Sound: John Norum is a man who, along with his ex band-mates of Europe, grew up (as a musician) through the 70's, most likely drawing ideas from the likes of Zeppelin, Rainbow, Free or even Deep Purple (Whitesnake is evident too). If this is the case, which I suspect it may be, then all these influences really show through within this album. The structures, playing styles, rhythms and movements reflect the 70's hard-rock era perfectly. The album is littered with riffs, on every track ("Red Light, Green High", "It's Only Money"... Well, I might as well just list every track). Riff Rock, a very 70's hard-rock concept, keeps the album pumping, something you can really rock out to.
Norum, as a guitarist, is phenominal. His rhythm work is faultless and the lead work that he produces is mind-blowing. Just listening to "Let It Shine" and a lot of the other tracks makes you feel as though he should be respected a lot more; possibly more so than Moore, Malmstein or, at a puch, Vai. The melodic, legato way that he plays some tracks is great, but then he can 'shred' and play metal/harmony guitar licks better than most could these days.
The band behind him are pretty solid. The drums are as tight as Paul McCartney's wallet, the bass feels pretty strong (though not very creative - just following what the guitar's doing) and keyboards are used tastefully. The way the actual songs are written is quite effective too. The riff thing doesn't always take over the entire song, which is good as it would get quite annoying, quite quickly. The only real problem I have with the music of this album is that there's little depth in terms of dynamics/tempo. All the songs seem to be around a similar speed, similar theme etc. Well, with the exception of "Born Again" - a pure metal piece. Sounds quite reminiscent of Norum's years in Europe, in some ways. // 8
Lyrics and Singing: The lyrics that Norum has produced for this album, I've gotta say, aren't great. They feel extremely un-inspired. This is made up for a little bit by Norum's vocals, as he isn't a bad singer. He has the right voice for this kind of music, I think. And the harmony vocals? He uses them effectively and only where needed. I do feel, however, that his vocals aren't always pushed to their full potential. They feel quite monotonous at points, with little power behind them. // 5
Impression: I think there's a lot of people out there who will enjoy this album. The rock genre has lacked a real riffing artist for some time now. There's always the odd band that try it out, but never seem to measure up to the kind of stuff that was produced 30-or-so years ago. Is this a must for rock fans? Maybe. Like I said, if you're really into riffs, or if you're a guitar freak who loves to listen to faultless guitar lines for hours. Basically... If you like the kind of stuff by 70's artists that I've mentioned, or even Whitesnake and Ozzy (to a mild extent, anyway), then you might as well look this up. // 8
- Anthony Bentley (c) 2012
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