The Distance – Live and Learn 1999
Heard some encouraging reports of this album and was eager to check it out when the opportunity arose. Being a huge Chris Ousey fan it wasn’t too difficult to twist my arm. In between times, we’ve seen a Heartland album or three from Ousey, and various contributions to other albums and projects, and considering this band are a ‘project’ so to speak, it was surprising that a second album sees the light of day. Usually these things are embedded in AOR folklore as ‘one-off albums’. Now I understand they are a fully fledged band. Great! I was one of the few people that actually liked the debut (along with Andrew McNeice it seems), especially with songs like the immense ‘Brighter You Burn’ and ‘Written In Stone’. So, with some interest the CD goes onto the deck ..
I must admit the album opener ‘Judgement Day’ didn’t move my earth. Being a ‘true blue’ AOR’ster perhaps it was too modern sounding for me. No criticism of the band, but perhaps me? (ha ha). Track 2 ‘You Live And You Learn’ came alive when Kenny Loney’s guitar solo drilled a hole in my head. Very nice… (the solo that is .. not the hole in my head!). Preceedings definitely take a turn for the better with the excellent melodia of ‘Take It Or Leave It’. A comparison to Santers or Coney Hatch can be made with ‘Under Her Spell’ while another classy affair is the track ‘It’s You’ which I could imagine a band like Signal (sigh!) taking to new heights.
Overall, I’d say the album is great melodic rock without delivering any real killer blows. It’s moved on since the debut obviously. However, I will say it is sort of disappointing to flick through the tracks looking for that ultimate song and not finding it. In my humble opinion I believe the introduction of different songwriters may help to turn some of these OK songs into potential AOR legends. However, not to quibble too much.
1. Judgement Day (4:10)
2. You Live And You Learn (5:54)
3. The Sleeper (5:11)
4. Take It Or Leave It (4:06)
5. Twisting The Knife (4:23)
6. Under The Spell (3:51)
7. Stealing The Keys (3:58)
8. It’s You (3:40)
9. Come What May (3:17)
10.Dancing On The Edge Of The World (3:51)
11.Wikiest Dreams (4:10)
Chris Ousey — vocals
Kenny Kaos — guitars
Andy Lorimer — keyboards
Dave Hopia — bass
Rob Kurzreiter — drums
Additional Players:
Graham Lord — chello
Jackie Brown — background vocals
Kim Sharman — background vocals
Tracy Mason — background vocals
Donna McVay — background vocals
Mary Callaghan — background vocals
The Distance – Live and Learn 1999