Levara-Levara
Levara is the first full length album from the band of the same name, featuring guitarist Trev Lukather, and it’s a slab of AOR that wouldn’t be uncomfortable coming from the likes of Foreigner etc. It just oozes quality from the opening track, and that continues right the way through to the end. The phrase “all killer, no filler” springs to mind, with apologies to Sum 41 of course….
The songs are intricately constructed, without being over-complicated, but you can pick out anything if you try. It’s possible to separate each individual layer if you listen closely, and it’s then that you can appreciate the painstaking attention to detail that’s gone into constructing this album, and I have to say, the guitar is absolutely sublime.
As we all know, many lead guitarists have an ego that’s not easily controlled, but the truly great ones will quite happily sit back and build a guitar part to suit a song, rather than demand a song be built around a guitar riff/solo. I will say nothing more, except a quote from the legendary Steve Lukather “the ones with the biggest mouths are usually those with the least amount of talent.”
Anyway, I digress. Levara is as good an album as you’re ever likely to hear. It’s full of catchy songs, that will have you singing along without realising if it’s on in the background, but it’s when you really listen to it, that it offers the most reward. It’s something that shouldn’t be relegated to background music, you need to listen it properly to truly appreciate it, but then that’s exactly how music should be, right?
9/10
