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SEVENTH KEY
I Will Survive

Frontiers (2013)
Rating: 9/10

Seventh Key is the side project of longtime Kansas bassist Billy Greer and his former Streets bandmate and guitarist Mike Slamer (ex-City Boy and Steelhouse Lande). They released their debut album in 2001 and returned in 2004 to release a live album / DVD. For their second proper album, I Will Survive, they are joined by drummer Chet Wynd as well as special guest appearances by Kansas violinist David Ragsdale and keyboardist David Manion.

I Will Survive takes on a significantly more progressive approach on top of its melodic, pristine production. It actually reminds me a great deal of Greer’s early work with Kansas, specifically the Power album (1986), as well as the Kansas side project Native Window (only significantly more rockin’ in an overall sense).

I Will Survive is an excellent blend of big, anthemic AOR and melodic progressive rock. Both of these things are best summed up with ‘The Only One’. For me the song has the spirit of mid-to-late-era, Phil Collins-led, Genesis. Sure, it’s a pop song and, yes, it definitely fits an AOR mold, but it’s also not a song you just go home and pick up a guitar and start strumming. It’s pristine but also complex and that is a true rarity today. ‘I See You There’ is a bit more anthemic than ‘The Only One’, but its progressive underpinnings make it one of the album’s most fascinating moments. It has an almost The Police-like quality to it with its haunting vocals, yet it’s much more of a guitar rocker than any song by The Police.

The title track and ‘I Want It All’, representing each of the album’s bookends respectively, are excellent examples of the album’s progressive side. Both have a very melodic sense about them but they also have a groove that Toto and Asia fans will certainly appreciate… maybe even love. ‘Down’ is similar in many ways, but the band get a little dirtier with the guitars and a whole lot bluesier with the vocals. Meanwhile, ‘I See You There’ is, at its heart, a power ballad but it maintains enough musical integrity that it’s easy to shy away from calling it such. It’s big, full keyboards and vocal harmonies make the chorus a borderline rocker and the band throw in a rippin’ guitar solo to ensure that you can’t call it the ever one-dimensional “ballad”.

Overall, this album was a welcome surprise for me. I love Greer’s work in Kansas and I wasn’t expecting something so in line with that feel. Greer and Slamer nail it here though. I would say that Seventh Key’s I Will Survive is an excellent bridge between the Native Window self-titled album (2009) and Kansas’ late 80s albums. While this album has the occasional misstep, this is really excellent if you are a fan of any of the bands mentioned in the review.

Mark Fisher

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