Lost Weekend: Evermore

Lost Weekend are a band who have been kicking around the UK AOR and Melodic Rock scene for getting on for twenty years now, without ever really making that coveted breakthrough. However that hasn't stopped them being one of the most consistent over that time, releasing between 1997 and 2008 five albums of consummate Melodic Rock, with a hint of pomp and a touch of AOR. A brush with the edges of the big-time arrived in 2006 when the main body of the band performed live and then wrote the Spirit Of Man album for Magnum frontman Bob Catley. However even with their own excellent Forever Moving On also seeing the light of day that year, the breakthrough never appeared. 2011 saw the band officially announce that they were packing it in, but with a deep love of the music they'd created over the years, this was one disbanding that was only ever destined to be temporary. With their comeback album Evermore being as good as, if not better than anything they've put out previously, thank goodness it has proved so.

So with vocalist Paul Uttley, guitarists David Thompson and Paul Surrell, bassist Robin Pritchard and drummer Jim Himsworth reunited with keyboard player Irving Parratt who had left the band in 2006, Lost Weekend are back up to full strength. Something never in any doubt right from the surging, atmospheric opening to "Reach For The Sky". Immediately it is apparent that this is a band reinvigorated and ready to prove any of the doubters wrong, with interlocking guitar work and keyboard layers creating a mix of enticing and exciting hooks and motifs. Uttley is a fine singer, landing unusually somewhere between the croon of the aforementioned Catley and the late Stuart Adamson (Big Country), lending the songs a commercial mix of pulsating rock and melodic highlights. Most of the songs reach into the late five minute to seven minute mark, however none of them ever feel like they over stay their welcome, with catchy choruses peppered with energetic instrumental sections and breakdowns, allowing the songs a strong sense of diversity.

It is easy to see why Mr. Catley was so taken with Lost Weekend, with the likes of "Love Will Find You" bouncing along in a manner that would fit perfectly in his solo work, while "Perfect Day" has the sort of muted staccato riff and keyboard background that Magnum have always thrived on. However this isn't an album simply copying others, with "Living For Tomorrow" adding a more upbeat, almost jaunty aspect and then combining it with a far more intricate verse, while "Evermore" verges into commercial pop-rock territory. Add to that scintillating guitar work outs and a rhythm section that locks everything into place and Lost Weekend have the perfect vehicle to make this comeback long lasting and fruitful. Here's hoping it lasts for-Evermore!

Track Listing
1. Reach For The Sky
2. Love Will Find You
3. Be Who You Wanna Be
4. Got To Make It Through
5. Angel Sublime
6. Perfect Day
7. The Real World
8. Living For Tomorrow
9. Falling By The Wayside
10. Do You Remember
11. Evermore
12. Ain't No Friend Of Mine

Added: June 28th 2013
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: AOR Heaven
Hits: 2849
Language: english

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