Solas - The Answer

No Halloween themed post this year. Instead, another album review from the band that I believe I've reviewed more than any other on this blog; The Answer. If I'm honest, I'm still sort of coming to terms with this album's content and whether or not I support it so my final verdict may be in flux for a while. Until then, here's what I thought of the band's sixth studio album in ten years, Solas.

If you cast your mind back to my Raise A Little Hell review, you may recall me commenting that every odd numbered album from The Answer is great, implying the even numbered ones are lacking something. Whilst this will always be open to debate, I believe no album simultaneously supports and destroys my claim better than this one. Solas is not your typical Hard Rock revival album by The Answer. In fact, it's the complete opposite of their last release which, regardless of personal taste, is admirable from a creative point of view. However, on a less positive note, Solas could well be The Answer going through their experimental phase, which is never a good sign.
Unlike the majority of tracks by the band, Solas lacks the powerful riffs and well-crafted solos that you'd expect a Rock band to produce. Instead, it sways more towards the Alternative side, populating the album with softer acoustic material that have swapped out the screeching fenders for delicate mandolins. The heaviest track on the album is the album opener, lead single and title track "Solas" but even that's not your typical upbeat tune from The Answer. It's darker, smokier, more ambitious and fundamentally different.
If you judge an album by its title track (which you're supposed to), it telegraphs the change in direction straight away and kills any hope of safe and tepid familiarity that bands can find themselves in danger of welcoming after four or five albums. If the rest of the album carried on with the mystical sound, I'd be in love with it. Unfortunately, things go from Alternative to Folk within about three tracks and once the first one's out of the way, they just keep on coming. I was afraid that "Beautiful World" signalled The Answer's transition into self-inflated, pretentious Muse territory. Turns out it's much worse.

The softer sound and instrumental choices result in music that resembles Mumford & Sons or some other name-droppable Indie barnyard shite peddlers ("Battle Cry", "In This Land"). It's too flimsy for a band of this calibre and whilst I can accept a band changing and adapting their sound over the years, this isn't the right way to go about it. The best songs on this album are the acoustic ones that have a bit of an edge to them, whether it's a Southern twist that gives fans something new but still rocks ("Demon Driven Man") or more of the aforementioned gritty Blues ("Tunnel").
On the other side of this are the odd filler tracks with a few watts pumped into them designed to remind listeners of what Hard Rock sounds like. Sadly, these sound as artificial as your average chart-based tween Rock outfits ("Left Me Standing", "Untrue Colour"), only providing brief moments of levity in this slog of an album. Again, my opinion on these tracks my improve over time but for now, I don't feel like they gel well with the album The Answer are clearly going for.
However, my personal favourite that I believe I'll still enjoy listening to years from now is "Light In Darkness", a bonus track and a demo version of a tune that may or may not be featured as a B-side or song on an upcoming album. Either way, it sounds like a perfect blend of soulful Folk-Rock that the album often misses the mark on and riff-based melodies that The Answer first hooked me with when I started to get into them about five or so years ago. As far as demos go, it's good enough to be a completed track in my eyes and it's nice to hear that Rory Gallagher's touch hasn't completely vanished from their sound just yet.

Solas is a good quality album if you're listening to it without any context about The Answer; in fact, it's a pretty great one if you're just listening to it as an album. However, as far as Rock albums go, it's a risk. The band are possibly trying to redefine themselves or maybe Cormac Neeson is just going through a rocky patch in his life right now. Either way, they took a chance in writing something noticeably different from what we're used to and I'm inclined to say it paid off.
Sure, it's not perfect and hopefully the next album will develop the tracks that do work whilst shitcanning the ones that belong on quirky American TV comedies. For now, I'm giving them a 7/10 as an act of generosity. Again, that rating could change as I rounded up a 6.5 to get that score but at least the album has some really strong tunes, unlike New Horizon. If any of you have heard the first three songs on this album and aren't sure if you should continue both with Solas and the band's career, my recommendation is to stick out both of them. The best songs are on the second half of the record and musically speaking, there's still a need for The Answer.

Tenology: My Ten Favourite Rock/Metal Songs Of 2015

Well, here we are. Just over a week into 2016 and so far, nothing feels that different (apart from the crushing absence of Lemmy). Rather than look at some of the albums that I didn't get a chance to listen to last year, I'm kicking things off the same I did last January; a list of 10 songs I loved from 2015, along with a few Honourable Mentions.
I suppose I should mention that any of the songs released in the last year that were included in the previous Taster Session post will be omitted from here, although it's safe to say I loved them. You may also find that several tracks listed here have been mentioned in other posts on this blog, although I'll try to stick to newer ones. As always, my Tenology posts are generally opinion based and these songs reflect what I enjoyed listening to throughout the year. I haven't listed them in order of greatness but you'll probably be able to tell which ones I favoured more than others from my write-up of each song.
It's also worth mentioning that there are bound to be several songs from 2015 that I will really like but have yet to listen to, so if you've got any recommendations then feel free to list them. Anyway, time to start another 2015 countdown!


