SURVIVOR: Vital Signs (A.O.R.): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

While the "Eye Of The Tiger" should have put the Chicago combo without any worries, things didn't really turn out the way the members of Survivor could have hoped for. First of all, it's "Caught In The Game", the follow-up of the album made legendary by its eponymous title, which, despite its obvious qualities, turns out to be a commercial failure. Then Dave Bikler, the frontman of the band, is forced to leave his bandmates because of health problems that prevent him from singing. However, Frankie Sullivan and Jim Peterik's band will quickly live up to its name by recruiting a new vocalist in the person of the promising Jimi Jamison (Target, Cobra). With this last one, Survivor will be back on the spotlight thanks to the single 'The Moment Of Truth' taken from the soundtrack of the movie "Karate Kid" (1983). All hopes are therefore allowed for the release of the new opus entitled "Vital Signs".

With a subtle balance between an already well asserted identity and a capacity of adaptation to the evolutions of the musical world, the quintet answers with talent the expectations of a public mixing amateurs of melodies and hardened headbangers. Because if the style of the group remains easily recognizable, reinforced by the voice of Jimi Jamison close to that of his predecessor, it includes some elements making it swing towards a glittering AOR. For that, the keyboards take the sound reins under the impulse of Jim Peterik leaving the essential of the guitar lines to Frankie Sullivan who takes advantage of it to concentrate on soli of a rare efficiency, in particular on the most muscular titles like 'Broken Promises' or 'It's The Singer Not The Song'. Finally, if the rhythmic section is once again irreproachable, the performance of the new vocalist is also part of the elements allowing this album to rise on the tops of the genre. Indeed, Jamison shows a technique allowing him to translate as well the emotion as the aggressiveness, able to be bewitching on the delicate ballad 'The Search Is Over' or percussive on the catchy 'Popular Girl'.

It might seem tedious to name each track. Yet, each of them has the qualities to become a potential hit, which some of them will become later, starting with the ballad 'The Search Is Over' which will reach number 4 in the summer 1984 charts. The very AOR 'I Can't Hold Back' with its catchy chorus, and 'High On You' with its stronger rhythmic, will also invite themselves in the first places of these charts, whereas the success of 'First Night' will be more confidential. However, the variations of tempo and the catchy chorus of this last one make it another excellent title. Although not having had the chance to be released as a single, the other compositions are not lacking in quality, while being presented in a way to alternate the atmospheres. They make the turbines roar with a vitaminized and direct AOR ('Broken Promises', 'It's The Singer Not The Song'), remind the first albums with a rougher atmosphere during 'Popular Girl', or leave more room for emotions. In this last field, the power-ballad 'Everlasting' with its rise in intensity on the chorus, and the mid-tempo 'I See You In Everyone' prove to be of an exceptional melodic and emotional majesty.

"Vital Signs" stands out as a flawless album, and allows its authors to find the heights of a musical style of which they continue to write the most beautiful pages. Able to make their AOR evolve towards more current sounds without betraying themselves, Survivor puts an end to its short crossing of the desert and offers an album impossible to ignore for all the amateurs of melodies and energy. - Official website

SURVIVOR

VITAL SIGNS

AUTRE LABEL

A.O.R.