Ted Poley
Smile
2007,Frontiers Records/Zink Music
Rating: 2.5/5

Poley joined Danger Danger in 1988 and formed Bonemachine in 1994.  He released two studio albums and one live album with them before moved on and joined the band Melodica. He rejoined Danger Danger in 2004 and released his first solo album in 2006. His solo album COLLATERAL DAMAGE was very well-received – so much so that Frontiers Records contacted him and proposed he follow up his solo debut.

If you’re into Danger Danger, you’re gonna love SMILE which contains well-played melodic rock. Poley takes control of the soundscape from the very beginning alongside the omnipresent keyboards. Poley’s musical influences on this album seem to be Journey, Foreigner or Survivor.

The album contains 12 songs, one of which - “If I Can’t Change Your Heart (Then Let Me Blow Your Mind)” - is featured twice; Its first instance is 5 minutes long, but it reappears as “Reprise (If I Can’t Change Your Heart)”, at half the playing time and totally acoustic with strings.

Poley wrote the album with Tom and James Martin (Khymera, House of Lords), but I can’t say that I’m impressed by the material. It’s well-executed by standard melodic rock standards, but most of the songs are about love – a topic which is a bit old at the moment. This is an ordinary melodic rock album and nothing more. It might work when you listen to it as background music when you do the dishes, but it’s not an album that needds to be dissected and analyzed. It seems like I have heard this album about a hundred times before by different artist or bands. That’s how generic SMILE feels.

Ted Poley – lead vocals, b-vox, piano on “While It Ends”
JK Northrup – guitar, bass
Dan Zoid – drums
Eric Ragno – keyboards
Vic Rivera – guitar – b, vox on “Smile”, “Will Ya”
Gary Corbett – keyboards on “More Than Goodbye”

More info about the band
www.tedpoley.com

Label
www.frontiers.it
www.zinkmusic.com

Tracklist
Waiting Line
Going Blind
Smile
What If She Know
More Than Goodbye
Luv On me
If I Can’t Change Your Heart (Then Let Me Blow Your Mind)
Why Can’t We Pretend It’s Over
Life Keeps Spinning Me Around
Where It Ends
Will Ya
Reprise (If I Can’t Change Your Heart)