1. "Cirice" - Ghost B.C.

Yes, I did mention this in a separate Taster Session post and yes, I still like it now as much as I did when I first wrote that. I should've listened to the whole album by now although I seem to recall this band releasing a song called "If You Have Ghosts" which is fucking terrible. I don't know what the original sounds like but it was almost enough for me to completely write off this band, as it sounds less like a Metal anthem and more like a generic Foo Fighters track. However, if you've heard that shitty cover and agree with me then you should know that this song is enough to make you forgive them.


2. "Cold, Clear Light" - Johnny Blazes And The Pretty Boys

OK, I talked about this one a little bit on the blog too. Basically, it's a great Blues track with a semi-decent couple of solos and an incredibly catchy melody. It's also very fun to play on Rock Band, if that kind of thing appeals to you. I'm not sure if the album this comes from (Soul Vernacular) is available on iTunes yet but if you want to buy this track, they have a Bandcamp where you can support them.


3. "Fire And Ice" - FM

Finally, a new song to talk about! I never really got into FM's earlier material but last year, they released another comeback album that actually contained many great tracks such as "Cold Hearted", "Diggin' Up The Dirt" and "Life Is A Highway". However, my favourite off Heroes And Villains is easily "Fire And Ice", a tune which borrows the piano refrain from Joe Cocker's "Woman To Woman" at the start but eventually breaks into its own song after the drums kick in. Definitely an underrated tune from 2015 in my books.


4. "Flying" - The Answer

Aaaand back to tracks already mentioned on the blog, specifically in my review of Raise A Little Hell - The Answer. I didn't spend much time talking about this song, as it was a bonus track on a deluxe edition, but I reckon it was probably my favourite new song by the band. It's a great driving song and deserved a spot on the main tracklist although I guess the band couldn't charge extortionate prices for three new songs if they weren't very good ones now, could they?


5. "High Country" - The Sword

As well as reviewing the new album released in August, I discussed this track in particular on yet another Taster Session post. It's not as heavy as some of their better known material but it's got some powerful riffs (including one that's a wee bit close to a certain Audioslave track) and I still enjoy listening to it. It's probably my favourite tune off the album too so it definitely belongs on this list.


6. "Nearly Forgot My Broken Heart" - Chris Cornell

Another album I should probably check out after the rest. There's a strange sort of fairytale sound to this song thanks to the pizzicato strings and mandolin intro, two things you wouldn't expect to hear in a Rock song. However, Chris Cornell pulls through and creates a song that's both memorable and better after multiple listens. If you haven't heard this song yet, don't expect it to sound like Soundgarden 2 or even Soundgarden Lite, unless Soundgarden went through a soft Alternative Rock phase I'm unaware of.


7. "New Day Rising" - Von Hertzen Brothers

Possibly my favourite song of the year but only in single edit form as the album version goes on a bit too long. Great riffs, awesome vocals, good use of dynamics and I bet it fucking slays when performed live too. I know a few other tracks by this band and I like them too so maybe I should give an album of theirs a listen. If you like this song and want another track to check out, try "Insomniac".


8. "Open Fire" - The Darkness

If you like The Cult or the song "Hooks In You" - Marillion, you'll want to give this track a listen. I talked about it briefly in my review of the album Last Of Our Kind but one thing I can officially confirm is that this album (and this song) helped get me into The Darkness. At first, I couldn't stand the falsetto vocals but "Open Fire" focuses more on the guitar riffs and less on screeching every line. There's a bit of falsetto in the chorus but it fits in well with the rest of the song, unlike others where it just sounds forced. Definitely one of my favourite songs by the band as well as favourites of 2015!


9. "Reapers" - Muse

I was tempted to review Drones - Muse but ended up tweeting my thoughts about it instead. In short, it's a good album but there are still traces of Matt Bellamy's inflated ego littered throughout. However, one of the album highlights is the track "Reapers" which I suspect was originally meant to be the album's title track before they decided to change it to some wanky album outro. A top notch riff reminiscent of "Still Of The Night" - Whitesnake and some great guitar work too. The only downside is the unnecessary outro that sounds a bit like the end of "Blinded In Chains" - Avenged Sevenfold.


