SEVENTH KEY - The Raging Fire
April 5, 2004, 20 years ago
(InsideOut)
Seventh Key play standard yet uplifting old style hair metal with the prog flourishes of a House Of Lords or White Lion or Saga, no surprise given the presence of Mike Slamer on guitar. But Seventh Key (this is the second album) is very much the domain of bassist/vocalist Billy Greer from Kansas, both guys having played together in the under-rated Streets project. Greer's voice is quite similar to Steve Walsh's, possessing that same ability to replenish the listener's soul, but the resulting album is conservative and predictable, given the age and gray roots of these guys. What you get is Streets and drift-era Kansas heavied and brightened, many late '80s conventions re-presented.
