SEVENTH KEY – Live In Atlanta

Posted: 8/25/06

Reviewed by: Dirt

Category: Melodic Hard Rock

Label URL: www.locomotiverecords.com    Released: 10/24/06

Label URL: www.frontiers.it    Released: 11/7/05

Artist URL: www.billygreer.com

This is the third release from Seventh Key, the melodic hard rock project led by Billy Greer, bassist for the legendary classic progressive rock band Kansas.  Up until the recording of Live In Atlanta, Seventh Key was just a studio act, as Greer had never taken it onto the live stage.  The interesting thing is that if it wasn’t for the little bit of crowd noise between the songs, it’s almost impossible to tell that these songs were recorded live.  The presentations are exactly like the studio recordings, and display the quality of the music and the musicians – Greer (vocals/bass), his former Streets partner Mike Slamer (guitar/keyboards/bass), Terry Brock (guitar), David Manion (keyboards), and Pat McDonald (drums). 

The disc included fifteen well-crafted songs that would have been embraced by MTV in the mid-80s.  The melody and chorus driven songs range from emotional ballads to (“It Should Have Been You”) to blood-pumpin’ rockers (“Sin City”), so Greer and company find a nice balance with their direction.  As a bonus, three studio tracks are tacked onto the end, all of which are excellent and hooky as hell.  

The Bloody Truth:  Seventh Key is one of the best melodic hard rock acts out there, so if you enjoy upbeat, clean, melody based music, you’ll want to check these guys out.  If the touring scene was healthier we might have a chance to see Seventh Key, but as it stands now, it only seems to cater to long-established acts.  Live In Atlanta is just another quality release from the band and may be the closest we’ll get to hearing them live.  A DVD of this show is also available but it is sold separately.