SERPENTINE
A Touch Of Heaven
AOR Heaven 2010

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First things first. I have to ask. Does Tony Mills ever sleep? Is there a melodic rock album being released this year that he doesn't sing on? What about those of us who thought Shy sucked the big one? Don't we get any relief? Luckily, Mr Mills has come on leaps and bounds since his major label bothering days of the eighties, so it's no longer physically painful to listen to him.

Serpentine are the creation of keyboard player Gareth David Noon, guitarist Christopher Gould and bassist Gareth Vanstone, who put together a set of demos, ones that got American vocalist Greg Flores of Kamera interested. But it seems that even the 21st century couldn't cure transatlantic collaboration problems, so enter stage right Tony Mills (Shy/TNT/State Of Rock/Everybody).

Musically, it's top quality melodic rock / AOR, with an abundance of lush harmonies and keyboard washes, setting off a set of very good songs. If it was 1983, then I'd be tipping them for some major Stateside success, with 'Whatever Heartache' getting them major airplay. But this is 2010 so they've got to hope that the small but fanatical AOR community of today take them on board.

And the should, with songs like 'Lonely Nights', 'We Belong' (has someone got a best of the eighties compilation in the car?) and the killer ballad 'The Love Of It All' pretty much as good as it gets. They finish up with a cover of the Toni Braxton tune, 'Unbreak My Heart', which seems a bit daft when they've shown so much talent on the nine preceding originals. I'd much rather have heard another Serpentine song but. fair play, they do make it their own.

If you are a fan of classic AOR, then this needs to be top of your shopping list, and it's certainly the best British entry in the field for years.

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