Crazysam

The last album didn't do much for me. Outside of 2 or 3 tracks I rarely listen to it. I much prefer the guitar driven style used on this one. As far as the songs themselves, my favorites are similar to most: Dangerous Ground, Come Clean, One by One and Rise. But really outside of "Rock Your Body" which has an annoying chorus and "Nothing To Say" which was just OK, I found the rest of the songs to all be either good or great. Future spins will determine how it stacks up, but I'd be surprised if this is not in my top 5 come year end.

Nice tune, a bit heavier, more guitar driven musically than the prior albums, new vocalist seems like a good fit

I think all their early albums (up to and including Detonator) were great. Such memorable riffs and melodies. Out of the Cellar gets my vote for best album, slightly edging out Invasion. Infestation was a good comeback. Always wish they'd have put out one more album with that lineup. Favorite song is really hard, so many good ones. But I selected one from each of those first couple albums with my vote.

I was an avid Metal Edge subscriber. I also really enjoyed those Rock on the Rise and music news sections especially. I remember that Bourgeois Pigs project being written about too. I think there was a demo or promo song floating around from that, but I may be mistaken. Another interesting project I recall reading about was the one Vita Bratta and John Levesque (Shout/Wild Horses singer) started up, after White Lion. I think they were to be called Civil War? I'm sure if they did record anything it was simply shelved by Atlantic and sadly forgotten. When I look back at those kind of articles, especially from '92 - 93, it makes me wonder what some of those up & coming bands and new projects would have sounded like

yeah, new song sounds good, but I'd agree about the mix being off a bit, lead vocals seem too low

Their debut, Demons Down and World Upside Down are some of my all time faves. The last couple albums were a bit of a step down for me. And I'd agree James' vocals aren't what we've come to expect, but if the songs are there I'm still on board

thanks for sharing, sounds like a great time and such a good lineup again too, enjoy

I was a fan of Knock You Down and Sultans but the last few releases didn't do much for me, this new track isn't bad and has me interested in hearing more

First listen and it is pretty much what you'd expect. Reminding musically at times of Erase the Slate and latter day Winger with some heavier moments sprinkled throughout. The production is handled nicely, Robin sounds good and Reb is on fire. My initial favorites would be the title track, She's Onto Us, the ballad Make It There and Johnny Came Marching. While I found Sacred Place, Immortal Souls, and Unless We Change to be a little weaker than the rest. I think had a few of the songs had stronger hooks come chorus time this would have been another early top 10 contender for me (along with Passion and Revolution Saints) but it falls a bit short at the moment. Still a very solid album and one I recommend checking out.

Chorus is a bit repetitive, but overall the track sounds like typical HS and is a solid tune

Looking back to my lists made me realize how strong a few of those years were, especially 2010. And how much I've enjoyed Erik Martensson's songwriting and the recent projects by members of Danger Danger 1. Treat – Coup de Grace (2010) 2. Eclipse – Bleed and Scream (2012) 3. W.E.T. – Rise Up (2013) 4. H.E.A.T – Tearing Down the Walls (2014) 5. Eclipse – Armageddonize (2015) 6. Tokyo Motor Fist – S/T (2017) 7. The Defiants – S/T (2016) 8. Toby Hitchcock – Mercury’s Down (2011) 9. Kissin’ Dynamite – Ecstasy (2018) 10. The Defiants – Zokusho (2019)

I'd also go with Crunch over the S/T debut, if for no other reason than it had the better production. As you mentioned, several songs are the same and of the tracks that differed none from the S/T really stood out, so not really worth buying both, imo. I recall purchasing this cd during the mid-90's, following a recommendation from a friend. A few fillers, but overall a very enjoyable album

I've got their "Burn the Sun" album, which I really enjoyed. As you said some great musicianship on display without sacrificing in the songwriting department. Plus it was released at a time when Jorn was doing some of his best work with this project, Millenium's Hourglass and his solo album Worldchanger

I'll take a shot Defiants - Zokusho Rob Moratti - Renaissance Lacuna Coil - Black Anima Cats In Space - Day Trip to Narnia Jimi Anderson Group - I Belong

Gave this a spin this morning and I agree with the positive comments. A very enjoyable album. My initial favorites are "Intensity", " Lost In the Dark" and "Back". But there really aren't any weak tracks. As others have mentioned, lots of recognizable influences from late 80's/early 90's artists. I heard aspects that reminded me of D2, Jagged Edge and Cinderella. Time will tell how well it holds up after repeated listens, but for now I anticipate this being a contender for my top 10 of 2020.

Good point, that seems to happen with some projects like this. Sometimes it can be attributed to a mix of songwriters involved and other times it is just not having worked together for long. They don't having time to establish an identity so they come in with a variety of ideas and the end product may not flow well or work to their strengths

Agreed, Dino sounds great and Lynch has some nice moments as well, but outside of a few solid tracks the album just didn't click for me

I am surprised you didn't include Quiet Riot or Enuff Z' Nuff. I'm with Geoff on picking Babylon AD's album as the standout of this group. Roxanne wasn't far behind returning with a pretty good release. There were other albums that I thought had a few solid tracks or were OK listens overall, but most of these were disappointing when compared to their early releases. But for me the worst of these were: Roxy Blue - horrible - a modern/grungy sounding mess of an album that was as far away from the original sound as any of the artists TNT - XIII - no fault of the new vocalist who I thought did a nice job, this just paled in comparison to their best efforts, while there were a few OK tracks it was another in a line of major let downs from a band that I had considered my favorite for years

Nice first track with a great chorus and tasty solo by Pete As consistently good as these guys have been, those first 2 albums are by far my faves. That's along the lines of what we were mentioning on the favorite Crue songs thread. I always find it interesting to read comments from others whom I usually have similar tastes. Then they completely surprise me by having a much different view then I'd expect on something I'd figure they would really like/dislike

Thanks for the reminder, I had forgotten all about the release date for their new EP, I plan to check it out today. But I agree, while I am grateful for some new tunes, I'd have thought they'd just hold off a little longer and include as part of a new full length. It will be interesting to see where things go from here for the guys with leaving Frontiers.

thanks for sharing, I did not know they were coming out with a new album this year

like you said it's all about preferences, in the end it's those differences that make this site work, bringing in alternate perspectives and introducing people to albums and bands they may have otherwise missed out on, as long as we remember to keep it respectful, plus you can't help that you don't have as good of taste as the rest of us

Nice first track. It'll be interesting to see if they can match the quality of the prior releases with Dennis being joined by a whole new lineup.

sounding better than they have in a long time

Wow, I'm sure the guys are just having some fun, but surely with the talent involved they could have come up with something better than that Lone Ranger song and video