From The Moon To The Sun (EU)

Kip Winger has lived an interesting post-hair band, post-hitdom type of existence. In the wake of Winger's success (1988-1990) and eventual fall, Kip endured the death of his wife in a one-car accident in the mid-'90s and then eked out a humbler but more musically sophisticated life, doing a solo acoustic tour to support an early solo album and crafting ever more complicated compositions in his home studio, compositions that nodded to his interests in progressive rock and music of a more sweeping, symphonic nature. From the Moon to the Sun possesses many of these sweeping gestures, and Winger still hits vocal notes with operatic urgency, but there is also a focused, more mature bent in his music, which will nonetheless still be recognizable to fans of his more famous past work. "Every Story Told" certainly shows Winger's affinity for progressive rock, wieldy themes, and big compositions, with the singer providing numerous dramatic flourishes, but we can also see his songcraft evolving to something much more refined and complex. There is also a world-weary cast to much of this music that one would have never suspected from the leonine hair metaller of old. (A side note: he also re-formed Winger in the 2000s.) This is a fairly eclectic spread too, with pretty, ruminative ballads such as "Runaway" and "California" mixed in with driving rockers such as "Reason to Believe" and "Nothing." This is a well-crafted effort that defuses any would be punch-lines; Winger hasn't let his onetime status as pop-metal pinup stop him from making albums that show his deepening understanding of composition and arrangement. ~ Erik Hage|