THE sixth release by the side project headed by Paul Raymond, the songwriter, keyboard player and rhythm guitarist of veteran rock legends UFO shows a more accessible side to Raymond’s music.

Paul’s pedigree is unquestionable as he has been with UFO since 1976 and has appeared on 11 of their albums.

He formed the first incarnation of the Paul Raymond Project in Japan over twenty years ago and his colleagues in the band are: Andy Simmons, Mark Coles and Tony Steel.

Opening with the superb Born & Raised on Rock ‘N’ Roll, the standard is kept up throughout.

They aren’t all out and out rock and roll songs either.

For instance, We Will Be Strong ventures deeply into ‘power ballad’ territory.

Of all fourteen tracks, the ones that sound more like his parent band are the instrumental Whiskey Mac and Still The Same.

It’s a typical solo album from an established band member. Most of the songs have been written by members of the band with Raymond and Simmons writing the lion’s share.

Raymond has allowed his imagination to run free, not having to write music that UFO would tend to record and listening to the album is a pleasurable experience.

Mention must be made of the two covers that grace the album.

The version of If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody sounds very Cream-like and is as far away from Freddie and The Dreamers as you could get.

And don’t be fooled by the almost classical intro to the Motown classic Reach Out, I’ll Be There as it soon develops into a heavy thrash, led by Michael Schenker who is a special guest on the album.

Hear No Evil Records – HNEDCD005.