SFK

SEDONA - DRAGONFLY, Vortex, 1998
[Similarities: Rush, Pearl Jam, Rainbow]

It's bands like Sedona that restore my faith in the ever-stagnating genre of melodic rock. Sedona have a modern sound, but not in a 90s sense but more of a contemporary sense (did that make 'sense'?). Let me clarify...the band are obviously influenced by 80s hard rock, yet instead of rehashing old riffs and the like, seem more intent on reinventing the sound and for the most part succeed.

Though the album can tend to have a dark tone at times, it's an absolutely compelling listen. It took me a few spins before anything began to stick. Songs like the killer opening of "Filling Up The Holes", the soaring attack of "Wrong" and the driving "Run Wild Horses" are the kinds of tunes that need some time to blossom but the end result is well worth it. The instrumental "Galileo's Reach" is a stunner and sounds sorta like Pink Floyd on steroids. Mike Fox's guitar work is shaping up to be the stuff of "heroes". The music within covers so many bases yet the band stays true to themselves at all times, and that in itself is to be commended. The disc, by the way, is a full multimedia explosion with all sorts of computer goodies within and is an example of the future that any band would be proud of.

-Kurt Torster