David R. Black are in fact a three piece group who currently find themselves in the position of supporting artists whom, it could well be argued are playing to audiences who are never going to grow again. They are appearing with both Stiff Little Fingers and Hugh Cornwell in the near future but how many of the aging target audience (and I count myself in there) will be receptive to support acts is distinctly open to question.They certainly can’t be accused of not paying their dues, though in terms of gigs played which appears to have honed the three-piece into a pretty tight musical unit.  

Earlier this year I felt a little weird describing Mind’s Eye (a progressive rock group) as being fronted by a Mark King (Level 42) sound-alike but I feel I’m about to surpass myself now. It took me a long time to work out what David R Black remind me of but over the course of several listens it finally struck me! They sound like Fish (yes, that Fish, formerly of Marillion) fronting a power trio! I’m not too sure how the band will like that but there you go. 

There’s no way that the band can live up to the praise lavished upon them by their over enthusiastic PR company’s digging through press cuttings and in my opinion, they don’t. Hearts and Stars is an album of peaks and troughs. The high points are excellent but the low ones are pretty low. Cassette Song which opens the album and The Incident are worthless and a complete waste of space but the single Empire Building (which came out on September 23^rd) is very good indeed with a glorious melody and guitar-laden back drop. Down to the Wire and Silence and Sound which follow are both top draw material but after that it’s all a bit samey and less inspired. 

Jetfighters regains some of the lost ground in a loud, shouty kind of way although Mr Tune is still somewhat conspicuous by his absence. So, all in all Hearts and Stars is certainly not a failure by any stretch of the imagination but overall lacks the consistency to join the big league but certainly suggests that there’s more to come from this band.

Let us know your views on 'Hearts & Stars'

Track List

Cassette Song
Empire Building
Down To The Wire
Silence and Sound
Signals
The Incident
No Code
Jetfighters
Shot To Pieces
Serenade
Lost A Friend
Hearts and Stars

Line Up

David R Naylor - Vocals/Guitar
Ms Sarit Black - Bass/Vocals
Paul 'Pai' Williams - Drums