'Diamond Blue' is Terry Brock's second album to bear his name, which in itself is a seal of approval. Anything that holds his name is guaranteed to showcase the highest class of musicianship and majestic AOR in the world and this release is no different.

 
Having recently been announced as the new singer of Giant with the release of 'Promised Land' and the intention to reform UK AOR gods Strangeways comes this release, which begs the question - does this man even sleep? Where does he find the time to do everything?

Terry with partner in crime Mike Slamer (Seventh Key/Slamer) handle the whole recording of the album apart from the drums which belong to the well seasoned hands of Andy Bigan.
With 'Diamond Blue' Terry manages to rewrite the AOR book as to what can be done. The soaring guitars of title track and opening song 'Diamond Blue' is a testament to the magic that these two mavericks can conjure up. However the song that sums up the album for me is the Brock and Ian Stewart (Strangeways) co-write 'Jessie's Gone' which tells the tale of coming back home to find an old love gone. This song is a diamond (no pun intended).

As with most AOR releases the subject matter is mostly the same, as in love-lorn lyrics meet with shredding guitars and parping keyboards to great effect! Still, when Mike Slamer's around you can't help but have some roaring guitars. All this, combined with brilliant song-writing builds up a fabulous release which is already anticipated by legions of melodic rock fans around the world.

The only track that leaves anything other than a great taste in my mouth is 'No More Nr Nice Guy' which is not a cover of the Alice Cooper classic - thank god! However it just doesn't cut it for me... it's a rocker but still misses its mark. That said it's still better than many albums that class themselves AOR.

The production of this masterpiece is second to none. With songs as great as 'The Rain' and 'Face In The Crowd' this release has wetted my appetite for the Stangeways reunion CD to hit this fall.

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