HinweiseGenre : Melosic Hard Rock
Country : USA
Year : 2007

Line-up
Clyde Holly (v, g, k)
Mark Allen Lanoue (v, g)
Dave Melton (b)
Rob Gronkoski (d, bv)
Stephan Prescott (k)

Some bands have all the luck, while others have to struggle all of the time.
Take this band Biloxi for an example. We all remember them from their great
debut album, “Let The Games Begin”, released in 1993, but shortly after its
release they split, mainly due to the untimely death of their guitarist.
Vocalist Clyde Holly then relocated to his home town of Biloxi, where he
started producing local acts in his own HollyHouse Recording Studios. One of
those bands was Slump and that’s how he met drummer Rob Gronkoski, with whom
the ended up in the Rebecca Allen Band, which eventually led to the reformation
of Biloxi around the start of the new millennium. The second Biloxi album,
“Right The Music”, saw the light of day in 2002. It was first released by Ash
America in the US and later picked up and distributed by MTM Music in Europe.
Featuring a well-balanced mix of rockers and ballads, it easily conquered the
heart of yours truly, who rewarded it with 5 out of 6 stars.
After that release the band was joined by vocalist/guitarist Mark Allen
Lanoue, who had a lot of input on the writing of new songs for a third album.
Fate hounded the band once again on September 10, 2006: Clyde Holly died of
complications resulting from a condition know as sleep apnea. The remaining
band members were dismayed, but nevertheless they took the resolute stand to
continue and finish what was started: the recording of ‘Biloxi III’.
Titled “In The Wake Of The Storm” – due to the impact that hurricane Katrina
has had on the lives of all Americans – the album is more than a worthy
follow-up of “Right The Music”. Most songs were written by the pair of Holly
and Lanoue and see the band evolving in a slightly heavier direction, although
this is still pretty much a melodic hard album in its purest form. The late
Clyde Holly can be heard as lead vocalist on “Pray For Rain” and
“Synchronicity II” and as lead guitarist on five tracks, while Mark Allen
Lanoue did the honours on the rest of the material. It really is a pity that
Clyde is no longer among us, because on this album he once again proved what a
talented guy he was. The good news however is that Mark Allen Lanoue also did
a fine job also. Not only did he finish the album with Rob Gronkoski, he sings
and plays the guitar in a great way as well. Don’t expect a mixed bag of songs
here, but a total of 14 rockers and ballads that sound quite coherent. OK, the
production could have been better (conspicuous sound differences between some
of the songs), but with song material as strong as what I hear here, I can
live with that. Among the highlights are songs like opener “Here Alone”, “Pray
For Rain”, “On The Other Side”, “Broken” (the heaviest track on offer) and
“Fly Into The Sun”.