Category Archives: hard rock

NICKELBACK – Here And Now

Posted on by

After their breakthrough hit ‘How You Remind Me’, Nickelback trod a safe path, trotting out a few more albums of solid post-grunge tunes.  In 2008, teaming up – at least in part – with legendary producer Mutt Lange, the band released ‘Dark Horse’, an album on which Chad Kroeger and co sounded awesome in terms of studio crunch.  Packing a bigger punch than ever, it’s a pity to say the least that ‘Dark Horse’ was ultimately spoilt – almost beyond redemption – by Kroeger’s appalling, very sexist “party-hard” lyrical stance.

Much like ‘Dark Horse’, lyrics aside, 2011’s ‘Here and Now’ features a couple of cracking tunes.  Never was this any more evident than on ‘This Means War’, a juggernaut of a rock song with a hugely unsubtle riff to match. A hugely expensive production job really sharpens the edges on a heavy, slightly downtuned riff which grabs the listener by the neck from the word go.  Beyond the riff, Nickelback offer more musical goodies on this opening statement – the bass is about as solid as it gets, and the lead vocal comes with a ton of grit.  There’s a reasonable chorus too; maybe not as instant as few of the band’s radio-staples, but it’s one which suits the uncompromising nature of the material in hand.  It’s one of Nickelback’s heaviest tunes and one which proves them a force to be reckoned with.  Drinking song ‘Bottoms Up’, too, offers a fabulous – if rather simplistic – riff, decent solo and rousing chorus.  It’s slightly lighter than ‘This Means War’, but still about as subtle as a sledgehammer.  It may sound a little like a ‘Dark Horse’ leftover, but it’s one of ‘Here and Now’s better numbers. Based on this pair of tunes, Nickelback really ought to consider wielding their heavier tendencies more often.   Despite going in with all guns blazing, going beyond these first couple of songs, the cracks – somewhat predictably – begin to appear.

Three years after ‘Dark Horse, you’d hope that Chad Kroeger had got his sexual hang-ups out of his system, but it appears that – at least on occasion – very little has changed.  On ‘Midnight Queen’ he trots out such bilge as “She my midnight queen / she’s gonna lick my pistol clean” and “Lay that body on her bottom and dump that salt on her hips / I was lyin’ when I told her that I’m only gonna  liquor tonight”– lyrics so unashamedly awful, they could rival ‘Dark Horse’’s indelible imagery of being ridden like a tractor and sex-games with jelly.  Still, if Chad Kroeger insists on getting his lyrics from KISS’s dustbin, should we have expected any different?  It’s a shame such vulgarity spoils a reasonable musical arrangement, with another fantastic sounding bottom end from Mike Kroeger’s bass…

A badly arranged piece, ‘Kiss It Goodbye’ would have benefitted no end from having a more danceable groove, but it’s so, so laboured that it achieves nothing beyond about thirty seconds in. The chorus makes no real impression either and the verses lumber past like they’re being dragged forcibly.  This is so un-natural – even by previous Nickelback standards – it makes the kind of lightweight radio-fodder of ‘When We Stand Together’ sound half decent.  Sounding like something from any number of Nickelback albums, the latter typifies the kind of thing the band could have written in their sleep.  The electric guitars mesh politely with the acoustics, while Chad tries his best to sound like he’s not just going through the motions with dollar signs in his eyes.  A simple “yeah, yeah, yeah” on the chorus screams hit; for those who love Nickelback, it’s commercial sheen will be appealing…but for the band’s many detractors, it just represents yet another voyage into safe radio territory .  If you’re not a fan, you’ll hate this song as much as you probably hate ‘Rockstar’ or ‘How You Remind Me’.

