THE GRAFENBERG DISCIPLES – NO WORDS – HIGHLANDER RECORDS
Last year I reviewed the debut album, ‘Johnny On The Spot’, by The Grafenberg Disciples and it is safe to say I fell in love with it. Since the album was originally released it has been picked up by Sony and reissued, and the band have added an additional song which has also been released as a single with an accompanying video. When I hear the word “Single” I tend to think of songs about 3 minutes in length, possibly 4, but here we have something which is nearly 9 minutes long. It has been released as a tribute to Neil Peart, and all proceeds from the single and video go to the Cedar Sinai Special Research Program For Glioblastoma, the aggressive form of cancer which took his life.
This one song really sums up the album in many ways and reminds me again of just why I gave that release top marks. Bassist Bob Madsen and guitarist Chad Quist originally wrote material for a project with Tony Carey, who once he heard the music said they needed a new band so brought in drummer Gregg Bissonette along with Hans Eberbach to create something very special indeed. It commences with gently layered picked guitars and swirling keyboards and piano as it builds the ambience, but quite quickly it becomes very dramatic and real vehicle for Hans. There are times when the music is slipping and sliding, at others more direct, with all those involved constantly changing the attack and approach, so this is always striving and changing. Then at the front are Seal-type vocals, which take it to a whole new level. This is a release which sounds huge, as if it were Journey in their heyday but looking past their AOR fame into their real roots. It is an absolute delight from start to finish and if you have yet to come across this band then surely this one song will send you straight to the album. Incredible.
10/10 Kev Rowland
