The Mayfield Four were a hard rock band that existed for a short time in the late 90's, early 2000's. Breaking up in 2002, the members have since gone their separate ways, most notable Myles Kennedy who is now the lead singer of Alter Bridge. To be quite honest, there is not a whole lot seperating the sound of The Mayfield Four from the glut of radio friendly hard rock. However, the band is just so incredibly solid. The songs are wholly interesting, and there is a little more substance lyrically. The band also does a fine job mixing up their sound, which adds a little variety, and makes everything much more consistent. There is more instrumental prowess than simple power chords being thrown around, yet there is still a lot left to be desired. There is a solo in "Believe" that sounds quite interesting, but is played so high on the fretboard, and is so digitized, that it kinda gets lost in the mix. Yet the true gem of the album is Myles Kennedy, whose vocals play a major role as to why the album is such a good listen. He has a great range, and overall just has a truly powerful voice.
The Mayfield Four are a hard rock band. Period. Aside from the nice selection of well crafted songs (there really isn't a truly terrible song), and a great vocalist, The Mayfield Four really don't offer much else that has not already been done to death. Overall it's quite good, but nothing that really stands out as truly "genre defining."
3.25/5
