The new Jimi Jamison album is ultimately contrived, AOR by numbers, predictable and a complete and blatant rip off of the very best of Survivor with the odd bit of Journey thrown in for a couple of choruses. And thank God for that !! A cynical study has been made of Jimi's 1980s lyrics, phrasing & dynamics, even the plodding drums of Survivor have been recreated. There's probably a case that could be answered in court, but I still love every damn note on the album. Jimi was the mid-late 80s voice of Survivor and he's missed having songs like those to sing ever since. Pride of Lions must have been chomping on some pretty sour tasting antelopes these last 2 months.http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,924947#msg-924947Sat, 25 May 2013 23:09:38 +1000 Phorum 5.2.16 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925073#msg-925073 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925073#msg-925073
However, if you look at this interview - about halfway down - you'll see that maybe he's not the main culprit in the lyrics department:

LINK]]> RAMSAY NoticeboardMon, 31 Dec 2012 23:44:51 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925071#msg-925071 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925071#msg-925071Niv]]> nivjourney NoticeboardMon, 31 Dec 2012 23:11:11 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925070#msg-925070 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925070#msg-925070Sure it has a very Journey-esque/Toto/Giant sound to it, but lyrically, it's not shit. His lyrics often have recurring themes, and you can tell it's about stuff he's into and stuff he's lived through. I don't know many AOR bands who've written more than one song about a WWII Bomber Flight Group.
I don't care if bands sound like other bands, quite the opposite, I like the familiarity, I just don't warm to songs where I can't feel the lyrics.
And Erik is one of the worst around for that at the moment.
Niv]]> nivjourney NoticeboardMon, 31 Dec 2012 23:10:13 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925059#msg-925059 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925059#msg-925059
http://www.hotmetalonline.com/2012/12/10/mike-tramp-there-will-never-be-another-classic-rock-album-2012/]]> Scott NoticeboardMon, 31 Dec 2012 20:47:22 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925055#msg-925055 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925055#msg-925055
Terry - I know about vocal range, I usually sing the harmony lines above the melody line, its more the style of the first 2 songs on Jimi's album. I had them pigeon holed as pure Survivor thanks to the vocals but Alex was right, these 2 are prime time Journey songs]]> Chazz NoticeboardMon, 31 Dec 2012 19:45:40 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925047#msg-925047 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925047#msg-925047 Terry K. NoticeboardMon, 31 Dec 2012 13:27:01 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925046#msg-925046 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925046#msg-925046 Terry K. NoticeboardMon, 31 Dec 2012 13:15:55 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925044#msg-925044 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925044#msg-925044Mix it up a bit. There's so many demo's and so many good writers, vary up who writes per album, the band will mold the overall sound. Then just make sure you vary the band from project to project...
Niv]]> nivjourney NoticeboardMon, 31 Dec 2012 12:28:39 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925042#msg-925042 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925042#msg-925042-------------------------------------------------------

> Now Erik can sing all the contrived, cliche'd,
> forced songs he likes, because i'm never going to
> go and buy his solo album. But the fact that so
> many artists I do like are now having Erik albums
> served up under their name is beginning to piss me
> off.
> Especially as I know it'll only happen more.
> Giant, Toby Hitchcock (although any AOR album
> released as his solo album would probably be
> contrived, as anyone who follows him knows he's
> actually more of a gospel/country singer in his
> own right), Kimball/Jamison, Jimi Jamison, Jeff
> Scott Soto (in W.E.T), Harry Hess and even Smokie.
> Apart from Toby, they are all people who can
> either write their own material, or have
> collaborators who they famously write with. Why
> do they all need albums to be written for them by
> Erik... to the point where it all just sounds the
> same?


The reason is simple. It's very minimal time and monetary investment on the part of the singer. They listen to the demos, mold their style around the guide vocal, then record the vocals and they are done with it. Very little time or money involved on their end.

It's easy money for the label and artist, because in a genre like this, the singers are a known commodity that will move albums.

