DIVIDED BY ONE

First released digitally in 2014 and now getting a welcome CD release on Cherry Red records coming out at the end of this month, Divided By One is Billy Sherwood's seventh solo album and his latest one to date. As usual, Billy does everything himself and once again both the musicianship and the production is of the highest quality.

Compared to the previous The Art Of Survival, this album turns up the tempo a bit and focuses more on somewhat shorter, more accessible tunes. Songs like the title track and No Stone Unturned are catchy, melodic rockers and The Scene Comes Alive even moves dangerously close to Pop with Billy's voice getting the "voice box" treatment (which is not as bad as it sounds)! Here For You is more of a Rock ballad, which is uncharacteristic of Sherwood's solo career, but it reminds a little of some songs that Billy have done in other contexts such as Love Conquers All (on the Yesyears box set) or Say Goodbye (from World Trade's Euphoria album) for example.

The more progressive songs on the album include the symphonic opener On Impact, which also is my favourite, and the album closer End Of An Era. Another favourite is Sphere Of Influence which features some great, and very characteristic, Sherwood bass guitar work. This song also has some very nice acoustic stringed instrument (is it a mandolin?).

Divided By One is my least favourite of Billy Sherwood's seven solo albums, but it is nonetheless definitely a good album. Billy simply doesn't know how to make a bad album! If you, like me, have and enjoy Sherwood's previous solo albums, then you will enjoy this one as well, as I certainly do. However, if you are new to Sherwood's excellent solo career you should begin with some of his excellent other albums, starting with his first two.