Anyone's Daughter - Danger World

Year of Release: 2001
Label: ePark / Zomba
Catalog Number: 367.3006.2
Format: CD
Total Time: 50:17:00

This version of Anyone's Daughter, which is made up of members of the band's previous incarnation, is not the prog band one heard on Requested Document and the albums from which those live tracks were culled from. Whereas the classic Anyone's Daughter of the early 80s reminded one of Genesis musically and of Lake/Wetton vocally, the Anyone's Daughter of the 00s will recall the AOR of Asia (the aspect of that that most folks dislike). Vocalist Andr? Carswell sounds a bit like John Payne. Mike And The Mechanics and Squeeze also come to mind, without the quirkiness of the latter. There is a distinct R & B feel to the music, as witnessed by the bouncy "Good Gone Bad." "Danger World," the title track, is dark and grinding, but somehow not quite grinding enough for the "danger" to come through -- I liken it to the Moody Blues, "Other Side Of Life." Here's the funny thing, with it's driving, danceable beat, it could even be a N*sync or Backstreet Boys track. Not that I listen to either mind you, but haven't stumbled upon brief snippets of videos and performances over the years? well I just picture their synchronized dance steps here. The song does cut to fade rather abruptly, though ? poor editing.

Okay, if you forget that Anyone's Daughter were a prog band twenty years ago and aren't now, this isn't a bad album. I mean, folks who like the bands mentioned above or solo Phil Collins (this I think during the James Taylor like ballad "I'll Never Walk That Road Again.") or other mid-tempo R&B/jazz influenced AOR bands will like this. And, I have to tell you that I do fall into that category. But except for a few brief flashes or progness that might just be "wishful thinking," this isn't prog. Those flashes are "prog-like" parpy keys mostly, though their proggiest track overall is the mostly instrumental "Helios". "Ebony White" is a percolating track, with some cool textures (as in, "cool!")? here again it is the keys and bass and their interaction. The overly poppy DeYoung-led Styx is what will come to mind, mainly as Carswell sounds a bit like him here, but not in that "oh my, how he sounds like DeYoung" kind of way ? not sure what it's about, really? "The Glory" is squarely a Mechanics tune, and one of the better tracks on the album ? though there's a bit of percussion off to the side that I find annoying?too digital sounding, hollow and dry. "Wheel Of Fortune" has a strong Celtic feel, provided by Martin Schnabel on violin, but the guitar of Uwe Karpa mimics this sound at the end. "Moria" is soon to be heard on the dance floor at your local rave? the drum machine churns out dance beat number 7. Think of Dirty Vegas' current hit "Days Go By," strip the lyrics and speed the beat a bit. Bounce everyone, bounce! Bob, bob, bob, bob, bob? it's catchy because it's designed to be, but?well? for what it is, it's okay. But from this band, it does make you want to go back to the first few tracks of the album. "No Return" is very cool (as in cold, detached and over processed?sterile, though Carswell makes a valiant effort vocally).

Unlike Bobo (sorry), I don't "blame" Carswell for this new sound, or his ethnicity (though I'm sure it was said tongue in cheek). He didn't have a credited hand in the creation of the music - that would be Matthias Ulmer (keyboards) mainly, plus a few outside writers. There are two tracks here, "Moria" and "The Sundance Of The Haute Provence" that were composed by Ulmer, previous vocalist Harald Bareth, Karpa and the band's first drummer, Kono Konopik. Given the results of "Moria," you can't think it is left over from their heydays. The latter's pretty keyboard intro, starts like its going to be a take on Stephanie Mills' "Never Knew Love Like This Before." But, aside from the Hammond and the shrill keys played along side, it is a very sedate ballad. I'd have left off the koto like keys, and kept just the Hammond and Carswell's vocals. And this needed to mixed such that the keys (both sets) were a notch or two back and the vocals a notch or two forward.

For the most part, I like this album, but I can say if I had been a long time fan, excited by new material from them, I'd be very disappointed. This isn't just a case of a band aging, of progressing from their 80s prog, but a band, or 3/5 of a band, taking an entirely different path. With this, aside from the techno bits, Anyone's Daughter has entered the realm of pure, R &B based pop.

Tracklisting:
Nina (3:44) / Good Gone Bad (3:39) / Danger World (5:36) / I'll Never Walk That Road Again (5:29) / Ebony White (3:46) / The Glory (4:29) / Wheel Of Fortune (5:08) / Helios (3:34) / Moria (4:40) / No Return (5:44) / The Sundance Of The Haute Province (4:01)

Musicians:
Andr? Carswell - lead vocals
Uwe Karpa - guitars
Peter Kumpf - drums
Raoul Walton - bass
Matthias Ulmer - keyboards, backing vocals

Additional musicians:

Frank St?ckle - acoustic and electric guitar (1, 4)
Martin Schnabel - electric violin (7)
Paul Harryman - bass (7)

Discography:
Adonis (1979)
Anyone's Daughter (1980)
Piktors Verwandlungen (1981)
In Blau (1982)
Neue Sterne (1983)
Live (1984)
Last Tracks (1986)
Danger World (2001)
Requested Document Live 1980-1983 (2001)
Wrong (2004)

Genre: Rock

Origin DE

Added: July 30th 2002
Reviewer: Stephanie Sollow
Score:
Artist website: www.anyonesdaughter.de
Hits: 2597
Language: english