Crown of Thorns mainman returns with a new solo album and what a mixed bag of songs and styles there is on ‘Chameleon’. Opener (co-written with Lionel Richie) could easily be lifted off a Prince album, a tasty little number with a funky vibe. ‘Higher’ visits familiar Crown of Thorns territory being a catchy melodic rock tune that Beauvoir does so well. Dance beats abound on ‘I Don’t Need Ya’. Listening to this track I thought it could well be what the Dan Reed Network would sound like if they were still going now. (In fact a match made in heaven would be Beauvoir hooking-up with Dan Reed and Jeff Scott Soto - nice!)

‘Something To Believe In’ racks the pace up a notch and is Jean Beauvoir’s tribute to the Ramones. It’s not Ramones in style being led by keyboards and drum programming, but nonetheless it is one of the stronger songs on the album. Guitars do take a backseat on most songs but then you do get wonderful piano led ballads like ‘Teenager’. A big production number, ‘Angel’ - strings, layered vocals, banks of keys - closes the album in style and again has hints of Crown of Thorns ballads (‘Down To The River’ for one).

Jean Beauvoir is the consummate all round performer - he has a fine voice, pens a great tune and can play some wicked guitar. This album amply demonstrates his talents and hopefully the variety of music on here will break him into a bigger market than the small but loyal melodic rock one. Don’t expect Crown of Thorns but do expect some wonderful music!

****

Review by Jason Ritchie

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