JAMIE ALLEN - The Storyteller (2011)

Jamie Allen is a new interesting independent artist from the States that is influenced by the '80s hair band scene, more specifically Poison / Bret Michaels.
Poison simply ooze through every chord. Some might actually say it's better than Bret Michaels' solo stuff and latter day Poison efforts.
But his voice and style many times is pretty similar to Bon Jovi or Johnny Lima, not surprisingly Lima that has co-written songs for this album, played on it and produced it. So you can expect quality in this department.

"Smoke And Mirrors", "That's Rock And Roll" and "The Way I Roll" are a great introduction to this debut disc, with with strong riffs and good choruses, all enrolled in the best '80s stadium rockers era.
The crunchy melodic guitars on "Superman" are fantastic and the chorus is pure Bon Jovi. "Reminiscin" is a very well crafted power-ballad with lovely melodies. Acoustic guitars dominates this tune, which has all the ingredients of the 'lighters in the air' era.
"Let It Go" is a convincing rocker filled with some cool guitar work, followed by the little weak americana tingled "Back In The Day".

"Ghost Of My Hometown" is the best track on the album. This is an awesome rocker filled with big hooklines, great keyboards and a catchy chorus with powerful background vocals in the best Johnny Lima style.
"I’m On My Way" is a nice acoustic ballad, extremely sugar coated but it's a heartfelt and proof that Jamie does heart, soul and rock in equal measure.
I do wish Allen would have explored more songs like the Lima penned "She Gets Around", a pop-glam track that sounds out of place on this album but one that shows another side of the singer, it is catchy and shows that he isn't just a one-trick pony.


There is nothing wrong with "The Storyteller", it's just that we've heard it all before. When it comes to music, originality has never been much of a factor for me. My thinking has always been that if a song is great it is great, regardless of who it sounds like.
Johnny Lima has done a very good production job, and the good thing is that unlike many other musicians in this genre, Jamie know the secret of keeping it pretty straightforward, 'simple' and catchy, just 'keep the beat going and make sure the riffs are flying across the room'.
On "The Storyteller" Jamie Allen has delivered a very nice trip 25 years back, with some outstanding rockers and few fillers, but all in all an album worth checking out if you're into '80s hair / melodic rock.


01 - Smoke And Mirrors
02 - That's Rock 'N Roll
03 - The Way I Roll
04 - Superman
05 - Reminiscin'
06 - Let It Go
07 - Back In The Day
08 - Time Alone
09 - Ghost Of My Hometown
10 - I'm On My Way
11 - She Gets Around
12 - Same Old Feeling


Jamie Allen - Lead / Backing Vocals and Acoustic Guitar
Johnny Lima - Bass, Guitar, Keyboards and Backing Vocals
Craig Launer - Lead Guitar
Bernie F. Diaz - Drums







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