Having played guitar in the house band for Queen’s unstoppable musical We Will Rock You, David Young assembles a seasoned team for Space Elevator’s first album. He’s joined by keyboardist Elliott Ware (The Who/Rock Of Ages), bass stalwart Neil Murray (Whitesnake), drummer Brian Green and a female vocalist known only as The Duchess.
Young’s ambition was to create an album inspired by ‘the golden age of classic bands such as Queen, Genesis, Rush, Fleetwood Mac and Kate Bush’, but the sparkling production and catchy songcraft here owes much, much more to the band’s West End pedigree than such musical greats.
The upbeat title track (chorus: ‘Elevator, travelator/Get on board/We’re gonna take ya!’) is a statement of intent for the BIG, symph-rock music to follow. It’s anthemic (I Will Find You (Gallifrey Dreams)), cannily commercial (Ordinary Day) and in parts far too try-hard for comfort (We Are The Losers – geddit?). Young and band are committed and The Duchess gives it enough theatricality to make Freddie Mercury sound like a shrinking violet.
If Trans-Siberian Orchestra run in the red, these guys push well into the amber. They might just be huge.
