Search - Alliance Band :: New Horizon

Alliance Band brings back ballsy, 80's-style arena rock.

04/20/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Let's face it - we all miss that big, ballsy, 80's-style arena rock. Well, if this CD gets the exposure it deserves, then Alliance Band is on the way to bringing back those good times. There are two killer cuts on this collection. The opener, "Weekend Warriors," and #7, "Jackie Metal." These are "crank-it-up-in-your-car-and sing-along" classics that get me every time! Here is good solid metal with a polished chrome finish. The lyrics are easily understood and Nigel Zett surpises and amuses with his unusual guitar solo lines. These are songs that I wish I'd written, which is rare for me to say. My next favorite is "All I Want," a jumpy, quirky, rythmic number with a great vocal sound - pure upbeat fun. There's strong party rock `n roll on here too, with "Love's a Bitch" and "Undercover." This is power pop with just enough edge to keep us in a rowdy mood. In a little more serious vein, we have "Her Mister," a song about being in love with a musician (gulp!), but this too has nice lyrics and hooks, and manages not to become too mushy. The softer songs on the CD, "Halfway Home," "What I Knew Then," and "The Meaning of Life" are the ones I'm not crazy about. Now, I'm a sucker for a good ballad, but these don't quite do it for me. I think Mr. Zett wanted to get out some personal sentiments with these tunes, and I guess he has a right to, but they don't quite fit in with the harder material. Brave enough to include an instrumental number, the boys actually pull it off with the final track, "Nothin' but Trouble," which barrels along for nearly six minutes like a long roller coaster ride of cool rhythms, riffs, and guitar and bass hooks that cooks from start to finish. I want to see them do this one live! We even have one cover tune to round things out - a very clever remake of the Judas Priest classic, "You've Got Another Thing Comin'," retitled "Another Another." (Cute.) I characterize this cut as the Moody Blues bus crashing into the Judas Priest bus, and the result is this amalgam of the two styles. Changing a crushing metal classic in this way and not ruining it is quite a feat, but this only showcases the musical inventiveness of this group. This remake stands on its own as a very good song, as if the original never existed. Pretty amazing. I'd also like to note that I've had the privilege of seeing the members of Alliance Band perform live in their earlier club incarnations. In addition to their strong originals, their cover tunes were always "spot on" as they say in England. They used to do a version of the Pink Floyd monster, "Comfortably Numb," that was absolutely astonishing, reproducing that spacey Floyd sound exactly within a small club environment. When these guys get out live again, make sure you see them! So, to close this whole thing, nice job on the first one guys, let's get busy, can't wait for the next one!"