WARRANT – Louder Harder Faster [Album Review]

Warrant – Louder Harder Faster
2017, Frontiers Records

1. Louder Harder Faster
2. Devil Dancer
3. Perfect
4. Only Broken Heart
5. U In My Life
6. Music Man
7. Faded
8. New Rebellion
9. Big Sandy
10. Choose Your Fate
11. Let It Go

Band:
Robert Mason – Lead Vocals
Joey Allen – Guitar, Backing Vocals
Erik Turner – Guitar, Backing Vocals
Jerry Dixon – Bass, Backing Vocals
Steven Sweet – Drums, Backing Vocals

Producer: Jeff Pilson

Six years after the release of the excellent Rockaholic, Warrant has returned. This is the band’s second effort with ex-Lynch Mob vocalist Robert Mason and it’s a natural successor the first album with Mason. The Robert Mason-era is a different beast from the Jani Lane-led Warrant. Mason and Lane are completely different singers and songwriters. Warrant with Robert Mason is a still a melodic hard rock band, but a little less polished sounding and bit more hard rocking. I don’t mean to say that as a negative or positive; just pointing out that the band can be split into two distinctive eras. Or even three eras, if you want to talk about Born Again with Jamie St. James on vocals, but I digress.

Much like its predecessor, Louder Harder Faster is a rock album that’s tailor-made for the summer. It puts off the same vibes I got from Rockaholic. The heavy title track, the groove of “Devil Dance”, and the melodic hard rock of “Perfect” set the pace of good-times for this album. One of the standout tracks for me is “Big Sandy”. Lyrically, it’s nothing outside of the ordinary (it’s about a booty call), but the chorus and clapping that goes along with it is rather infectious. It doesn’t sound like anything else on the album.

Luckily, the album includes only one ballad, “U In My Life”. It’s not bad, but it’s forgettable and brings the album to a halt. Ballads aren’t a strong point for this version of Warrant.

Louder Harder Faster lives up to it’s title and while I don’t think the best moments from this album match up with the best moments from Rockaholic, this is a good follow-up record and I’m happy to see it’s getting good reviews across the internet. Also, it goes without saying with Robert Mason absolutely kills it on this album. Great vocal performances all throughout. One of the best singers to come from the hair metal scene.

Highlights: “Louder Harder Faster”, “Devil Dance”, “Perfect”, “Only Broken Heart”, “Music Man”, “Big Sandy”

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Graham Bonnet Band – The Book [Album Review]

Graham Bonnet Band – The Book
2016, Frontiers Records

Disc 1:
1. Into The Night
2. Welcome To My Home
3. Earth’s Child (I Am Your Son)
4. Rider
5. Dead Man Walking
6. Strangest Day
7. The Dance
8. Where Were You?
9. The Book
10. Everybody Wants To Go There
11. California Air (Better Here Than There)

Disc 2:
1. Eyes Of The World
2. All Night Long
3. Lost In Hollywood
4. Since You Been Gone
5. Night Games
6. S.O.S.
7. Assault Attack
8. Dancer
9. Desert Song
10. Island In The Sun
11. Hiroshima Mon Amour
12. God Blessed Video
13. Will You Be Home Tonight
14. Witchwood
15. Stand In Line
16. Here Comes The Night (Down Without A Fight)

Band:
Graham Bonnet – Vocals
Conrado Pesinato – Guitar
Beth-Ami Heavenstone – Bass
Mark Zonder – Drums
Jimmy Waldo – Keyboard (Disc 1)
Angelo Vafeiadis – Keyboard (Disc 2)

Say what you will about the change in sound after Ronnie James Dio left, but I still think Rainbow’s Down to Earth is a fantastic melodic hard rock album. That’s where I discovered Graham Bonnet and that one album has convinced me that he’s one of rock’s best vocalists. Sadly, there isn’t much outside of Down to Earth that kept my interest. I’ve heard bits and pieces of what he did in later on with Alcatrazz, Impellitteri, and his other various solo and band efforts, but nothing has ever really grabbed me.

