THE BAND:
Michele Luppi: vocals
Fabrizio Grossi: bass & programming
With
Tommy Denander, Joey Sykes, Roberto Priori: guitars
Eric Ragno: keyboards
Tony Morra: drums

TRACK FRAGMENTS:
1.) “Neverland” –The intro to this track opens with a tom-tom fill.  The intro consisted of a minor lead guitar solo over the top of a piano arrangement.  All of this is over the top of a percussion section.  Tony begins the drum line playing a percussion pattern on what sounds like conga drums.  As the intro progresses Tony switches from a percussion drum line to a pattern played on his tom-toms.  There is a small musical rest that connects the intro section with the musical verse.  The musical verse opens with a keyboard riff.  Tony kicks the verse in playing a sixteenth-note hi-hat rhythm.  The last lyric line of the musical verse was double-tracked.  There was a small rhythm change for the musical chorus.  There was a huge lyrical & vocal hook for the chorus.  There was a minor solo connecting the first chorus with the second verse.  The bass line of this track was amazing!!!  The major lead guitar solo was after the second chorus.  The actual solo had a Steve Vai arrangement & sound.   Underneath the last chorus and over the top of the outro there was a second lead guitar solo section.  This lead guitar solo was the second major solo on the track.
2.) “Nothing To Hide” – Cover of the Richard Marx song.
3.) “City Of Angels” – The intro of this ballad consisted of a piano arrangement over the top of a bass & drum line.  To accent the intro there is a small percussion wind chime section on the drum line.  In between the rhythm section and the piano there is a small electric guitar riff.  This guitar riff is used mainly to accent the piano.  Over the top of the intro there is a minor lead guitar solo.  The minor lead guitar connects the intro with the musical verse.  The bass line changes for the musical verse.  It is at this point Tony switches from using a rim shot to a snare crack.  This alters the dynamics of the rhythm.  Some lyric lines of the verse where double-tracked.  There was a small drum fill connecting the verse to the pre-chorus.  There was a minor lead guitar solo that ran underneath the lyric lines of the pre-chorus.  There is a lead guitar solo connecting the chorus with the second verse.  Scattered throughout the percussion of the drum line there are wind chimes.  After the second chorus there is a small musical build-up arrangement that leads to the major lead guitar solo.  The lead guitar solo runs through the rest of the track. 
4.) “Promises” –There is a minor lead guitar solo over the top of this intro section.  Too I, this intro sounded like it was pulled off of a stocked tape. There is a small arrangement change for the musical verse.  For the musical verse the drummer switched from a snare crack to a woodblock.  I felt like the piano of the musical verse left a lot of empty spaces.  There was a snare change for the musical pre-chorus.  The vocals for this track are amazing.  The vocal lines of the chorus gave the song a very huge hook.  All in all this was a straight forward ballad that was an ode to Richard Marx.
5.) “Wait For You” – This track opened with a very simple intro arrangement.  There was an arrangement change for the musical verse.  To build the song-up Tony changed the drum line.  As the song progresses up the hook of the song grows and gets bigger and bigger.  There are a couple lead guitar riffs underneath the lyrics of the second verse.  The piano sound of this song reminded me of the keyboard stuff that Bobby Cotoia of the john Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band played on the Eddie & The Cruisers soundtrack.  There is a small rhythm change leading into the lead guitar solo.  This track not only had a lead guitar solo but also a small keyboard solo.
6.) “Nowhere To Run” – Ex-Dokken axeman George Lynch plays the lead guitar solo on this song.  This intro opens with a keyboard arrangement over the top of a conga drum percussion section.  There is a minor lead guitar solo over the top of the intro that leads into the musical verse.  There was a musical arrangement change for the musical verse.  The chorus had an amazing hook!!!  There was a minor lead guitar solo connecting the first chorus with the second verse.  The solo for this track was very short & simple. 
7.) “Tonight Tonight” – This track opens with a very simple intro arrangement.  The piano arrangement that is over the top of it was kind of reminiscent of Patrick Swayze’s – ‘”She’s Like The Wind” from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack.  There was a small arrangement change for the musical verse.  The band kept the based rhythm the same for the chorus only changing the rhythm guitar.  This is another track that was musically very simple.
8.) “Higher Love” – There was a minor lead guitar solo over the top of this intro section.  There was a minor lead vocal accent that connects the musical intro with the pre-verse.  For the first lyric line Michele vocal sound sounded a lot like early seventies Dennis DeYoung.  The drum line of the pre-verse was done with a tom-tom pattern.  The rhythm guitar of this pre-verse was mainly used as a supporting instrument.  There is a small musical rest connecting the musical pre-verse and verse.  Instead of changing the music arrangement of the verse Tony switches the drum line from a tom-tom pattern to a standard drum rhythm.  It is this drum rhythm that gives the verse a different sound than the pre-verse.  The backing harmony leading into the chorus had an odd hook to it.  There are a couple vocal accents over the top of the minor lead guitar solo.  The lead guitar solo itself leads into a breakdown section.  This is one of the tracks on the release that really shows Michele’s vocal control.    
9.) “Living Inside” – There was a minor lead guitar solo over the top of this intro section.  The band slows the music down for the musical pre-verse.  The second lyric line of the pre-verse was a backing harmony.  There was a small arrangement change for the musical verse.  The hook of the chorus had a single b-side sound to it.  Littered throughout the entire arrangement there are little lead guitar runs.  There was a small tom-tom breakdown connecting the main musical breakdown & lead guitar solo.  There is a second minor solo underneath the last chorus of the outro.    
10.) “Welcome To My Life” – This track opens with a single rhythm guitar riff.  For the main musical intro section there is a very minor lead guitar solo/rhythm.  There is a musical rest connecting the intro with the musical verse.  The rhythm arrangement changes for the musical verse.  The hi-hat of the drum line for the musical verse was done with an opening & closing pattern.  Michele kept the chorus very simple.  All in all this was a straight forward simple on the heavier side of top 40 sounding track. 
11.) “Paradise” – There was a minor lead guitar solo over the top of this intro arrangement.  The band brings the song down with the arrangement change of the opening musical verse.  As the verse progresses the hook begins to grow-up to the chorus.  The musical change of the breakdown that is after the second chorus along with the short solo was very reminiscent to the stuff Aldo Nova was writing on his 1985 ‘Twitch’ release.  After the third chorus there is a second lead guitar solo this solo is a little more minor than the first.


             I made the mistake of going to a friend’s website and listening to ‘Neverland’ sound samples he had posted.  The preconception of Los Angeles’s – ‘Neverland’ after listening to those samples was that ‘Neverland’ was not going to be a very good release.  Once I placed the ‘Neverland’ into a good stereo and got the chance to listen to the tracks in their entirety.  To say my preconception of not only ‘Neverland’ but also Los Angeles could possibly be the biggest understatement I have made within the past year!!  What I thought was going to be a fairly straight forward boring CD.  Wound up being a very sophisticated layered rock n’ roll CD with influences from everyone from Richard Marx to Aldo Nova.  This release is really really worth checking out.  For essential fans of Richard Marx, John Cafferty and Aldo Nova’s –‘Twitch’.