Ray Wilson - Change - 2003
intro
After almost two years from his previous release the “Live and Acoustic” album Ray Wilson strikes back with his second solo record called “Changes”. A name which is a kind of summary of his late work, a constant change. After being part of Genesis he created a new band along with his brother Steve called Cut, a project that seemed to have a good healthy future, even a whole european tour was set up along with bands like Scorpions but it finally fell through (family business is always a delicate thing). Like this Ray realized that he had to start a real solo career which began with the album “Live and Acoustic”. A solo career which with this new record seams to be settled down.
review
A skilled musician who is able to build up strong interesting things. A very good singer (personal opinion), and a good writer that has become a lonely independent soul. He was taken out from his own environment by Genesis who used him to play the difficult role of filling the gap that Collins had left, which is always a very difficult thing. He was in Genesis to do the same thing Trevor Horn did in Yes which was to replace such a huge ego. With his first album Ray takes the easiest way using some Genesis material, but in this new one he creates a whole new set of songs. A record which doesn’t fit in the progressive scene, I insist, it is not a progressive work, but it is a pleasant and charming CD that will be perfect for fans of this so peculiar scottish voice. We’ve got thirteen pieces all of them recorded at his studio called “Jaggy Thorn” all of them full of charming melodies with a nice production work, good choruses and guitars creating some kind of melancholic mid-tempo feeling. Songs such as “Goodbye Baby Blue” and the title piece “Change” will surely like fans of good vocal harmonies and acoustic guitars. “Yesterday”, “Beach” reminds me a bit the saddest moments of “Calling all Stations”, “She fades away”, “Believe” or “The last Horizon” have a high artistic level, not in terms of experimentation of course, but trying to find nice ways plenty of drama hints.
conclusion
It could be labeled as a high quality british pop-rock. In fact it’s very difficult to rate it from the progressive point of view. It is a good record for people who like the vocal work of Ray Wilson or for the fans of the most melodic songs in “Calling all Stations”.