June 11, 1993 - The Tea Party and Splendor Solis

Four days after my last release a new band joins my library when The Tea Party released their first major label album "Splendor Solis" on June 11, 1993. But who are The Tea Party? They are a 3-piece rock band from Windsor, Ontario consisting of frontman Jeff Martin (lead vocals, guitars), Stuart Chatwood (bass) and Jeff Burrows (drums, percussion). The Tea Party's first album was not released on a major label and almost half the songs on this record were also on their first record so I like to view this album as their true debut. The Tea Party are influenced by the rock of the 1970s but also have some middle-eastern and psychedelic vibes to form a unique style of rock. Let's see what they're all about!

The album kicks off with "The River" and it begins with an interesting guitar part that sounds a little Middle-Eastern and this carries on as Burrows starts up a nice drum beat and Martin then adds some cool, more standard guitar to the mix as well. Martin then starts to sing the first verse and he has a very powerful sounding voice that I think sounds pretty great. It's a one-of-a-kind voice that is instantly recognizable and Jeff seems like a great frontman with his powerful vocals and also cool guitars. They shift nicely into the chorus where Martin continues to sound great and they segue nicely back to the main riff as they slow things down again. After another verse and chorus the rhythm section falls away briefly as Martin starts up a new, pretty fast guitar riff and then they come crashing back in for a pretty sweet new riff. Martin then plays a middle-eastern style solo overtop and it sounds pretty cool. They shift down from here and segue nicely into an instrumental chorus and then proceed to play a final verse and chorus before Martin yells some nice "help me baaaaby"s and they end the song with a nice finishing bit. A pretty cool introduction to The Tea Party! Up next is "Midsummer Day" and Chatwood plays a light but nice acoustic bass riff and then Martin sings a great verse to match the mood with his clear and loud voice. His guitar is fairly quiet, but Martin definitely isn't slacking as he plays some pretty cool acoustic stuff that leads a soft but nice and chill tune. The verse flows right into a similar chorus and Jeff and Stuart continue to play some cool acoustic stuff until after over 2 minutes in, Burrows finally joins in as the mood shifts dramatically. The snap into the rock riff was done pretty well and Martin leads the way with some cool guitar and a new verse. This part lasts only a minute though, and then it's right back to the soft opening riff. Martin takes his acoustic off in a new direction after the verse and chorus and Burrows adds some nice drums to the still soft music as Martin plays some cool acoustic to drive this "all you are, is in you" part that brings us to the end of this pretty progressive and solid song. Track 3 is called "A Certain Slant Of Light" and Martin plays a slow guitar riff to keep the pace while Chatwood plays some cool quiet bass in the background. Martin sings another nice verse with his great voice and he also shows off a bit with some nice quick guitar licks. Burrows joins in towards the end of the verse as they nicely build towards the heavy chorus with Martin very nicely yelling "I think she's coming down again! I hear the rain!" They slow it down for another verse and after another nice loud chorus Martin goes off for a lengthy guitar solo. His guitar tone in the solo is quieter than the main guitar riff in the background, which is a little odd, but Martin still delivers a pretty sweet solo that goes on for a good while. Eventually they close things out with a few final loud choruses. The next song is an instrumental named "Winter Solstice" and Martin dives right in with a pretty cool main guitar riff that drives this song. Chatwood adds some acoustic guitar to keep the pace and Burrows uses some light percussion as they let Martin lead the way with his nice guitar playing. Chatwood's playing gets faster and is pretty good as well and about halfway through the pace really picks as both Martin and Chatwood are playing some great fast stuff. They then nicely return to the original riff to close things out and for a song under three minutes, this one was pretty cool. Track 5 is "Save Me" and it's the longest song on the album at just over six and a half minutes. Burrows plays a solid drum beat and Chatwood plays a quiet but solid bass riff. Martin then plays some cool guitar to match the mood and sings another nice verse in his powerful voice. There's a  it of loud guitars but they move right into another verse and this verse leads right into a similar chorus as Martin holds a couple long "saaaaaaaaave meeeeeee"s and after a bit of louder guitar they quiet down to the main riff once again. Another verse and chorus later the music continues on slowly as Martin whispers a few soft "save me"s and Burrows builds up nicely on the drums and plays some cool stuff. This leads right into the main riff once again as Martin sounds great and Burrows continues to play sole cool drums. After this final verse they play a couple final choruses to close things out. Up next is another long song called "Sun Going Down" and Martin opens it by himself with