Kevin Ridley is known amongst folk rock fans for being the vocalist of folk-metal pioneers Skyclad taking the place of Martin Walkyier. Kevin Ridley was and is also the band’s producer and has produced many records over the years for bands like Anathema and Venom. So after all this years of creating music with Skyclad and producing records he decided to pursue a solo career.
“Flying in the face of Logic” is the title of the first album released under the name of Kevin Ridley with the Englishman being of course influenced by the English musical tradition. The album is being characterized as folk rock and I guess that could be right. There are catchy folk melodies all over the album with clean guitars and sounds of violins, mandolins, bagpipes and lots of different instruments.
The album is generally good. It has all the uplifting melodies and the characteristics that make a folk rock album enjoyable to a wide range of fans. But it does not challenge anything. It is nice to hear it for one or two spins but after that you realize that the album doesn’t have anything new. If you want to hear some good folk melodies this is a nice album to hear but it does not go further.
Some good songs in the album are “Eat the Sun” with a great guitar solo and a really up lifting chorus. “Good intentions” has also a really nice groove to it and last but no least one of my favorites is “They Dance Till Tomorrow”.
“Flying in the Face of Logic” is not a life changing album but it is a good folk album that fans of folk-metal and folk-rock will enjoy.
