PAUL SABU – Strange Messiah

Paul Sabu, most remembered for his work with artist like Madonna, Cory Hart, Alice Cooper, Duran Duran, Heart, and Prince among a lot of others, is now out with a new solo record, entitled Strange Messiah. Like the previous record releases from Sabu, this is also too monotone and absolutely going nowhere. Sabu has earlier been voted as the second greatest AOR vocalist in Kerrang! magazine and is a legend in the Melodic Rock world. That is a little unintelligible. Paul is a great singer for sure, but doesn’t work well as a songwriter. Actually, the only song that is interesting on this album is the opening track. “Strange Messiah,” which in the opposite of the majority of the other tunes is very, very good and features a very dark and atmospheric sound, delivering some very cool guitar riffs. Additionally, you get Paul’s very special, but chimerical vocals. The guitar solo is actually a joy to listen to as well. The opener is followed by “Dangerous Behavior,” which is another of the few songs that is worth a try. It becomes a little irritating that the bad production drags the song down.

After these songs the album turns into a total fiasco, from “Blow By Blow” to the very ending chord of ”Rock Your World,” which is the last pathetic breath of this futile record. When it comes to the band, the guitar players are the only ones that really impress a little. Apart from Michael Voss tight guitar playing, you’ll hear the fantastic lead guitars of Ralf Hayne and Thorsten Koehne. The bass lines of Matthias Rethmann don’t give any kick to the music, and the drumming of Gereon Homann is absolutely uninteresting. The production of Strange Messiah is a tragedy.

Lineup

Paul Sabu – Vocals, Guitars
Matthias Rethmann – Bass
Gereon Homann – Drums
Michael Voss – add. Guitars
Ralf Heyne – Lead Guitars
Thorsten Koehne – Lead Guitars
Angel G. Schleifer – Slide Guitar

Tracklist

1. Strange Messiah
2. Dangerous Behaviour
3. Blow By Blow
4. Ashes Of Wrong
5. Fighting To Die
6. Headbangers
7. Hey Look (But Don’t Touch)
8. Piece Of My Heart
9. Jack Of All Trades
10. Rock Your World