Thought it might be time for another whistle-stop tour of a band, give you a flavour of what they're about, feature some tracks from their repertoire, and perhaps introduce you to some music you may up to now not have heard, or perhaps even be unaware existed. This time around it's British prog metal band
Balance of Power
I did feature one of their albums here some time ago, the excellent “Perfect balance”, but that was a while ago, and they have created a lot more good music prior to, and since, that release. First though, a little history.
Balance of Power were formed in London around 1995, and have to date released six albums, one of which also contains a CD of live music AND a DVD, but more of that later. The current lineup of the band is below, though as with most bands who have been together for a while, there have been some changes since they started out, as noted below.
Corey Brown --- vocals (see note 1)
Pete Southern --- guitar (see note 2)
Tony Ritchie --- bass (see note 3)
Lionel Hicks --- drums
Note 1: Original vocalist was in fact Ritchie, who now concentrates on bass duties. He was also a founder member, though after Balance of Power's first album, “When the world falls down”, he was replaced as vocalist by Lance King, who remained in the post until 2003, just before the recording of their last proper album, “Heathen machine”, when he was replaced in turn by John K. Corey Brown is the current vocalist, but although he played with the band on some gigs he has not yet been involved in any albums.
Note 2: When the band formed there were in fact two guitarists, Paul Curtis and Bill Yates. Curtis left after the first album, but Yates stayed on for three more albums, sharing guitar duties with new man Pete Southern. After 2001's “Perfect balance” he left, leaving Southern as the sole axeman for their, to date, last album.
Note 3: As mentioned above, Ritchie was originally vocalist on the debut album but switched to bass guitar when he was replaced by Lance King. He was a founder member of the band, but prior to King's arrival, bass duties were taken by Chris Dale, also a member of the original lineup.
(It should also be mentioned that although on some BoP albums there were no keyboards (or at least, no keyboard player credited), Ivan Gunn, founder of the band, took these for the first and second albums, with Leon Lawson coming in for the next two. “Ten more tales of grand illusion” does not credit any keysman.)
When the world falls down (1997)
Their debut was first released in Japan, and it's a damn good first try. Right from the off, after the atmospheric keyboard intro it goes into full-fledged rock mode, with great vocal harmonies, catchy melodies and to be honest, more an AOR feel than prog metal, featuring their signature tune, the eponymous “Balance of power”. But it's tracks like “Hide your heart”
and “These are the days”
that make this album stand out from the crowd. Admittedly, this is more an AOR effort than true progressive metal, but future albums would take on a much harder, heavier edge, and establish Balance of Power as true exponents of melodic, mature and powerful prog metal. As debuts go, therefore, it's not the strongest but neither is it a bad album, just that what would follow would make “When the world falls down” seem just a little ordinary.
Book of secrets (1998)
Only a year on, but what a change for Balance of Power's second album. New vocalist Lance King replaced Tony Ritchie, and their sound became much heavier and more in the vein of metal than rock, with a concept album based on, believe it or not, the Bible Code.
With ongoing narration from Rob Brown, the album tells the story of the coming final days of the Earth, and you can hear the urgency in the much-heavier music that populates the album, like “Walking on top of the world”
and the excellent “Seven days to nevermore”
As mentioned, this album marked the debut of singer Lance King, and also the swansong for founder member and keyboard player Ivan Gunn. It also featured the debut for guitarist Pete Southern, who would become BoP's main axeman and stay with them to the end. The album was produced and engineered by Lionel Hicks, and he certainly seems to have done a very good job!
Ten more tales of grand illusion (1999)
Only a year later they were back with their third album, “Ten more tales of grand illusion”. This continued the heavy metal influence and more or less eschewed the commercial/AOR feel of the debut. Again produced by Hicks, the album heads almost into the realms of speed/thrash metal at times, while still retaining the melodic style that characterised previous albums.
Examples of the growing maturity of Balance of Power include the likes of “Blind man”
and the shattering “Sins of the world”
This album spelled the end of Chris Dale's involvement, and for the follow-up he would be replaced by Balance of Power's original vocalist, founder member Tony Ritchie on bass.
Perfect balance (2001)
Already extensively reviewed by me earlier, “Perfect balance” is indeed that, the perfect coming together of this band and without question their best album. It features the last appearances of Lance King behind the mike, and Bill Yates on guitar, and whereas no keyboard player was credited on the previous album (if there was a keysman; it sounds like there was) this time Leon Lawson takes up those duties. The development of the band is now complete: they have mostly dropped the soft-rock leanings of “When the world falls down” more and more, and concentrate on a heavier, more powerful sound.
To be fair, just about every track on “Perfect balance” is excellent, but as we can only pick two we'll go for two of my favourites, the stunning “Shelter me”
and the wonderful “One voice”
both of which showcase the melodic rock element of this band, the way they can rock like demons but still retain the musical expertise and songwriting ability that can make their songs seem very commercial, even if they haven't achieved anything in the way of chart success, or even much recognition.
Heathen machine (2003)
To date the band's last album, apart from a compilation featuring live material released in 2005, “Heathen machine” is the first (and so far only) Balance of Power album to feature new vocalist John K. As mentioned, Bill Yates had also departed by now, leaving Pete Southern as the sole guitarist. Leon Lawson remains on keyboards.
It's another powerful album, and if it is to be their last then it's a fitting ending, bristling with great songs, like “Chemical imbalance”
and “No place like home”
New singer John K doesn't sound out of place, and the band seem to be meshing even more tightly together despite the loss of one guitarist. Hopefully we may hear more of them in the future, though I believe at the moment most of the band members are working on separate projects, but hey, never say never!
Finally, although I generally don't tend to include “greatest hits” and live albums in this section, mention must be made of 2005's “Heathenology live” triple album.
Heathenology Live (2005)
Not only did this boxed set contain remastered versions of tracks from the first four albums, which goes under the subtitle of “Archives of power”, there is also a live recording of the guys in concert PLUS a two-hour live DVD of Balance of Power live in 2004, as well as extra material and a full-colour 24-page booklet! Now THAT's what I call value!
If you haven't heard of Balance of Power before, you could do a whole lot worse than check them out. They've certainly done a lot to try to make their mark in the world, even if the world has largely ignored them. But they've kept going, produced some excellent music, and as I say, it's possible that we have not yet heard the last of them. If there's any justice in this world, Balance of Power will be back, and this time, maybe the world at large will sit up and take notice. Or fall down. Either would be good.