Review by Richard Henry for MPM
Second album from these guys and if you are unaware of who it is, its Michael Sweet from Stryper on vocals and Tracii Guns from L.A Guns on guitar, then we are rounded out by Adam Hamilton on drums and Mitch Davis on bass, now if you haven’t heard these guys and you think you know what you are going to get, you’re not, this is not a glam metal sort of venture, it’s an entirely different beast, let’s get stuck in and see what awaits us!
Unbreakable
Now that is 70s Sabbath right there, not just the guitar sound but the groove, then you have Michael coming in with his trademark vocals, now that’s an aggressive vocal delivery, that riff and groove though, it’s so sludgy in sound, really suits Michael soaring over the top of it, then the middle breaks down a bit, and that’s definitely an Iommi style solo, ala War Pigs, really heavy melody driven and then some pull of licks around it before hitting back into that lovely groove again, great opening track, super sludgy!
Steel Hearts
Thats a nasty riff there but straight away I am thinking Mountain “Mississippi Queen”, some lovely little drum fills in the gaps there in the verse and then a really nice sort of harmony tail riff for the chorus part, again this is not what you would expect and that’s why it’s so cool, great chorus and again a really gritty vocal delivery, then straight into a eastern vibed solo, some nice drum work as you slide into the verse and chorus again, another really down and dirty track!
In Grace We’ll Find Our Name
Thats a real lumbering groove to start this and again straight away I hear that Sabbath vibe, well until Michael launches an ear-piercing scream, it’s almost like a Soundgarden sort of feel now that I think about it, that Sabbath riff style with an incredible vocalist over the top of it, then that riff in the middle brings it into a bouncy feeling riff and again a sort of eastern feeling middle section with some nice harmony work in there, some nice vocal harmonies come in for the next part in the middle before a short drum break takes us back into that groove that started the song off!
Light Up the Sky
Nice acoustic intro, I mean the title of this obviously reminded me of Van Halen, but to be honest that riff is absolutely Diary of a Madman by Ozzy, even some of the instrumentation as well, even the off-kilter groove of the verse, maybe it’s just me but that’s, even when Michael climbs in pitch to the chorus its really reminding me of that song, don’t get me wrong the riff is class and its really cool but I can’t shake that other song, even the solo and then the harmony, its total Randy Rhoads, and there is nothing wrong with that at all, despite what you may be thinking reading this, I absolutely love this track!
Rewind
Again, that’s just a dirty low-down groove and riff there to slap into this one, love the interplay around the drums and then the chorus is just nasty as well, the combination of the riffs and the vocals just have that early 70s metal quality to it, nice solo right there as well, wailing away, great track, short and sweet!
Scream Out Loud
Kicking in and a bit more sort of up-tempo Judas Priest sounding, that’s a great riff, and Micheal’s voice obviously copes with the higher range, but it’s a great chorus as well, the verse riff though is an absolute banger, love the little harmonics in the chorus riff, just adds texture, then an absolutely classic pull off solo with loads of trem picking in it, that was awesome, then into that slamming verse again, that’s an absolute banger of a track!
Winds of Fate
Slow it down after that last one, it’s a really cool guitar riff with lots of open strings and there is a nice bass line under there as well, I am going to be honest, I do not like that chorus at all, seems really out of place or something, I know it’s a major key sort of song but that was nearly too sweet sounding or something, now the saving grace of this so far is the solo which is really lovely and melodic, just soaring sounding, really nice playing there and then back into the chorus, this one just isn’t for me at all!
Beyond the Odds
Hmm Ozzy, I Don’t Know, even the bass fill, that’s pretty close to the bone there, the riff is cool and then when it gets into the prechorus it changes up, the chorus is over the same riff again and it’s hard to shake the other song, it is a really hard rocking song and it is really catchy to be fair, then it breaks for the mid-section with the open chords, nice solo with loads of open string pull off licks before some more trem picking and a bit of bar work before we are back into the verse and chorus, real rocker that one!
Reclaim the Light
Drum fill opener and then you have a sort of Perfect Strangers riff, with that Phrygian vibe riff, it’s been used a lot and you know what, it works, couple of nice key changes in there and then when you get to the prechorus/chorus there is some really nice vocal harmonies in there, I really like that riff groove in the middle section of the song, just being driven along with the drums and then into the solo, Blackmore vibes right there without a doubt, another great track!
Where We Belong
Right in with the 12-string acoustic and Michael singing over the top of it with a nice layer of keys on the sound as well, that’s a lovely vocal harmony in there, with the main lower vocal and the higher harmony out wide in the mix, there is so much texture in his voice in this, especially in his lower range, you can really hear the power in the prechorus and chorus section, now what is really nice is that the acoustic band vibe didn’t go away for the solo, it was just there with the soaring lead over the top of it, that really worked well, absolutely loved that track!
Setting the Sail
Back to the Sabbath vibe for the last track on the album, Adam doing a load of fills there between the riff, but that is so bouncy sounding that main riff, then when you hit the chorus, it sort of straightens out and lets the vocal be the main focus on that part before we slip back into the groove again for the verse riff, another Iommi style solo and then back to the chorus to ride out the album!
7 out of 10
When it’s great, it is great, but there is one track just didn’t work for me, there is about half the album that is outstanding but there are 4 tracks are good but not great, so I can’t score it higher than a 7, but hey, that’s just my opinion, go listen to it yourself and see what you think!
LINE-UP
Tracii Guns – Guitars
Michael Sweet – Vocals
Adam Hamilton – Drums
Mitch Davis – Bass
SOCIALS
Order ‘Light Up the Sky’ HERE
