When most people hear the name Michael Lee mentioned in the music industry, they first think of the legendary drummer whom played for such greats as The Cult, Echo & the Bunnymen and most notably Robert Plant’s and Jimmy Page’s answer to a finally fallen Led Zepplin. This is not that Michael Lee, may he rest in peace, but a new artist from Buckinghamshire (both hailing from the United Kingdom, respectively) with a new record, Face Forward, a fierce alternative rock album with ambient sensibility and star quality performances.
Every song on Face Forward is remarkably consistent, an impeccable studio album with Michael Lee himself playing 10 instruments including vocals. All of the artists in Lee’s entourage have an incredible sense of dynamic control perhaps best displayed in the album’s namesake song “Face Forward,” – an instrumental, of all things! Progressive layers of sound build with Lee –also on drums- into something more on par with rock opera. Imagine a much more mellow, chill Queen and you have Michael Lee’s epic album, yet they are multi-inspired and definitely developing their own unique style. The guitar and vocals are unmistakably some sort of alien homage to Jeff Buckley, though Michael Lee is more consistent perhaps and less on the experimental side. Their inspiration is as though they were picking up right where Jeff tragically left off. Hopefully there is room in live performances to seek out such innovative music, but there is almost something too neat and clean about Face Forward, that has more pop sensibility then alternative creativity. While well suited to the production studio and the radio, one must question the playability live.
“Despite” has a nice bluesy sound, but Lee fails to fully resolute many of the minor notes, usually nice and dirty, occasionally turns pitchy when the verse builds; by the chorus everything is perfect again. One desires to hear the pain and struggle in those notes more, reaching more into an alternative soul that understands these songs shouldn’t only be about personal suffering, but the resonance of that pattern where ever one might travel this world with music. The musician is essentially lucky in that they are only singing about the pain, and usually not directly experiencing it, though Face Forward has its moments of real empathic caring, it is questionable how much of this is metaphor and how much has really been lived through by the artist(s).
Face Forward is a powerful album with plenty of songs that are all at once comforting to the soul, refreshing to one’s musical senses, and full of glorious alternative fuzzy guitar goodness. There are multiple tracks here that deserve to be singles, such as “Trust” or “In The Picture” having choruses good enough to stick in your mind and cheer up your day, or ease that aching heart; whereas the instrumentals and verses are complex enough to listen to the album many times through, discovering little guitar echoes fading to trippy keys or wonderful chorus harmonies that perfectly support Michael Lee. This is what producers are talking about when a musician can both perform and cut a perfect studio album: Michael Lee has “starpower” or that “wow-factor,” if you will, as a producer and the ability to back it up with a full-blown live concert tour. But in order to do so he will have to be humble, and surround himself with many talented artists in order to compensate for the massive about of studio work he now takes on mostly single-handedly. This American writer will be hoping they get enough homeland support to cross the pond and give our bars, clubs and stadiums a go! The only real negative critique one can think of is confidence: they have all the right ingredients to be super-stars, now they just have to want it and show the fans that they need it. See a little of the world, write some more songs about why the love ballads like “Distant Future” are important. What love is worth protecting from all these problems we face? Perhaps even a name change would be appropriate, or a side-project where Lee’s creative energy is forced to synergize more with other artists whom have experiences that would add to Michael Lee’s lyrical perspective and instrumental experimentation. Face Forward is technically impeccable, but so perfectionist and self-indulgent that one misses the grunge or perhaps punk aspects inherent in the lyrics and verging on strange guitar solos, but not necessarily clearly vocalized or expressed. The only remedy for this is life: traveling, touring and really trying to understand the ethnicity of each exotic land you are blessed enough to travel through, otherwise the refrain in “Never Enough Time” could destroy anyone’s fame with simple worry and ego. Michael Lee is strong enough to go out into the world and help solve some major issues with his music, and maintain the confidence and charisma needed to truly become an international recording artist, but it will take lots of hard work and understanding only gained helping others.
Review by Julian Gorman
