Room Experience is the project of Italian keyboardist Gianluca Firmo, ‘Another Time And Place’ certainly needs a few listening cycles to capture its musical finesse.
Written by: DEMONAOR.
ARTIST: Room Experience
ALBUM: Another Time And Place
LABEL: Art Of Melody
YEAR: 2020
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Italy
LINEUP:David Readman – lead and backing vocals * Gianluca Firmo – keyboards, backing vocals and lead vocals * Davide ‘Dave Rox’ Barbieri – keyboards, acoustic and electric piano, acoustic and rhythm guitars, backing vocals * Pierpaolo Monti – drums, percussion * Simon Dredo – bass * Steve De Biasi – guitars
Additional Musicians: Alessandro Del Vecchio – hammond * Sven Larsson, Ivan Gonzalez, Stefano Zeni, Matteo Serra, Lorenzo Foddai – guitar * Marcello Spera – backing vocals
TRACK LISTING: 01 Hear Another Song * 02 Wild Heart * 03 Disappointed * 04 Strangers In The Night * 05 The Distance * 06 Shout * 07 Another Time And Place * 08 The Miles That Make A Road * 09 The Night Goes On * 10 A Thousand Lies * 11 Your Voice Inside * 12 The Distance (Lead Vocals: Gianluca Firmo – European Bonus Track)
RATING: 90/100
Background
The Room Experience is the brainchild of Italian keyboardist and composer Gianluca Firmo. The debut album reached the public in 2015, with a professional team of musicians led by the production duo, Davide ‘Dave Rox’ Barbieri and Pierpaolo ‘Zorro’ Monti. Led by vocalist David Readman (Pink Cream 69, ex-Voodoo Circle), the self-titled debut album received acclaim from fans and critics, reaching several specialized media charts and the best lists from around the world.
At the time I was writing for another blog and he ended up being on the list of best of the year too. When they announced that the second album would be released in May on their Facebook page, I contacted the label that provided early access to this highly anticipated material.
Since 2017 this same team decided to move the project forward, and with Simon Dredo (De Rosso, Laroxx) as their new bassist, they worked on the second album, ‘Another Time And Place’. The album also features a number of special guests from the most diverse hard rock groups around the world and has that melodic hard rock approach that was successful on their debut
The Songs
The rocking prelude ‘Hear Another Song’ was released as a single, there is also a video worth seeing. The following songs ‘Wild Heart’ and ‘Disappointed’ are incredible riff rockers, rooted in the 80’s with a modern flair. Then the pace is slowed down a bit and David Readman can show off his strengths perfectly.
The energetic ‘Shout’ is a superb, perky rocker, but perhaps the best song from The Room Experience is the excellent heavily layered AOR of the title track ‘Another Time And Place’. This not only features another fine performance from Readman (it really isn’t overstating things too much when I say I honestly haven’t heard him in better form over the full course of an album), but also finds guitarist Ivan Gonzalez in fret-burning form, as he is again on the following track ‘The Miles That Make A Road’ while ‘Your Voice Inside’ spreads a blues feeling.
The other tracks keep the level high; catchy but never boring choruses, high-quality vocals – solo or in choir, beautiful, memorable melodies, subtle keyboards, short but concise guitar solos, so that there is never a dull moment.
In Summary
‘Another Time And Place’ certainly needs a few listening cycles to capture its musical finesse, which says a lot about the quality of The Room Experience and this album.
Videos
Hear Another Song
Another Time And Place
Your Voice Inside
