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I confess that I haven't heard of Soleil Moon before and when I hear the name Larry King I think of the 'king of talk' and not the singer of Michael Thompson band. Soleil Moon is a project of singer Larry King and keyboarder John Blasucci who played for e.g. Michael Bolton and Richard Marx. The songs on On The Way To Everything have been written and recorded over the years, whenever the duo found time to. The album was released in the USA in 2011 and so the European version got a few bonus tracks.
The opener History Repeats Its Pages is an AOR tune which should please AORsters and fans of emotional pop rock. At the balladesque Love The Way You Love you get a great guitar solo which would have fit a hard rock tune, too. The piano-based opening passage of the title track made me think of Michael Bublé... The vocals have a jazzy touch, but then it becomes a kind of Broadway rockical tune... Songs like Blackbird and Goodnight Irene might be based on the same ingredients, but always get spiced up with one sound element which gives the song it's own identity. At some songs Soleil Moon reminds me of Joshua Kadison.... I think fans of Richard Marx will dig this album, too. At Freedom there is a short passage which has something Styx-ish, perhaps because John Blasucci is working with Dennis DeYoung... But then they surprise you by adding something you won't expect. Beside that it's the lyrics which will surprise you over and over again, coz Soleil Moon don't stick to the typical shallow lyrics, they try to pass a message. Burn is quite heavy, but just a short interlude - not enough to win over hard rock lovers. Unfortunately, but it's followed by Down, a heavy rocker. The guitar-based ballad Colorado is thoughtful tune - partly melancholy, partly uplifting. The up-tempo rocker Here I Am is the last of the regular songs - and 3 bonus tracks should follow. The first one is the bombastic Ohio, it would have fir early 80's Styx.... But it also has very reduced parts, it's a sonic roller coaster ride - and it's among my favorites on this CD. Calling On The World reminds me of Robert Berry and Alliance... And I wonder why it didn't make it on the US version. The closer I'd Die For You is a symphonic rock tune and also sound like it's taken from a concept album / rockical... Personally I like that side of Soleil Moon a lot and hope for a concept album with this kind of songs... And hopefully it won't take more than a decade to deliver a new album!
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