New York City's Amelia's Dream is centered around the husband and wife duo of vocalist Amelia Gewirtz and Harold Stephan on keyboards/ vocals, and their latest CD, Unravel is their 3rd independent release since forming back in the early 90's where they first met in a local songwriting class. The pair has seen their songs appear in various television shows, a few independent films as well as a Disney movie, not to mention they have been in rotation on numerous radio stations across the United States.
The title of Unravel is bit misleading though as I was expecting the disc to be a live album, however The Magic Shop is a recording studio in NYC, so I figure perhaps the music was recorded live in the studio as there is no audience noise present and the music itself sounds incredibly polished and well recorded to really be considered live. The bio sheet featured a rather scary blurb "As Featured on Oprah", and after reading that I must confess I was beginning to have my doubts as to if I was going to be able to give this disc a fair spin. These second thoughts about the bands credibility were lessened somewhat by the time I got to the third track, when I heard Gewirtz's angelic vocal delivery on "Blue Sky". Amelia's Dream is extremely radio friendly and the band's strong point is crafting their own brand of melodic pop oriented rock, mixing things up with a combination of softer sounding tracks and up tempo rockier numbers that feature a bit of a harder edge. I personally enjoyed the quieter, ballad like material as I found it really highlighted and brought out the softer nuances in Gerwitz's voice. That's not to say that the harder tracks don't work as well, but numbers like "Sandcastle" and "Before Your Time" are so beautifully melancholic and introspective, that I suddenly found myself wishing it would rain at that moment, as if it would somehow heighten and complete my overall listening experience. Amelia's Dream will not be everyone's cup of tea with their straight ahead commercial sound, but the fact remains that strong, well written songs have and never will go out of fashion.
Track Listing
1) Unravel
2) Wonder
3) Blue Sky
4) Red Light
5) It All Comes Back To You (Broken)
6) Covered Up The Sun
7) Sandcastle
8) Only On The Inside
9) Before Your Time
10) Band Aids
11) Light A Candle
12) Ballerina
13) Save Me (Bonus Track)
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