US composer and musician Kurt MICHAELS is one of those guys who have been out on a cold winter’s night before. From what I understand he’s been part of the music scene for more than a generation, but didn’t appear as a recording solo artist until 2003. “Soaring Back to Earth” is his third solo album, and was self released in 2011.
My most immediate impression of Michaels third album is that it resides firmly within the radio friendly pop/rock category of music. An impression I’ll stick with, although there are some finer details that warrants mentioning. The songs are smooth and melodic, there’s plenty of room for lead vocals and if there is a key word I should use on this album then it’s accessible. This whole album, through and through, consists of the kind of music I expect to hear when I turn on a classic rock format radio or any other station that play music that is aimed at people in the segment 30+ that has a taste for melodic rock music. Music that should fit well side to side with just about any act you might want to mention in the gentler parts of the mainstream rock segment.
There is a bit more to Michaels compositions than just generic rock however. Those fond of details will hear some subtle guitar details that, at least to my mind, inspired associations towards country and Americana. And I do think I heard a lap steel in there too, although I might be mistaken there. The bass guitar might add in some jazz-tinged details on occasion, and while the structure of these songs are fairly straightforward and the songs do come across as fairly gentle and smooth, the arrangement tends to be fairly sophisticated with a myriad of finer details adding quite a lot of subtle and nuanced flavoring in the melody department.
Some of the vocal harmonies brings bands like The Beatles and ELO to mind, the latter of these also an association that comes to mind for some of the chorus sequences – alongside Ambrosia. While some of the more melancholic, slightly darker toned excursions have a slight late 70’s Pink Floyd vibe to them, both in terms of overall arrangements as well as for the longing guitar solo. I even thought I heard a slight touch of Mark Knopfler on an occasion or two, but alongside my earlier country and Americana reference that might be more accidental than planned, and a rather subjective association at that.
All of these are details of the whole, some more occasional than others. But combined they do make something of an impact, as does Michaels lead vocals I might add, especially in a song like Didn’t Get to Say Goodbye his voice functions very well indeed as the tension and emotion provider on top of a more sparse instrument arrangement.
Accessible, melodic rock with a firm mainstream orientation is my conclusion as for how Michaels third album “Soaring Back to Earth” should be categorized, and I can easily recommend this disc to those who tends to like music of that kind, and in particular those who prefer music of that kind to be smooth and melodic. Those who enjoy truly listening to music will also find plenty of finer details to immerse themselves in, and as such you might want to add sophisticated to the mainstream rock direction I’ve chosen to regard this album as residing in.
My rating: 66/100
