REVIEW: Flesh, Flesh (Colorblind Records)

-Linda Scott

Debut albums like the self-titled Flesh provide most of us with our first chance to hear a new band. Flesh is a Boston-bred band who play primarily in New England and California. What they play is a little more difficult to explain than where they play it; this album is mostly hard rock with some ballads and soft rock. As for the lyrics, the hard rock songs vary from fun dance tunes to those with deeper meanings. Romantic and religiously inspired lyrics on the ballads and softer rock songs fill out the rest of the tracks; placement of a rock track next to a religious song brings to mind Extreme's Extreme III Sides To Every Story. There is a connection between the two bands - in fact several connections. Two members of Flesh, guitarist Markus Cherone and lead vocalist Paulo Bettencourt, have brothers in Extreme: lead vocalist Gary Cherone and flash lead guitarist Nuno Bettencourt. Also, Nuno Bettecourt's new (Fall 1994) label, Colorblind Records, signed the Flesh rockers, and Nuno produced their debut album. Although Flesh concedes they share the same influences as Extreme, they are annoyed with the constant linkage of the bands and insist they have done everything to make it in the music business themselves. Signing with a different label and having a different producer might make the family connections less important, but the band has yet to address those issues.

Flesh band members include Stephen Powell on bass and Gonga on drums with the aforementioned Paulo Bettencourt and Markus Cherone, all longtime Boston friends. The band name, Flesh, comes from a religious meaning; in God's eyes, all people are the same because they are made of flesh. So, throw away those images of torn flesh or naked flesh but hang onto the influence behind the name as that is seen again in the music. Overall, this is a good debut album - not great, but solid. The music often has an Aerosmith-like quality to it. Gonga's drums give a solid, well-defined beat to every track with Bettencourt's strong vocals providing a wide range of power. He handles the fastest track (the overly long "Think Too Much") as well as the slowest (the hymn-like "In My Sea") with style. Guitarist Markus is either inadequate on lead guitar duties or is too far down in the mix to be heard well. The first track "Dancehard" is a good hard rock song. The three rockers stacked after it are individually good but too similar and would have been better separated. "I Miss My Baby" is a lovely rock ballad that Bettencourt performs very well. Two songs about sexual decisions ("Sexx") and effects of money ("Makin' Money") turn the album into a more serious venture. "The Almighty Man", promoted as the first single, is a Christian rock song. Yet this is followed by "Jam" another carefree, hard rocker. Flesh ends with a very slow, Christian ballad, "Into My Sea" featuring church organ music and wave audios.

Flesh tries to the show the band's versatility but comes across as confusing. This may be the influence of producer Bettencourt who may need to remember that Extreme III was not one of Extreme's best sellers. Flesh is a good hard rock band that more should be heard from, but they need to find a place to position themselves at least initially. They can easily make a complete move into Christian rock. The band could also use help making the lyrics less mundane, e.g. replacing "misery loves company", "next time I get horny", "stay with me, pray with me" that seem to keep jarring the ears. Technical improvements should include a better mix and more consistent track separation time. Choosing music type and cleaning up these small items would make a noticeable improvement. Flesh has a good talent base, and it's hoped that Colorblind Records will bring them along. If you like hard rock with a Boston-based sound, give Flesh a try - not only to check out the Extreme connection but as a possible Extreme competitor.