Dion Bayman
‘Better Days’
2018 release from Art Of Melody Music & Burning Minds Music Group.
Follow the artist:
Buy the album:
Media:
Dion Bayman – ‘Rise And Fall’ lyric video.
Dion Bayman – ‘Better Days’ lyric video.
Dion Bayman – ‘Better Days’ album teaser trailer.
The Band:
Dion Bayman – All vocals and all instruments.
Artist location:
Australia.
Track listing:
- Ready For The Real Thing.
- Rise And Fall.
- Better Days.
- The Best Times Of My Life.
- Leap Of Faith.
- Fallin’ For You.
- Pieces.
- Out Of Mind Out Of Sight.
- Cold.
- If I Could.
Review:
If you are a fan of the more pop rock side of folks like Rick Springfield, Bryan Adams and even a smidge of modern day Bon Jovi, then this is a record for you.
As 2018 rolled around, with it came the news that the amazingly talented Dion Bayman would be releasing his fourth official album.
I was stoked at the news.
I am such a big fan of this guy. He writes incredibly catchy songs, has a terrific voice and is just one talented son of a gun. Proof of that is that he writes, records, mixes, produces, sings and plays every instrument in his music. Pretty damn impressive if you ask me!
Dion recently said that “With each new release my goal is to make it better than the last in every aspect. I think I’ve grown as a songwriter, and production wise it’s the best sounding album I’ve produced. I am extremely proud of this record“.
Well he has done just that here.
Three demo CDs were recorded by Bayman before being pulled. ‘Truth Or Dare’, ‘Rise’ and ’Standing Tall’ were decent efforts (and some songs from those have been re-done and included in later releases) but in 2013 Dion took giant strides forward in his music when he released ‘Smoke And Mirrors’ and it was miles ahead better than those demos. In 2014 he dropped ‘Afterburn’ and it blew ‘Smoke And Mirrors’ out of the water and I really did not think he would be able to top that record. It was simply excellent!
I was very wrong in that thinking as he proved in 2016 when the smashing ‘Don’t Look Down’ released and he showed that he would indeed make every effort to make his music better with each release.
That record was amazing with song after song being better than the last and after that album then I was sure of myself when I thought that there was no way in hell he would ever be able to outdo that one. It was so strong I felt sure he could not top it. Ever.
Well stupid me! I should have known better than to challenge Dion. The man has made a career out of making music better with each new record and this new one is no different.
Well, there is one thing that is different with this one is that and that is, up until now, Dion has self-released all of his albums independently, however with the release of his fifth album we see him joining forces with Art Of Melody Music/Burning Minds Music Group for the record.
And everyone involved has done a spectacular job!
The opening track, ‘Ready For The Real Thing’, seems to be a little more aggressive than his usual fare (in fact that stays true through most of the album) and I think it is one of the heaviest songs he has done. Fantastic rocker and an excellent start for the record.
Around August of 2017 Dion shared a song on his Facebook page called ‘Rise And Fall’, the first taste of new music from him, but there was no announcement of a new record at that time, that came early this year. I loved the song back when it released last year and I still love it now. Excellent song! Check out the lyric video using the appropriate link near the top of the page under the Media heading.
The title track is available to hear through a link under the Media heading as well it is another great, upbeat song very much in the usual vein we are used to hearing from Dion.
The next song, ‘The Best Times Of My Life’ has a kind of Bryan Adams feel to it and is just a terrific song and one of my favorites from the album while the sensational, mid-tempoed ballad ‘Leap Of Faith’ is, in fact, the best song of the record in my opinion. It is the kind of song that I think Dion really shines on and I absolutely love it!
‘Fallin’ For You’ is a wonderful pop rocker with a very infectious melody and beat and it takes us into the another that will have you singing along with ‘Pieces’.
The record ends with a trio of fine, upbeat tracks that fit in nicely with the rest of the album. ‘Out Of Mind Out Of Sight’ and ‘Cold’ and ‘If I Could’ are exactly the kind of songs we have come to expect from this man and they bring the album to an end.
If you have heard his other albums then don’t expect anything too different with this one, just expect everything about it to be better! He does not step outside of his usual style too much, but that is not a bad thing in any way.
What this record is not. It is not a record for metalheads or anyone wanting to headbang to driving beats and scorching guitars. I love that stuff myself, but if that is what you want then go check out Primal Fear’s new album or one of the other new metal records because you won’t find that here.
What this record is. Well, it is a thing of beauty. This is a record, and artist, that chooses melody, message and instrumentation that showcases those things instead of blowing your eardrums away (not that hard rock and metal can’t contain all of that either, of course).
With the ability to deliver catchy as hell songs at every turn, time and time again, Dion Bayman stands at the forefront of melodic pop rock and is one of the greatest artists that niche of the genre has seen in quite some time.
Production is fantastic, Dion sounds amazing both vocally and on the instruments and the songs are phenomenal!
This is absolutely THE best album Dion has ever released. Every one of the ten tracks and every second of the 40 minutes and 45 seconds playtime of this record is absolute perfection and a how-to for anyone wanting to know how a melodic pop rock record is supposed to sound.
I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing him back in 2016 before ‘Don’t Look Down‘ released (my very first interview after starting this site. See it here.) and Dion is not only one of the most talented guys, he is one of the most genuinely nice guys out there.
If you enjoy the pop side of melodic rock then you absolutely cannot go wrong with Dion Bayman, the man seems incapable of doing wrong when it comes to music.
I said of his last record that it didn’t get much better than that. Well about this one I am saying that, for this style, it does not get better than this. Period.
Very highly recommended.
Rating: 98 out of 100.
Standout Tracks:
‘Ready For The Real Thing’.
‘Rise And Fall’.
‘The Best Times Of My Life’.
‘Leap Of Faith’.
‘Fallin’ For You’.
‘Pieces’.
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