VEGA - "ONLY HUMAN"

RATING: RRRRR

LABEL: FRONTIERS

REVIEW BY: ALAN HOLLOWAY


Back in the late Nineties I was a fan of a band called Kick, featuring a pair of twins and vocalist Nick Workman, who made ridiculously enjoyable melodic rock. Fast forward to 2010, and after a few middling bands Workman finds himself hooked up with another set of twins and making ridiculously enjoyable melodic rock once more. The twins are Tom and James Martin and the band is Vega. Eight years of hard work later they're still fighting to bring high energy melodic rock to the masses, and I'm happy to reveal that album number five carries on the good work admirably. It seems maximum ratings are like buses for me. No, not that they smell of piss - I mean you wait for ages and two come along!

With most albums I get it's easy after a few spins to identify a favourite track or two and maybe pick out a weaker one that will probably end up deleted once the review is done. With 'Only Human', Vega have come up with their stroingest album yet, and if you've heard the other four you'll know that's quite a feat. The Martin twins are well known as powerful songwriters in their own right (see Issa and Ted Poley albums for evidence), but when Nick Workman joins in it's such a holy trinity Don McLean should have been singing about them at the end of 'American Pie' (google it, it's a cool reference, dammit!). Add to that live performances full of fire and fun and you get a band to be reckoned with.

'Only Human' is a real all killer no filler affair, perfectly encapsulated by the first four tracks. 'Let's Have Fun Tonight' is a traditional upbeat Vega album opener that will no doubt kick off the live shows on the upcoming tour (see you at the bar, boozers), followed by the album's advance single 'Worth Dying For'. This is a track that is like a stick of rock (sorry - ROCK!) with VEGA stamped through it, so perfectly typical is it of their sound. 'Last man Standing' follows, introduced by Planet Rock DJ Darren Reddick, and it's an upbeat, catchy song about getting rat arsed. Remember, kids, what happens in Vega stays in Vega. Lastly, we have 'Come Back Again', the album's first slower paced song. There's just something about this one that keeps me coming back (again, natch) - it's a smooth, majestic sounding tune that has a chorus that sticks in your head.

So we have an opening quartet that beautifully demonstrate the Vega sound in all it's guises. So far so good, as they say. The thing is, the quality doesn't dip at any point, so we get another eight tracks that keep the bar raised with as much passion as Eddie Hall picking up a car. There's the aggressive 'Gravity', the high melody of 'Fade Away' and the emotional ballad 'Turning Pages', where Nick Workman get to show there's more to him than a nice haircut and a deep, natural love of Joe Elliott. Seriously, though, Workman is on stellar form throughout, deserving of a place amongst the melodic rock greats for his soaring range and vocal gymnastics. When he's given a good tune to belt out he still makes me smile like he did almost twenty years ago (feeling old now, Nick?). Just when you think they must be tired by now, the album closes with the brilliant upbeat track 'Go To War', and the compulsion to just listen to the twelve tracks all over again is hard to resist.

I've always banged on about Vega in the past, and it's true that they are right up my alley as far as melodic rock is concerned. They can handle speed when needed, but also put a lot of soul into a passionate ballad too. Keyboards are mixed in very well, and whenever Marcus Thurston gets a chance to let loose on guitar he always gives it serious welly (let him do an instrumental, guys).Consistently impressive, always fun and sometimes sober, Vega are a band who should be palling around with the big boys on the big stage, but part of me still loves the fact I can see them in small venues. If you haven't discovered them yet you really need to get the album and a ticket for the tour, because to be this good takes Vega...

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