TAYLOR MESPLE - Victory Land (2002)

Requested by a reader, this one is a pleasure to feature here, because it's one of the most criminally unknown releases from the past decade, and one of the best.
American singer and composer TAYLOR MESPLÉ recorded and put out this "Victory Land" - his debut album - independently in 2002. But indie does not mean poor production or players. At least not in this case.

Throughout this delicate piece of smooth WestCoast AOR with sophisticated Pop & Melodic Rock touches you will enjoy a terrific, first class sound production, and some of the most respected L.A. session man such as guitarist Tim 'the touch' Pierce or the prince of swing Abraham Laboriel Jr. behind the skins.
All tracks are really good combining melodic accessibility with the all out blowing of 'heavy' instrumental chops from every player on each track.



Style-wise, think Richard Page (Mr. Mister era), Jason Scheff, Richard Marx, King Of Hearts and alike, but there's much more variation on the album to put it in one single category.
As example, opener and title track "Victory Land", would not be out of place on Eric Johnson's Ah... Via Musicom.

Taylor Mesplé's "Victory Land" is a wonderful CD, composed and performed with passion, elegance and tons of finesse.
Rare and Great.


01 - Victory Land
02 - Answer Your Own Question
03 - Glory
04 - Imagination
05 - One Word
06 - Just Begun
07 - No Apology
08 - Go Somewhere (Renata's Story)
09 - Running
10 - Grace

Taylor Mesplé: Vocals, Keyboards, Vocoder, Guitar Soundscapes
Tim Pierce: Electric & Backwards Guitars, 12 String & Sustainiae Guitar
Dave Beegle: Nylon String Guitar, E-Bow
Joe Gamble: Additional Electric Guitars
Mel Brown: Bass
Michael Olson: Fretless Bass
Abraham Laboriel Jr: Drums
Larry Thompson: Drums & Processed Drum Overdubs
Darren Rahn: Programming
Keith Rosenhagen: Acoustic Guitar
Winston Ford : Background Vocals & Featured Guest Vocal
John David Webster, Rebecca Mesplé & Shauna Chanda: Background Vocals


TAYLOR MESPLE - Victory Land
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