Zadra: Guiding Star

Zadra, is a name that initially came to my attention through his work with Styx legend Dennis DeYoung, but I’m unfamiliar with his work with Waiting for Monday who are another Frontiers signing, something that I aim to put right presently. With this album Frontiers have given Zadra his own project, albeit with the help of rock royalty, the aforementioned DeYoung and Jeff Scott Soto, alongside the omnipresent Frontiers impresario Alessandro Del Vecchio.

(August) Zadra is the main guitar player and vocalist and its obvious from the get go that he’s one talented individual. `Come Together` is a short prelude to the album, which gets under way proper with `Nothing More To Say`, it’s a pleasant enough number but I feel its lacking in making any real statement of intent, so it`s left up to `Ship of Fools` and `Come Back To Me`, the former a mid paced rocker that hits the melodic sweet spot and the latter a song with a cool groove to it.

After this enterprising opening the rest of the album does in all honesty only hit the heights on occasion but also unfortunately languishes somewhat due in no small part to some rather ordinary material. Both the likes of `Dream of You` and `A Matter of Yesterday` don’t quite reach the heights that I was expecting, both after promising starts, whereas its left up to `Take My Hand` which features DDY on keyboards which has a real Styx feel to it, and Zadra sounding at times like Styx guitarist/vocalist Tommy Shaw, and `I`ll Meet You in Heaven` with a nice sense of the dramatic about it.

I`m sure Melodic Rock/Frontiers fans will find plenty to enjoy here, as Zadra is certainly a man of many talents, but I found myself getting a little frustrated with the album on repeated listens as it lacks a consistency that overall drags it down somewhat. I`m not one to give up on an artist and I`ll certainly be looking out for what August Zadra does next.

Track Listing
1.Come Together
2.Nothing More To Say
3.Ship Of Fools
4.Come Back To Me
5.Escape The Rain
6.A Matter Of Yesterday
7.I’ll Meet You In Heaven
8.Take My Hand
9.Dream Of You
10.Won’t Let Your Love Take Me Down
11.Rise From The Fire

Added: March 29th 2022
Reviewer: Malcolm Smith
Score:
Related Link: Band Facebook Page
Hits: 916
Language: english

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