Robin Beck: Love Is Coming (Frontiers)

Newly re-signed to the Frontiers label, melodic rock singer Robin Beck is back with a new album, titled Love Is Coming. It’s her 10th album to date, and finds Beck teaming with multi-instrumentalist Cliff Magness (Steve Perry, Avril Lavigne) and producer (and husband) James Christian (House of Lords).

I confess I haven’t really kept up with Robin Beck over the past decade. I loved her breakout 1989 album Trouble or Nothin’ though, so I was curious enough to give this new one a listen…which turned into two listens, then three, then…you get the idea. This isn’t exactly the upbeat melodic rock of Trouble or Nothin’, but that voice is just as impressive now as it was then. The songs on Love Is Coming run the gamut from pop to melodic rock to singer/songwriter style, but they’re all really polished and have plenty of emotion. Beck sounds terrific, and showcases her range and versatility here, and Magness delivers some choice melodies and solos. The ballad(ish) “Here I Am” is my favorite song on Love Is Coming, but “On the Bright Side” and “Warrior” have a great rocking punch. “Warrior” could actually pass for a Katy Perry or Pink song, and deserves mainstream radio airplay (that it won’t get).

Love Is Coming is a really strong, really enjoyable AOR-ish album, and it’s making me regret not checking out the albums Robin Beck has released since Trouble or Nothin’. It’s an album fans of more mainstream/crossover-minded melodic rock – think Cornerstone, Jace Pawlak, Pat Benatar, even Shania Twain – should check out.