a l b u m r e v i e w s


ANGEL / IN THE BEGINNING
LABEL: Coallier Entertainment
OVERALL: 60%
Produced by: Frank DiMino
  1. The Crow
  2. The Rain Song
  3. Hero
  4. So I'll Say Goodbye
  5. Long Gone
  6. In The Wake Of The Storm
  7. Set Me Free
  8. The Greatest Love Of All
  9. Shangra La
  10. Trapped In Paradise
I must admit that I have a limited knowledge of the earlier Angel albums, other than by reputation and a few listens.
That is enough though to be able to say to you this is not in the traditional vein of the old classic albums.
This is a reformed Angel - original line up, minus Greg Giuffria - and they have a brand new sound on offer for 1999.
The best comparison to what I am hearing here is Led Zeppelin. I have heard this mentioned several times now and I have to concur. This is heavily influenced by Zep's sound and is almost totally devoid of keyboards and pomp.
Instead there is a Robert Plant vocal over a fairly raw and stripped back guitar driven hard rock sound.
The album reminds me of albums like Houses Of The Holy and In Through The Out Door - later stages Led Zeppelin.
The album is produced in 1999, but has a heavy retro feel. Just check out So I'll Say Goodbye! Big time Zeppelin/Plant comparisons.
Nice packaging though...
BOTTOM LINE: Not a bad record, but one that fans of the classic Angel sound might be disappointed. There are still some solid tunes on here, but it will take an open minded fan to apprecite them. Or maybe a new fan of retro style rock.
PRODUCTION: 65%SONGS: 55%VIBE: 60%ATTITUDE: 65%
ESSENTIAL FOR: Die hard Angel fans, fans of retro rock.

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