Suffice to say, I honestly wasn’t expecting much from The Book. At 68 years old, Graham’s voice is still recognizable, but slightly different from the edge his voice used to have. The music itself is simply top-notch and a mix of AOR, melodic hard rock, and heavy metal. From what I’ve read, Bonnet made a conscious effort to appeal to fans of hard rock and metal days from the 1980’s, and I think he’s succeeded.

The Book has Graham firmly embracing the sounds of the bands that made him famous with new material, but he also gives a more literal nod to his past. As a bonus of sorts, a second disc features Graham covering 16 songs from his previous bands. I’m not exactly sure why this was done, but it’s interesting to hear how an older Graham Bonnet sound while tackling these tracks.

Highlights: “Welcome to My Home”, “Earth’s Child (I Am Your Son)”, “Where Were You?”, “Everybody Wants To Go There”, “California Air (Better Here Than There)”

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House of Lords – Indestructible [Review]

House of Lords – Indestructible
2015, Frontiers Records

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1. Go to Hell
2. Indestructible
3. Pillar of Salt
4. 100mph
5. Call My Bluff
6. We Will Always Be One
7. Die To Tell
8. Another Dawn
9. Eye of the Storm
10. Ain’t Suicidal
11. Stand and Deliver

Band:
James Christian – Vocals
Jimi Bell – Guitars
Chris McCarvill – Bass
BJ Zampa – Drums

House of Lords are on a roll. Just last year they released the excellent Precious Metal and now the band is back with Indestructible. Last year’s release saw my faith being renewed in the band after what I felt was a disappointing release (Big Money) and their latest and tenth release only solidifies my confidence in the band. I have to wonder if parts of Indestructible were at least written, if not recorded, at the same time as the Precious Metal sessions.

Just as Precious Metal delivered a few new classics to the House of Lords catalog, so does Indestructible. “Another Dawn” and “Eye of Storm” are killer tracks. Both songs embody what House of Lords are all about — amazing production, incredible melodies, some heaviness and big choruses. Meanwhile, the band is delivering some of their hardest material in years with tracks like “Go to Hell”, “Ain’t Suicidal” and “Stand and Deliver” while still delivering on great ballads (“We Will Always Be One”).

What else is there to say? If you like House of Lords, you’ll like (and probably love) Indestructible. It’s amazing that one band has been able to stay so consistent in quality throughout their career.

Highlights: “Die to Tell”, “Indestructible”, “We Will Always Be One”, “Another Dawn”, “Eye of the Storm”, “Ain’t Suicidal”, “Stand and Deliver”

Wolfpakk – Rise of the Animal [Review]

Wolfpakk – Rise of the Animal
2015, AFM Records
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1. Rider Of The Storm
2. Sock It To Me
3. Monkey On Your Back
4. Highlands
5. Black Wolf
6. Somewhere Beyond
7. Running Out Of Time
8. Grizzly Man
9. High Roller
10. Rise Of The Animal
11. Universe

Musicians:
Michael Voss, Mark Sweeney, Michael Kiske, Andi Deris, Ted Poley, Joe Lynn Turner, Rick Altzi, David Reece, Charlie Huhn, Don Dokken, Marc Storace, Michaela Schober, Jean-Marc Viller – Lead Vocals
Michael Voss, Bob Daisley, Al Barrow, Barend Courbois – Bass
Jeff Watson, Ryan Roxie, Bernie Torme, John Norum, Doug Aldrich, Axel Rudi Pell, Martin Rauber – Guitar
Mike Terrana, Mark Schulman, Simon Philips, Chris Slade, Gereon Homann – Drums
Chris Ivo – Keyboards

Producer: Mark Sweeney & Michael Voss

Wolfpakk is an all-star melodic hard rock/metal project put together a few years back by vocalists Mark Sweeney (ex-Crystal Ball) and Michael Voss (ex-Casanova). I won’t repeat all of the musicians involved but Rise of the Animal features an exceptional line-up of guest musicians like Doug Aldrich, Joe Lynn Turner, David Reece (!), Don Dokken, Michael Kiske, Axel Rudi Pell and Bob Daisley.

