Band:	MPG
Album:	Martie Peters Group
Style:	Hard rock
Release date:	2005
A review by:	Malcolm

01. The Beast Inside
02. Riot On The 5th Floor
03. Only Dreaming
04. Number 1
05. Takes Some Time
06. A World Without You
07. Take Me Over The Edge
08. Bird On The Wire
09. Hard To Choose
10. Dixie Toot [Rod Stewart/Ron Wood cover]

Martie Peters was a member of the band Push for over 10 years, so if you think you heard the name, it can be because of that, most likely it is.
But Martie is now free from Push since they disbanded in 2003 and have now his own band, MPG (Martie Peters Group), a little cliché maybe but he is a good musician, so it's easy to overlook.

This record is also the debut for Martie, debut under the name MPG. He has in the past, released four albums with Push and also contributed on two Mike Tramp albums (that's pretty funny, because Martie's voice is very similar to Mike's).

The music is, what I recall, a mixture between Rush and some White Lion, but still different enough to not get the stamp "copy-cat". The melodic hard rock they're playing sounds both fresh and catchy, Martie Peters, Martin Slott and Anthony Lledo is very good song-writers, there are a lot of tracks here that will get stuck in your head a long time after you taken out the cd.

Among the songs I'm holding as my favourites you'll find the starter "The Beast Inside", a song that was on the MTM Music Compilation I reviewed a time back. Already then I heard that Martie had potential, and I held that song as one of the best from that Comp.
But also songs like "Heart is an Empty Space" and "A World Without You", that's both very emotional and Martie's voice is the "guilty" one here.
And the last track "Dixie Toot" that's a Rod Stewart/Ron Wood song from 1974, it's very cool with Martie.

On the other hand, I also should bring forward the "bad" parts too, and believe me; on this record it's hard. I mean, the production is out of question, it fits perfectly, the cover is nice, they are all talented musicians, Martie got a good voice, there are no bad songs and so on, nothing bad to report really.

Ok, this release doesn't have much related to Metal, but before you start complaining, remember, Metal and Hard Rock is relatives.
And with such talented musicians, this is a real must for fans of Melodic Rock and fans of Rush and even White Lion. And maybe this is one of the best Melodic Rock releases we'll get his year, who knows?

Check Out: "The Beast Inside", "Heart is an Empty Space", "A World Without You" & "Dixie Toot".