Of the band’s soft side ‘Don’t Ever Let It End’ celebrates good times over a marching beat, with an occasional hint of new-country.  It’s a better example of the band’s instantly accessible side; the melodies are strong, the chorus stronger still.  Although you’ll have heard similar styled material from the band many times, this track is one of ‘Here and Now’s shining lights.  ‘Lullaby’, meanwhile, does exactly what it says on the tin.  Like ‘When We Stand Together’, the blend of electric and acoustic guitars is textbook Nickelback, except here they’re augmented by occasional piano.  Old curly-head does his best to sound sensitive – as sensitive as one is able with the assistance of autotune, of course – while musically the rest of the band settles for hugely predictable stadium rock, lighters in the air balladry.  It would be wrong to say this was objectionable by any standards, but you’ll have heard far better from many other rock bands…including Nickelback.

Has there ever been a more frustrating band? Based on the kind of riffs which drive ‘This Means War’ and ‘Bottoms Up’, Nickelback could be great…but instead of concentrating on such riff-driven awesomeness, they insist on filling huge chunks of their albums with relatively boring drivel or loading up their songs with lyrical crassness.  It’s a criminal waste of potential talent from all concerned.  The best bits of ‘Here and Now’ are fantastic, but as always with Nickelback, they’re few and far between.

November 2011

SCORPIONS – Lonesome Crow

Posted on by

Recorded in October 1971 and released in February 1972, eight years after the band’s original formation, the Scorpions’ debut album ‘Lonesome Crow’ contains just over forty minutes of music which represent a young band feeling their way.   Barely touching on the direct style of Germanic hard rock which would become their signature, unsurprisingly, the album isn’t often spoken of very positively among rock and metal fans.  This is a great pity since, if taken on its own merits, ‘Lonesome Crow’ contains some superb musical performances, even though it doesn’t really excel in the actual song writing department.

Like Thin Lizzy’s debut, or the three criminally underrated discs by Deep Purple Mk I (released between 1967-69), ‘Lonesome Crow’ is an album that isn’t very representative of the band Scorpions would evolve into a few short years later. If it gets mentioned at all, it’s usually for it’s being the only Scorpions album to feature founding guitarist Michael Schenker on all tracks.  Looking beyond that, the album ought to be re-appraised for its interesting musical qualities, particularly those from the rhythm section.  Combined, drummer Wolfgang Dziony and bassist Lothar Heimberg are fantastic pairing, and while Dziony isn’t always stunning as a drummer in his own right, his interplay with Heimberg is top notch on various tracks featured here.  Heimberg, however, is a fabulous bassist, with his complex basslines often lifting the band’s experimentation above mere meandering.

It’s Dziony whom gets to open the album; during the intro for ‘I’m Going Mad’, he at first breaks into a fill which sounds like it could power a drum solo, before his toms lay a basic pattern which is intercut with woodblock percussion.  This is complimented by a solid bassline from Heimberg which has plenty of peaks and troughs; Rhythm guitarist Rudolf Schenker fills spaces with a basic chord structure, over which his brother Michael lays down a couple of reverbed leads.  Aside from a selection of wordless ahh’s, vocalist Klaus Meine is given relatively little to work with initially.  Even the inclusion of an early Deep Purple-esque spoken vocal adds little to the general mood, by which point ‘I’m Going Mad’ sounds like a bunch of half-jammed musical ideas welded together in the hope of something igniting.  It’s enjoyable in a pseudo Uriah Heep kind of way, but the number doesn’t entirely work as an opening statement. Even when the band hits their stride during the closing moments – with Michael Schenker’s playing featuring a harder edge and Meine’s vocal nearing a full-on wail – there’s a sense that the track ought to have had a little more overall structure.

