Well if it’s a return to West Coast styled music that you want, then look no further than Swedish band Crossfade.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Crossfade
ALBUM: White On Blue
LABEL: MTM Music, Eller Music
SERIAL: 085-59752, EM001
YEAR: 2004
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Sweden
LINEUP: Lars Hallback – guitars * Richard Stenstrom – keyboards * Goran Edman – vocals * Per Lindvall – drums * Sven Lindvall – bass * Pablo Cependa – percussion
TRACK LISTING: 01 The Day The Music Died * 02 Did You Really * 03 Vanity Fair * 04 Flying * 05 A Deeper Shade Of Love * 06 Thorns Of Life * 07 Loving Eyes * 08 Time * 09 Don’t Really Matter * 10 You
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
Well if it’s a return to West Coast styled music that you want, then look no further than Swedish band Crossfade. Put together by Lars Hallback and Richard Stenstrom, the project has good intentions but is severely let down by a lack of quality material. The project also features Goran Edman on vocals and the Lindvall brothers as the rhythm section.
The Crossfade project is meant to be a throwback to the classic days of West Coast, a la Steely Dan, Toto, Michael McDonald and Ambrosia. Admirable yes, but the end result is but a mere forethought as to the influence as opposed to the output.
The Songs
Don’t get me wrong. The musicianship is excellent, the general sound has all the right attributes and ingredients which make for a west coast cake. But the taste is bland, and here I am looking around wondering what it is that I’ve eaten. Too many sugar candy-coated offerings elsewhere in this genre leave me looking for something else to try.
Only a handful of tunes do it for me. The opener ‘The Day The Music Died’ is one of those, along with an upbeat and heavier offering in ‘You’. ‘Vanity Fair’ is ok too, but the teary-eyed ballad ‘A Deeper Shade Of Love’ could’ve wiped me out of a year’s supply of Kleenex.
In Summary
Not too sure if this Crossfade album is the be-all-end-all that many proclaim it to be. Too many songs wash over rather than embed in the brain. Saying that though, what we have here is good for what it is, but is not exceptional though.
Fans of Street Talk and perhaps Novak might find some worth here, but for me, it’s too limp even for a big-softie west coast fan as I have been over the years. I saw a fan review on Rock Report by the legendary and ever tactful AORPOMPY, and I agree wholeheartedly with him (for once) that this is a fairly weak record when all is said and done. Sorry boys.
Video
The Day The Music Died
You
