April 21, 2010

Reviewer: M. J.

At Vance has recently suffered the fate that most bands wish not to experience - the dreaded rotating vocalist spot. Since its first release in 1999, the band has weathered three vocalists. Oliver Hartmann was the first and the most identifiable At Vance vocalist and sings on the majority of their best material. Mats Levén, a legend in his own right, was in and out of the band for one album before current vocalist Rick Altzi replaced him.

This brings us to Ride the Sky, the second album with Altzi as vocalist and he seems to be gaining a level of comfort with At Vance on this record that he didn’t have on VII.  The guy has a great bluesy-soulful voice (think David Coverdale) and fits well with the band and their sound. Ride the Sky is a pretty typical At Vance record in that it still tows the line of giving us a heavy dose of neo classical power/pop rock. It contains the prerequisite selection of mid paced rockers, a cover tune, a ballad and the ever present classical instrumental interpretation. This formula has worked pretty well for the band in the past but here the original material doesn’t hold a candle to the cover tune - which wasn’t always the case. The only exceptions are the rousing “The Last in Line” and “Fallin’” which recall Heart of Steel era glory. The cover tune is the Free song “Wishing Well”, where Rick seems to be channeling Ian Gillan (Deep Purple) for a gritty earnest performance. At Vance has evolved into a band that places high importance on vocals and keyboards to push their sound and less emphasis on the guitar wizardry but both of those aspects seem rather underwhelming here. The solo and guitar playing on “The Last in Line” and “The Power” are the most memorable especially when it comes to the higher energy material. The sappy big arena “hands-in-the-air-with-a-lighter-and-arms-swaying” ballad “You and I” is rather embarrassing schlock that is only marginally redeemable by the guitar solo. Everything else is just competent and boringly average; not really worth the investment especially when compared to the band’s prior output.

Two really good original songs and a decently executed cover tune don’t make a record. Ride the Sky is a step in the right direction after the abysmal VII but I think At Vance need to regroup as a band and figure out where they are headed from here.

Release Date: September 18, 2009
Label: AFM Records

TRACK LISTING

1.  Ride the Sky
2.  Torn - Burning Like Fire
3.  Last in Line
4.  Wishing Well (Free cover)
5.  Salvation Day
6.  Vivaldi, Summer 2nd Set
7.  Power
8.  You and I
9.  End of Days
10.  Falling
11.  Farewell

Total playing time:  48:22

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At Vance - Ride the Sky