SILVER: Gold

Cover	Release	Style
	2005-09-26	Melodic hard rock
	Label
	MTM
	Website
	www.barflymusic.de
	Contact
	-
	Playing Time	Cat. N°
	48:21	0681-142
	Review by	Rating
	Edwin	8,5/10
nederlands	Review
After his massive success with MSG and a short period with his own band Statetrooper, singer Gary Barden left the world of music and got himself a ‘proper’ job. He returned to the fold in 1995 for Praying Mantis’ “To The Power Of Ten” and “Captured Alive” albums. After a brief stint with Company Of Snakes, he joined forces with Casanova’s Michael Voss, Bernie Tormé (ex-Gillan), and Don Airey for a surprisingly good album under the Silver banner. They had quite a lot of success, mainly in Germany and Japan, which was enough to certify the band of a future. They’ve managed to churn out a cd every year since; “Gold” is already their 5^th release. And it’s a good one. I haven’t followed the band since their first two albums (which I liked very much), so it’s nice to find the band in excellent form again. Nowadays, Silver is essentially just Barden and Voss. It’s especially Don Airey’s input that is sorely missed. There are nice keyboard fills here and there, but apart from that they sound a bit flat and simple, quite different from the omnipresent Airey-sound. It’s hard to compare Silver with any other bands. They definitely have a sound of their own, which certainly speaks for the band in a time when so many albums sound alike. The opener, “Creep”, is described by Voss as ‘a wonderful chunky opener with the feel of the eighties hero Billy Idol’, and that is about what you can expect from this excellent aggressive track. Michaela Scober is credited with backing vocals, but she does a fair amount of lead work as well, as is evident in “All That I Wanted”, a change of pace, with even a slightly ambient, ethereal feel. A Spanish touch is evident in “Wouldn’t You Agree”. “Joshua” is my favourite of the album - a mysterious song, with an irresistible melody and excellent performances from Barden and guest guitarist Tommy Denander. “Daydream Believer” is also one of the highlights. “Setting It Up”, “Golden Days” and “Easy” have a definite 80’s pop touch, but this is to be understood only in the most positive sense. The cover of David Bowie’s “China Girl” fits right into that concept, although it is a bit superfluous. Not that it’s bad, but if you take on Bowie, you’d better do something special with it. And this is not really the case here. The slightly gothic touch in some of the songs, like “Joshua” and the wonderful “Save Me”, can probably be explained by the presence of ex-Sister Of Mercy Andi Broon, who wrote all songs (except for “China Girl”, of course) and plays keyboards. He is joined by that other ex- Sister Mike Bar, who provides a lot of the atmosphere with his ‘sequencing, programming & special Fx’. This is a fine album, and if you like your melodic rock with a twist, you could definitely do a lot worse than buying this. The release of this album not only celebrates Gary Barden’s 50^th birthday, but also the 10^th anniversary of the record label MTM. I distinctly remember the start of this company, which specializes in melodic rock and aor. They were destined to fail with their daring choice of this completely out-of-fashion music style. Yet they’re still here, stronger than ever and still releasing class material. It’s only fair to pay tribute to that achievement.
Musicians
Gary Barden: Vocals Michael Voss: Guitars, Bass, Backing Vocals Tommy Denander: Guitars on 'All That I Wanted', 'Joshua', 'Daydream Believers' Mike Bar: Sequencing, Programming Andi Broon: Keyboards Michaele Scober: Backing vocals
Tracklist
1. Creep 2. All That I Wanted 3. Wouldn’t You Agree 4. Joshua 5. Golden Days 6. Setting It Up 7. China Girl 8. Save Me 9. Easy 10. Daydream Believers
Discography
Silver (2001) Dream Machines (2002) Intruder (2003) Addiction (2004) Gold (2005)


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