Seventh Key - I Will Survive (2013)

2013-12-10T20:18:11Z

Seventh Key - I Will Survive (2013)


01. I Will Survive (05:58)
02. Lay It On The Line (04:35)
03. I See You There (04:55)
04. It's Just A State Of Mind (03:41)
05. Sea Of Dreams (03:55)
06. Time And Time Again (04:19)
07. When Love Sets You Free (04:22)
08. Down (04:38)
09. The Only One (05:14)
10. What Love's Supposed To Be (04:41)
11. I Want It All (05:11)

Billy Greer  - Bass, Lead Vocals
Mike Slamer - Guitars, Keyboards, Programming
Chet Wynd - Drums
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David Ragsdale - Violin
Billy Trudel, Terry Brock, Bobby Capps, Barry “The Blade” Johnson - Background vocals
David Manion – Keyboards

A third Seventh Key album is something I thought I might not live to see, it having been nine years since the Raging Fire was released. However the former Streets pair of Billy Greer and ex-City Boy guitarist Mike Slamer have had busy schedules as a full-time member of Kansas one of the go to producers and songwriters in melodic rock.

The album opens in full on progressive manner with the title track with its organ intro and synthesiser solo. The Kansas comparisons are obvious, yet the chorus is straight out of their commercial years with John Elefante. Lay it On the Line continues the musically adventurous theme with a slight bluesy feel reminiscent of latter day Deep Purple, while the acoustic Sea of Dreams is another with a strong Kansas influence.

As usual Slamer’s production is crisp, although there are surprisingly few guitar solos, and while the album gets gradually less proggy, there are always interesting twists here and there, with the exception of the rather repetitive Down.

Time and Time Again and When Love Sets You Free are more mainstream straight ahead melodic rock, while The Only One has a Springfield-esque pop rock feel and What Love’s Supposed to be is a fine ballad. Finally, the album comes full circle with I Will Return, which is so similar in style and structure to the opener it is almost a variation on a theme.

Through it all the thought also occurs that Billy Greer is criminally underused as a singer in Kansas. A recommended album for fans of something a little bit less instant but with quality running through it. Hope it won’t be another nine years for No 4! ---Andy Nathan, getreadytorock.me.uk

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Seventh Key - Seventh Key (2001)

2019-08-06T14:29:03Z

Seventh Key - Seventh Key (2001)


1 	The Kid Could Play 	
2 	Only The Brave 	
3 	Missy 	
4 	Surrender 	
5 	When Love Is Dying 	
6 	No Man´s Land 	
7 	Every Time It Rains 	
8 	Home 	
9 	Forsaken 	
10 	Prisoner Of Love 	
11 	Broken Home

Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar – Mike Slamer
Backing Vocals – Terry Brock
Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Lead Vocals – Billy Greer
Drums – Chet Wynd (tracks: 1 to 5, 8 to 11), Phil Ehart (tracks: 6,7)
Guitar – Richard Williams (tracks: 3,6,7), Steve Morse (tracks: 6,7)
Keyboards – Dave Manion (tracks: 1 to 5, 8 to 11), Steve Walsh (tracks: 6,7), Igor Len (tracks: 11)

If I was in a laconic mood or if I had an introvert temper (which happily isn't the case)”Top Class or pure elegancy” , this short sentence statement that what could have been the only content of my review concerning the new album by SEVENTH KEY entitled “I Will Survive” and published by Frontiers Records. Indeed, the ex-CITY BOY Axeman Mike Slamer (Guitarist / Composer / Sound mixing engineer and producer) and Billy Greer (Singer / Bassist and Author) from KANSAS fame, are two gentlemen who are holding a kind of magic both in their flawless musical performances but also in their perfect songwriting skills, they are veterans and experienced players with many highly successful bands and projects in their respective history, such as STREETS / STEELHOUSE LANE or NATIVE WINDOW.

This album is the third studio work for this amazing duet and if you were convinced by the first self-titled CD in 2001 or the 2004’s “Raging Fire”, you should be thrilled by this new opus as they managed to keep exactly the same flame, the same excellence in the harmony profusion and the same ultra-catchy richness in the abundance of sing-along chorus. But here everything is exposed in the noblest way, no cheap gimmick, no easy trick, instead we have plenty of refined and sophisticated melodies with some beautiful ambiances, the whole uplifted by an absolute mastery and agility in the instrumental execution. Mike Slamer is a superb six strings player but is even more renowned as a producer, so you can hope for an expert realization; it's exactly what its like: a masterpiece, an Art-crafted product with an unblemished sound to add with the numerous asset of this irreproachable disc.

For those who still don’t know the band, their previous works or the talented protagonists, well, what can I say? You can expect a pure load of ear orgasmic pleasure, the pure AOR class of band like GIANT or WRABIT with the Pomp smartness of SAGA embellished by some superb vocals in the KANSAS / SHOOTING STAR / STREETS tradition ("Sea Of Dreams"/ "I See You There" / "Down") with some Prog flavors ("What Love's Supposed To Be") and a few Melodic Hard rock influences ("Lay In On The Line" / "When Love Sets You Free"). I will tell you once again, this is a delivery of grace and sheer finesse in this brutal and dumb world. ---Yngwie Viking, metal-temple.com

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Rock, Metal

Seventh Key - I Will Survive (2013)

Seventh Key - Seventh Key (2001)