{"id":46945,"date":"2014-11-16T08:43:56","date_gmt":"2014-11-16T13:43:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=46945"},"modified":"2014-11-16T08:43:56","modified_gmt":"2014-11-16T13:43:56","slug":"bailey-long-way-down-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/bailey-long-way-down-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Bailey | Long Way Down<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"baileyOnce the wind filled his sails, Nigel Bailey\u2019s apparently not about to rest on his laurels. This year he gained major recognition from fronting a British three-piece band Three Lions, whose self-titled debut album was released under the wing of Frontiers Records. Simultaneously, Nigel was already announcing his plans of releasing also a solo album in numerous interviews he\u2019s given, including one for Hardrock Haven. He wasn\u2019t speaking idly as Long Way Down<\/em> hits the shelves in early December on both sides of the Atlantic. However, the fact of the album\u2019s being billed as Bailey rather than Nigel\u2019s full name suggests a mutual effort and a kind of project that\u2019s evolved out of the recording sessions. Hence, Bailey\u2019s the British singer\/bassist with the addition of a few Italian musicians you already know from their impressive work on many different releases, both their own projects and guest participations. It\u2019s Alessandro Mori (Mitch Malloy, Moonstone Project) on drums and Mario Percudani (Hungryheart) on guitars. Last, but not least is, of course, the irreplaceable (and omnipresent, it seems!) Alessandro Del Vecchio who\u2019s responsible for producing the album as well as playing keyboards and singing backing vocals on it (together with Andy Bailey). <\/p>\n

\u201cFeed The Flames\u201d explodes with a splendid keyboard- and guitar-laden melody, sounding as if Bailey\u2019s solo debut was not too drastically detached from Three Lions and their debut release. However, as it turns out, Long Way Down<\/em> is a bit more diverse than the Lions\u2019 self-titled effort, making an interesting prospect for a listener as soon as the second song on the album approaches. With a distinct modern hard rock vibe to it, enhanced even further by the clean-cut modern production, and upfront instrumental parts, \u201cIn The Name Of The King\u201d gravitates towards a bit heavier spheres of melodic rock. It\u2019s something you might have not expected from Nigel and this particular album \u2013 the track number thus two constitutes a bit of a surprise which is always a good thing. \u201cDirty Little Secret\u201d is mostly traditional AOR piece for a change, yet with some interesting six string flavors. <\/p>\n

\u201cBad Reputation\u201d is again more contemporary rock, with an infectious guitar groove and slight touches of funk. More of a Glenn Hughes-esque kind of thing, as it can be called, and considerably different anyway from the melodic choruses and simple-but-charming riffs of AOR-ish \u201cStay\u201d and \u201cSomewhere In Oslo.\u201d Next is the title track, an interesting juxtaposition of muscular modern riffs against a lightweight and pretty polished melody. A mellow, acoustic intro heralds there\u2019s a ballad coming, and \u201cSpend The Night\u201d is one of those grandiose slower moments indeed, complete with a wailing guitar sound and emotionally laden vocals. \u201cLove Falls Down\u201d and \u201cTicket To Yesterday\u201d are another throwbacks to Three Lions\u2019 debut album with its AOR-ish charm that\u2019s kind of reminiscent of the early Giant or Tyketto. Having therefore spoiled a bit a fans of such sound aesthetics, Bailey ends the album on a high note and in a pretty feisty manner \u2013 a guitar-fueled, straight-in-your-face \u201cDirty Angel\u201d is a perfect final to an album.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the biggest asset of Bailey\u2019s Long Way Down<\/em> is that while the album remains within the realms of one genre and is thus a consistent one, simultaneously it shows how many different approaches there can be to melodic rock aesthetics. Having listened to both straightforwardly \u201880s-infused tracks and more modern-oriented ones, and having experienced both lightweight sugary melodies and slightly heavier songs, the listener\u2019s left with the overall impression of balanced versatility. Supported by a crew of the extraordinary Italian musicians, and under the guidance of Alessandro Del Vecchio, Nigel seized the opportunity of showing different flavors to his talent when going solo. That\u2019s why Long Way Down<\/em> is not an album Three Lions\u2019 fans will buy out of courtesy or motivated by their inner scrupulous record collector; it\u2019s an album every melodic rock fan will find enjoyable. <\/p>\n

Genre: Melodic Hard Rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nNigel Bailey: lead and backing vocals, bass, guitars
\nMario Percudani: electric, acoustic and slide guitars
\nAlessandro Mori: drums
\nAlessandro Del Vecchio: keyboards, additional backing vocals
\nAndy Bailey: additional backing vocals<\/p>\n

Track List:
\n1.\tFeed The Flames
\n2.\tIn The Name Of The King
\n3.\tDirty Little Secret
\n4.\tBad Reputation
\n5.\tStay
\n6.\tSomewhere In Oslo
\n7.\tLong Way Down
\n8.\tSpend The Night
\n9.\tLove Falls Down
\n10.\tTicket To Yesterday
\n11.\tDirty Angel<\/p>\n

Label: Frontiers Records<\/p>\n

Website: http:\/\/www.baileyrocks.com<\/a> – https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/baileyaor<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 9\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska – Senior Columnist — Once the wind filled his sails, Nigel Bailey\u2019s apparently not about to rest on his laurels. This year he gained major recognition from fronting a British three-piece band […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":46953,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[10283,2317,374,10284,2847],"class_list":{"0":"post-46945","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-bailey","9":"tag-cd-review","10":"tag-frontiers-records","11":"tag-long-way-down","12":"tag-melodic-hard-rock"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46945","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=46945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46945\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}