Voyager-X: Magic

A casualty of the ever changing rock scene, the debut album from German outfit Voyager was initially slated for release in 1997, however with those plans shelved indefinitely, the band folded and the four piece of Mario Gansen (vocals), Stephan Baumgärtner (guitar), Jörg Schreiber (bass) and Peter Webert (drums) went their separate ways. Over 20 years passed before the quartet met up again and the spark was relit, and with a slight name change to Voyager-X, they regrouped and set about getting their old recordings remixed and released.

Magic is the name of the album that finally sees the light of day and as you might expect, the sound that it creates takes us back in time, but for my money, not to 1997, but to a period some 10 years before, if not earlier. With progressive tendencies, what in essence Voyager-X have conjured here is an energetic burst of keyboard laden melodic hard rock. In truth it’s easy to hear why this approach couldn’t find favour back in the late 90s, with the bright guitar solos from Baumgärtner catchy and commercial, while the keyboards from Frank Geib (although he isn’t an actual member of the band) pretty much dominate proceedings, whether they be providing the piano foundations of “I Recognise You�, or the colour within “Hypnotize You�. Both aspects are interesting, if hardly breaking any new ground but for me where things fall down is through the vocals of Mario Gansen, who hits like a strange hybrid of Bernie Shaw (Uriah Heep) and Genki Hitomi (Vow Wow), and while I love both of those singers, the effect here is way too full on for the material.

With songs like “C’Mon Live Your Dreams Together� and “Magic� fun but forgettable, while nothing here is awful, neither is anything more than just a fleeting source of enjoyment. Add in a singer that always feels like he’s pushing things just beyond his own boundaries and even as a big fan of melodic hard rock, it’s difficult to suggest that much here stays the course.

Track Listing
1. Janus Face
2. Hypnotize You
3. Magic
4. You Crossed My Way
5. I Recognize You
6. Don't Lose The Path
7. C'mon Live Your Dreams Together
8. Walk On The Dead Line
9. Crime Of The Century

Added: May 15th 2024
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Voyager-X online
Hits: 394
Language: english

[ Printer Friendly Page ]
[ Send to a Friend ]