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ALBUM
REVIEWS
RAY
WILSON |
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ALBUM
RATING SYSTEM |
***** |
An
excellent album. Strong effort from beginning to end! A must own! |
**** |
A
very good album. A few low points but, overall, a decent effort.
Recommended. |
*** |
A
good album. Several weak points detract from the album, but it's still
worth owning. |
** |
A
mediocre album. Unless you're a real fan, you might not like this album
very much. |
* |
A
poor album. Stay away from this one unless you are a hardcore fan! |
Ray
Wilson - Unplugged (a.k.a. Live And Acoustic) (2002) |
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WOG
RATING: ***
Despite the near impossible task of following up a charismatic,
ultra-successful front man like Phil Collins, Ray Wilson never attempted
to sound like his predecessors in Genesis. Much to his credit, his voice
stood on its own, and while his deep, refined yet raspy vocal quality may
have been compared by some to that of Peter Gabriel, Ray was clearly a
talented singer in his own right. Perhaps more than on any other album, Unplugged
exemplifies this. Wilson's vocals take center stage on this stripped down,
intimately simplistic recording from Edinburgh International Festival in
2001. Backed only by his own
guitar, his brother Steve on backing vocals and guitar and Amanda Lyon on
backing vocals and, occasionally, keyboards, Wilson provides both a
passionate homage to past influences and a thoughtful nod to his own
history not only in Genesis, but his own work with Cut, Stiltskin and
Guaranteed Pure. |
Ray and company pull off a full repertoire of fantastic acoustic versions
of some great material. Even songs that you wouldn't think would lend
themselves to an acoustic environment, like Genesis' "Mama," come off
surprisingly well. Among the cover tunes, I thought that Ray's version of
Phil Collins' "In The Air Tonight" and The Eagles' "Desperado" were among
the highlights. More than anywhere else, Ray showcases his ability to
balance soulful vocals with a powerful rock presence that can make even
the most skeptical listener a fan. Unlike many live albums, Ray's
comments, flubs, and banter are left seemingly intact, which is a
refreshing change from the over-produced, overdubbed stuff that most
artists release that barely sounds like a live recording. There are a few
scattered moments that didn't work very well in my opinion, but the
overall performance is outstanding, and I enjoyed the disc from beginning
to end.
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Armin
VanBuuren Featuring Ray
Wilson - "Yet Another Day" (CD EP) |
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WOG
RATING: **
Based upon the Wilson penned tune "Another Day", originally
performed by his former band Cut, Ray teamed up with DJ Armin VanBuuren to
recreate the track into a dance hit. The rave style remix features new
vocals by Ray and, if you're into that sound, the song definitely sounds
like it could get some heavy rotation out on the club scene. Sadly,
the beat of "Yet Another Day" does sound great deal like many
other club songs, so I don't know how much the tune will stand out amongst
the competition.
I give credit to Wilson for
his willingness to explore new areas, musically speaking. If you're
into the club scene and a Wilson fan, you'll love this new version. If
your club days are behind you, you might find this single to be hard to
get through. The single has several mixes and can be purchased on the
official
Armin Van Buuren website.
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Ray
Wilson - Change (2003) |
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WOG
RATING: ***
When I first heard Change, my initial reaction was disappointment.
I was hoping for more of a hard, edgy rock album in the vein of former
Wilson projects with Stiltskin or Cut. The album did grow on me, however,
and quickly. Change is a strong acoustic-laden pop record that
suits Wilson's raspy yet powerful voice. Of the thirteen tracks that
make up the album (note: the 'special edition' version has an extra
three cuts - but we will discuss them later), only a couple of tracks were
a little below par.
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Without question, the
strongest song on the release is "Goodbye Baby Blue," a
beautiful tune that has more marketable commercial appeal than anything on
Phil Collins' Testify or Peter Gabriel's Up albums combined.
In fact, the first five tracks on Change are among the best the
album has to offer. The numbers on the disc blend together with a natural fluidity
that makes the whole CD seem to end in no time. The only real exception to
that are the bonus cuts added to the European 'special edition.' The
transition from the mellow mood of "The Last Horizon" to the
loud and hard rock tune "Gouranga" is a rough transition and
really shows that the tune is not intended for the release at all. Over
all, the album was excellent, and one of the best Genesis related projects
I've heard in quite some time. I still hope for that hard rock Ray Wilson
album, but, in the meantime, as they say, 'Change is good.'
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Ray
Wilson - The Next Best Thing (2004) |
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WOG
RATING: ****
The Next Best Thing successfully fuses Wilson's melodic, acoustic
side which was showcased prominently on his last album, Change,
with the harder, more aggressive influences of Stiltskin and Cut. The end
result is a outstanding sophomore studio outing with a fair mix of rousing
rockers like the modernized remake of Stiltskin's "Inside",
"The Fool In Me" and "Pumpkinhead"; some excellent
ballads like "Sometimes", "Ever The Reason" and
"Alone" and several mid-tempo cuts like "How High." The album does have a few
weak tracks, including the politically/socially charged anthem "These
Are The Changes," which was strangely chosen as the first single and
the opening track for the album. Wilson is clearly starting to establish
his own unique voice as a songwriter with this album, and while the album
is not overly commercial (not necessarily a bad thing), its his best work
as a whole to date. The production on this album is also far superior to
anything Wilson has ever released before.
