Locke's long since moved from the shadow of the second blockbuster season of "American Idol" where she first rose to fame and now she's carved out a career that's outlasted many of her former competitors. Interestingly though, she seems to be paying tribute to those early days with this release. Fans of "American Idol" will remember it was Locke's duet performance of "Band of Gold" with Frenchie Davis during the Hollywood round of auditions that really clued viewers in on what a powerhouse vocalist she was.
Kimberly sounds as good as ever belting out this evergreen ode to a broken heart and perhaps it's the fact that "Band of Gold" is such a well-known song that led remixers Dave Aude and Bimbo Jones to turn in such darkly pulsing turns. However, while their versions aren't by any means bad, the focus on rhythm tracks at the expense of the melody unfortunately gives little for the listener to remember once the track has passed.
Better off is Scotty K who adds a dreamily bubbling arrangement to his mix, definitely pleasing to the ear, though admittedly at times it's exuberance does threaten to overwhelm the vocal. But best of the bunch is the glitzy remix from the Almighty team which enough retains of the musical hooks from the Freda Payne arrangement to make the song instantly recognizable but then lays out a pounding modern NRG production that perfectly balances the musical production with Locke's throatily emotive performance.
