Faultless!

I really should put my cards firmly on the table. If asked to select twelve albums to take to a desert island, this would most certainly be one of them. Broken Voices was the brainchild of The Little River Bands main man, Graham Goble and was recorded between 1989/1990 but not released until 1997. On its release it was likened to The Little River Band with female vocals but I feel that there is so much more depth to the music than this implies. Graham Goble wrote all ten songs with one co-write amongst them and to my mind his standards are consistent from start to finish.

The other main players are fellow LRB lead guitarist, Stephen Housden and the bands secret weapon on vocals, Susie Ahern. I've often wondered why this lady never achieved greater worldwide success. Her vocals soar one moment, and then soothes the next. A more powerful and yet controlled vocal performance I just cannot bring to mind. She went on to enjoy a successful career in Australia as a solo artist and vocal coach.

The production is crystal clear and the musicianship and backing vocals supplied by a number of guest musicians are top notch throughout. In fact the use of harmony and backing vocals add so much feeling to the songs and provide considerable variety to the material.

As for the songs themselves, opening track 'Lessons Of Love' kicks off with acoustic guitar accompanying Susie Ahern's vocals and immediately these backing vocals are evident in a big way. What follows is the albums standout track, 'Halls Of Justice'. Seven minutes of hypnotic, atmospheric bliss. It starts with a haunting background vocal with peels of thunder in the distance, growing slowly as a song before gradually building to a majestic chorus followed by a sublime Celtic guitar riff. I never tire of this song's pure dynamic perfection. Nothing else on the album matches the dramatics of this song but don't let that put you off as each of the remaining eight songs are all extremely memorable and well structured.

In summary, I really hope that justice prevails and more people get to listen to this piece of soft rock melodic perfection. Graham Goble's song writing is from the top table and Ms Ahern's vocals are world class. Faultless!

Robin McGhie