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Robert Fleischman | World In Your Eyes
Yet another "almost" for Fleischman. He'll get used to it.
CD, Frontiers/Bertus
Tekst: Martÿn ter Haar
Publicatiedatum: 17 november 2002
When Journey decided to switch from jazz-rock to AOR, they hired Robert Fleischman as a singer. Only to replace him nine months later with Steve Perry, before an album was released. With Perry, Journey achieved multi-platinum status. Fleischman released a solo album in 1979 and sang for a while in the band of ex-Kiss guitarist Vinnie Vincent, before being replaced by Mark Slaughter. With Slaughter, Vinnie Vincent Invasion scored a gold record. Fleischman did some commercial and TV work. And now he releases his second solo effort, World In Your Eyes.
I don't think Fleischman still dreams of making it big, because AOR has pretty much gone the way of the dinosaur. But then there's no such thing as underground AOR, and, indeed, World In You Eyes sounds commercial and bombastic. Fleischman's composing skills — a lot of the material from the succesful Journey albums was (co-)written by him — do shine through. Bryan Adams also donates a track called 'Over My Head,' which sounds quite a bit like his own hit 'Heaven.' Axeman Josh Ramos, who handles all guitars, is a real discovery, stepping into the spotlight in the best hard rock tradition. The rhythm section handles the dynamics very well, providing ultra-bombast when needed, but also holding back in the more sentimental parts. Keyboards are added for atmosphere, never putting the rock instruments in the background. All in all, Fleischman and his band sometimes come quite close to those AOR classics we all secretly love, such as 'I Wanna Know What Love Is.'
There's one major problem that explains why Fleischman never made it big: his voice. Sure, he hits all the notes technically perfect, but he sounds a bit nasally. In the big emotional choruses, he misses both warmth and power, which can't be compensated for, no matter how many overdubs and background vocals producer Kelly Hansen uses. Hansen's production is too metallic, overall, anyway. So that's yet another "almost" for Fleischman. He'll get used to it.
http://www.kindamuzik.net/recensie/robert-fleischman/world-in-your-eyes/2064/
Meer Robert Fleischman op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/robert-fleischman
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