It's not often that you hear of rock bands from the tropical islands of Trinidad and Tobago. And judging from this very interesting Jeff Glixman-produced debut by Trinidad-based quintet ORANGE SKY that's a damn shame. It's too bad they open the album with the horrible NICKELBACK-ish pop/rock of "It's Over". It doesn't really do this album justice, since less patient listeners now might mistake it for yet another one of those assembly-line post-grunge releases, and as a whole the album is just too good for that. ORANGE SKY play melodic hard rock with harmony vocals and intricate rhythm patterns somewhat reminiscent of KING'S X, twin guitars that bring to mind THIN LIZZY and on top of that the very Corey Glover(LIVING COLOUR)-esque voice of singer/guitarist/songwriter Nigel Rojas. Yeah, this is black rock all right!!

In between all the heavy rockin' there's also bits of reggae and Caribbean music and the great thing is that these parts sound as if they actually belong there. No forced crossover mannerisms here, ORANGE SKY plays it all as if it just comes naturally to them. Goddammit, as unbelievable as it may seem even the rap parts in "Alone" and the reggae-rock interpretation of CAT STEVENS' "Peace Train" are great!!

"Upstairs" is not exactly a party rock record. The album as a whole has an atmosphere of seriousness and melancholy about it that won't be for everyone, but if the song material is as good as this I don't mind. It's not a perfect album. Personally I'd like this band even more if they lost some of their MOR tendencies (that opening track, the boring LIVE-esque "Fallin'" and the cheesy piano intermezzo in "Real Love") but luckily I have a skip button on my remote for that. When they're at their best (on tracks like "Cast Away" and the aforementioned "Alone") their songs are downright addictive! So all nitpicking aside ORANGE SKY are a truly promising band and I will follow their career closely from now on.

- Van Hoften

OFFICIAL SITE: myspace.com/theorangesky

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