Stoker, Bobby: Everglow

German musician Bobby Stoker has been a multi-instrumentalist since he was young, and he has played in the band Go Music, as well as playing on stage with many other musicians since the 1990’s. His debut solo album Everglow was released in May, and Stoker played most of the instruments. He does have a couple guest musicians including Willy Wagner on bass, and various backup singers including Oliver Hartmann and Ina Morgan. I personally think the album is okay. The music is solid for the most part, and Stoker is talented as an instrumentalist. I do think that his voice is a bit spotty throughout, and some of the songs feel out of place.

As I said before, Stoker is a talented musician, especially on the guitar. There are some tasty riffs throughout, especially on the song “The Devil in Me�. This was my favorite song on the album, because the riffs were strong, his voice sounded good, and the song structure was there. The one thing that I had issue with instrumentally was the drum sound. I think some of the drums were authentic, but other times they sounded very obviously digital. On a lot of the songs, Stoker’s voice just sounds weak. He has a rasp to his voice, but it lacks grit a lot of the time, and sounds like raspy whispers, which gets kind of off putting. I think some of the softer songs are where it tended to sound worst, because there weren’t enough electric instruments to cover his flawed voice. One of the softer tracks where he sounded solid vocally was the ballad, “Sometimes�. This song in general gave me chills. His voice sounded powerful, the saxophones were beautiful, and the rest of the music was great too. Another softer track that I enjoyed was “Yesterday’s Gone�. It is a tender acoustic song, and it sounded like something that would have been on the acoustic side of GNR Lies by Guns N’ Roses. I thought Stoker’s voice was solid here as well. The one song that really had me scratching my head was “Lessons in Pain�. The intro had a generic early 2000’s electronic type of feel, and the riffs throughout sound like cheap industrial rock. It felt completely out of place on the album, and I was not a fan. Most of the other songs just left me indifferent. They weren’t exactly awful, but none of them excited me. The album ends with an instrumental called “Eye of Horus�. It shows off Stoker’s guitar chops, but it goes about two minutes too long.

Overall, this album isn’t terrible, but it isn’t one that I would recommend. Stoker is a talented guy, and at times this album worked, but I think he needs to grow as a solo artist more before things will really click. It might be smart to consider a different lead vocalist than himself, because he is very limited on what he sounded good on. With that being said, he is a talented instrumentalist, and there were a few tracks on here that I enjoyed. I personally wouldn’t recommend it, but if you check it out, there are some good moments to make it worth a listen.

Track Listing:

1. Waiting For the Night
2. Best Way Out
3. My Destiny
4. The Devil in Me
5. Everglow
6. On the Road Again
7. Shot In the Dark
8. Lessons in Pain
9. Sometimes
10. I’m Your Friend
11. Yesterday’s Gone
12. Eye of Horus

Added: June 29th 2022
Reviewer: Ryan Gavalier
Score:
Related Link: Artist Facebook Page
Hits: 603
Language: english

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