The more disturbing part is What it really means in the end though is that fewer artists are willing to go to the trouble to find co-writers to make a cd. Now, there are some singers like Bob Catley who have never written a song in their life, and truely NEED someone to write for them, but at the rate this is happening, the legitimate cases are far and few between these days. Bottom line is that the reigns are tightening around the melodic rock scene, and this type of stuff will start happening at an increased frequency.
Kevin]]> Kevin NoticeboardMon, 31 Dec 2012 11:50:55 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925041#msg-925041 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925041#msg-925041They are just forced. It would be like me writing a song about growing up in the hot California sun, hanging out on Friday night's with my friends, losing the girl of my dreams, and wooaooh looking for the dream in the fire and rolling off into the sunset down the highway.
I'm from the South Coast of England, i'm antisocial, i've not even found the girl of my dreams (they've all just been "some girl"), I don't drive, and if I did i'd be stuck on a roundabout and on several motorways... no top down, no sun, no dreaming.
Now, I know what would make the better song, but you can't force this shit. So i'd just write about something I do know. If you do force it, it sounds contrived and doesn't make for a very good song.
Now Erik can sing all the contrived, cliche'd, forced songs he likes, because i'm never going to go and buy his solo album. But the fact that so many artists I do like are now having Erik albums served up under their name is beginning to piss me off.
Especially as I know it'll only happen more.
Giant, Toby Hitchcock (although any AOR album released as his solo album would probably be contrived, as anyone who follows him knows he's actually more of a gospel/country singer in his own right), Kimball/Jamison, Jimi Jamison, Jeff Scott Soto (in W.E.T), Harry Hess and even Smokie. Apart from Toby, they are all people who can either write their own material, or have collaborators who they famously write with. Why do they all need albums to be written for them by Erik... to the point where it all just sounds the same?
Enough is enough.
It's actually quite boring. I've rarely listened to much in AOR this year aside from Rick Springfield, Richard Marx and older releases, because alot of the new stuff (aside from guys who I know will deliver what I like such as Newman and Chris Antblad) just all sounds the same... and that's largely because it's all written by one person!
Niv]]> nivjourney NoticeboardMon, 31 Dec 2012 11:18:04 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925031#msg-925031 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925031#msg-925031-------------------------------------------------------
> We played the album in the car today and my son
> heard it for the first time. His logic can't be
> argued with....
>
> "Dad, why didn't Journey get him to sing for them
> ?"
>
> I can anticipate some of the answers the MR crowd
> might return on this, but I for one would have
> enjoyed that happening
>

Honestly, the Journey catalog would have shredded Jamison's voice. His voice just isn't high-pitched enough. Great singer, but he wouldn't have lasted touring with those songs. Jamison even had problems singing the Bickler catalog, and most of the Perry stuff is higher than those songs.
Kevin]]> Kevin NoticeboardMon, 31 Dec 2012 08:28:42 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925030#msg-925030 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925030#msg-925030-------------------------------------------------------
> So then...a recap: you like the music but mostly
> the lyrics are stale for you? I can see that. But
> funnily enough,because the music is so very 80's
> ish in nature,the lyrics seem to blend in as
> belonging to those topics. Still, it CAN all seem
> just a bit too retro and from the Journey/survivor
> handbook. Just a metter of how much your ears can
> look past that or not, I suppose.

That pretty much sums it up for me. I'm ok with the music, ok with the style, but the lyrics are just not there. For me, you can compensate on lyrics if the hooks are strong enough. You can compensate on a lack of melodies if the lyrics are strong enough. There are times when Erik has such a good song that the lyrics don't matter (WET's If I Fall, Bleed and Scream, etc). It's hard to keep that level up though. Some people are good lyricists, some people are good at creating melodies, a few are really good at both. I'd put both Erik and Magnus Karlsson in the same boat as good melody writers, but not much for lyrics. Listing to the JJ album, the lyrics just seem throwaway. Throwaway lyrics delivered with catchy melodies by a great singer, but throwaway. It looks nice and pretty on the outside, but there's nothing there to dig into. Same with the Bob Catley Immortal album. Sounds great, but there is nothing insdie to latch onto.

