Keys are an all keyboard band which is the brainchild of singer Jake E (Cyhra, Amaranthe and others) and keyboardist Mark Mangold (Touch, Drive, She Said, Michael Bolton, Cher, Paul Rogers and others) with Emanuel Bagge (Sweden’s Got Talent Finalist) on additional vocals and keys, Irwan Fabrien (noted keyboard guitar sound designer) with help of drum gurus Alex Landenburg (Kamelot, Cyhra and others). The previous Keys album also featured guest keyboard additions by Charlie Calv of Angel and others. Though songs are first and foremost, this band shows the versatility of keyboards in this day and age. These artfully crafted songs are ripe with scathing synth, organ and “guitar” pyrotechnics, dazzling time signatures and drumming, bombastic choruses and “guitar” riffs (played on keyboards with the now available plug ins that perfectly emulate guitars).

“The Grand Seduction” opens with the album track which is 9 minutes long featuring some Hammond Organ runs and riffs from Mark Marigold, with some high end vocals delivered by Jake E which has that Deep Purple esq style to it but modern industrial guitar style riffs ”All I Need” is pretty much in the same vain as the opener organ overload, very synth heavy fast paced melodies with a catchy chorus. ”Shining Sails “ is a more melodic track ,more my style of track , with the first two sounded a bit manic to me,a  bit OTT with the Hammond organ, great guitar solo which was done on a keyboard with a plug-in which in fairness sounds very much like a real guitar. ”Switchblade” is more mid paced seventies style classic rock. The next track “Vortex” has a Dio feeling influence but modern touches, with a glorious atmospheric chorus a definite album highlight track. ”Skin And Bones” is a really cool ballad style track a moody vibe, with some great quality vocals. ”Turn To Dust” is a track of ambience ,great vocals, One thing about this album it seems that the rhythm section is all programmed all though it sounds good ,call me old fashioned but I prefer the real thing “Crazy Town” a straight forward rock track which would sound so much better if it had a proper rhythm section which is frustrating ,the same can be said for “Thought We Had Forever” which has terrible drum programming ,its a good track but with real drums it would have sounded even better.”The World Is Ours” another moody track with acoustic guitars which do not sound authentic at all, a good song which demands a full band.

“The Grand Seduction” is a frustrating album. There are some good songs on the album, the vocals from Jake E are really good, but let down by lots of computer generated music & melodies call me old fashioned but I'm old school a real band for me! ,I found the Hammond Organ over the top at times ,too much in your face there is no doubt Mark Mangold can play the organ very well however after a while I found it too much. If you like heavy keyboard ,computer generated progressive rock/classic rock then you will love the album but unfortunately its not for me.