Charming Grace: Charming Grace

Who or what, you may ask are Charming Grace? They are one of those dreaded, "projects," and in this case the USP is that they wish to, "songs in the classic style of the 80s and record them as duets." Whilst I'm not overly confident that all the songs needed to be duets the 1980s vibe is very well attained. In fact, your love of 80s AOR will probably determine whether or not you are remotely interested in this one.

The core members of the band are Davide "Dave Rox" Barbieri: vocals & keyboard Pierpaolo "Zorro11" Monti: drums & percussion with Amos Monti: bass. They've surrounded themselves with plenty of talent from the genre's gene pool such as three members of up and coming UK act Vega, Myland's Franco Campanella, the ubiquitous Alessandro Del Vecchio and Peter Friestedt among many others.

For good or for evil, the key word in relation to Charming Grace is pleasant. It's very much the kind of music that you can take home and not annoy the family. It's slap bang in the middle of the road as demonstrated by the European bonus cover of Belinda Carlisle's "Leave A Light On" which is highly inoffensive. The album is virtually indistinguishable from so many others out there right now in the melodic rock genre despite the duet conceit. I like the album but the chances of widespread acclaim and sales are scant.

Track Listing:
1) Everytime You Touch My Heart - Duet with Nick Workman (Vega) 6:31
2) The Way You Feel InsideDuet with Moon Calhoun (Michael Thompson Band) 4:26
3) Shining Light - Duet with David Forbes (Boulevard) 6:13
4) Just Take My Hand - Duet with Gui Oliver (Auras) 3:43
5) Close Your Eyes - Duet with Michele Luppi (Los Angeles, Secret Sphere) 5:22
6) Still Dreamin' - Duet with Thomas Lassar (Crystal Blue) 5:53
7) The Sound Of Your Heart Duet with Alessandro Del Vecchio (Edge Of Forever) 5:01
8) Everybody's Broken - Duet with Josh Zighetti (Hungryheart) 4:16
9) The Answer Was You - Duet with Bente Smaavik (Perfect Crime, Blonde On Blonde) 6:13
10) Run Away - Duet with Jesse Galante 3:20
11) Through The Stars - Duet with Stefano Lionetti (Lionville) 4:26
12) Endless Flame - Duet with Henrik Launbjerg (Toys Of Joy) 4:54
13) Bring My Life Back - Duet with Kimmo Blom (Urban Tale) 5:05
14) Leave A Light On (Bonus track) - Duet with Aurë 4:34

Added: April 4th 2013
Reviewer: Simon Bray
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 2203
Language: english

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