{"id":46520,"date":"2014-10-29T13:44:52","date_gmt":"2014-10-29T18:44:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=46520"},"modified":"2014-10-29T14:15:28","modified_gmt":"2014-10-29T19:15:28","slug":"vega-stereo-messiah-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/vega-stereo-messiah-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Vega | Stereo Messiah<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist\/News Editor —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"VegaBritish melodic rockers Vega are back with their third album, titled Stereo Messiah<\/em>. When Vega debuted back in 2010 with Kiss of Life it was tempting to write the band \u2013 which features Tom and James Martin of Khymera \u2013 off as just another Frontiers project. Over the course of three albums though, Vega has emerged as one of the better new bands in the modern melodic rock scene.<\/p>\n

Stereo Messiah<\/em> is a fun title for a melodic rock album, and sure enough the title track starts things off on a fun note. It’s upbeat and catchy, and sets the stage for the rest of the album. Vega just channels that classic AOR sound, reminding listeners at times of Loverboy, Foreigner and Mr. Big. In fact, \u201cBallad of the Broken Hearts\u201d sounds like it would have been right at home on a recent Mr. Big album. There’s even a smooth Harem Scarem\/Def Leppard vibe at times. Speaking of which, none other than Joe Elliott lends his voice to the song \u201c10x Bigger Than Love.\u201d \u201cThe Fall\u201d and \u201cTears Never Dry\u201d are also highlights.<\/p>\n

The way Vega can pivot from super-catchy rock songs to smooth ballads to mid-tempo AOR and back again is very impressive. The musicianship is top notch, and vocalist Nick Workman continues to shine with each new album. He sounds a bit like James Labrie, Mike Reno and Eric Martin; singers with not a lot in common. He makes it work though, and his voice is key to Vega’s character.<\/p>\n

There have been a lot of very strong melodic rock releases this year, particularly coming from the Frontiers camp. This is one of the better ones of the bunch. If you’re a fan of classic AOR and melodic rock, particularly bands like Work of Art, Dalton, Three Lions and Loverboy, Stereo Messiah is an album you need to hear. If they keep this up, it’s not hard to see Vega emerging as one of the top bands in modern melodic rock.<\/p>\n

Genre: Melodic Rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nNick Workman (v)
\nTom Martin (g)
\nDaniel Chantrey (d)
\nJames Martin (k)
\nMarcus Thurston (g)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tStereo Messiah
\n2.\tAll Or Nothing
\n3.\tWherever We Are
\n4.\tBallad of the Broken Hearts
\n5.\tGonna Need Some Love Tonight
\n6.\tThe Fall
\n7.\tNeon Heart
\n8.\tWith Both Hands
\n9.\t10x Bigger Than Love
\n10.\tMy Anarchy
\n11.\tThe Wild The Weird The Wonderful
\n12.\tTears Never Dry<\/p>\n

Label: Frontiers Records<\/p>\n

Website: www.facebook.com\/OFFICIALVEGA<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines – Senior Columnist\/News Editor — British melodic rockers Vega are back with their third album, titled Stereo Messiah. When Vega debuted back in 2010 with Kiss of Life it was tempting to […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":46521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[2317,5081,2901,10183,10182],"class_list":{"0":"post-46520","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-cd-review","9":"tag-frontier-records","10":"tag-melodic-rock","11":"tag-stereo-messiah","12":"tag-vega"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46520\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}