Kee Marcello – Scaling up – 2016

Scaling Up is the fourth solo album of Kee Marcello But I’ve basically heard nothing from him since he left (or was fired?) from Europe. At least if we’re talking musically. I actually took the time to read his book The Rockstar God Forgot, but that was also a few years ago now, so this turned out to be quite an interesting experience. You could say I allowed myself the luxury of disconnecting this from everything he’s done before — musicals, the aforementioned Europe, and Easy Action back in the day.

Musically, Scaling up feels very much in tune with the times. It might not be particularly uplifting, and there’s a noticeable lack of hit potential — that is, the kind of immediate hits you rarely encounter these days. Real hits belong to a bygone era, absorbed during our youth when our musical experience was still fresh. Those early hits helped shape our future musical preferences, you could say.

Still, these are clearly solid songs, and you really can’t complain about the performance. As a guitarist, I had absolutely no doubts. Kee Marcello is one of the most skilled guitarists to ever come out of this country — or anywhere, really. I already knew he was also quite accomplished on piano and keyboards. What surprised me most was what a fantastic singer he is! I could hardly believe my ears on the first listen — I had to check if it was Glenn Hughes or some other well-known vocalist behind the mic. But no, it’s Kee himself singing, and he truly does it with style.

I believe Scaling Up is an album that will grow over time. So far, I’ve listened to it a few times, and I must say it’s getting better and better. It probably hasn’t reached its full potential yet, and I’m still wondering whether to stick with Spotify or invest in a physical copy. I’ll have to get back to you on that, but for now, the provisional rating is…