut still has the slight edge in my opinion but this is still a thoroughly enjoyable album and should open Puressence up to a much deserved wider audience.

Now & Then Records

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Peter Sims
Last update 6th September 1998
Created 6th September 1998 © Peter Sims