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Mercy Train - Presence

Artist:	Mercy Train
Title:	Presence
Label:	Pat Pending. 001/SI Music Simply 37
Length(s):	53 minutes
Year(s) of release:	1993
Month of review:	10/1993

Line up

Richard Burge - vocals
Karl Groom - guitars
Richard West - keyboards
Peter Gee - bass
Nick Harradence - drums

Tracks

1)	Pure Emotion	4.11
2)	Apocalypse	3.56
3)	Prayers From The Electric Chair	3.57
4)	Dirty Money	5.18
5)	Shame	3.51
6)	Stay	5.19
7)	Big White Car	3.54
8)	Ten Years	4.01
9)	All I Want	3.30
10)	Testify	6.21
11)	Free	3.35
12)	Loveless	5.02

Summary

This is Presence's debut CD. A first glance at the line-up, would make a lot of people think: oh no, not Karl Groom again.

The music

I must admit, Threshold, wasn't that original, but this one is. What to think of a band that play catchy/rocky songs which border lyrically on the usual (mea- ning that the lyrics are sometimes a bit unoriginal, but you can identi- fy with them as oppossed to the lyrics that the average Hobbit dwells in) and music that is energetic rock like It Bites used to and Ark still makes (and to be honest, Ark does a better job on the average), but with a grungy edge to it and an occasional funk influence (Peppers). They have a good vocalist, though his voice tends to bore you after a while, who IMO sounds a bit like Twelfth Night's second vocalist Andy Sears. Is this progressive? Well, maybe not (this why it was released on the new Pat. Pending label), but I must admire their courage of making a CD that takes things from the now very trendy grunge and the absolutely non- trendy progressive rock. Some songs are funky (Testify), melodic (my favourite Prayers from the electric chair, and the more ballad like All I want, Stay and Free) and the rougher songs (Pure Emotion, Apocalypse, Shame, Big White Car, Loveless). The overall sound is loud (save the ballads) and very energe- tic, up to the point of draining it from the listener. IMO, this CD is more interesting for people who like grunge and the less melodic kinds of rock, than for proggers, as most of the songs are not melodic/progressive enough for most readers in this group.

Conclusion

See above.