NIGHTINGALE - I
August 17, 2000, 23 years ago
(Black Mark)
Man, Dan Swano continues to sweep up trace bits of influence and make them his own. The very literary "I" begins with an elusive base of generality, sort of akin to all the bits from Deep Purple, Rainbow and Whitesnake few have dared to ingest, all the non-bluesy stuff, but the tones and tunes that are softly heavy, Dan then adding what can only be described as hard Saga or Kansas or Foreigner, a bit of Zeppelin, all cloaked in a unifying emotional vibe that is not so much despair as melancholy or seriousness. The production is wide and resplendent, but wholly unshowy, Dan thenceforth lacing his eccentric vocals o'ertop, a sound that is not unlike martini-sipping Coverdale crossed with Eddie Vedder. Much keyboards, much acoustic, much mellowness and reflection, but usually banged home with big drums. But when the riffs take off, watch out, 'Still In The Dark' and 'Dead Or Alive' sounding like the most glory-bound of Rainbow rocks, not anything so base as power metal, more like the lost Down To Earth sessions. Here's a weird one: booklet includes most (all?) the lyrics to Nightingale's previous two albums.
