Accomplice - 'She's On Fire'
Released through Sonicvibe Records in 2006
THE BAND:
Johnny Gioeli - vocals
Sean Michael Clegg - all guitars
Michael T. Ross - keyboards
Scott J. Snyder - bass
Richard Arbuckle - drums
TRACK FRAGMENTS:
1.) "Take Love" -This track opens with a very simple hard rock intro
arrangement. Over the top of the intro Sean's guitar arrangement is a
mixture of rhythm and lead guitar riffs. Seam plays whole note chords
underneath Johnny's vocal lines Letting Johnny's vocals carry the verses.
Once Johnny begins singing the song takes a Hardline turn which, I expected
being since Johnny is Hardline's lead singer. If it was not for the simple
rhythm guitar rhythm change of the chorus the chorus would have bleed into the
verse. At times through the vocal line f the chorus it sounded like there
was a vocal effect attached to Johnny's vocals. After the first chorus
there was drastic musical change when Sean drops the electric for an acoustic
guitar. This musical change really changed the dynamics of the song.
Over the top of this musical change Sean overdubbed a few lead guitar licks with
the electric guitar. After the second chorus Johnny leads into the lead
guitar solo with a vocal accent. There was a small echo effect added to
the lead guitar solo which was also overdubbed giving the effect there were two
lead guitarist. Te outro consisted of a third musical change.
2.) "Party's Over" -The pre-musical intro to this track consisted of a Michael
T. Ross keyboard effect. Richard wrote the hi-hat rhythm of the main
musical intro section and verse in a progressive music fashion. I really
like the way Sean pulls back on the rhythm riffs in between the vocal lines of
the verse. Johnny changes his vocals to a more scratchy sound for the
chorus. To connect the chorus to the next verse Sean plays a very simple
Edward Van Halen lead guitar riff. This lead guitar riff was done musically as a
solo. At times over the top of the musical arrangement you can hear a very
simple lead guitar effect. At times the small lead guitar solo had a Jimi
Hendrix feel to it. After the lead guitar solo there is a drastic musical
change that really adds to the dynamics of the song. The musical change
leads into a second lead guitar solo. Over the top of the outro section
there is a Michael T. Ross keyboard solo.
3.) "Cry Again" - The first of two minor lead guitar solos is over the
top of this musical intro section. The keyboard sound Michael chose to use
for this track was the same keyboard sound The Beatles used on "Lucy In The Sky"
on their 1967 'Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band' album. Connecting the
pre-verse to the verse there is a spoken vocal line. The band added an
acoustic guitar for the musical verse. The band speeded up the bpm (beats
per minute) for the musical chorus. Johnny also changes his vocal
sound for the vocal lines of the chorus. The second minor lead guitar solo
connects the first chorus to the second pre-verse. There is another spoken
vocal accent connecting the second pre-verse to the second chorus. The
major lead guitar solo is after the second chorus. There is an acoustic
guitar arrangement underneath the major lead guitar solo. After the third
chorus there was a drastic musical change that lead into the outro section.
4.) "Everywhere" -This track opens with an acoustic guitar arrangement
over the top of a percussion shaker. There is a very cool bass line at the
tail end of the intro leading into the musical verse. For the verse
Richard uses the bell of his ride cymbal instead of the hi-hat. There is a
small musical change for the chorus. Richard incorporates a tom-tom
pattern for the drum line of the chorus. For the second verse Michael's
keyboard was turned up a little which, makes it bleed through the music more.
The lead guitar solo at times had an early sixties Beatles feel. There are
several vocal overdubs on the last chorus and outro.
5.) "She's On Fire" - This track opens with a pre-musical drum
pattern. Sean's rhythm guitar riffs of the main musical intro had a very
intense heavy feel. Johnny's vocal lines of the first verse have a subtle
feel in front of Sean's intense rhythm guitar riffs. There is a small
rhythm guitar change underneath the pre-chorus. For the most part Johnny's
vocals have a blues feel to them. I believe this is the first chorus on
the CD that actually has backing harmonies. There is a minor lead guitar
riff that connects the second first chorus to the second verse. After the
second chorus there is a Michael T. Ross piano solo that leads into the major
lead guitar solo. After the last chorus there is a small tom-tom fill solo
that leads into the fade-out. The fade-out consisted of a minor lead
guitar solo.
