{"id":19652,"date":"2014-06-20T00:00:49","date_gmt":"2014-06-20T00:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=19652"},"modified":"2014-07-08T22:54:56","modified_gmt":"2014-07-08T22:54:56","slug":"album-review-seven-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-seven-7\/","title":{"rendered":"SEVEN – 7 (2014) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

SEVEN
7<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nEscape Music (2014)<\/span>
Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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UK \/ South African-based rockers Seven released two major label singles \u2013 \u2018Inside Love\u2019 and the John Parr co-written \u2018Man With A Vision\u2019 \u2013 on Polydor Records way back in 1990 before parting ways soon after. But two decades later and the original members of Seven are back with their debut full-length. <\/p>\n

As soon as opening track \u2018Shoot To Kill\u2019 comes bouncing along I\u2019m hooked by this joyous slab of AOR. Every now and then I need an album that is easy on the ears and, dare I say it, sprightly, and 7<\/em> is the sort of upbeat cauldron of melody to soothe the brains as well as the bones.<\/p>\n

The band is fronted by South African singer Mick Devine, who has a sort of effortless whine which neither splits the ear drums nor darkens the room. In fact, whether the tales are about love or loss his mercurial croon is perfect for this sort of breezy, pop-laced caress.<\/p>\n

Having been a big fan of equally harmonious bands such as Tyketto, it\u2019s great to hear a British-based band treading the same boards by marrying straight up rock with sugary, uptempo breeziness. Okay, so there\u2019s nothing overtly heavy about the sound of Seven, but the tunes are cool, sassy and catchy throughout. The aforementioned \u2018Shoot To Kill\u2019 is a sweet rocker featuring some unusual cosmic effects, while \u2018Inside Love\u2019 is an evocative late night strutter featuring twinkling keyboards and steady, power-balled styled chug.<\/p>\n

I have to say that this is the sort of rock record which I imagine would be more popular overseas, particularly in the US and Japan, but anyone with half a brain cell should lap up this cruiser of an opus that in breath-taking fashion mixes crisp production, quality songwriting, infectious choruses and several guest appearances, including Mark Mangold (Touch, Drive She Said) and Rick Wakeman\u2019s son Adam on keyboards.<\/p>\n

Okay, so it may not be the most groundbreaking album you\u2019ll hear this year, but with that almost stereotypical AOR vibe becoming so popular again the 11 tracks on offer are not just your average foray into archetypal pomp rock. The whole record feels extremely measured as Keith McFarlane\u2019s guitars sort of meander with care throughout the lush maze of Austin Lane\u2019s subtle drum kicks and Pat Davey\u2019s subtle bass plucks.<\/p>\n

With \u2018Diana\u2019 Seven slip into heart-wrenching ballad mode as a simple piano dreamily trickles behind Devine\u2019s soothing tones, while with \u2018America\u2019 and \u2018Thru the Night\u2019 the band captivate the essence of pure 80s magical radio-friendly rock but with a dash of modern romance and edge. And that\u2019s where Seven is at; sitting comfortably with that air of familiarity but always maintaining that silver lining of quality, which enables tracks such as \u2018Never Too Late\u2019 and closer \u2018Say Goodbye\u2019 to tug at the heartstrings one moment but the next enlighten the soul.<\/p>\n

This is a splendid hard rock album for anyone who likes their music triumphant, positive and above all engrossing. You just can\u2019t go wrong with this sort of melodic rock, which as an added bonus brings in the talents of original FM keyboard player Didge Digital, who puts the cherry on top.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SEVEN7 Escape Music (2014)Rating: 8\/10 UK \/ South African-based rockers Seven released two major label singles \u2013 \u2018Inside Love\u2019 and the John Parr co-written \u2018Man With A Vision\u2019 \u2013 on Polydor Records way back in 1990 before parting ways soon after. But two decades later and the original members of Seven are back with their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1288],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-seven"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19652"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19655,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19652\/revisions\/19655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}