10. "Speed Of Light" - Iron Maiden

I may be ending the list on another track I've already discussed twice but goddamn, it's a strong track. Lyrically, it may not fit in with the album's main concepts but as far as singles go, it was enough to get me excited for their new album. At first, I wasn't sure about Bruce's vocals but those doubts were easily extinguished after multiple listens.

Before you tell me that I've missed a song or that one of those tracks doesn't belong on the list, here are some tracks that didn't quite make the cut but were still decent.


"Breakaway" - Inglorious

It's hardly one of the bigger songs of 2015 but among all the comeback albums and surprise singles, this track stood out for me. It's got a great riff, a driving rhythm and some solid vocals too although I wouldn't rate it in the top ranks of my favourite or even highly enjoyable songs. It's mediocre by Hard Rock standards but good for a few listens every now and then, thus making it into my Honourable Mentions.


"Demolition Man" - Razzmattazz

I reviewed the album this came from on the blog as well so that's probably the best place to go if you want to know more about this band. However, this is the song that introduced me to it and for another AC/DC tribute act, these guys definitely bring a punch worthy of the Honourable Mentions section.


"Martyr" - Last In Line

I haven't talked about these guys on the blog yet because I only found out about them a few weeks ago. Basically, Vivian Campbell (Dio & Def Leppard guitarist) has put together a supergroup named after Dio's second album and they'll hopefully be releasing an album entitled Heavy Crown this year. It's something that caught my attention because I seem to recall all the band members being pretty respectable musicians. However, out of both tracks they've released, this is probably the superior recording and even then it's not great. I'll keep an ear out for Heavy Crown but in case I forget, I thought I should mention it here too.


"Orphan" - Toto

I've been waiting to find another great Rock track from Toto for ages (ignoring "Hold The Line" and "Africa", of course) and these guys must have heard me. Unlike some of their more Pop or Prog oriented tracks, "Orphan" definitely belongs to the Rock genre and considering it was released over 30 years after the peak of their career, it's still as strong as their signature songs to me. If I had to expand this list of my favourite songs from 2015, I reckon this would be number 11.


"Sean" - Foo Fighters

In case you missed it, Dave Grohl and his backing band decided to release a 5-song EP of Foos tracks entitled Saint Cecilia that had been unassigned to previous albums but written throughout their career. Since they released it for free without any hype, I wasn't exactly expecting much. However, two tracks ended up on my phone after I listened to the whole EP (the other one being "The Neverending Sigh") and I would recommend listening to it if you preferred the Foo Fighters before they got all shouty and angry. It's a little bit short for it to make it onto the main list but it's still my favourite off the EP.

Next week, I'll try to review one of the albums released towards the end of last year. Either that or something to do with video games, depends on how much time I have.

Raise A Little Hell - The Answer

Cast your mind back to October 2013, when I reviewed the last album by The Answer entitled New Horizon...or just follow that link.
If you can't be arsed to do that, I basically said that the album was OK but nothing special. I also said that I had confidence The Answer would return with another belting album.
Well, it seems like this is it!

If I was rating albums entirely based on how cool the cover looks, this would be resting on a solid 10. Not just that but unlike New Horizon, the title actually reflects the album's content. Album opener "Long Live The Renegades" sets the tone perfectly and whilst it may not be the best choice to release as a single, it reminds you that these guys are all about the Riff Based Rock. So is this just another repackaged collection of decent Hard Rock like New Horizon?
Well, yes and no.

Yes, it's still The Answer right down to the core. You've got tracks like "Last Days Of Summer", "The Other Side" and "Red" which have adapted the style of artists like Rory Gallagher into their own beefed up brand of Heavy Blues. On top of that, there's an acoustic number, "Strange Kinda' Nothing", neatly placed at the album's halfway point as a sort of intermission from the other Hard Rockers. On the surface, it's something that fans of Revival and Everyday Demons will enjoy. However, once you start to dissect it, you'll find a slight change in musical direction.
There are songs such as "Cigarettes & Regret", "Raise A Little Hell" and "Whiplash" that sound like they were inspired by contemporary American Rock bands such as Soundgarden, Audioslave and Queens Of The Stone Age. I suppose this isn't too big of an observation, as some of the songs on New Horizon shared similarities with 90's bands too. However, I'd argue that the connection is more apparent on this album. It might just be that they're developing something they previously experimented with or it could be that their producer wanted this album to reach American audiences. Either way, it's not a criticism.
The songs are all well written and pack a punch that's unlikely to fade after a few listens. The album is full of riffs and solos that sound like they were conceived with the sole purpose of being played on Guitar Hero, which isn't surprising considering that's where the band really shot into the public eye about seven years ago. If you enjoy air-guitaring or even just imagining yourself playing along to music whilst listening to it, you're almost certainly going to enjoy Raise A Little Hell.
In fact there's only really one glaring fault which I doubt I can blame the band for, as I feel it's something the record label had the final say on. If you buy the ordinary album, you get 12 tracks. That's pretty good BUT if you shell out another £7 or so, you get the Deluxe Edition.