As far as musical style, I've said it before and I'll say it again. Style is irrevelent. If the songs are strong, you can make a good cd. If the songs are weak, it doesn't matter what style you write in. Just with the 3 Jamison-era 1980s Survivor cds for example, they don't sound alike. They have strong songs though, so the style doesn't matter. Some will like Vital Signs, some When Seconds Count, some Too Hot to Sleep. All 3 are very good cds, and there are some siginificant differences in style, but all received well.

Then, take Reach. Obviously, they were trying to recapture the Survivor sound, which they generally did. There's a heck of a lot of filler on the back half though, and no surprise, the fans don't much care for it.

I have no problems at all with someone trying to recreate the 80s sound. It's been done very well several times. The Storm's Eye of the Storm, the original Hugo cd, etc.

On the Jamison cd, I just don't hear the feeling in the lyrics, and these songs are far away from the quality of Didn't Know it was Love, Desperate Dreams, I See You in Everyone, When Seconds Count, Man Against the World, etc.




> Still like the JJ cd and may get it soon as I
> commend EM for writing FOR Jamison on this
> project. In that,I feel he succeeded this time
> out. T

I think he did a great job trying to write in a style that was familiar for JJ to sing. Still not fond of the lyrics that come with an "Erik Martensson song", but I guess that's just me. Lyrics are subjective as to what is "good", and some people could care less about them. All I can tell you is that his lyrics don't work for me, even though he has some songs that rise above them.
Kevin]]> Kevin NoticeboardMon, 31 Dec 2012 08:22:44 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925019#msg-925019 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925019#msg-925019 Terry K. NoticeboardMon, 31 Dec 2012 06:44:08 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925014#msg-925014 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925014#msg-925014I'm all for bands harkening back to another time, Two Fires debut and Sunstorm do it perfectly for me, and there are bands who have moved forward and made albums that I think are total shit, such as Journey's last studio album.
I think it's the overkill and overhype of Erik that i'm fed up with, because I never thought he was that good in the first place. If he wrote songs based on his own experiences, then maybe i'd get the feel for them. But he's like a 20-something year old Swede writing songs about dreaming, believing, feeling the fire, playing the game, hanging out on the boulevard on hot summers night's back '89, whoooaoooa, all that kinda shit... and it's all just typical AOR cliche's from his big book of 80's AOR songwriting cliche's, rather than something real, relatable or believable.
Musically, sure sound like it's 1985, but lyrically, I want a bit more depth.
Niv]]> nivjourney NoticeboardMon, 31 Dec 2012 05:17:44 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925013#msg-925013 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925013#msg-925013
"Dad, why didn't Journey get him to sing for them ?"

I can anticipate some of the answers the MR crowd might return on this, but I for one would have enjoyed that happening

