Robin McAuley is one of those rare cases as he continues to impress us all with his unique voice that remains intact throughout the years. It gives you chills down your spine as you can’t really tell if you are listening to a brand new album or an outtake of a classic MSG effort that was released more than 30 years ago. Naturally, this asset alone is sufficient enough to uplift any album that bears McAuley’s vocal performance. It’s an undeniable fact.
“Standing On The Edge” is yet another, almost typical Frontiers release. And we add the word “almost” as there are a few elements in there that deviate the course of the overall aesthetic by Frontiers Records. Of course, we bump on Alessandro Del Vecchio and Tommy Denander but the presence of Howard Leese (even as special guest on one song) pushes the quality level even further. But the strong points on the album are 3-4 songs and the aforementioned, magical of Robin McAuley. Tracks like “Do You Remember”, “Say Goodbye” and “Supposed To Do Now” remind of the good, old MSG days with catchy choruses and well-crafted song-structure. On the other hand the flat production of the album doesn’t help much.
All in all, I have mixed emotions about “Standing On The Edge” as on the one hand I expected more flawless songs but you can’t help but feeling great upon listening to Robin McAuley. From my perspective, I’d give a positive mark on “Standing On The Edge” for that aspect alone.
Highlight: Truth be told; I enjoyed more the debut release by Black Swan.
