Symphony of Angels – The Angels with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra

Doc Neeson, the seemingly irreplaceable founder and front man of The Angels passed away in 2014. Yet five years later the Angels have released an Album containing 19 of their best known songs.

This album is not yet another cover of old songs. Perhaps most significantly, it is a recording of the Angels in concert with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.

I had also not heard the Angels with their new vocalist David Gleeson (better known as the front man of the Screaming Jets since 1989, but also with the Angels since 2011).

New frontman David Gleeson.              

One of the benefits of a younger frontman is that he is capable of pogoing (as some of us remeber doing back then). His voice is sufficiently similar to Doc Neeson’s to not change the sound of the most memorable, Angels’ songs. It is however, sufficiently different to refreshen some of the songs that date back to the 1970s. The songs that have been reimagined as ballads and are worthy of inclusion in these performances.

The late Doc Neeson

Rock band collaborations with Classic Music orchestras do not always work out. In this instance the marriage is successful. Th Orchestra’s contribution takes different forms. The Classical musician provide stirring introductions and interludes, contribute to creating a rich wall of sound, or add melody where the band is caught up in simply being rockers.

Fans of Angels can also be reassured that this Album does not detract from the band’s rock credentials. The audience still participates in ‘Am I ever going to see your face again’. The driving drums and base are still there and the guitar solos remain impressive. The band rocks as hard as ever. If anything, the collaboration seems to add another level of aggression to the band’s music. ‘Face the Day’ is a fine example of this. The addition of a choir on ‘Be with you’ is every bit as effective as on the Stones’ ‘You can’t always get what you want’.

For an audio-visual sample go to the band’s Webpage.

Turn up the volume and annoy the neighbours, or clamp on your headphones with the intention of not further destroying your hearing (as I’m failing to do while tapping away on my tablet).