Russell Allen's Atomic Soul

Symphony X frontman Russell Allen has recorded his first debut solo album for Inside Out, and this is more straight forward rock compared with the prog influences heard in Symphony X.

Russell played some guitar, bass and keyboards, and he is joined by Robert Nelson on drums, Brendan Anthony contributed to some of the guitar arrangements, Stratovarius keyboardist Jens Johansson played a fascinating solo for the title track, and Jason Freudberg as well as Larry Salvatore played guitar and bass, respectively, for one song.

The whole album has a classic British rock feel to it such as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Rainbow, but opening track Blackout has a feel of Thin Lizzy and Iron Maiden.  Russell has a strong voice and you can see where his roots lie.

Eleven songs make up fifty minutes and they all flow into each other thereby making a good album for the car. Stand out track for me is We Will Fly which is well constructed, and is a nice balance between keys and guitar. Again Russell's vocals make this a great song.

On the whole, this is a nice journey into the classic rock sound, and will appeal to many fans of that music. It should sell well with the fans of Symphony X alike, but many new ears should pick up on this worthwhile release.

Danny Mayo

Inside Out

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