6.) "Shadows Of My Mind" -This track opens with a bass effect and
tom-tom pattern underneath a heavy breathing vocal effect. The effects
pedal Sean uses on the main musical intro gives the song a eighties hard rock
feel. It sounds like Johnny's lead vocal lines of the verse were
overdubbed. There is a small musical change during the musical chorus.
At times through the chorus Johnny whispers a few of the vocal lines.
There are a lot of vocal effects scattered throughout the song. The lead
guitar solo after the second chorus, though short, was intense as hell!!!
The breakdown section was set up and arranged as if a mental patience had
written it. Which, considering the concept of the song that does not
surprise me. The second breakdown section has a very cool vocal line.
The outro section was a laughing vocal effect.
7.) "Again & Again" -The pre-musical intro to this track opens
with a very cool clean electric guitar riff. Over the top of the main
musical intro there is a minor lead guitar solo. The guys use the same
rhythm guitar arrangement for the intro as the pre-verse. Johnny's lead
vocal lines are very tight for the pre-verse. There is a small rhythm
guitar change for the musical verse. Sean uses the same pre-intro lead
guitar rhythm for the chorus. Johnny gives this song his signature melodic
Hardline sound on the lead vocal lines. In several way the lead guitar
solo after the second chorus had a Neil Schon (Journey) feel to it.
Which, I found very cool since Schon was Hardline's original lead guitarist.
8.) "City Walls" -This track opens with a classic eighties hard rock
intro section. Over the top of the electric guitar rhythm arrangement
there is a very cool acoustic guitar. The acoustic guitar really brings
out the accents of the electric. Musically the the verse was awesome!!!!
Underneath the lead vocal lines of the chorus there is a very cool backing vocal
harmony. After the first chorus there is rhythm guitar solo that
connects the first chorus to the second verse. After the second chorus
there is an electric lead guitar solo over the top of an acoustic guitar
arrangement. The acoustic guitar rhythm was very close to also being
considered a solo.
9.) "Autobahn" -The intro to this track is a tom-tom and bass drum
pattern. The rhythm guitar does not kick in until the opening vocal line.
The musical pre-verse consisted of two different rhythm guitar arrangements.
The underlining bass line was huge sounding!!! As the song progresses the rhythm
guitar tracks get more and more intense. There is a drastic rhythm
arrangement change after the first pre-verse. This rhythm change was
influenced by heavy metal blues and completely changes the dynamics of the song.
In the way the band arranged the chorus gives the song a huge hook. The
lead guitar solo was split into two sections with a vocal line in between.
Though this song was very simple in arrangement it packs a very huge punch to
your face!
10.) "Last Hurrah" - A very very cool instrumental!
I just had Internet access a couple of months when I first
heard of Hardline. It was on Hard Radio (www.hardradio.com) and the
song was "Hot Cherrie". Since that day I have been a die hard fan!
Though Michael was not on that CD is a current member of Hardline and is
featured on the band's second CD titled, 'II' and is a die-hard fan of Blast
Magazines.
Regarded as one of the most energetic and entertaining lead
singers in the business, Johnny is the voice of rock! So it was no
surprise when Michael told me several weeks ago via email that he ask Johnny to
be lad vocalist in Accomplice. I went into this review knowing that since
Accomplice as the keyboard player & lead singer from Hardline that the ten
tracks off of 'She's On Fire' are going to have a Hardline feel. That's a
gimmie! Though most keyboard players are into progressive music, I was a
little shock by the progressive sound some of the music arrangements had.
Not that that is a bad thing, in fact it is kind of like looking at hard rock
music through fresh eyes. There honestly is not a bad song on this release
and it would make any hard rock fan very happy!