For the next couple of songs, there’s a marked improvement.  ‘It All Depends’ demonstrates how the fledgling Scorpions can hold their own in a hard rock environment.  This number is a little more direct than the opener, thanks in part to a main riff which resembles Black Sabbath’s ‘Rat Salad’.  Also giving a sense of urgency is an extensive use of muted strings – undoubtedly influenced by Ritchie Blackmore’s work on Deep Purple’s 1970 cut ‘Flight of the Rat’ – and Dziony’s Ian Paice-esque drum fills.  The amount of general Deep Purple influence cutting through this number cannot be understated; the feel is all there, and the general tone of Michael Schenker’s lead guitar work really hammers the influence home.   Even though Meine’s vocal performance is limited to a short verse leading into what is essentially a two and a half minute showcase for Michael Schenker’s ferocious playing, he also seems to relish the brief opportunity to cut loose.  While Mr Schenker undoubtedly believes he is the star of this show and we all should be listening to him, nothing he plays is nearly as fascinating as Heimberg’s busy basslines.  Heimberg is amazing here and his lead bass work could certainly rival that of anything to be heard on the much bigger albums of the day – be they by Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin or Uriah Heep.

Uriah Heep could have recorded ‘Leave Me’ as part of their ‘Very ’Eavy, Very ’Umble’ debut.  Not only do Meine’s lead vocals occupy a similar space throughout to those of David Byron, but listening to the overblown choir of backing vocals, any comparisons with Heep are absolutely unavoidable.  Taking a slightly more laid back route than the previous numbers, Meine is given ample opportunity to stretch his vocals, while Rudolf Schenker’s rhythm guitar work takes an untypically jazzy tone.  Michael Schenker’s lead work is superb during his first solo spot, and while he takes an obvious blues-rock stance, his playing is slightly more subdued than previously; he wisely recognises that ‘Leave Me’ is a very vocal piece.  He can’t hold it in forever, mind, and for his second turn in the spotlight, the entire band quickens their pace in order for him to shoehorn in a more obvious hard rock solo.

The opening bars of ‘In Search of the Peace of Mind’ with its twin leads would suggest we’re headed for a hard rock blast – something more akin to the sound Scorpions would hone to perfection over their next two releases.   And then, after a brief foray into Uriah Heep-esque choirs, things take a u-turn.  The hard rock mood dissipates as quickly as a balloon struck with a pin, and Schenker pulls out the acoustic guitar.  While the main musical refrain is pleasing enough, its flowery nature soon becomes in need of something grittier.  That grittiness soon comes, but when it does, it doesn’t quite know what to do to make an impact.  Dziony hits harder behind his kit, though never making it far out of the musical starting blocks, while Meine’s rock voice sounds very uncomfortable (and not especially tuneful).  A couple of good musical ideas sound like they could be lurking within, but on most levels, this is a tune which just does not work.   The atmospheric, spacey ‘Inheritance’ has a similar mood in places, but fares much better due to a top vocal performance and Michael Schenker’s guitar prowess.  Those looking for a chorus are as likely to be left wanting (as is most of ‘Lonesome Crow’s wont), but musically, Schenker’s blues runs, rock posturing and general bluster is just about strong enough to carry this number alone.

‘Action’ is one of the album’s best offerings, with the band sounding much tighter than on many of the album’s other cuts.  The real draw here is that aforementioned connection between Heimberg and Dziony, as the walking basslines find a great space between the jazz-rock drum patterns.  Over the fusion rhythms, both Rudolf and Michael Schenker are able to play a simple guitar line.  Simplistic it may be, but it’s just enough to help everything gel.  While still somewhat distanced from straight hard rock, Meine’s lead vocal stretches outside of its previous cagey approach, to break into a few louder tenor moments, far more akin to the vocal style he would adopt over the subsequent Scorpions releases.  The arrangement is still rather more flowery than that of the Scorpions’ work which would follow, but here, they prove they are capable of hitting hard, and particularly so during Michael Schenker’s brief but sharp lead guitar solo.

