Fee, where have you been?!! Fronting The Tubes reunion shows mostly… but it doesn’t matter – he’s back! And Richard Marx is with him once again. The singer/songwriter/producer is the foundation that this record is built upon, with a MVP performance delivered.

Popping up for a cameo is Michael Landau and Matt Scannell on a couple of tracks.

For physical collectors the package is a flimsy cardboard thing that you can barely pull the CD out of. My pet hate without doubt.

Musically though there are no disappointments here. From the opening hard rock of Faker to the anthemic masterpiece How Dare You (classic Fee), to the funk-riff-rock of Don’t Want To Pull The Trigger onwards through the album via a modern rock ballad in Say Goodbye, a lyrically biting Promise Land, the moody Man Of The World (more classic Fee) and three more classy rock songs.

Only 9 tracks here over 33 minutes, but there isn’t a filler in sight or a minute wasted. This is all Fee Waybill at his very best and Richard Marx does a superb job producing it and co-writing all tracks with Fee.

Sharp, snappy, loud – everything you could wish for from a Fee Waybill record. Another essential purchase here I dare say.

The debut First Signal album was a conceived partnership between Dennis Ward and Harem Scarem frontman Harry Hess, with a band formed around the duo including Eric Ragno on keyboards and German drummer Chris Schmidt. It was a very classy affair, with songs from Erik Martensson, the Martin Brothers, Mark Baker and some covers.

The follow up One Step Over The Line came after Dennis Ward’s co-operation with Frontiers came to an end, with Swedish producer Daniel Flores stepping in. The album wouldn’t reach the heights of the debut, but it was very good.

The third album was again solid, this time with songs from the likes of Stan Meissner, Harry Hess, Andreas Johansson, Carl Dixon, Bruce Turgon and others, it stood up well. And it sounded well produced.

Sadly, for album number four, the situation has changed again, and Frontiers roll out their all-too-familiar crew of in-house writers to deliver an album that not only lacks the distinct vibe of the debut, but any originality whatsoever.

Daniel Flores own production lacks the crispness of past efforts, the emphasis again here is on an in-your-face audio onslaught of keyboards and guitars just flood your ears, with Harry struggling to be heard underneath. But to be honest, there’s not a lot to hear within the songs. It’s another dose of paint by numbers Euro-AOR, that the label has spent the last few years saturating the market with.

You could almost take my recent review of the upcoming Skills project and substitute the text here.

Bland, lacking personality and much like the Find Me album, if it wasn’t for the lead singer in question, musically speaking, the album wouldn’t raise the attention of anyone.

Half an album of decent songs that are only borderline ok thanks to the keyboard saturation, but the rest of the songs could be anyone, anywhere, anytime.

The label’s PR for the album lists only Hess and Flores as part of the lineup. I guess fans have to wait to actually purchase the album (and risk being disappointed) to see who else appears on the album.

Whoever is responsible for the guitars should be immediately removed from any future recording opportunities. Just so bland and uninspired and totally derivative of an already well-milked sound.

In fact, the press kit only contains 8 pictures of Harry Hess. And there’s your problem folks. Rather than a band project, this new First Signal is just another faceless, nameless project, fed to fans of the strength of the frontman alone. But without the songs or soul, it falls flat. Again.

Take a listen to the brilliant debut or either of the two that followed. Just so far ahead of this record in every sense.

Redemption all-round here! Harry Hess takes greater control over the First Signal project, the fifth album for the name, just one of the many Frontiers ‘project bands’, and instant rewards are reaped.

The last album ‘Closer To The Edge’ was as bland as they come. No spark and no energy, so Harry tells me he took far more control over this album, co-writing the songs and choosing the heavier direction. Daniel Flores is out and a trio of Italians come in.

The new team behind the music have delivered an album to rival the energy of the first two records. One thing that they do deliver which really took me by surprise, is a killer drum sound – really punchy and a hard-hitting performance which matches the energy of the songs, in fact, this is one of the heavier albums I have heard Harry sing in his career.

I have no idea who produced the album, as the press release and bio only covers the band up until the last album. There’s no actual info about this album at all. But credit to whoever it is.

It’s obviously not Harem Scarem in style, but it does have the great vocals of Mr. Hess, really going for it at his outer limit for range and rasp, yet still plenty of hooks and harmonies for everyone.

A great melodic hard rock record I’m pleased to say. Night and day compared to the energy and quality of the last record.