Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

To have reached a 10th anniversary suggests that Blake must be doing something right. The current line-up of two tenors and a baritone is Stephen Bowman, Humphrey Berney and Ollie Baines, who clearly have a formula that works for them and their many fans. A harsh critic might say that the formula has become, perhaps, a little predictable and yes, Blake did start as a manufactured classical boy band. But they have, in my opinion, outgrown that tag. The three voices are all good enough to take leads and solos and the harmonic blend is excellent but . . . and there had to be a but although I stress that what follows is a personal opinion and will be out-voted by Blake's many and vociferous fans - I found the choice of material less than inspiring. We open with one of my favourite songs from one of my favourite musicals, "Somewhere" from West Side Story. To be sure, they have all the right notes in the right order but it comes over as somewhat bombastic where, for me, it needs to be tender. The two star-crossed lovers (spoiler alert: West Side Story is Romeo And Juliet moved to 1950's New York) know their love is doomed but somewhere there must be a time and place for them. We know it ain't gonna happen and so do they but still, somewhere. . . And then we hear "O Waly Waly", a folk song that exists in many and various forms although probably best known in classical circles in Benjamin Britten's arrangement. I think it works best as a solo voice with perhaps a tin whistle to give it a folk flavour or maybe pipes for more Celtic touch. What it does not need are three tenors belting it out at full volume. Yes, they get the melody right but the arrangement does not suit the words as, again, it is a song of hopeless longing: the water is wide and I cannot cross. There are songs where Blake's all guns blazing approach works well, particularly in the bonus track "The Dambuster's March" recorded with the Band of the RAF and the Military Wives' Choir to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the RAF. So, for me, some hits and some misses although where Blake miss it just shows that my taste is different to theirs.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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