{"id":50167,"date":"2015-08-24T19:53:19","date_gmt":"2015-08-25T00:53:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=50167"},"modified":"2015-08-24T19:53:19","modified_gmt":"2015-08-25T00:53:19","slug":"kelly-keeling-mind-radio-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2015\/kelly-keeling-mind-radio-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Kelly Keeling | Mind Radio<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"KellyEven though the cover artwork of this album could have been a rejected idea for a mid-\u201890s Skynyrd album (or a washed-up country star even), it\u2019s no such thing but rather another largely anticipated Rock release. A decade after his first solo take, it\u2019s Kelly Keeling striking back again with Mind Radio<\/em> released via Frontiers Music. The album itself is business as usual when it comes to Frontiers \u2013 foundations laid as a result of the artistic collaboration between Keeling and Alessandro Del Vecchio and the album being produced by the latter of the two. In addition to that, the restless Italian musician contributes to the album with his trademark keyboard sound and backing vocals, the backing band being comprised of another Frontiers\u2019 household names: Mario Percudani, Anna Portalupi and Alessandro Mori. Out of all these talents, combined with Kelly Keeling\u2019s powerful vocals, came a solid, melody-laden album.<\/p>\n

Although this is not an objection of any kind \u2013 quite the opposite, actually \u2013 key concepts that define the sound on Mind Radio<\/em> are Frontiers Records and Alessandro Del Vecchio rather than Kelly Keeling\u2019s previous endeavors. Be it Baton Rouge, Blue Murder, Trans-Siberian Orchestra or Heaven & Earth\u2019s sophomore effort, Keeling\u2019s name has not been usually associated with polished AOR sound. However, this kind of sound aesthetics seem to fit the seasoned singer pretty well as the new release is miles ahead of somewhat odd musical choices on 2005\u2019s solo CD Giving Sight To The Eye<\/em>.<\/p>\n

For the most part, it\u2019s refined mid- and up-tempo songs with bombastic choruses and the wall of sound effect all over (check out \u201cThis Love Our Paradise\u201d, \u201cIsolated Man\u201d, \u201cWritten In Fire\u201d or \u201cNo Man\u2019s Land\u201d). \u201cTake Me To The Limit\u201d is particularly strong track which brings back the best \u201880s Pomp Rock tradition with a contemporary touch to it (and some really stunning keyboard work as well). In spite of the piano-based intro suggesting a ballad-ish vibe to it, \u201cStill Need You In My Arms\u201d is no moment of slowdown too. <\/p>\n

The same goes for semi-acoustic but relatively dynamic \u201cLove Will Tear Us Apart,” also not a ballad in a strict meaning of the word. Its melody and arrangement somewhat harkens back to Keeling\u2019s distant musical past. \u201cSunshine Over Me\u201d and \u201cMonkey House\u201d do so even more distinctively \u2013 especially the former is classic Baton Rouge sound revisited and updated. <\/p>\n

The first solo album ever released by Kelly Keeling featured a star-studded line-up but also material that was slightly chaotic and uneven. Mind Radio<\/em> is just the other way around \u2013 not a dull moment here, each sound and note exactly in the right place. Due to the choices made genre-wise, it\u2019s obviously a recommendation mostly for AOR and Melodic Hard Rock fans. However, also fans of previous artistic incarnations of Kelly Keeling should at least give it a try \u2013 even though the album doesn\u2019t reflect his musical history, it\u2019s certainly another interesting chapter of it. <\/p>\n

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

Band:
\nKelly Keeling \u2013 lead vocals
\nAlessandro Del Vecchio – keyboards, backing vocals
\nMario Percudani – electric and acoustic guitars
\nAnna Portalupi – bass, fretless bass
\nAlessandro Mori – drums<\/p>\n

Track List:
\n1.\tThis Love Our Paradise
\n2.\tIsolated Man
\n3.\tSunshine Over Me
\n4.\tStill Need You In My Arms
\n5.\tWritten In Fire
\n6.\tTake Me To The Limit
\n7.\tLove Will Tear Us Apart
\n8.\tNo Man\u2019s Land
\n9.\tFrozen In Time
\n10.\tMonkey House
\n11.\tRide The Storm
\n12.\tWho Do You Run To<\/p>\n

Label: Frontiers Music<\/p>\n

Website: www.kellykeeling.net<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8.5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska – Senior Columnist — Even though the cover artwork of this album could have been a rejected idea for a mid-\u201890s Skynyrd album (or a washed-up country star even), it\u2019s no such […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":50168,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12394],"tags":[8939,11617,11618,2317,5081,11619,9984,2847,11616,8477],"class_list":{"0":"post-50167","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2015","8":"tag-aor","9":"tag-baton-rouge","10":"tag-blue-murder","11":"tag-cd-review","12":"tag-frontier-records","13":"tag-heaven-earth","14":"tag-kelly-keeling","15":"tag-melodic-hard-rock","16":"tag-mind-radio","17":"tag-trans-siberian-orchestra"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50167","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=50167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}