Niv- 99% of the time I'd agree with you, but Eric's done such a superb job, I can't help but sit back and enjoy the hell out of it]]> Chazz NoticeboardMon, 31 Dec 2012 05:10:25 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925012#msg-925012 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925012#msg-925012 Terry K. NoticeboardMon, 31 Dec 2012 04:35:23 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925010#msg-925010 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925010#msg-925010The last album he wrote, a very good Americana-rock sounding album, that Andrew somehow mistook for "Country", was not lapped up by fans here.
His new album is written by a guy who tries too hard to make everything sound like it was written in America in 1985, but just ends up sounding cliche'd, because it was actually written by a Swedish kid in 2012.
I'm sorry but you can't convince me otherwise, because that's all I hear.
If you want an album that sounds like it was written in 1985, go and dig out some of the many unreleased demo's from that era and have someone record them. If you want an artist to sound like themself in 2012, have them write their album in 2012, or at the very least collaborate on it.
W.E.T is so far about the only thing I can really listen to by Erik... and even then, i'm not the humongous fan of it that so many here seem to be.
Don't like Eclipse, don't like Hicks, not interested in The Friday Night's and really couldn't stand Toby Hitchcock or Jimi Jamison's new albums. Pretty much all for the same reason. It's trying to sound like something it's not. It feels too false.
Niv]]> nivjourney NoticeboardMon, 31 Dec 2012 04:13:57 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925006#msg-925006 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925006#msg-925006 Terry K. NoticeboardMon, 31 Dec 2012 02:24:12 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925003#msg-925003 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,925003#msg-925003Niv]]> nivjourney NoticeboardMon, 31 Dec 2012 01:49:21 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,924993#msg-924993 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,924993#msg-924993 Snake65 NoticeboardSun, 30 Dec 2012 23:22:03 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,924978#msg-924978 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,924978#msg-924978 Ydde NoticeboardSun, 30 Dec 2012 13:40:16 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,924969#msg-924969 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,924969#msg-924969 Andrew NoticeboardSun, 30 Dec 2012 09:56:25 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,924956#msg-924956 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,924956#msg-924956Never Too Late was such a pleasant surprise for me after reading some of the tepid-to-negative reviews here and not hearing any clips that jumped out at me. However, I really enjoyed my first full listen of the album and I have played it many times since, during which it has only gotten even better. I agree with Chazz that there are some moments that are reminiscent of previous works, but each song is definitely its own composition. Since I'm not very familiar with Eclipse or Erik Martensson, I didn't really have a bias one way or the other regarding his involvement. I like the album a lot, so I would say that it was a good collaboration. Honestly, I might like Never Too Late even more than Crossroads Moment.]]> Deuce NoticeboardSun, 30 Dec 2012 07:01:48 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,924953#msg-924953 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,924953#msg-924953
Sure, it's absolutey nothing new or groundbreaking about it and we've heard it all before....but I love it.


// Figge]]> Figge NoticeboardSun, 30 Dec 2012 06:59:15 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,924949#msg-924949 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,924949#msg-924949Jimi sounded exactly like I expected (feared) when it was announced his new album was an Erik Martesson project. Possibly my least favourite over-used writer that Frontiers seem to feel they have hit paydirt with.
Pride Of Lions are a band i've always enjoyed, and although i had been finding Jim Peterik's writing incredibly cheesey and schmultzy of late, I still held out hope. Then the lead single of Delusional was released. What an utter turd of a song that was.
Of the 2, I find myself listening to Pride Of Lions more, because I ripped every song bar Delusional to my iTunes, and there are some pretty good songs on there. Tie Down The Wind is excellent for example. Now if only Jim could write more songs like that, and never write songs like Delusional or When Rock Was King or That's Why God Made The Radio ever again, he'd be back on top form!
I hope that Jimi goes back to working with Tommy Denander, Jim Peterik, Fred Zahl, etc, and comes up with a solo album that really is a solo album for his next album. His voice is still so good, compared to alot of his contemporaries (Steve Perry, Lou Gramm, Bobby Kimball, etc), it would be nice to hear it making a great album of his own (like One Man's Trash, where he co-wrote every song) rather than singing on a Pride Of Lions sounding kind of album like Crossroads Moment or a European Survivor pastiche like Never Too Late.
Actually to contradict my last statement, I'd really love to hear Jimi do a covers album of classic British AOR, a bit like they did with the last Issa covering obscure AOR.
I'd love to hear Jimi singing some Walk On Fire, Strangeways, FM and finally hear those Atlantic covers recorded by Jimi properly, among others...
But still, a proper solo album in the future too!
Niv]]> nivjourney NoticeboardSun, 30 Dec 2012 05:31:18 +1100 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,924947#msg-924947 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,924947,924947#msg-924947
And thank God for that !!

A cynical study has been made of Jimi's 1980s lyrics, phrasing & dynamics, even the plodding drums of Survivor have been recreated. There's probably a case that could be answered in court, but I still love every damn note on the album.

Jimi was the mid-late 80s voice of Survivor and he's missed having songs like those to sing ever since. Pride of Lions must have been chomping on some pretty sour tasting antelopes these last 2 months.]]> Chazz NoticeboardSun, 30 Dec 2012 05:12:43 +1100