UK band FUGITIVE was, from what I can read, formed way back in 1990, and according to the band information I’ve looked up has first and foremost been an active live band, of the kind that have performed live in just about any space in England that can boast a city or village name and with a fan base in the biker circuit. From what I have managed to find of information “Black Planet” is their second full length CD, and is set to be released through the band’s own label Cat Records in May 2015.
What we’re dealing with on this occasion is a band that have firmly set their sight on the late 1980’s, and have honed in on the good, old hair metal as far as style is concerned. Just about anyone that have listened to that type of music, also called pop metal by some, will feel instantly at home with the material Fugitive explore on this CD.
We have lead vocals that are melodic and powerful, with a certain emphasis on emotional delivery, backed by tight, dampened guitar riffs with or without melodic overlays, some careful keyboard touches for added contrast and smoother arrangements, and fairly typical guitar solo sequences midways backed by careful, non-dominant guitar riffs.
As far as albums and songs goes this is fairly typical and rather predictable material, at least for someone who listened extensively to this type of music back when it was dominating the mainstream market, and as far as references goes Bon Jovi and Giant comes to mind as some of multiple associations throughout this production. Fairly well produced too I might add, although I hope the band have time to kill some sharp esses and sounds on opening track Fuel before they press the CD edition.
If you enjoy this type of music, then you’ll get just about everything you want here. From the frail concluding ballad Starlight, preceded with a brief acoustic instrumental (named Daisy, Roger, Zak & the Bumblebee) . There’s the obligatory power ballad, Behind Closed Eyes, and Crazy also employs some power ballad details for good, dramatic effect.
It is well made material of it’s kind, but nothing that really takes my breath away I’ll have to admit. Title track Black Planet stands out for it’s use of a darker toned and more ominous guitar theme, a perfect choice for title track and a good choice as the first single pulled from this disc, and the following A Lot to Lose with it’s organ and guitar combination is a piece that I also found to be a tad more mesmerizing than the others, perhaps because it reminded me ever so slightly of US band Giant that I quite fancied back in the day.
On the flip side, and this is much more of a subjective aspect, is that I didn’t find the lead vocals to be all that enthralling. Vocalist Mikee has a powerful and melodic voice, but his choice of timbre doesn’t always manage to hit home with me, and that he has a slight nasal tendency to his delivery is also one of those details that for me has something of a detrimental effect. This is an aspect of this album that boils down to personal taste rather than quality as such of course, but for me the vocals didn’t manage to really carry or elevate the songs as such. Consulting with my wife, who knows much more about vocal performances than me, I was assured that from a technical point of view Mikee is a good and competent vocalist, so I will stress that this is a point about personal preferences and not about quality.
If you have a soft spot for hair metal as it was made between 1985 and 1990 Fugitive is a band that certainly merits a check, and if you also enjoy the delivery of lead vocalist Mikee then “Black Planet” is an album that you can safely add to your list of future purchases.
My rating: 63/100
