Review by Andy Hawes for MPM
As the band name suggests, Double Vision started life as a NYC based Foreigner tribute band featuring ex-Prophet bass player Scott Metaxas and ex-Outloud and Talon vocalist Chandler Mogel.
Here we have their debut album, to be released on Frontiers Music S.R.L. on 11 July, featuring all original music which the band claim has its own identity but at the same time gives a nod to the influence of Foreigner. It’s a bold claim as Foreigner are often listed as major influences on many AOR acts, but, in truth, very few bands actually sound like them. Foreigner at their creative peak had a quite unique sound in AOR circles, so this album by Double Vision could be an interesting listen.
As soon as opening track ‘Prison of Illusion’ kicks in, it’s immediately evident that here we have a well-produced album which, as expected, sits nicely within the AOR genre. Guitars and keyboards vie for supremacy, with delightfully chunky riffs ably supported by the keys in time-honoured fashion. Mogel’s vocals are clean, rich and powerful as they must be for this kind of music. What is also very evident is that this isn’t going to be just another modern AOR release. This is brought into sharp focus by the melodic structure of the song which has a very classic AOR feel, sounding like something from the early-mid 80s but with modern production rather than the sort of thing that a million modern AOR bands churn out. The addition of superb saxophone solos reinforces this, adding an unusual but highly welcome vibe to the song. It’s a very strong opener and I’m already excited at what might be coming.
‘No Fool For Love’ kicks in with a huge guitar riff. Mick Jones’ guitar sound on a lot of Foreigner’s music tends to be very mid-range heavy and quite ‘scratchy’, his soloing tending towards slightly messy blues pentatonic licks. Here, the sound is big, brash and powerful and the soloing is fluid, precise and full of energy. The song itself is full of wonderful early AOR touches with some delightfully retro synth licks and that classic 80s technique of choppy 8th note keyboard licks under the huge powerchords of the chorus. The song itself is an 80s AOR wet dream with an earth-shatteringly melodic chorus and yet more delicious saxophone playing – very classy indeed.
Foreigner did love their huge ballads and Double Vision pull out a blinder in ‘The Man You Make Me’ which sees Chandler Mogel’s vocals hitting heights of sheer perfection without ever going unnecessarily over the top. Full of wonderful keyboards and orchestral vibes, this is as wimpy and as pink and fluffy as any of Foreigner’s ballads, but avoids the cloying slushiness that the classic band were occasionally guilty of. This is simply a brilliantly classy ballad that very cleverly manages to avoid AOR cliches.
‘I Know The Way’ brings back the guitars in another classy anthem with 100% melody overload and stacked backing vocals that bring to mind prime-time Styx along with more hooks than you can shake a stick at. The retro keyboards come back again here in quite some style on what is a superb AOR anthem. This is continued by ‘Yourphoria’ which has a much heavier guitar riff, but once again, those classic old 80s synth sounds come in to add layers of clever interest to another fabulous AOR anthem. Again, I’m struck by Mogel’s wonderful vocals, which are just superbly restrained and are totally there to serve the melodies. In fact, that is a statement that could easily apply to the whole band (Bassist Scott Metaxas, guitarists Chris Schwartz and Paul Baccash, drummer Scott Duboys, keyboardist Alex Lubin and saxophone player Tony Carfora) as they all play exactly what is required and do it with style and class. ‘Look Out For Me’ is a classy case in point. Another ballad, this song just has everything exactly right. The balance of guitar and keys is perfect and the whole production and mix allows space for Mogel’s superb vocal to shine. A very classy song indeed!
Instrumental ‘Transient Times’ is next, full of gorgeous early 80s synth sounds and classy old electric piano vibes before ‘Silence is Louder’ brings the AOR back. This is a very Foreigner-esque track, sounding like the sort of thing that permeated the classic band’s first three albums. The harmonic content is clever, with the sort of chord changes that would terrify most AOR bands these days, the whole thing adding a melodic complexity very rarely heard in 2025. That said though, this complexity takes nothing away from the catchiness of the song and it is as full of hooks as any of the other tracks on the album so far. The keyboards are particularly strong on this song, being as important as the guitars in driving the track along and in adding the sparkle to the production as well as providing the clever harmonic complexity.
‘Church of the Open Mind’ continues these themes, being a superb tribute rather than a simple rip-off as, although the influences of Mick Jones are very obvious in the chunky riffing, the song has its own identity and is blessed with another wonderfully hooky chorus and restrained bluesy guitar solo. It’s just a very classy piece of Melodic Classic Rock/AOR.
‘Once Before’ continues in similar vein, with a vibe similar to the sort of sound we remember from Head Games-era Foreigner, but with the addition of some wonderful female backing vocals which lend a further level of excellence to the sound, with synth brass also parping away behind the well-written chorus. This is a track that just begs for a saxophone solo and Tony Carfora obliges with an absolute belter. This is a fabulously anthemic song with a bucketload of energy, the power and drive of the pumping rhythm evoking visions of the open highway and endless skies. Marvellous!
‘A Stranger’s Face’ opens with keyboard drenched acoustic guitars and another very strong Chandler Mogel vocal. This is a track where Double Vision’s identity as a band really stands proud and strong. It’s another ballad-esque track and is very well-written and produced, eschewing the usual cliches and traps of AOR balladry. It’s another very strong track on what is proving to be a quite superb album.
The Foreigner vibe returns loud and proud on ‘This Day and Age’ with more Jones-esque riffing from Schwartz and Baccash on another driving slice of classic early 80s sounding AOR. There’s plenty of edge in this one, as the guitars take centre stage on one of the hardest rocking tracks on the album, although there are some lovely keyboards on it too – the honky-tonk piano being a particularly cool touch.
The album closes with ‘Love Could Rule’, another anthemic uptempo track chock-full of hooky vocals and swirling retro keyboards on an almost West-Coast AOR anthem. There is certainly more than a hint of Yacht Rock about this and believe me, that’s not a bad thing! Quite different in feel to the rest of the album, it nonetheless fits in beautifully and is a fitting album closer, ending it on a very clear high when the temptation could so easily have been to go out with a whimper on a big ballad. Very classy indeed!
Well, this album is something of a revelation. In a world where much AOR is quite formularised and sounds the same, Double Vision have managed to create an album that stands proudly different. It brilliantly evokes the early 1980s in a way that pays homage rather than simply being derivative. It is very melody-focused but without limiting itself to the very obvious AOR chord structures and riff styles. Basically it does what Foreigner did in the formative days of AOR before radio-friendliness overly homogenised the genre in the late 80s. Great job, Double Vision! You achieved your aims in quite spectacular style!
As an AOR fan, this is essential listening for me and should be for anyone out there who loves the genre, especially anyone who fondly remembers the genre’s formative years from 1978-1985. In fact, anyone who loves Classic Rock in all its many forms will find loads to enjoy here. However, I do need to emphasise that, despite the early 80s influences, the album doesn’t sound dated. The guitar and drums sounds and big, bold and powerful and thanks to modern tech and mixing, there is a good bottom-end thump that was often missing from those early 80s recordings. This is just an excellent slice of AOR and deserves to be heard! Make sure it’s on your list to buy or stream when it’s released on 11 July 2025!
Pre-Order ‘DOUBLE VISION’ HERE
‘Double Vision’ Track List:
1. Prison of Illusion
2. No Fool for Love
3. The Man You Make Me
4. I Know the Way
5. Youphoria
6. Look Out for Me
7. Transient Times (Instrumental)
8. Silence Is Louder
9. Church of the Open Mind
10. Once Before
11. A Stranger’s Face
12. This Day and Age
13. Love Could Rule
