TONY MILLS – Over My Dead Body
- by Matt Coe
- Posted on 29-04-2015
After years in bands like Shy and TNT, UK vocalist Tony Mills felt the time was right to issue another solo offering. "Over My Dead Body" runs the gamut from conventional, melodic hard rock with vocal harmonies straight out of the AOR playbook, and then numbers that are a little more challenging and bordering on the progressive genre. Check out the one-two punch of "Time Won’t Wait" and "28 Flights" and you’ll understand what I mean. The backing musicians Tony assembled are a veritable who’s who in the genre: guitarist Paul Sabu, keyboardist Eric Ragno, Robert Sall and others – gaining great mixing from renowned producer Neil Kernon.
A metal opera of sorts played out in 11 tracks, many will think of Savatage during the "Gutter Ballet" and "Streets" periods, Tony willing to be a vocal chameleon of sorts to convey the different moods and arrangements at hand. Favorites include the double bass driven "Northern Star" that has a lot of older TNT qualities to it and the bluesy semi-slower "My Death" which probably gives Tony the widest platform to showcase his lower to higher vocal mastery.
Still soaring, "Over My Dead Body" is a must for those who love tenor-oriented melodic vocals and an equally enticing musical backdrop.