SAFE HAVEN – Safe Haven

This is just another one of those examples of musicians from bands who used to be famous in the 1980’s and 1990’s trying to hit it big again and failing so sadly …

Micheal Vescera on vocals used to play with Loudness, Obsession, Yngwie Malmsteen, and MVP(Mike Vescera Project). Chris McCarvil on bass used to play in the Jeff Scott Soto Band, and XfactoryX, and Phil Suarez on drums came from Soundscape. The two last guys in Safe Haven are Eric Riordan on guitars and Mike Mongillo as a guest musician on keyboards.

Together they were hoping to create a masterpiece, but alas, alas … this album is only listenable as background music, and unfortunately there are hardly any catchy tunes on this CD, so in that setting you probably won’t even notice what’s playing. The musicians are good, but neither the production nor the lyrics are good enough, and that’s a shame for AOR fans.

The album has eleven songs. The first one, “Do You Remember Me,” is one of the few that might stick in your mind for a while, and also the last song, “I Forget The Words,” is a beautiful instrumental tune. The nine songs in between, though, basically just vanish into the haze.

At times, some of their songs resemble the Swedish band Europe, which could be a good thing, but when they just keep you waiting and waiting for that special moment in the song, and it ever happens … well, it’s just not worth it.

Safe Haven will not make a big buzz in the AOR world this time …