While most tracks on the album have their moments, everything gets dwarfed by the grandiosity of the title cut, which closes the album, filling thirteen-and-a-half minutes of the albums second side in the process.  A long intro featuring drones and echoes gives way to a lead bass riff – clear and precise – accompanied by gentle jazzy guitar inflections and Klaus Meine’s lead voice – booming with a presence rarely heard on the album prior to this moment.  Meine has still yet to settle on the signature sound he would adopt from 1975’s ‘In Trance’ onward, and granted, his heavy accent makes any of the lyrics hard to pick out; still, it must be argued this is a powerful vocalist in the making.  Despite this, as the rest of the band break in to the track’s first instrumental break, it’s obvious that despite his best vocal efforts, he’s kicked to the kerb by the rest of the band.  Michael Schenker’s lead work is bracing, containing a great fiery passion, under which Heimberg plays busy bass runs, possibly surpassing many of his already fantastic performances.  At the end of this instrumental tour de force, ‘Lonesome Crow’ could have reached a natural conclusion, since in many ways the track has already reached its peak, but there’s much more to come.  After such a rock-filled lead break, it’s time for the Schenker brothers to step back and let Heimberg take control… His bass solo is jazz-rock oriented, and although you’ve already heard Heimberg achieving similar results during ‘Action’, this is certainly no weaker; throughout a couple of minutes, he holds a commanding presence.  Dziony backs him suitably with a jazzy backbeat.  It’s easy to imagine that both Heimberg and Dziony had been playing with such jazz-rock ideas during quiet moments in rehearsals, but it’s far more impressive that such a jam could take pride of place within such an epic number.  Naturally, soon enough Michael Schenker wants back in on the action, and throws a brief solo over the jazz-rock bones.

The second half of this long workout is noticeably weaker, since it is entirely constructed of filler and repetition.  A couple of minutes of drums played at a relatively funereal pace – coupled with Klaus Meine wailing – really loses momentum.  Even the addition of vibrato filled guitar leads does nothing to help.  ‘Lonesome Crow’ could have dispensed with these couple of minutes, but it’s soon clear this is mere mood setting, a lull in which to prepare the listener for Michael Schenker’s killer lead guitar work waiting around the corner.  Breaking into his second major solo, Schenker’s spiky leads sit atop an equally busy lead bass, with the band settling into the groove which began the number, bringing things full circle.

Unsurprisingly, given its preference for experimentation, ‘Lonesome Crow’ was not a great commercial success.  Back in the early 70s though, bands were rarely dumped straight away if they were not an overnight sensation: and luckily so for Scorpions, since they obviously came with plenty of potential – they just needed more time to refine their sound.

After the album’s release, the band suffered a major loss of personnel as bassist Lothar Heimberg and drummer Wolfgang Dziony left the band.  By 1974, lead guitarist Michael Schenker moved on too, joining UFO for their third album ‘Phenomenon’ after having been invited to fill the position after Scorpions supported the UK rockers on tour. Klaus Meine and Rudolf Schenker, meanwhile, were left to pick up the pieces. They couldn’t throw in the towel just yet…

July 2011

SHY – Shy

Posted on by

Despite unstable line-ups, UK rockers Shy have bravely soldiered on, sporadically releasing albums since 1983.  Their career peak was arguably in the second half of that decade when their albums ‘Excess All Areas’ and ‘Misspent Youth’ gained the a fair amount of press attention, if not the commercial breakthrough the band deserved.  Over the years, Shy’s best known vocalist Tony Mills has quit the band twice (his time elsewhere yielding a short-lived power metal band named Siam and the release of various solo albums).

This self-titled disc represents yet another beginning of sorts for the band.  Tony Mills is not on board, having found a job fronting Norwegian hard rock outfit TNT.  In his place is Lee Small, previously of Phenomena.  While this 2011 release marks Small’s debut on a Shy disc, he has worked with the band previously, having performed at live shows in 2009.  He doesn’t always have the banshee wail and range offered by Mills, but all things considered he does a great job.  Actually, since the top end of Mills’s range can be a little hard to take, in some respects, he does a better job.

