Search - Takara :: Invitation to Forever

A perfect start to finish hard rock album!! The first one in

Nikiforos V. Skoumas | Athens Greece, Cambridge UK | 02/14/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Takara" is the American Hard Rock act founded in 1987 by guitar prodigy Neil Grusky. "Invitation to forever" is their 5th studio release, a follow up to 2001's "Perception of Reality".

With Grusky having put the band in ice for nearly eight years, it should come as no surprise that their latest output features a new line up including: Gus Monsanto (V), Bjorn Englen (B), Brook Hansen (K) and Malmsteen's current stick master Patrick Johansson (D).



Now, to the experienced "Takara" fans, Grusky is well known for delivering the goods on each and every release of his band. And this one is definitely no exception. But the question still remains: Where does "Takara" stand without original singer and AOR icon Jeff Scott Soto? Well, in their previous album (the first without JSS) Neil proved that the band could still come up with marvelous Hard Rock. Still a good party of admirers remained unconvinced.



If you feel the same way about the band then you would probably be pleased to know that "Invitation to Forever" is not only a great album but a perfect -start to finish- Hard Rock disc; In all honesty you will be hard pressed to find a weak track on this one. This becomes obvious from the first time you press play on this album yet by playing the album a few more times the attentive listener could come to realize that choruses on "Riders on the Road" and "Place Under the Sun" are tailored to suit Gus's voice and for that could not have been delivered as effectively by a different vocalist.



Moving on to more familiar areas, the album features their trademark inventive drumming, mega choruses, impossibly catchy guitar riffs and of course Grusky's underrated yet technically overblown solos.



This is a release that honors the bands creative past while being able to stand up to their classic debut. Finally, all due respect given to the amazing Neil Grusky, proving with "Invitation to forever", that he speaks only when he has something to say.

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