In a mainstream rock world dominated by nu metal revivalism and post-grunge mediocrity, power singers are something of a lost art. They’re out there, but like any good treasure, you have to do some digging to find them. Toby Hitchcock is a treasure and a half. His superlative singing encompasses the range of Klaus Meine, emotion of Jimi Jamison, and theatricality of Meat Loaf, all wrapped together in a prime package of perfection. It’s no wonder AOR god Jim Peterik recruited him for his long running vessel/spiritual extension of Survivor, Pride of Lions.
After singing on Pride of Lions’ Lion Heart, an album that reached #5 on our year end list, I would’ve been more than fine with Hitchcock taking 2021 off to recharge his musical batteries. Not that he needs my permission to do so, I’m just an online album reviewer, but hey, he earned a break. Well I’m starting to believe the words “break”, “rest”, and “hiatus” are nonexistent in the Hithcock vocabulary, because when he’s not singing his heart out with Peterik, he’s doing so for his own namesake solo project. Although Peterik is out of the equation, that doesn’t make Hitchcock’s third solo offering, Changes, any less potent.
Changes sees Hitchcock team up with Frontiers Records everyman, Alessandro del Vecchio. There are many who are critical of del Vecchio’s involvement in just about every Frontiers release, myself occasionally included. However, Changes sees him at the peak of his musical and songwriting abilities, producing straight ahead AOR anthems like it’s nobody’s business. If you think cuts like “Garden of Eden”, “Two Hearts on the Run”, and “On the Edge of Falling” wouldn’t sound out of place on a Pride of Lions album, that’s because they were written with that very intention in mind. It’s nostalgic 80s AOR filled with hard driving riffs, melodic hooks, and singalong choruses.
When Hitchcock isn’t delivering the Top 40 ready circa 1985 goods, he’s pouring his heart and soul into power ballads that are, go figure, truly powerful. We as rock fans have become so accustomed to the power ballad being a half-assed piano and guitar musical doodle, tailor made for rotation on your local iHeartRadio owned adult contemporary station, that we’re simply taken aback by the likes of “Tonight Again”, “Don’t Say Goodbye”, “Run Away Again (From Love)”, and “Losing You”. On these songs, a trifecta of soaring vocals, metallic riffs, and delicate pianos coalesce to create melodramatic masterpieces in the vein of Meat Loaf and 90s Savatage. The emotion in Hitchcock’s voice stands up to the finest moments of both Meat and Jon Oliva.
From beginning to end, Changes stands unabashedly proud as a tribute to a bygone era when, objectively speaking, “music was better”. The truth is music never stopped being great. We have guys like Hitchcock to thank for keeping it great and continuing to do so for the foreseeable future. Chances are by the time I’ve finished writing this review, Hitchcock will be halfway finished laying down vocals for the next Pride of Lions album. Time will tell if this prediction turns out to be true.
8 out of 10
Label: Frontiers Records
Genre: AOR
For fan of: Pride of Lions, Work of Art, Meat Loaf