John Mitchell is a frequent visitor to de Boerderij. On stage that is, as he plays in many bands that typically would pass Zoetermeer on any European tour. Most famous names being Arena, Frost*, It Bites and Kino. Lonely Robot is his solo project and with help of some friends (Steve Hogarth, Heather Findlay, Jem Godfrey amongst others) he released this very pleasant sounding Please Come Home album.
John Mitchel has a raspy voice which fits the songs well. He also is one of the world's most underrated guitarists and again amazes with his heavy riffs and great melodic soloing on this album. I remember seeing him live with PB2 some years ago. He played one guest solo and immediately that song stood out by a mile and then some during the show. He also gave twice in a short period a keyboard only version of Peter Gabriel's Here Comes the Flood, where his voice showed great range. So I knew I liked most if not all of his work and this CD is an easy goal to make in that respect. I read that not being in a band he could go wherever he liked and be more open. First song I heard however, came with Prog Magazine and Construct/Obstruct to me sounded nothing different from the last two albums of It Bites. Hearing the full album there is more variety indeed. Still all has this easily acceptable melodic rock overflow which makes this an album that could be big, if only getting some exposure. As this is not going to happen Lonely Robot shall remain one of the many secrets for the happy few.
John Mitchell shall be back in de Boerderij in April with Arena. I do not know if this project shall ever tour as well, but don't let that stop you from buying Please Come Home. You get what you expect and in this case that is just fine.
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