I’m almost at the stage now after ten years where I’m not going to review any more albums that start with a minute of music slap a title on it and add it to the track-list – ‘The Mirror’ isn’t a song, and this is a ten track album not eleven. If after listening to that track you’d asked me if I’d like to hear more from the band my answer would have been “No” if you asked me if I thought the album that followed would be any good based on that minute I’d have said “Probably not”. Why bands do it I have no idea, if it’s a stunning piece of music by all means stick it in there – if it really enhances or adds to the song it precedes, be my guest. ‘The Mirror’ does neither.
‘Strangers Eyes’ starts a little slow and Dokken-like, certainly with a feel of early 80’s Hard Rock but when the vocals and verse kick in it comes over all Danger Danger – it’s not a bad song at all, nice and melodic with a nice hook, nice backing vocals and with a vintage feel that even the knowledge that the singer’s name is Farty can’t blow away…
Digging in you find that this is actually a rather fine album, the songs are well-written and the playing, especially the guitars, are great: but oddly it’s an album seems to just have one pace and that pace is best described as mid-tempo. Now if you like that sort of thing thats fine of course but if you want a little light and shade that is few and far between.
The high pitched “mouse like sound” at the start of ‘Nothing But Trouble’ shouldn’t put you off what is another more than competent mid-tempo rocker that should stir feelings of the Sunset Strip; and ‘Dutch Courage’ that follows notches things back even further right to the early years of that decade,there’s a real early 80’s sound that Wildheart capture so well that is alike a mix of Motley, Ratt and Dokken. It’s another great mid-tempo rocker bursting with guitar.
And that great vibe and great sound just continues. ‘No Love’ is another cool mid-paced stomper, nice and moody and catchy as hell; and of course ‘One Way Ticket To Paradise,’ anther song launched by a high-pitched scream, is cut from similar cloth, as is ‘Rumours’ and both are great but after a few plays you realise that what is nailed so precisely – the sound is also the drawback in that a lot of these songs do sound so similar.
Closing the album out we get four of the best (in truth this is remarkably consistent offering) ‘The Winner’s Always Right’ is another chunky early 80’s rocker, whilst ‘Good To Be Bad’ has great swagger and nice rolling bass-line and some killer guitars; and I like ‘Valerie’ because it finally mixes it up a little – with more of a bluesy swagger and grittier than most here an nice vintage Van Halen vibe in the ways it’s constructed – more of this please! Interestingly the shift in gears does come but they save it ’til last – ‘Tonight We Rock’ is all fired up and raring to go and though it groans under the weight of lyrical cliches like ‘Valerie’ it shows these guys can mix it up.
These guys have promise in spades, a wonderful appreciation of 80’s rock, great songs with a singer a little like Ted Poley and signs that they can get away from that mid-tempo melodic groove (not that there’s anything wrong with that) when they need to. Great stuff.
Tracklist: 01. The Mirror | 02. A Stranger’s Eyes |03. Nothing But Trouble | 04. Dutch Courage |05. No Love |06. One Way Ticket To Paradise | 07. Rumours|08. Good To Be Bad |09. The Winner’s Always Right |10. Valerie | 11. Tonight We Rock
Band Members: Farty – vocals | Foxx – guitar | Stevie Dee – bass | Juice – guitar | Thunderberck – drums