AFTER HOURS

After Hours are a UK AOR band who had a reasonable amount of success in the late ‘80s with the release of the album ‘Take Off’, culminating in a sponsorship deal with Adidas! Perhaps the initial success came too quickly because the band disintegrated during the recording on their second album. Fast forward to 2008 and a chance meeting between founder members of the band, John Francis (vocals), bassist Martin Walls and guitarist Tim Payne, led to an agreement to record an album for ‘old times sake’. The line up is completed by drummer Chris Pope and Sean McMenemy on keys and guitar. The album begins with ‘Stand Up’ which is an up tempo number that showcases Francis’ Steve Perryesque vocals well. ‘Turn on Your Radio follows and is a very catchy and commercial track which would make an excellent single. The third song, ‘Eleventh Hour’, shows a change of approach with a slower pace and a slight ‘native American’ feel. The title track features an acoustic intro before returning to the format of the opening couple of tracks. The remainder of the tracks on this release are equally split between up tempo commercial songs and slower paced, more balladic efforts. The exception to this is the final track, which is an acoustic reworking of the earlier mentioned ‘Eleventh Hour’. In summary, this is a solid release with a nice mix of up tempo and slower tracks, all with a commercial edge. The performances of all band members are first rate and the production brings out the strengths of each song. There is nothing particularly original on offer here but it’s a very listenable album with a healthy dose of catchy and commercially astute tracks. If you were to purchase this album I don’t think you would be disappointed.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

AOR Heaven

Album

AGAINST THE GRAIN

Review by Dave Uphill

RUNNING TIME:

46:16

RELEASE DATE:

2nd May 2011

TRACK LISTING

1) Stand Up
2) Turn On Your Radio
3) Eleventh Hour
4) Against The Grain
5) Angel
6) When You're Around
7) Hold On
8) Let It Go
9) I Want Yesterday
10) I Need Your Love
11) Eleventh Hour (Acoustic)

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

UK

"...a solid release with a nice mix of up tempo and slower tracks, all with a commercial edge."