Here is yet another example of a 80's band filled with tight musicianship that lacked the cheese factor, who performed great songs, kept their distance from the mainstream hair bands at the time, and became amongst one of the better bands to get lost in the shuffle of other bands who favored commercial status over art. Up until now, if you wanted a copy of this you would have to be prepared to pay the typical out-of-print high Ebay bidding price for the CD (this scribe has a vinyl copy), but regardless it was a good sign that people were still interested (you should have seen how high the bids for the Epic CD were), and with that said, Power Play records based out of New York state have brought this to the masses again, with remastered sound and new cover art (at least as the US is concerned, rather than the marble green cover with the bands logo engraved).
Eye to Eye itself, is a cross between Fates Warning's
No Exit, Scorpions'
Love at First Sting, with a little early
Harem Scarem pop sensibility, filled with tight musicianship, discrete vocal harmonies, heavy atmosphere, musical technicalities, and strong songwriting. Opening with
"The Harder they Come," an anthem of sorts, complete with guitar riffs almost playing the call and response adding to the hook laden factors present, with this structure falls within many of this record's cuts, found also within the powerful call of
"I'm on Fire," the driving
"Live it Up," and
"Dangerous." This album has a darker counterpart side, especially found within the dark
"Beat of the Heart" and the mystical pop metal of
"On the Other Side," and the bonus track of
"Criminal" putting yet another song of this type to the
Eye to Eye, with these songs in particular adding more flare. Of course, what is an 80's album without ballads, the keyboard driven
"Love is all You Need" and chorus guitar glistening of
"Still in Love," add to the ever so indulging, as if the titles didn't already hint that anyway, by the way the remix of
"Still in Love" tends to sound brighter, more spacious with reverb, and the cymbals tend to be brought more forward in the mix.
Overall, it's a shame that these guys were buried under all the
Poison clones, they offered musicianship that is above par, both Mats Karisson and Peter Olander offered their technical axework, while Jocke Lundholm's tenor proved to be among the finest, crossing his range with
Joe Lynn Turner and Klause Meine.
Eye to Eye remains an album that has passed the test of time standing strong, probably setting the standard for many contemporary melodic hard rock/metal bands that are just beginning to make their mark, either way, I'm sure those who bid the Ebay price on this record years ago, could tell you that it was well worth it.
Written by
Hashman Monday, May 17, 2004
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