‘Land of a Thousand Lies’ opens with a huge, pompy intro – all synth strings and cinematic moments, like ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ played by an 80s hard rock band – so Shy arrive in very much an on form manner.  By the time the guitars crash in they settle on a rock-solid mid paced groove. Guitarist Steve Harris’s playing have some decent bottom end, over which Lee Small proves himself worthy of the task in hand.  His voice is clear and strong, with the range on show being more than worthy of the epic style music.  In addition to bombast and pomp, there’s a memorable chorus thrown into the mix and a couple of top-notch solos – straddling an eastern influenced widdle and classic rock playing.  By the time these five and a half minutes have wound up, there’s a strong sense that the rejuvenated Shy mean business.

‘Blood on the Line’ is a great punchy rocker, where the lead guitar fills are spot-on.  Another strong chorus showcases Shy’s strengths, while a bridge section leading into the featured solo has all the hallmarks of AOR’s glory days.  While the lead elements are crisp, there’s a little muddiness with regard to the rhythm guitar work, but not enough to spoil the good work laid down here.  Taking things up a notch farther, ‘So Many Tears’ captures Shy at full-pelt, with maximum rock posturing and hard rock riffing very much the order of the day.  It’s not as strong as ‘Land of a Thousand Lies’ or ‘Blood on the Line’, but in terms of old school rock thrills, it still delivers.  This is a number with a lack of subtlety – particularly with regard to the excellent guitar solos.  By the end of the number, the whole band are tearing it up and there’s barely room to breathe, but somehow, Joe Basketts still manage to shoehorn in a line of pompy keyboards – and he’s still toying with that cinematic style, as heard on the opener.

The rockers are great enough, but it’s when Shy lean towards the more obviously melodic they really come into their own.  For chorus and all round melody, ‘Ran Out of Time’ is a brilliant number.  While Shy hang on to a little of their pompiness, the chorus is rooted in the AOR tradition with its superb hook rounded out by a strong backing vocal.  There’s something about it that suggests it could have found a home amongst the more metallic moments of Gary Moore’s ‘Run For Cover’ or the Hughes/Thrall album, though this probably has a great deal to with Small’s vocal inflections which recall Glenn Hughes in the 80s.  A similar kind of AOR mood cuts through ‘Over You’, but if anything, it’s even better.  The band take a great chorus and give it a rousing send off, with some staccato guitar lines and a classy vocal arrangement.  In terms of ideas, it’s certainly tried and tested – and by AOR bands in their hundreds – but when it works, it works.  And when it works this well, why change it?  ‘Save Me’ is loaded with great 80s style keyboards and vibrato filled guitar leads.  There’s another instantly memorable chorus here and Small’s lead vocal has a real presence, but despite being a stand-out number (and featuring some wonderful lead guitar work, once again) it doesn’t quite match ‘Over You’ for absolute AOR greatness.

The near eight minute epic ‘Sanctuary’ tries too hard to make an impression with a huge keyboard intro, sampled voices and some uber-pomp throughout, and as such, is possibly among the album’s weaker cuts.  It’s slightly bloated nature isn’t unsuited to Shy – and probably keeps the opener in good company – but the big production and even bigger performance doesn’t escape the fact that Shy are always at their strongest when not trying quite so hard, even though they’re great musicians.  There are some reasonable solo spots throughout, but nothing which’ll keep you coming back as often as those pure AOR choruses on the likes of ‘Over You’ and ‘Ran Out of Time’.

Tony Mills may not be around, but Shy still have plenty of well-crafted songs up their collective sleeves.  They aren’t attempting to change the world here, but why should they try?  Shy set out to bring you good, old fashioned hard rock on this self-titled release, and strong playing and stronger choruses are on hand throughout to make sure it hits the spot.  While the brand of hard rock is of the 1989 variety as opposed to the more common/popular sounds of 2011, this album is certainly none the worse for that.  It’s not perfect, by any means, but definitely highly recommended.

