When original It Bites member John Beck, and John Mitchell (Arena, Frost, Kino) worked together in Kino rumours of an It Bites reunion with John Mitchell began to surface, and it resulted in a small tour and the live album "When the Lights Go Down" (2007).
The collaboration between them has now resulted in a brand new It Bites studio-album: "The Tall Ships", an album that sports great musicianship, multi-layered numbers with excellent harmony vocals, a very transparent production and enough drama and bombast to make a progressive rock fan stop up and listen.
For most parts we are served keyboard driven song structures with distinct guitar parts, big harmonies and catchy multi-layered choirs not that remote from Kino and A.C.T. (not British I know). The album is packed with great powerful pop rock songs spiced up with some fine progressive elements.
At first I thought this was too soft, but after a few spins I found myself humming the songs and kept going back to the album, because I had become almost addictive to the songs. And when they end the album on such high note like they do with the opulent epic 'This is England", I simply has to push "play", and hear the great anthems once more.
