SERPENTINE

‘A Touch Of Heaven’ is the debut album from UK band Serpentine who include former Shy and TNT vocalist Tony Mills in their line-up. The album is instantly likeable quality soft/melodic rock full of strong melodies and memorable choruses with a sound that reminds me of classic Journey, Crown of Thorns, the more commercial side of Uriah Heep and, unsurprisingly, Shy at their best. The title track and follow-up ‘Whatever Heartache’ provide the album with a strong start. Later tracks ‘Let My Love Rain Down’, ‘In My Blood’, ‘Fashion’ and ‘Love Suicide’ retain the up tempo feel and are in a very similar vein. The slower tracks ensure that the high standard of songwriting is maintained; particularly excellent is the power ballad ‘Lonely Nights’ and the Journey-esque ‘We Belong’. The album closes with an awesome version of Toni Braxton's excellent soul classic ‘Unbreak My Heart’. This is a perfect cover, with the band stamping their own sound on the track but retaining the identity and beauty of the original. This proves to be a stunning finish to a consistently enjoyable album. There is a certain lack of variety on ‘A Touch Of Heaven’, but this did not prove to be the weakness evident on other albums I have reviewed. The overall musicianship is very strong with Mills impressing and sounding much more at ease than with his previous band TNT and their very disappointing 2008 release ‘Atlantis’. The well produced and performed debut from Serpentine is an absolute must for any fans of this genre.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

AOR Heaven

Album

A TOUCH OF HEAVEN

Review by Dave Crewe

RUNNING TIME:

48:44

RELEASE DATE:

29th March 2010

TRACK LISTING

1) A Touch of Heaven
2) Whatever Heartache
3) Lonely Nights
4) For The Love of It All
5) Let Love Rain Down
6) In My Blood
7) Fashion
8) We Belong
9) Love Suicide
10) Unbreak My Heart

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

UK

"The overall musicianship is very strong with Mills impressing and sounding much more at ease than with his previous band TNT..."