The Believers (16)

An excellent trio from the UK with a smooth radio style of melodic rock. This one's a real grower actually. When I first heard it, I thought 'ho hum..' but upon repeated listenings, there are some wonderful moments on here worthy of further exploration, and I am a converted fan. All three have played with many different UK artists over the years. Tibbs was previously a member of Adam And The Ants and Roxy Music, Elias has played with ex Van Der Graaf Generator mainman Peter Hamill as well as early UK new wave popsters Naked Eyes, while guitarist Andy Skelton has been a member of John Wetton's touring band, and even appears on Wetton's 'Chasing The Dragon' live album. The closest comparison would be The Outfield, combining their great sense of melody and commercialness. The band benefit from the superb production skills of Greg Ladanyi. Honestly anything Greg gets involved with gets my vote of confidence. The songs on 'Extraordinary Life' I don't think are anything different, but they are given some room by Landanyi's breathy production, plus the professional delivery by these three seasoned musicians. Also contributing is C.J Vanston who does all the keyboards and organs on the abum.