Don Airey
A Light in the Sky
2008,Mascot Records/Border Music
Rating: 3/5
The keyboard player Don Airey has been a member of Deep Purple since 2003 and he released his first solo album K2 – THE TALES OF TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY 20 years ago. Now he’s releasing his second solo album with Rob Harris on guitar, two different ensembles taking care of the rhythm sections and Thunder singer Danny Bowes on lead vocals. He managed to record and finish the album in three weeks between touring with Deep Purple.
It’s not easy to describe Airey’s musical style, but the best approximation is a mix of 70’s retro hard rock and fusion progressive rock. The album is proof that Airey is one of the best keyboard players around. The disc is almost strictly instrumental aside from a few tracks.
A LIGHT IN THE SKY is a very long album. It contains 16 tracks, amongst which is a cover of the 1950’s song “Rocket to the Moon” originally performed by Moon Mulligan. Thunder drummer James sings in this version. Airey seems very interested in astronomy judging by the titles of the songs.
I’m normally not at all into instrumental albums, but this is an exception. All of the songs are equally strong and the bar is set high; the disc is very consistent, but a song that stands out a little more is “Love You Too Much,” where Thunder singer Bowes handles the mic. “Shooting Star”, “Endless Night” and “A Light in the Sky” are also a little bit better than the rest. The cover of “Rocket to the Moon” is also worth mentioning.
If it wasn’t for the high number of instrumental songs I’d have given the album a higher rating. Airey is one of the best keyboard players today, but it’s a bit too much for me to listen to mainly keyboard-based songs for almost an hour. If you can’t get enough of Airey then he’s got a European tour in the works, but it depends on which musicians are available at the same time he is.
Don Airey – keyboards
Laurence Cottle – bass
Chris Childs – bass
Darrin Mooney – drums
Harry James – drums, vocals
Rob Harris – guitar
Lidia Baich – violin
Danny Bowes – lead vocals
Carl Sentence – lead vocals
More info about the band
www.donairey.com
Label
www.mascotrecords.com
www.border.se
Tracklist
1. Ripples in the Fabric of Time
2. Shooting Star
3. Space Patrol
4. Andromeda
5. Endless Night
6. Rocket to the Moon
7. Lift Off
8. Love you too Much
9. Cartwheel
10. Sombrero
11. Into Orbit
12. A light in the Sky
13. Pale Blue Dot
14. Metallicity
15. Big Crunch
16. Till the End
