DANNY VAUGHN – Traveller

Traveller is the fourth solo album from former Tyketto singer Danny Vaughn. Danny Vaughn started his career in Waysted in 1986 and released Waysted’s most highly acclaimed album Save Your Prayers. In 1990 he went on to form Tyketto, and he recorded two studio albums and one live album. However, the big break through didn’t really come because of the rise of the Grunge genre in the early 1990s.

In 2000 he formed Vaughn and released two records before Frontiers Records approached him and wanted him to do something more in the area of Classic Melodic Rock. Vaughn then went on to record From The Inside in 2004. For Traveller, he has brought along the guitarists Tony Marshall (Contagious) and Par Heath (Brave New World), Steve McKenna (Ten) on bass, and Lee Morris (Paradise Lost) on drums.

Vaughn’s new album Traveller is good old Classic Melodic Rock, but it also has a taste of something new. The album doesn’t fall into “the pit of no evolution” like so many other Melodic Rock and A.O.R. acts do.

“Miracle Days” is the opener and starts with a bagpipe (probably made on the keyboard) and singing that sounds like traditional Indian tones. The song is filled with optimism and Vaughn’s vocals sound great. He has a very powerful voice and it carries the song to a higher level. Next is “Badlands Rain,” a hard rocker with cool riffs. It’s not particularly fast, but more like a typical Rock song with a light mood. The guitar solo on this one is cool and has a more dramatic sound to it than the song itself. It’s melodic, yet fast and fits the song extremely well.

“The Measure Of A Man” begins with a lame guitar riff. It sounds Country-ish and could fit in at any Hillbilly Barn Dance. Apart from this, the song is a fine ballad made up by acoustic guitars on top of the steady bass and drum. Vaughn really saves this track from failing with his great voice. Of course, the song ends with the stupid guitar riff before the song is faded out, but just press skip and everything ends up fine.

There are beautiful ballads on this album as well. It’ll be worth your while to check out the songs “The Touch Of Your Hand,” “Think Of Me In The Fall,” “Death Of The Tiger,” and the beautiful acoustic-driven “Better By Far.”

The production sounds good, and the drums sound just right for this genre. The bass is steady and lies just where it should be, between the drums and the guitars. It doesn’t stand out in particular, but it also doesn’t drown anything else out. Though they have recorded the album with two guitarists, both stand out and perform great solos; sometimes they do dual solos, which sounds cool. The fact that they’ve used two guitars only strengthens the sound on the record, and that’s a good thing. Blend this with the amazing vocal abilities of Danny Vaughn, and you what you’ve got is a winner.

If you’re into Melodic Rock and A.O.R., you should go buy Traveller this instant, and be sure to catch Vaughn live, as he will be the support act for Journey on their upcoming UK tour.

Lineup

Danny Vaughn – Lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, mandolin, keyboards
Tony Marshall – Lead and rhythm guitars and backing vocals on track 4
Pat Heath – Lead and rhythm guitars
Steve McKenna – Bass guitar
Lee Morris – Drums and percussion

Tracklist

1. Miracle Days
2. Badlands Rain
3. Traveller
4. Restless Blood
5. That’s What She Says
6. The Touch Of Your Hand
7. Lifted
8. The Warrior’s Way
9. The Measure Of A Man
10. Think Of Me In The Fall
11. Death Of The Tiger
12. Better By Far