{"id":52054,"date":"2017-01-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-13T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=52054"},"modified":"2017-01-27T01:14:12","modified_gmt":"2017-01-27T01:14:12","slug":"album-review-lesli-sanders-my-eyes-are-greener-on-the-other-side-ep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-lesli-sanders-my-eyes-are-greener-on-the-other-side-ep\/","title":{"rendered":"LESLI SANDERS – My Eyes Are Greener On The Other Side EP (2017) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

LESLI SANDERS
My Eyes Are Greener On The Other Side EP<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nIncorruption (2017)<\/span>
Rating: 9\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cI sit and strum this guitar, after all these years I know I won\u2019t get far\u201d<\/em> drools Lesli Sanders in the opening line for his new solo EP My Eyes Are Greener On The Other Side<\/em>. And it\u2019s a reflective line which brings a tear to the eye of this listener, as once again the world seems to be missing the boat when it comes to genuine yet raw musical brilliance.<\/p>\n

Lesli Sanders may be best known for his work with American glamsters Pretty Boy Floyd and later, to a lesser extent, Prophets Of Addiction. But his solo material is the sort of tear-jerking, reflective and downright emotional poignancy that should demand the attention of all. No surprise then that such tenderness and grit is expressed with this new five-track EP; his best work to date that pours straight from his soul and is funnelled through that dry, rasping squawk.<\/p>\n

My Eyes Are Greener On The Other Side<\/em> is also proof that we don\u2019t need blazing guitars, gimmicky fireworks and gang chants to be rock \u2018n\u2019 roll. Lesli Sanders has lived the lifestyle long before many of today\u2019s pretenders were born, and with just one tinkle of the ivories he erupts from his seemingly drunken stupor into a melancholic yet at once enchanting brand of what I call \u201csleaze soul\u201d.<\/p>\n

This is the kind of rock often overlooked because of its subtlety, and while glam bands \u2013 real or copycatted \u2013 seem to forever be searching for that cheese-ridden anthem to accompany their strip club exploits, in a simple few minutes Sanders conjures up the sort of primal feeling that only Donnie Vie (ex-Enuff Z\u2019Nuff) could match for sentimentality.<\/p>\n

The EP opens with the staggeringly brilliant acoustic strum of \u2018Here For You\u2019, probably the simplest yet most magical track I\u2019ve heard in a long, long time. Sanders commentates, \u201cI look up the years that have passed me, they seem so close, but just like you they are far\u201d<\/em>. And with that, the heart-strings are well and truly tugged.<\/p>\n

Lesli Sanders has somehow created an incredibly deep and meaningful yet back-to-basics no frills acoustic anthem; an understated, modest and gorgeous tear-jerker laced with an unassuming piano tap and slight atmospheric effect. Yet it\u2019s the line \u201cNow it\u2019s just me and the guitar\u201d<\/em> which sums up the eternal majesty of this simmering record. Indeed, the only real punch comes when Sanders adds extra gravel to that voice \u2013 a crack of added mawkishness dripping through the already faint sprigs of romanticism.<\/p>\n

\u2018Here For You\u2019 is a sumptuous track \u2013 far too beautiful to have been beefed up by the cringe-worthy fluff of hair metal\u2019s halcyon spray. But just when you think Sanders has reached a career peak, he caresses the piano keys for the sublime \u2018My State Of Music\u2019, and wow, what a track. Again, it\u2019s a short and sweet but a beautiful ballad. Laced with mournful grace, it hints at something you feel that you\u2019ve heard before, but that\u2019s testament to its immediate catchiness.<\/p>\n

Feeling like a stripped back demo, there\u2019s a stark contrast to it all; the lonely piano tinged with Sanders\u2019 brooding snarl. It\u2019s an instant classic; the sort of song you parade around to everyone and anyone you can find, only to discover that they are criminally more interested in the latest lump of big-budget rock gloss dross. But fear not, because this is the real sound I want to be alone with, whether in a bar staring into the bowels of a bottle or in a darkened room.<\/p>\n

\u2018Atmosphere\u2019 sways in on an acoustic breeze too; there\u2019s an effective orchestration threaded throughout. I get a hint of the UK\u2019s Dogs D\u2019Amour \u2013 mainly just down to that bare-bones feel and Lesli Sanders\u2019 punky, withered crowing. Lyrically the whole thing is genius; evocative, haunting and above all reminiscing. \u201cI wish I could go back and do it all again… re-write that script and forget you\u201d <\/em>he bemoans. Indeed, it\u2019s almost as if the tears are cascading on the piano as he plays. And make it known that Sanders plays everything on offer here, finding each mood via such simple constructions to enable each composition to breath. <\/p>\n

\u2018Throw Me A Rope\u2019 nods into play with that simple piano and acoustic haze. Again, the lyrics are just awe-inspiring; tinged with sullen reflection they still manage to uplift. At times I don\u2019t know if Sanders is lamenting someone else or himself? But those shades he wears are most certainly the windows to his soul, and through such mild-mannered creations he bares all. \u201cYou throw me a rope but I can\u2019t hang myself, \u2019cos I can\u2019t hang around with you you\u2019re bringing me down, I got nowhere to run you keep giving me the run-around\u201d<\/em> he slurs, somehow mocking, almost bitter but always true. The memories etched in the lines upon his eye-liner stained cheeks.<\/p>\n

My Eyes Are Greener On The Other Side<\/em> closes with \u2018As We Fall\u2019. Led in by a sombre acoustic trickle, this is the EP\u2019s seemingly darkest moment; a tormented, fractured tune of vocal pleas and stirring melancholy. Again the track never rises to anything above a pensive sway, but it could never be any other way. The only downside is that the EP seems to be over in such a short space of time, and I\u2019m left suffering withdrawal symptoms from its honest, earnest and endearing qualities.<\/p>\n

It may be early in 2017, but Lesli Sanders\u2019 latest offering is the best thing I\u2019ve heard so far this year. I just hope that when he croons \u201cThis is the last stop on my rock \u2018n\u2019 roll time travel machine\u201d<\/em> that he\u2019s not contemplating shutting this roller-coaster down, because I for one am along for the ride, and you should be too.<\/p>\n

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

LESLI SANDERSMy Eyes Are Greener On The Other Side EP Incorruption (2017)Rating: 9\/10 \u201cI sit and strum this guitar, after all these years I know I won\u2019t get far\u201d drools Lesli Sanders in the opening line for his new solo EP My Eyes Are Greener On The Other Side. And it\u2019s a reflective line which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1598],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lesli-sanders"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52054","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=52054"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52061,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52054\/revisions\/52061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}