Mars or the Moon The Price of Love
by Chris A
Staff Writer
Love has been the driving force behind many musical endeavors and for Indianapolis-based rock duo, Mars or the Moon, it’s the topic of their debut album The Price of Love. The album’s songs describe assorted emotions, pitfalls, and myriad other facets of love over the course of the disc’s 11 tracks.
The brainchild of guitarist Joe Hart and vocalist Lani Williams, Mars and the Moon’s music is best described as light rock with a very hip retro feel. Don’t misunderstand wrong — it’s not that the music sounds old fashioned. On the contrary, this is a very hip modern sounding record. What makes it retro is it is clearly and unapologetically influenced by the likes of of The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Emmy Lou Harris, Bob Dylan and probably a dozen other performers from rock ‘n’ roll’s glory days. What makes this an exceptional record in today’s competitive music market is that the overall quality of the songs is excellent. One could make an argument that there are no “weak tunes” on this record.
More than anything, The Price of Love is a showcase for the soaring, powerful vocals of Lani Williams. Add guitarist/vocalist Joe Hart to the mix and the music comes to life with his classic-rock influenced guitar style and his clear enthusiasm to entertain. From the opening cut of “Ray” until the final strains of “Honeywine” fade away, listeners will be entertained, impressed and perhaps even enchanted by the collection of tunes on this very well done disc. While all the songs are excellent there are several standouts on the disc which include:
-“The Light,” holy cow, Lani Williams voice will nearly make you cry. Incredibly moving performance.
-“Ray.” First the tremolo guitar chord catches your attention and then Lani’s voice captivates you. A great song is hard to ignore.
-“Disgrace.” It’s a like a Zeppelinesque due between Lani on vocals and Hart on electric guitar. This woman can sing.
While Hart and Williams often take to the road as a due, they do perform in a larger band configuration which includes percussionists, Lenen Nicola and Glen Hopkins, keyboardist, Kevin Silva, bass player Roger Osburn for full-scale band gig as is featured on the disc.
Having seen this group perform live as a duo and full band, they deliver the tunes with gusto and enthusiasm. No rookies to the music scene, Joe Hart and Lani Williams have been performing and paying their dues for years. You can listen to cuts of the disc by visiting their MySpace page.
Track List:
1. Ray
2. Hold Back A River
3. Sexing The Cherry
4. Peace
5. Little Stew
6. The Price of Love
7. The Beautiful World
8. The Light
9. Shanti Shakti
10. Disgrace
11. Honeywine
HRH Score: 7.7/10