Caffery, Chris - Faces

Year of Release: 2004
Label: Black Lotus Records
Catalog Number: BLRCD072
Format: CD
Total Time: 79:55:00

Many great musicians that are a part of the great bands of this earth, all feel the need to do their own thing once in a while and thus they record a solo album. For guitarist Chris Caffery, that took him 20 years, but here it is: Faces. He brings with him a load of experience, from playing with Savatage, of course, but also from Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Dr. Butcher, Circle II Circle (with former Savatage singer Zak Stevens) and that shows. The lineup of his solo album consist of Mr. Caffery taking the lead guitar and the lead vocals, Paul Morris (Rainbow, Doro) on keys, Dave Z (TSO) on bass and Savatage buddy Jeff Plate on drums.

As my expectations of Zak's Circle II Circle were pretty high, but it turned out to be a Savatage clone, I decided to first hear the music and then set my hopes. Apparently he has a lot to tell, as the album is just over 76 minutes and has 16 tracks. The album is released with a 40 minute bonus disc, called God Damn War, but unfortunately yours truly did not get that with the album, so I'll stick to Faces.

Opener "Alas" starts heavy, with rolling drums and flows over in title tracks "Faces," which is fast, heavy and aggressive. Unfortunately the first comparison with Savatage is quickly made, as I find Caffery's voice very similar to Jon Oliva's. But it is a pleasant surprise, Caffery is quite an OK singer. Musically it is not as similar as Circle II Circle was, but you can hear the spirit of Savatage in the music. The general sound on Faces is more raw than Savatage, with aggressive riffs and vocals and less harmonies. On the other hand, to say the album is only filled with aggressive riffs, is not true. At times, he manages to sound just a bit different, like in "Music Man," which has a more more blues/country like guitar. A sort of campfire song, with (yes, they are not all gone), some harmony vocals. The rest of the band is also very good, although I don't hear that much keyboards in the songs. But "Bag O'Bones," has a very dominant bass, which is nice after all that guitar violence.

Faces is a nice addition for the fans of Savatage and similar bands. If you are not too weakhearted, you might enjoy it, as it is pretty raw. Nothing spectacular, but not bad either. Personally I prefer Savatage, as they bring a little more melody in the music. But Faces does show Chris Caffery can stand on his own.

[This review originally appeared October 2004 at the ProgPower Online review site -ed.]
Tracklisting:
Alas / Faces / Fade Into The X / Pisses Me Off / Remember / The Fall / Music Man / Life, Crazy Life!!! / The Mold / Bag O'Bones / Evil Is As Evil Does / Never / So Far Today / Jealousy / Preludio / Abandoned

Musicians:
Chris Caffrey - guitar, vocals
Paul Morris - keyboards
Dave Z - bass
Jeff Plate ? drums

Discography:
Dirty Looks - Turn Of The Screw (1988)
Big Mouth - Quite Not Right (1988)
Savatage - Gutter Ballet (1989)
Various - From The Dungeons To The Streets (w/Savatage) (1992)
Doctor Butcher - Doctor Butcher (1994/1999)
Savatage - Japan Live '94 (1994)
Savatage - The Dungeons Are Calling (1994)
Sun Red Sun - Sun Red Sun (1995)
Savatage - The Final Bell (1995)
Savatage - Ghost In The Ruins (1995)
Savatage - Dead Winter Dead (1995)
Savatage - From The Gutter To The Stage (1996)
Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Christmas Eve And Other Stories (1996)
Savatage - The Best And The Rest (1997)
Savatage - The Wake Of Magellan (1997/1998)
Joe Lynn Turner - Hurry Up And Wait (1998)
Trans-Siberian Orchestra - The Christmas Attic (1998)
Savatage - Believe (1998)
Sun Red Sun - Lost Tracks (1999)
Various - Rock Super Stars, Vol 2 - Guns 'n' Roses Tribute (1999)
Metalium - Legends Of Steel (1999)
Various - Burning, Tribute To Accept (w/Metallium) (1999)
Metalium - Millenium Metal - Chapter One (1999)
Doctor Butcher - The Demos (1999)
Various - A Tribute To The Beast, Vol. 2 (2000)
Various - Slave To The Power: Iron Maiden Tribute (2000)
Various - The Grinch Soundtrack (w/TSO) (2000)
Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Beethoven's Last Night (2000)
Shockazooloo - TM Stevens (2001)
Blockk 16 - Too Brutal For Radio (2001)
Savatage - Poets And Madmen (2001)
John West - Earthmaker (2002)
Doro - Fight (2002)
Joe Lynn Turner - JLT (2003)
Murder 1 - On High (2003)
Circle II Circle - Watching In Silence (2003)
Trans-Siberian Orchestra - The Lost Christmas Eve (2004)
Faces (2004)

Metalium - Metalian Attack Part 1 (1999-2001) (DVD) (2001)
Doro - Fur Immer (DVD) (2003)
Trans-Siberian Orchestra - The Ghosts Of Christmas Eve (DVD) (2001)

Genre: Progressive-Power Metal

Origin US

Added: November 27th 2004
Reviewer: Marcel Haster
Score:
Artist website: www.chriscaffery.com
Hits: 3111
Language: english