Oliver Weers

Get Ready

Written by: TL on 22/09/2008 13:22:25

For the uninformed, I can illuminate the fact that Oliver Weers was one of the more remarkable washouts from the auditions to the first Danish season of the singing competition X-Factor, who, while managing to impress the judges with his singing prowess, was cut on account of his very distinct, long haired, old school, heavy rock appearance. Though Oliver might not have been a perfect fit for X-Factors target audience, Target Records seem to have realized that the dude's got marketable potential in a different scene, and thus they picked him up, sent him to a studio along with drummer Tommy Aldridge (former Whitesnake, Ozzy Osbourne etc), bassist Marco Mendoza (Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy etc.) and guitarist Søren Andersen (Baal, Kira And The Kindred Spirits) and produced a record called "Get Ready", releasing it while the memory of Oliver's TV-appearance should still remain in the public's minds.

If Oliver's personality wasn't enough to convince you, the names I just listed should assure you that this record is basically one long tribute to the heavy and hard rock legends of the 80's. No guitar solo is spared, and no notion of subtlety left ignored in Oliver's attempt to recreate the grandeur of classic long-haired rock'n'roll, and as such, I'm sure he delivers what's been expected from all the heavy-heads that got interested when they first saw him on TV. It's important to realise though, that the artist name on the cover is "Oliver Weers" and as such, everything is built around and under his vocal performance, and it seems strikingly un-rock'n'roll the way the instruments remain in line behind the singer, revealing the nature of this record to be rather mainstream and poppy after all.

If you were interested in Oliver already though, I'm sure that's unlikely to be a surprise to you, seeing as the guy did sign up for X-Factor, and this isn't really where the album has its problem in any case. No, the question I'd like to ask Oliver, his label and his potential fans is, why they all think that it would be worth listening to "Get Ready" rather than one of the classic albums by the bands it so clearly draws inspiration from? Sure, the instrumental and production aspects are top notch, and blow any 80's recording out of the water, but isn't that somewhat futile, seeing as the originality-barometer is dangerously close to zero at all times? Why would you want to listen to Oliver sing "Army Of Me" by Björk or "The Show Must Go On" by Queen, rather than the originals, when he adds so little to the songs?

To me, these questions aren't answered on "Get Ready", and as an X-Factor dropout trying to create a reputation in a heavy music scene, I think those answers are actually needed. However, given the nature of Oliver Weers' fame, I suspect that the quality of his album won't be a necessary consideration for you to decide if he's the kind of artist you'll like or not. Be that as it may, I couldn't see it being a very convincing one in any case.

5

Download: Even Giants Cry, Hands High, The Show Must Go On
For The Fans Of: Whitesnake, Alice Cooper, AC/DC
Listen: myspace.com/oliverweersband

Release Date 22.09.2008
Target Records
Provided by Target ApS

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