So what's on this Deluxe Edition? For the extra cash, I assume it's an entire disc packed with bonus material for the fans. Nope! It's six extra songs. Six...and three of them are acoustic versions of tunes already on the first disc. So really, you're getting three new songs, meaning that if you want the whole album and those three songs, you need to pay an extra disproportionate amount. The only reason I'm making a big deal of this is because those three tracks happen to be better than most of the basic album.
"Feel Like I'm On My Way", "Flying" and "I Will Follow On" could have quite easily replaced three of the other songs and made the album a lot stronger. Since this isn't the first time a band have tried to justify releasing an extra disc with about 20 minutes worth of extra material for the price of an additional album, I'm expressing my desire to see this little trend of milking the fans crawl away and die like a diseased rodent. Either release them as digital-only singles to promote the album or create more material to warrant a second disc/Deluxe Edition.
Anyway, apologies for going off tangent there. As I was saying, Raise A Little Hell follows the unspoken rule of every odd-numbered album by The Answer being great. As is the case with most of the albums I've reviewed, I'd recommend this to people who are comfortable with what they know and like. In this case, it's previous material from The Answer and American Modern Rock. I would rate it higher than 8/10 if the three bonus tracks were part of the main album but sadly, the extra 2 points are part of my Deluxe Edition review that costs an extra half hour of your time and comes with me paraphrasing things I've already said but without any adjectives.

New Horizon - The Answer

Apologies for the months of silence on here but I've been busy with a few matters regarding my personal life. Nothing serious, just been a bit of a busy period. Right, time for a new post! In order to bring us back into the swing of things, most writers would probably give their readers a treat. A fun review of a popular album, perhaps? Maybe a write-up about some kind of setlist? Naaahhhh, here's a post about an album & band you've probably never heard of.

Before I begin, I should start off by saying that I really like this band. They'd released three top notch albums before this and are easily one of my favourite modern rock bands who were recommended to me by a good friend. Their first album, "Rise", was released in 2006 and had a collection of strong Blues Rock tracks that were heavy enough to match Foo Fighters material, featuring some damn fine guitarwork on tracks such as Never Too Late and Come Follow Me.
Their next album, "Everyday Demons", was released three years later and swayed towards more of a Hard Rock sound. As far as awesome album openers go, Demon Eyes is up there with Aces High and Holy Wars...The Punishment Due, and the album also produced the catchy but kickass single On And On. Finally, The Answer gave us "Revival" in 2011 which should be commended alone for containing One More Revival, a hard rockin' should-be classic that any band would be lucky to release as the last track on a final album.
However, it wasn't their final album...although if "New Horizon" bombs in sales, perhaps it should've been. Despite what the album title and cover (a sort of Prog Rock parody you'd find on a Pink Floyd or Dream Theater case) suggest, this isn't so much a new horizon for the band but rather a collection of mediocre tracks that have been stripped of the fire & energy that these Irish rockers had successfully harnessed for their last three efforts.

The title track, New Horizon, starts off nicely and definitely feels like you're in for another heavy installment from the boys. Credit where due, it does have a foot-stompingly good rhythm from James Heatley on drums, a solid solo from Paul Mahon and raw vocals as strong as the band at their best from Cormac Neeson. So far, so good...but that's all it is. Good. There's nothing that wows me just yet, although we're only on track one and it's not exactly a crime to be less than excellent right off the bat.
Leave With Nothin' gives us a smooth flow from Hard Rock to Hard Funk with a guitar riff reminiscent of toned down Rage Against The Machine filler tracks and a bassline that allows Micky Waters to shine in the spotlight for a bit. Once again, the song is good and I'm sure it'll appease fans of heavy Blues who haven't heard the band's previous albums but I can't say I'd want to listen to it again. Mind you, at the same time, I wouldn't complain if someone played it on a pub jukebox...especially if it replaced the usual contemporary dance crap that inexplicably plagues pub jukeboxes.
Track three is Spectacular. No, that's the name of the song, it's called Spectacular. In reality, it's pretty ordinary. Initial reaction is it sounds like a lost track from the 90's Britpop period re-recorded in the 00's with Joe Perry on guitar having quantum leaped from the late 70's. So basically, it's a mishmash of styles from different decades culminating in this song. Usually taking inspiration from lots of sources is a good thing that creates a work of art as close as possible to something original in this day & age but instead, it appears to have created a song that might be good to listen to when it's on but has little repeat value.

