Side project from Metal Church main man, Kurdt Vanderhoof. Have now changed name to Presto Ballet.

VANDERHOOF (1997) SPV/STEAMHAMMER

  1. Bleed
  2. Machine
  3. Take To The Sky
  4. Falling On Earth
  5. Earth - instrumental
  6. Angel Now
  7. Out Alive
  8. Beg
  9. 50 Cent Symphony
  10. Tons Of Time
  11. 40 Days Now
  12. Game Is Played

Line-up:

Kurdt Vanderhoof - 6 & 12 string acoustic & electric guitars, bass, fretless bass, mandolin, Hammond organ, Mellotron, synthesizers, electric piano, lead & backing vocals

Damon Albright - Lead Vocals

Kirk Arrington - Drums, percussion, vocals

Brian Cokeley - Hammond organ, piano, vocals

Dave Hawkes - Bass, vocals

Guests:

Gary Evans - Hammond organ on 1, 2, 3, 11

"Mr. Marc" Hardy - Harmonica on 10

I'm not sure whether I bought this album first, or if I saw the band in concert first. Anyway, I remember this band being plugged, when they opened for Savatage on their '97 European tour, as the new band with members from Metal Church. And while Kurdt Vanderhoof is the man behind this project, and he brought with him Kirk too, this band has no similarities to Metal Church at all. Vanderhoof play 60-'s and 70's inspired hard rock. This is not metal, this is bluesy, trippy, hippie rock! The album does open with the catchy "Bleed", arguably the best song on the entire album, along with the amazing ballad "Falling To Earth". Initially I was not exactly thrilled about all of the others. This was probably because of the fact that this kind of music didn't appeal to me. I had no problem giving props to the band members ability to play, but that didn't help much when the album sort of bored me. But taking the CD off of the shelve now to review it for this page, it's like discovering a new album! I really dig most of the songs on this self-titled debut now. And what a fabulous singer Damon is! Tracks like "Take To The Sky" and "Out Alive" are also pretty cool, delivering some cool 70's hard rock, complete with blistering Hammond organ, but the repetitive choruses brings the overall feeling of the tunes down. Still, listen to this album with your headphones on, and shut the rest of the world out, and you're bound to find a song or 5 you'll enjoy. I might also mention that my copy of this CD comes without the Vanderhoof name written on the front of the cover. What the heck is that picture illustrating anyway?

Killer tracks: Bleed, Falling To Earth, Angel Now, Out Alive, Beg, 50 Cent Symphony

Related Artists:

Metal Church