Fly To The Sun: Fly To The Sun

The main man behind Fly To The Sun is, rather unhelpfully, called Ray… however, a little digging reveals that the gentleman in question is Ray Roehner, a chap who has written a book on reptile care, worked for a team in the NFL and collected together what has to be said is an impressive cast list around his vocals, flute playing and compositions on this self titled Fly To The Sun release. With guitarist Jennifer Batten (Jeff Beck, Michael Jackson), bassist Billy Sheehan (David Lee Roth, Mr. Big, The Winery Dogs), keyboard player and producer Andrew Giddings (Jethro Tull, The Animals), drummer Gregg Bissonette (Ringo Starr, ELO, David Lee Roth) and violinist Joe Deninzon (Kansas), the ‘band’ really is a-list. Add in that the the art was created by renowned prog-rock cover artist Ed Unitsky and it would appear that Ray ain’t mucking about.

Now, admittedly, the above cast list is reasonably eclectic, covering the worlds of prog, rock and maybe even in places pop, but even with that in mind I didn’t really expect the smooth, if technically astute, R&B meets lad back disco that emanates from most of the tracks presented here. Vocally Ray has a deep resonant tone that almost takes you into places that a less authoritative Barry White might have, had he fronted something decidedly more happy than he used to. In fact, happy, is the key word - or maybe ‘uplifting’. Positivity is the main aim I guess, with big melodies, sing along choruses and a production that's decidedly bright and cheerful. In truth too much so, the flute melody that runs through “Colorado You� taking me back to the kind of music that used to accompany the test card on 70s UK TV, so unrelentingly happy is it. It’s a feature throughout and in truth you can’t help but look at the people involved on this album and feel that it’s a bit of a wasted opportunity. There’s no denying that Fly To The Sun is well intentioned but at the risk of being unkind, what it lacks is good songs.

Track Listing
1. Soaring With Angels
2. You’re Free As A Bird
3. Learn To Love Again
4. Fly To The Sun
5. Colorado You
6. Call Me
7. Taj Mahal
8. Please Save My Heart Again

Added: January 19th 2024
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Fly To The Sun online
Hits: 295
Language: english

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