Jean Beauvoir, best known as the blond haired Mohawked original member of the Plasmatic's, as well as his band Voodoo X and co-writer of songs with KISS, John Waite and Lionel Ritchie, Beauvoir's band Crown of Thorns latest CD, Faith (Lost Cathedral Records) is a solid Classic Rock release. 14 tracks including 3 bonus songs, Faith was written, produced and arranged by Jean Beauvoir.
Crown of Thorns features the vocal styling's of Jean Beauvoir, Michael Paige on Bass, Guitarist Tommy Lafferty and David "Hawk" Lopez on Drums and this line up delivers a slick sounding Rock record that you don't hear much of anymore. Beauvoir's vocals are the real focal point here and I was surprised at how good they really were! Imagine Lenny Kravitz with the timber of a bit of not so raspy Terrence Trent D'Arby. Clean, powerful and searing, Beauvoir's vocals are a surprise for sure. Crown of Thorns songs range from the rockers like "Faith" and "All In My Head" to mid paced or soft ballad styled songs like, "The One" and "All or Nothing". "Faith" is more of a Melodic Rock CD with a definite lighter AOR feel.
Jean Beauvoir is an eclectic soul and his musical journey has been a long and winding one. Crown of Thorns have not found much of a home here in the US over their career and they are looking to change this, but you have to ask yourself if doing a cover of "Born To Be Wild" was a wise choice! Crown of Thorns will probably find fans of bands like Journey and Bon Jovi or other middle of the road type of bands of this genre. This band has not lit the world on fire with Faith, but it is a CD that you can easily listen to more than once. However, I wonder how much of an audience there really is for this type of AOR in 2009, especially here in the horrible musical climate of the USA.
Track Listing
1. Faith
2. All Or Nothing
3. Living In The Shadows
4. The One
5. Rock Ready
6. Believe Me
7. Nobody
8. Stay With Me
9. All I Wanna Do
10. Home Again
11. All Or Nothing
12. Born To Be Wild
13. Motorcycle Loretta
14. The Healer