Illusion is a four piece, 80s arena rock inspired, group hailing from Detroit. Their sound is somewhere between 80s Kiss and Deep Purple. Sleight Of Hand is a straight ahead rock CD that contains some interesting tracks, highlighted by the opener "Honor Among Thieves" and "Burning Bridges".
The songwriting is not stellar, relying on too many of rock's clichés. The drumming is creative and at times the guitar work stands out, but overall the CD is average riffs with average vocals. Doug Tucker handles most of the lead vocals, although all members contribute vox to the CD. You can almost see the sneer on Tucker's face as he sings. It's an emotional delivery, but doesn't quite pull it off. The instrumental sections of the songs "Silent Valor" and "Broken" work so much better than the verse/chorus.
Overall, this is an average release that will appeal to people who have seen the band live. Illusion shows signs of talent, and probably put on an awesome live show, but their songwriting simply is lacking the hook that really draws you in or the creativeness to make you feel like you haven't heard all this many times before. Sleight Of Hand is recommended to fans of 80s Hard Rock.
Track Listing
1. Honor Among Thieves 5:06
2. Silent Valor 4:33
3. Insomnia 3:16
4. The Lake 5:21
5. Burning Bridges 3:25 (Full Circle, Chapter 4)
6. Caravan To Midnight 1:13
7. Damnesia 4:23
8. Will O The Wisp 5:02
9. Down Here 2:10
10. Broken 4:41
11. Kayleen 5:08
12. The Hidden 6:55
13. Dead Scientist 4:17
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