SONG REVIEWED: "You've Got to Believe"
FOR SOME ARTISTS, THE STIGMA OF BEING ASSOCIATED WITH A HARIBAND FROM THE LATE 80s/ EARLY 90s IS SO INTENSE, THAT THEY CHANGE THEIR NAMES ENTIRELY. SUCH IS THE CASE WITH FLYNN, WHO USED TO BE KNOWN AS TERRY ILOUS FROM THE NOW-DEFUNCT BAND XYZ. MAYBE IT'S FOR THE BEST, BECAUSE "YOU'VE GOT TO BELIEVE" IS A 180-DEGREE DEPARTURE FROM HIS WORK IN THE LATE 80s...IF ANYTHING IT'S MORE ADULT-CONTEMPORARY, OR AT LEAST STRAIGHT-AHEAD POP THAN GLAM METAL.
THE SONG BEGINS WITH A VERY SIMPLE CHORD PROGRESSION AND WHAT COULD BE A HAMMOND ORGAN (BUT WAS MOST LIKELY SYNTHESIZED), AND KICKS INTO YOUR BASIC, VERY-HUMMABLE POP TUNE. IT'S ALMOST COMPARABLE TO THE WALLFLOWERS OR A MODERN BON JOVI SONG IN ITS TONE. FLYNN'S VOCALS ARE VERY STRONG THROUGHOUT THE SONG; THIS IS A GUY WHO HAS TAKEN CARE OF HIS VOICE FOR THE PAST TEN YEARS...AND HE REALLY DOESN'T USE THAT MANY HARMONIES DURING THE CHORUS, WHICH SHOWS YOU HOW CONFIDENT IN HIS VOCAL ABILITY.
MUSICIANSHIP IS FAIRLY TOP NOTCH. AMONG THE PLAYERS ON THIS DISC ARE MATT BISSONETTE ON BASS (DAVID LEE ROTH) AND PAUL MIRKOVICH (BAND LEADER ON SATURDAY NIGHT COMICS, NELSON). ALL IN ALL, THIS IS A SOLID RELEASE FROM THE FORMER HAIR-SPRAY ENCASED SCREECHER... A NICE DEPARTURE/MATURATION FROM WHAT MIGHT BE CONSIDERED "KID STUFF".
