All 4 1 - 'World's Best Hope'

The best tracks on 'World's Best Hope' would likely be average tracks on a better album.

It's time for another AOR project, boys and girls, but this time it's personal! It seems All 4 1 isn't another group hastily cobbled together by the Frontiers team, instead it is project close to the hearts of the artists involved. The musicians in question are Terry Brock (Giant, Strangeways), Robert Berry (Three, Alliance), Gary Pihl (Boston, Sammy Hagar, Alliance) and Matt Starr (Ace Frehley, Mr Big) and as you can see, all have the standard impressive résumé.

It's certainly a great line-up and I was hoping for a great album to go with it, however, if this is the world's best hope then we're in trouble. Okay, it may sound harsh (probably because it is), but when I listen to an album ten times I expect to be able to pinpoint a few stand out tracks, especially given the calibre of the people involved. Of course, it sounds great, with a smooth production that showcases the vocals of both Brock and Berry. The problem is simply that the songs lack the magic ingredient that makes you want to get up and dance around. It's a shame because the album is otherwise immaculately put together.



I do like several songs including 'Show Me The Way', 'Never Back Down Again' and 'Cyanide' amongst others. These are decent tracks with a hummable quality, but they seem to me like fillers on a Boston or Toto album, tracks you like but there are others that you truly like. There lies the problem; the best tracks on 'World's Best Hope' would likely be average tracks on a better album... if you see what I mean. Everyone involved does a fine job in the studio (Pihl provides plenty of really nice guitar throughout) but the songs make this just a pretty good album and nothing more.

Alan Holloway