Album Review: FM – BROTHERHOOD

Review and live photos by Peter Coates

FM – BROTHERHOOD

Released 5^th Sept 2025

Frontiers Records

Having been a fan of this UK melodic rock band from the very start, when Chris and Steve Overland brothers launched their band WILDLIFE, which after two albums then flipped into FM, with the ex-Samson rhythm section of Pete Jupp (Drums) and Merv Goldsworthy (Bass) joining Chris and Steve O, picking up keyboard whizz Didge Digital along the way, and premiering in the UK at the Marquee in 1985.

Indiscreet came out as the first album, and this holds its own today as an absolute classic of the melodic rock / AOR genre. Ten years of solid touring and recording, and a couple of line-up changes, with Andy Barnett replacing Chris O on guitars, and Jem Davis taking over the Keys from Didge, and ended up with the band calling it a day in 1995.

12 years later the band was reunited to headline the Firefest event in Nottingham, and the reaction was so strong, that the band decided to have another crack at the business, under much changed professional environment – and when Andy Barnett could not commit, they recruited blues/rock guitarist Jim Kirkpatrick as his replacement – and this line up is going strong today, 10 albums and almost 20 years later.

Brotherhood is another under-stated masterpiece – showcasing their timeless blend of Blues, Soul and Melodic rock, that again makes a powerful statement on the impact on quality songwriting, great vocals, and a bunch of class musicians playing music they love together. Opener Do You Mean It could only be an FM track, a thumping blues-rocker enhanced by the sultry backing vocals of Sonia Jones and Jade Morgan supported by the ever-present backing harmonies from the band, with a tasty little guitar solo from Kirkpatrick mid-song, and some more licks in the outro.

The unique voice that is Steve Overland is what set FM apart from so many of their peers back in the 1980s and 1990s, and “The Voice” continues to defy gravity with the soaring lead vocal lines, the harmonies, and the effortless melodies he commands. The Up-tempo Living On The Run will be a live anthem, with searing guitar harmonics behind the riff, a ripper of a solo and some great twin-guitar lines, with the catchiest of choruses powered along by the monster drumming of Pete Jupp and Merv Goldsworthy on the bass.

The keyboards come to the fore on Coming For You, with power-chords and layers of vocal harmonies, the stripped-back verses leaving some space, and building through the pre-chorus to the accented chorus itself. There is some sensational lead guitar work from JK in the solo, and having the second guitar providing the riff, allows Jim to deliver those trademark lead breaks behind the vocals. More electric piano, and a slightly familiar riff that harks back to Tough It Out, leads us into Raised On The Wrong Side, and another glorious FM chorus. This is one of the strongest tracks on the album, with a cute little middle-eight before JK launches into another crisp solo. The band shows off their cleverness with vocal harmonies before the closing choruses and a refrain of that classic riff as the coda to the track.

Love Comes To All is straight from the Allman Brother / Doobie Bros / Eagles songbooks in terms of summery guitars and tasteful vocal melodies. There is never a filler on an FM album, because of the sheer class of the writing and playing, and we now get the six-minute opus that is Just Walk Away – a glorious soulful ballad, with the ladies providing the gospel-tinged backing vocals to lift Steve’s performance to another level. Acoustic guitars and piano just provide a subtle backdrop to the impassioned lead vocal line, with the bass and drums kicking in properly for the second part of the song, which builds up through the extra keyboards and voices, with a classy key-change in the section before the flamenco-like guitars and organ combine for a few bars. Then Steve’s voice leads into a full-on AOR chorus which gets the full choral backing treatment in what is clearly a strong production from the band themselves, recorded by drummer Pete Jupp, and mixed by Jeff Knowler. Not a standard FM ballad, but utterly compelling!

Back to the mainstream old-school FM sound with Don’t Call It Love which has just been released with a video, driven along by Jupp and Goldsworthy, a chugger of a riff, and multiple keyboard varieties swelling the overall sound. The back end of the track sees Steve pouring out some immense lead vocal lines while the boys throw down the backing vocals, and the punchy end to the track is pure class. Another upbeat pop-rocker is up next in Time Waits For No Man, with the emotionally-charged lyrics encouraging us to live for the moment and take that chance! The band never was quite able to break the USA, which given the number of tracks like this one remains a mystery – maybe this will be the one that does it as a feel-good summer FM radio hit (if that is a thing any more)!

There is a darker brooding side to the powerful sound of Because Of You, pinching some keyboard sounds from Seal’s hit Crazy to tie in with the lush bass and big guitar chords , but the chorus is pure FM, and Steve’s vocal gymnastics is the final phrases are as good as ever. Chasing Freedom has country-rock in the veins and in the lyrics and guitars too, and sees Jim Kirkpatrick deliver one of the solos of the record, and all uplifted with some great piano work from Jem – get the boys to play this in Nashville and see what happens!

This varied but consistently high-quality record closes out with an absolute barnstormer of a track, in The Enemy Within. Solid guitar riff, solid bass and drums, and epic soaring vocals, this is a slight deviation from that classic FM sound, with a verse and chorus that follows a similar path and tempo, broken up by the tricky beats in the middle-eight before a too-short but so good guitar solo. Another couple of choruses while JK lets rip over the top, before dropping back into the off-beat sounds to the ethereal One Look Up / Just Look Up refrain that fades into the dark.

For a band that that made their name through a long line of classy melodic rock songs, with catchy choruses, loud guitars, and the amazing vocals of Steve Overland, Brotherhood delivers some new surprises in terms of sounds and melodies, along with some old friends that take the listener back to the days of Tough It Out and Taking It To The Streets – the band’s production is faultless, and all eleven tracks are keepers. While the band keep delivering records like this, and delivering the goods live as they always do, long may they reign as the masters of their hard-edged melodic rock.

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