Honestly, I checked out this album based on the cover art and the band name (another ‘Wolf’ band!) alone. I didn’t realize until reading up on Wolfpakk that they are more of a project than a legit band. Or if they are a band, you can distill it down to simply Sweeney & Voss (who write the songs as well) as the guest musicians change from album to album.

So, for an album that includes such a large guest list, the cohesiveness of the album is very impressive. Not even the different vocalists take you out of the moment. It all works. Rise of the Animal flows together as a great collection of melodic hard rock and melodic metal, great guitar solos and soaring vocals with large catchy choruses.

Rise of the Animal is a powerfully and skillfully made block of melodic metal and rock that won’t disappoint you if you’re a fan of the artists involved. The album was a very pleasant surprise to me that seemingly came out of nowhere.

Highlights: “Rider of the Storm”, “Sock It to Me”, “Black Wolf”, “Running Out of Time”, “High Roller”, “Rise of the Animal”, “Universe”

Allen / Lande – The Great Divide [Review]

Allen / Lande – The Great Divide
2014, Frontiers Records
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1. Come Dream With Me
2. Down from the Mountain
3. In the Hands of Time
4. Solid Ground
5. Lady of Winter
6. Dream About Tomorrow
7. Hymn to the Fallen
8. The Great Divide
9. Reaching for the Stars
10. Bittersweet

Musicians:
Jorn Lande – Vocals
Russell Allen – Vocals
Timo Tolkki – Guitar, Bass, Keyboards
Jami Huovinen – Drums

Producer: Timo Tolkki

I was late to the show on this one. The Great Divide was released in October 2014, but it took me until late January 2015 before I got around to listening to it. What a mistake to wait that long!

I’ve been familiar with Jorn Lande for years and I’ve been aware of Symphony X vocalist Russell Allen (mainly through his association with Tobias Sammet’s Avantasia) for awhile as well but I’d never listened to anything from their Allen/Lande project over the years. The Great Divide is their fourth album of coming together to share vocal duties.

Previous efforts featured current Primal Fear guitarist Magnus Karlsson as songwriter, producer and musician but The Great Divide finds former Stratovarious guitarist Timo Tolkki filling those roles. From what I have read, this release is a slight departure in sound from the three Karlsson releases. Notably, many other reviewers are stating the production is a notch below Karlsson’s and the vocal performances, while still spectacular, aren’t as “intense” as they were on the previous releases.

I have no qualms with the vocal performances of Jorde Lande (one of my favorites) or Russell Allen. I’m fine with the production as well. I guess the earlier Allen/Lande albums must have really set the bar high. That means I’ll have to check them all out at some point.

As it stands, The Great Divide is a fantastic slab of melodic hard rock & heavy metal. So many great tracks here. The music doesn’t sound too far off from what you might hear on a Jorn solo album, although I can’t help but hear bits of House of Lords when listening to this as well.

There’s not a dud track to be found but the album gets really, really good towards the end. It’s the last four tracks that truly shine. “The Great Divide” sounds like a melodic rocker from the 1980’s (but not in a “look at us, we’re being retro” kind of way) and “Bittersweet” is an amazing heavy metal power ballad. Just fantastic tracks.

I can’t speak on behalf of Russell Allen fans and fans of the previous Allen/Lande albums, but this is definitely a worthy pick-up for fans of Jorn Lande. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a few more Allen/Lane albums to listen to!

Highlights: “In the Hands of Time”, “Solid Ground”, “Hymn to the Fallen”, “The Great Divide”, “Bittersweet”