October 2011

SARACEN – Marilyn

Posted on by

Saracen have been making music since the 80s, and their debut album ‘Heroes, Saints and Fools’ saw the band lumped in with the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. They disappeared during the 90s and resurfaced with a fourth album in 2006. That album, ‘Vox In Excelsio’ was released by the UK melodic rock label Escape Music, who also reissued some of Saracen’s earlier work.

The band’s 2011 project is an adventurous work – a musical tribute to the life and work of Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe featuring a selection of guest vocalists, including Robin Beck in the lead role. Before we even begin to look at the merits of the music, however, the sleeve art must be bought into question. Yes, it looks like the artwork on so many other Escape Music releases, but that’s not the real issue. The big problem here is its suitability: who decided a knight’s crest and Saracen helmet (adorned with the “s” from the band’s logo) would be suitable packaging for a concept album about Marilyn Monroe?!! There must have been literally hundreds of other far more suitable artwork designs out there.

Continue reading →

BRIDGER – Bridger

Posted on by

Bridger is a melodic hard rock band which brings together musicians from two different camps. Guitarist Glen Bridger and bassist Greg Manahan are both known for their involvement with the latter-day line-up of classic rock band Head East (though in a live setting only, since as a recording unit the band has been inactive since 1988), while vocalist Terry Ilous is somewhat of a cult figure in melodic rock circles, having worked with XYZ. Given the people involved, this outing by Bridger could have been great. However, after only a few songs have passed, it seems to be one of those albums which feels like it’s dragged on forever. Even the once brilliant Terry Ilous sounds like he’s going through the motions, often only putting in a fraction of the effort he put into his early XYZ performances.

After four numbers of woefully predictable hard rock, things improve somewhat with the country rock influenced ‘Without a Sound’, which is better arranged than anything else on offer here. The guitars are more subdued, a piano fleshes out the sound rather nicely and ample space is given to a friendly steel guitar part played by guest musician Mark Murtha [best known to AOR fans as the guiitarist for London Drive, an oft forgotten band who released one album via BPM Records back in the mid-90s]. Terry Ilous’s vocals are slightly improved here too, but soon enough, everything reverts to being rather flat once the band launches into ‘I’m Free’, a track which makes them sound like a poor imitation of Blessid Union of Souls.

‘Gonna Get Better’ is the album’s punchiest track, with Ilous turning in a vocal which has a nasty sneer, but he’s still very much under par. In the hands of a more interesting band the amount of riffing and half-decent guitar solo could have provided a golden moment, but Bridger sound hopelessly uninspired. The harder riffing also shows up the less-than-perfect production values too. The strings and piano ballad ‘Once In A Lifetime’ shows a completely different, much softer side of the band, with Ilous’s curly vocal hitting the mark surprisingly consistently. The piano playing is decent enough, though not really in the big leagues with Journey’s Jonathan Cain, but Glen Bridger’s acoustic guitar flourishes are more than commendable. Given that it’s one of the tracks which raises the bar a little in terms of arrangement, it’s a shame the song is still pedestrian and unimaginative.

Closing the disc is something which you’ll probably never want to hear more than once. In tribute to the legendary Ronnie James Dio, the band soldier their way bravely through a cover of Black Sabbath’s ‘Heaven & Hell’. On the plus side, it’s here Terry Ilous sounds the most like he did back in the day, but nothing else deserves any credit, especially not the slightly grating drum loops used throughout…

Who’d have thought an album featuring Terry Ilous could be so underwhelming? There’s rarely anything which truly lights a fire in the way you’d hope. Fact is, though, at least 70% of this album is dull. The songs are often so by-numbers they’re almost instantly forgettable, the production is middling and even Ilous’s voice lacks most of the power it once had. They say you should never judge a book by its cover but Bridger – both the band and album – is as uninspired as its “three minutes with a photograph and software” packaging – for which, let’s hope no professional designers got paid. Those who are very easily pleased may find something of worth here, but truthfully, ‘Bridger’ is just another melodic rock album to add to the already landfill’s worth of melodic rock albums which are destined to be forgotten.

August 2011