GLORYDAZE Music - Articles: Taras Secret

ARTIST: Taras Secret
ALBUM: Vertigo
LABEL: Black Cat Music
YEAR: 2009

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

LINEUP: Johnny Trowbridge - vocals * Craig Chapman - guitars, keyboards, vocals * Richard Beardsley - guitars, vocals * Dave Deaville - bass, piano, backing vocals * John 'JT' Thomas - drums, percussion, vocals

TRACK LISTING: 01 Rock N Roll Beauty Queen * 02 She's My Baby * 03 Natural High (Rain Of Love) * 04 The Last 2 Know (with Sue Willets) * 05 Promises * 06 Vertigo * 07 One More Chance * 08 My Reward * 09 Shake What Your Mama Gave Ya (with Adrian Marx) * 10 Homeland * 11 GTBR (Got To Be Right) * 12 Wildest Dreams

RATING:

WEBLINKS: www.taras-secret.com

Background
A couple of years back, we took a swill at Tara's Secret 2006 album 'Tomorrow The World', released independently. It was their second album, following 2004's 'Spectrum Wheel', and landed the band right in the middle of AOR territory. The boys have been bought up on a diet of the 80's scene, no names need mentioning, we all know who they are. As Alun mentioned in his review of 'Tomorrow The World', this lot should be easily found down at the local pub following their fave football team, and seeing as their from the British Midlands, they've got plenty to choose from (we'll leave Coventry City off that list shall we?). Proving that middle age is only a 'term', Tara's Secret confirm that there is musical life and aspiration after marriage and raising kids.. if you've still got the drive and ambition, anything is possible. And so it is with 'Vertigo', with two new members since 2006's release; Dave Deaville on bass and John 'JT' Thomas on drums. Produced at Wolverhampton's Mad Hat Studios (owned by Magnum's Tony Clarkin), Tara's Secret sound bigger and flasher than ever before.

The Songs
New drummer John Thomas stomps his way through the lead-off track 'Rock N Roll Beauty Queen', the song contains some great guitar lines, and you can even follow the lyrics of this RnR story. 'She's My Baby' is a typical lovers possession played out over a hot rockin' beat, it's followed by the very Bon Jovi sounding 'Natural High' - circa their 'Fahrenheit 451' era. The first ballad 'The Last 2 Know' features Dante Fox singer Sue Willets. I'm not really keen on ballads on rock albums such as this, as it usually exposes various shortcomings. Taras Secret wouldn't be the first band and they certainly won't be the last. 'Promises' is much better, capturing a sound that is reminiscent of American indie melodic rockers such as Kamera, Loud N Clear etc. The title track 'Vertigo' has a guitar sound similar to what Jake E Lee was doing with Ozzy Osbourne circa 'The Ultimate Sin' era, though the song is not as heavy as Ozzy's stuff. Piano and vocal are the basic elements on 'One More Chance', and though executed well, it's not the sort of thing I prefer to listen to. Hair metal fans will take to 'My Reward' with gusto! A riff-feast that reinvents a ton of 80's bands. One of my favorite tracks on the album. 'Shake What Your Mama Gave Ya', with Adrian Marx on co lead vocals, sounds like an 80's Quiet Riot number. The improvised feel of this, with Marx and Trowbridge sharing the lead, could translate to the live stage with good effect! Initially, 'Homeland' has all the attributes of an Outfield song, and it moves along in a summer direction/flavour, bright and breezy. 'GTBR' announces itself with some rough and ready guitarwork, the other guitar belting out some wah-wah flavored lines. This one sounds as if it could live quite happily in the fuzzrock of the early 70's. By the way, GTBR means 'Got To Be Right'.. not Great Britain, just in case you were wondering. The album finishes with the super uptempo rock of 'Wildest Dreams', it pumps along crisply, no doubt a live favorite in months to come.

In Summary
Musically, you can see that Taras Secret are wide and varied in terms of their song choices and reference points. It's unmistakably an 80's era album, with little of resemblance to anything current or trendy. To my mind, these guys represent the best of the indie scene in the UK at the moment, and now with three albums out on the street, they really shouldn't remain a secret anymore!

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