VEGA-Only Human

Frontiers Music srl

With their third CD ‘Stereo Messiah’ and their fourth ‘Who We Are’ the UK rockers Vega really hit the nail right on the head proving to be probably the finest AOR outfit coming out of the UK for the moment. I have been looking forward to this ‘Only Human’ CD armed with quite high expectations. In the meantime the band around James Martin (keyboards) his brother Tom on bass, singer Nick Workman, guitarist Marcus Thurston and drummer Martin Hutchinson have added a second guitar player to the group in the person of Mikey Kew and that might be the main reason that there is a slight change of style to be heard on ‘Only Human’. Although the style of Vega is mainly still AOR minded it is clear to hear that the extra guitar has shifted the focus a bit more towards melodic heavy rock this time. The guitars have a more prominent role on the twelve songs that have been composed by the Martin bros and Nick Workman. As was the case on ‘Who We Are’ the band once again made good use of the services of Harem Scarem singer Harry Hess who mixed and mastered the CD while the band members themselves took take of the production. Already the riff that dominates the first track ,,Let’s Have Fun’’ announces a heavier approach with a bit more tempo and less keys. It is in a way quite a logical progress if you have been following this group through the years. They have kept the AOR ingredients but have beefed up their sound without offending the old fans by completely abandoning their old tricks. Like I said, Vega shows a natural progress on ‘Only Human’ and does that in style being backed by excellent musicianship, a top notch vocalist and a solid less smooth sound and production. It took me a few spins but when the penny finally dropped….