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Ray
Wilson - An Audience And Ray Wilson (2006) |
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WOG
RATING: ****
An Audience And Ray Wilson is an acoustic live album, very similar
in many respects to his Live and Acoustic record. This time out,
however, the recording is just Wilson and his guitar with no accompaniment
whatsoever. Initially, to be quite honest, I was a little skeptical
for the need for this album. After all, eight of the 15 tracks appeared on
Live and Acoustic. How different could they be, right? Well
surprisingly, the interesting thing that you come to realize when you
listen to An Audience is how far Wilson has come as a performer and
musician from that first acoustic album in 2001 to this CD which was
recorded in Warsaw, Poland, in 2003, just two years later.
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The album is very much like
VH-1's popular program Storytellers, where Wilson shares stories
about his music and some cover tunes that inspired him followed by the
acoustic rendition of each song. One of the qualities I like most about
Wilson's live projects is that they have moments of imperfection. These
sound like true live recordings and have all of the warmth and occasional
warts of a real live show. They are not over-dubbed sounding chopped up
live tapes with fake audience cheers thrown in for good measure. This
comes across as an unblemished, undoctored live recording, which is very
refreshing in this day and age. Most artists will not issue a 'imperfect' live album because they either don't sound as good live as they do in the
studio or because the audience just isn't that into the music. Neither is
the case here for Wilson, who comes off brilliantly. If you have not
already purchased the older acoustic album, my suggestion would be to pass
on it and buy this one. If you are hungry for more acoustic Wilson after
that, it might make a worthy second helping, but truly pales in comparison
to An Audience and Ray Wilson.
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OTHER PROJECTS FEATURING RAY WILSON:
Stiltskin
- She (2006) |
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WOG
RATING: ****
As much as I enjoyed Wilson's first two studio solo albums this is,
without question, the album I have been waiting for since I heard the
first Stiltskin record, The Mind's Eye, or at the very least since
the Cut album, Millionairhead. While Cut had moments of the kind of
hard rock prowess that Wilson's powerful voice is ideal for, She
offers up a much heavier album very much in the vein of first
Stiltskin disc. This time out, however, there appears to be far more
mature, introspective songwriting than we heard on The Mind's Eye. Stiltskin
now features Wilson, the band's original singer, and Irvin Duguid, the
band's keyboardist, with an otherwise new ensemble including
ex-Genesis/Cut drummer Nir Z. Most obviously absent is co-founding
guitarist/songwriter Peter Lawlor, which explains why She reflects
very heavily on Wilson's own inwardly insightful style of songwriting as
demonstrated on albums like Change and The Next Best Thing.
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The harder tracks showcased
on She are
balanced well with songs like the first single, "Lemon Yellow Sun," which is
the kind of song that is commercial enough to get radio play in today's
modern rock music scene (at least in North America) yet melodic enough to
entice listeners who don't embrace typical 'popular' music. Yes, it's true, a song
by a former card-carrying member of Genesis that could actually be a
viable candidate for heavy radio play on rock radio! Other tracks like "Constantly
Reminded" and "Sick and Tired" have almost equal commercial
potential. In short, this is hands down the best album Wilson has done to
date. I recommend it highly.
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Stiltskin
- Live (2007) |
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WOG
RATING: ****
Recorded at Bonn Harmonie in Germany on October 25, 2006 on the She
European Tour, this Stiltskin live album documents the surprising
reformation of Wilson's popular pre-Genesis rock band to the European
concert scene. Albeit perhaps in name alone, since Wilson is the only
original returning member of the group on this particular recording,
Stiltskin again appears to be in top form. As I have already documented on
this site, the She album was an incredibly good disc, and since this
live record is largely composed of tracks from that project combined with a
scattering of tunes from Stiltskin's debut, The Mind's Eye, and plus
a couple of the best songs from Wilson's Cut Millionairhead project,
it goes without saying that the set list featured here is first rate.
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Much like
Ray Wilson Live, the quality of the recording is exceptional and the
performance on the night of this particular show was nearly flawless as
the band tightly ripped through track after rockin' track. Highlights on
this recording include a kick ass version of "Sarah" which is certainly
the best rendition I have ever heard, plus fantastic live versions of
"Footsteps" and "Inside." The songs performed from the She album
are fairly faithful to original studio versions, however, I think "Lemon
Yellow Sun" would have come off better acoustically rather than in an
electrical setting. Overall, Stiltskin's Live album is another
decent offering from Ray Wilson and company.
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Ray Wilson
- Propaganda Man (2008) |
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WOG
RATING: ***
Ray's music often has a slightly darker edge at times but, despite a
seeming bit of optimism at the end of the album, Propaganda Man
unquestionably comes across as one of Wilson's darkest albums to date - if
not the darkest. On Propaganda Man, Wilson leaves the heavier rock of
the newly revamped Stiltskin largely behind him for the more acoustic sound
of some of his earlier solo music meshed thoughtfully with a little electric
guitar peppered in to the mix for good measure and powerful affect. The
project has some very good material spread over the album's 11-tracks, but
in my opinion it just doesn't stand out to me quite as much his other solo
efforts, The Next Best Thing and Change, as a whole. The
stand-out tracks include: "Things Don't Stop", "Lately", and "Razorlite,"
the last of which being my favorite from the album.
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The
production value, like that of Stiltskin's She, is first-rate and
really stands out. The production quality of Ray's albums has radically
improved since his solo debut and its extremely evident here. Ray's voice
comes across brilliantly in the acoustic setting, and his raspy yet
delicate vocals showcased perfectly here, but Propaganda Man is not
my favorite of his solo efforts. The album has an undeniable ability to
start to grow on you after several spins in your CD player, but it fails
to resonate with me as well as some of his other solo projects have done
in the recent past.
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