Vega
Only Human

Visionary webzine Hallowed has been strangely positive for several reviews in a row, which is somewhat strange and what’s even stranger is that we are continuing on that path with one more positive review because who can be negative to Vega? And why such a long first sentence? Those are all relevant questions when taking on the fifth album by British AOR heroes Vega. That album is called Only Human and like the previous two album we have reviewed by this band, it gets a positive review. But before you go out or to the internet and buy yourself a copy you might just read my nonsense just for the fun of it – or something else.

Easily described as AOR, catchy and melodic hard rock music with sing-along choruses and really strong melodies. The production is also excellent with a sound that would make many genre competitor envious, add to that great vocals and you have the ingredients to make strong AOR. And that is what they do; they stay within the confines of the AOR style and don’t really offer any surprises. What they do has been done many, many times before – there are no surprises offered by Vega. They seem to want to perfect the style rather than to evolve it and they have done so very well so far and could probably be considered one of the stronger bands in the genre. They will however never be considered as one of the greats because if you want to reach that level you have to offer something that haven’t been done before, none of the really big names have reached that level by doing what has been done to death before. But Vega are one of the best at what they do, and that is really catchy AOR music.

Great album, fun album, impressive catchiness and things like that are ways how I would describe Only Human. It’s only problem is that it is a tad on the long side and that the second half of the album feels a bit slow, it ends better and starts great but tracks six to eleven feels a bit like something on autopilot. But that isn’t such a big deal; the songs are pretty good even though the album feels slightly long. The best track is the third one called Last Man Standing and along with that I can also mention that the first five tracks are the best of the album, which begins really well. I find this to be a really good album and one of the highlight AOR-albums this year; perhaps it might even find its way into our top list of the year.

An album that shouldn’t be missed by anyone who enjoys the AOR genre, for you it is a must have. I think that it is an album that will appeal to anyone who is exposed to it, one of those albums that you just can’t dislike. And it even has a really fine artwork, so don’t miss it – it is well worth giving a few moments of your time.

HHHHHHH