Previous records have produced at least one strong track by this point in the album but so far, I've found the songs to be little more than filler. The next one, Speak Now, continues this trend. It's a nice break from the fast rhythm but borders on the line of dreary with an opening similar to songs by The Cure that time and society forgot with good reason. I get the feeling that all of these songs would be a shitton better if witnessed live at a small gig full of Rock fans, provided there was some kind of Wanker Magnet at the door to stop tossers getting in, although that'd rule out Shepherd's Bush Empire as a venue since the staff wouldn't be allowed entrance.
Somebody Else does a swift job of bringing back the foot-stomping beat and rather than write a more melodic song with precise riffs, the band opted to create a track with more of a Garage Rock edge, similar to tracks by bands such as The Hives. Sadly, whilst it's not a dull track, it certainly doesn't have the same spark other ones have had. All in all, I reckon I could give you a condensed review of this album by saying that the majority of songs, whilst not bad by any means, are certainly nothing more than run-of-the-mill Rock songs but sod it, let's truck on anyway. Who knows, maybe this album will pull a Desolation Boulevard and find its feet halfway through.
Concrete is another heavy rocker that plods along until a nifty change in pace around the two & a half minute mark, reminding me of Velvet Revolver's Slither...in a good way! Perhaps I'm not struck by this album because I feel like most of the material has been done before, only a lot better by other bands. Seven tracks in and Call Yourself A Friend gives us our first atypical track. One that isn't particularly heavy or Bluesy. It starts off as the kind of song that fell off the tracklist for an average Snow Patrol album but halfway through, Cormac starts to unleash his inner Steven Tyler with some more powerful vocals. I'd recommend sticking with this track if only for the upbeat change in tempo at the end.

Despite what the title insinuates, Baby Kill Me isn't The Answer getting all moody whilst channeling Morrissey into their music. It's a standard heavy Blues song that could've easily been written for "Rise". I could imagine this song being played during end credits for a 00's action film that got an average of about 55% on Rotten Tomatoes. As uninteresting as this album may come across, I must admit it'd make a decent driving CD due to the faster paced tracks, each with a serrated edge.
Burn You Down gives us more of the same in the form of foot-stomping meets heavy riffing, ultimately leading up to a tidy solo and a neat ending. Your "good" modern Rock song in all its unfiltered and unaltered glory. The last track on the album isn't any different. No really, it's not. It sounds almost exactly the same. Scream A Louder Love doesn't send the album off with a bang or a sensitive whimper. It just says "Fuck it, and AGAIN!" before giving us a spiritual repeat of the last song. However, since I'm reviewing this album from Spotify, I find myself with three more bonus tracks.
Road Less Travelled rumbles in with another Bluesy rhythm and acts as a great opener for the bonus tracks. Probably the second best of the three, since Feel The Fear sounds like a revised version of Concrete that once again fails to take off. Those ascending triplets are good in small doses boys and, even then, you have to really fuckin' nail the tempo! Finally, Real As It Gets is ironically about as good as the album gets, although it's a decent track for the album to end on if only for the lyrical tease of "and it's not over yet" throughout the chorus.

So time to recap "New Horizon". Let's be honest, it's not their best material. This is their Don't Look Back or Afterburner. If these guys suddenly become huge within the next decade, I doubt it'll be because of this album and even then, it's unlikely many tracks from this collection will still be on the live set by the time the band are reaching the end of their career. Lyrically, this album covers the basics of past efforts. Friendship, romance, travelling, the usual Bluesy topics. However, this album seems to have lost the "Last Of The Old Rockers" vibe that this band had carried around with them for each recording.
You might like some of the tracks so I'd recommend it if you're into modern Hard Rock with a Blues edge (or Heavy Blues with a Hard Rock edge, if you want) but maybe lower your expectations if you're already into The Answer and their music. Not to say they're giving a substandard performance, oh no! They're all on top-form and I definitely don't feel like they've peaked creatively.
Despite what I said at the start of this review, I do have confidence that this band will return with another awesome record but sadly, this one is worth no more than a 5/10 for me. The songs are OK but I think I'll be returning to Under The Sky and other belters before revisiting any of these again.

Right, thanks for reading! Hopefully I'll try to get another post out before the end of the year. Maybe I should set myself a target of 1 post every fortnight or something like that, depending on how much time I get for writing these. If you have any feedback, leave it in the comment section and if you enjoyed reading this, please share. Be seeing you!