some very Led Zeppelin-esque quiet guitar and he sings loud and clear overtop as things sound very blues-y on this one. After about 50 seconds the rhythm section finally kicks in and this provides a nice slow headbanger of a main riff led by Martin's distorted guitar and his great voice. He yells a great "how does that feel?" right before they move into the similar chorus and he sings the name of the song a few times before they hit reset and do it all again. Another verse and chorus later Martin plays a short bit of cool guitar, but then things quiet down again as Martin sings a new verse that has some great yelling parts to it, and he sounds pretty great yelling as well. Martin sings about St. Peter and then they nicely speed things up until we're at a nice fast pace with Martin playing some cool distorted guitar. This cool faster part takes us right to the end of the track and it's another unique and pretty cool song. Track 7 is "In This Time" and there's no drums for all of the song, just Chatwood playing some weird and interesting high bass noises while Martin drives the song with a continuous acoustic guitar riff that sounds beautiful. The two mesh together to form a light but pretty cool main riff and Martin sings a soft but still very powerful verse that perfectly matches the light mood. After slowly rolling through a couple verses we hear Martin sing the name of the song a few times and he briefly breaks away from the main riff with aime different acoustic stuff, but then it's right back into the main riff again for another nice, slow verse. Martin sings the name of the song s few final times and then he nicely wraps things up with some cool acoustic guitar. The next song is called "Dreams Of Reason" and Martin plays a light but pretty cool guitar riff and the rhythm section slowly joins in to complete this slow but solid main riff. Martin sings another nice verse, sounding great as usual, and it flows right into a pretty similar chorus where Martin's voice goes a bit raspier and it sounds good. They slowly play another verse and chorus and then it's solo time for Jeff as he delivers some cool fast guitar overtop the slow backing music. The solo is a fairly long one and the end of it segues nicely into a heavier new part as the good guitar continues and Martin nicely sings "I really need your love". This part nicely devolves into quiet as Martin plays some cool bits of guitar to close out this cool slow burner of a song. Track 9 is "Raven Skies" and it has a trippy, Middle-Eastern-eaque opening before moving nicely into the main riff with Chatwood and Burrows providing a solid rhythm section while Martin plays a cool lead guitar riff with slow, and pretty fast parts that sound nice. Martin begins a typical Tea Party verse (in which I mean another cool, powerfully sung verse) and they play a trippy short bridge that takes us to a pretty cool chorus where Martin nicely sings "welcome to my garden". They play another verse, bridge and cool chorus and then they shift into a cool new part that is completely different and nice and upbeat with Martin playing some nice guitar. They shift nicely from this loud part to a much quieter part that sounds similar to the trippy opening and Burrows plays some nice drums throughout this whole instrumental part, including building us up out of the quiet to triumphantly return to the main riff. Martin belts out a couple nice "and I need her now" and then they say a final chorus before nicely finishing off the song with a pretty cool final bit. Up next is another short instrumental titled "Haze On The Hills" and it's just Martin eith an acoustic guitar as he plays some pretty cool stuff that ebbs and flows very nicely. It has some cool little riffs that are pretty quick that Martin likes to mix in between the nice melodic stuff and it all makes for another pretty cool interlude. The last few seconds take a turn away from the soft rest of the song and it leads perfectly to set up the last song on the album "The Majestic Song". Martin continues on with the cool lead guitar riff and Burrows nicely counts in the rhythm section with a nice drum beat and Chatwood adds some high bass that meshes nicely with the guitar to form the main riff. Martin sings in a bit of a softer voice to start the verse and he nicely raises his voice as they move into the chorus. They never really stray from this main riff, they just continue to jam it verse after chorus after verse after chorus but it doesn't seem to wear. The guitar starts to build at one point and Burrows plays a nice little drum fill but it just leads into a final chorus that brings us to the end of the song and this album.

That is the end of "Splendor Solis" and I thought it was a pretty sweet album that had no weak spots at all really. The Tea Party play a unique style of rock that sounds good when it's slow and soft and also when it's fast and harder and Jeff Martin in particular is an excellent frontman. He plays some cool guitar throughout the album and he has a one-of-a-kind voice that as I said throughout the review, just sounds so powerful and clear and epic. "The River" and "Sun Going Down" were probably my favourites but the whole album was solid and it's an excellent "debut" for these Canadian rockers. I can't wait to see what The Tea Party will do next!