When I first got my hands on "The Greatest Wonder" I had no idea about the journey that I was about to begin. I had never heard about Dennis Ward or the Martin brothers. I had no idea who these guys were; a tragedy for a melodic rock/AOR fan. This album instantly grabbed a hold of me and has not let go since.
I should set the stage for those looking into this album. I grew up listening to groups like Journey, Survivor, Elvis, White Lion, Phil Collins, Poison, Bon Jovi, Metallica. As I got older I gravitated more toward melodic rock groups like Savatage & Hardline. Sadly, I've only recently become familiar with the amazing groups Place Vendome, Sunstorm, Brother Firetribe, House of Lords, Pink Cream 69, Pretty Maids, and Khymera.
For starters, this album is an absolute gem. There is no filler at all! Hit, hit, hit, they don't quit. The whole thing is just a magical combination of great songwriting, awesome playing, and incredible production quality. It really did blow me away and I could not take it out of my player for weeks on end. Nothing else could really satisfy me after I tasted this. My two best friends and I took each song and reviewed one a week so we could really dissect and discuss why we liked this album so much. It was a lot of fun digging into it let me tell you.
Before listening to "The Greatest Wonder" my favorite album of all time was easy to name; Double Eclipse, the phenomenal debut, from Hardline. Now, after many listens, I think that this album is right up there along with it in my can't do without albums. Melodic, catchy choruses, masterful weaving of keys & guitar, solid bass & drum support, and Dennis's strong vocal work help lift this album above most of the rest. It is so good that I can't really even recommend any standout tracks because they are all really good. It plays like a greatest hits! (Just a note: you can skip the first Khymera release as far as I'm concerned (Walsh' vocals just ruined it) but "A New Promise" is another great album).
All I can say is awesome job to the band and Frontier Records for getting this album together. If you too like the groups that I mentioned above you should just go ahead and buy this album... and that right soon!
Found Khymera on WE7. After listening to many of their tracks I decided to buy this album. I didn't realise just how good they were compared to US bands of the same genre. There isn't a duff track and, since buying this, I purchased "A new Promise" love that too.
Also ich kann die aktuelle Khymera Cd eigentlich auch nur Loben. Beim ersten Durchlaufen hörte sich noch alles relativ "normal" an. Doch dann mit jedem weiteren Durchlauf entfaltete sich bei mir das große Potential dieser Platte immer mehr. Die Band spielt wirklich großartige Melodien gepaart mit tollen Refrains. Der Genreübliche Keyboardteppich ist auch hier vorhanden, erfreulicherweise allerdings nicht zu dominant.
Wer auf handwerklich erstklassigen Melodic Rock/AOR steht darf diese Scheibe eigentlich nicht verpassen. Schwächen oder Ausfälle konnte ich keine ausmachen, auch zum Ende hin sinkt das hohe Niveau nicht ab. An den Knöpfen, am Bass und am Micro hat PK '69 Frontmann Dennis Ward erneut einen guten Job abgeliefert. Man hat eh den Eindruck das das was er anfasst(u.a. tätig bei Allen/Lande, Edenbridge, Angra, House of Lords, Krokus uvm.) ein Erfolg wird. Von mir gibt's daher eine uneingeschränkte Kaufempfehlung. Melodic Fans werden ihre wahre Freude an dieser Scheibe haben!