Ever since David Coverdale killed his band
Whitesnake, there has been another act waiting in the wings to takeover where the Snake left off on one of their signature sounds, be it the bluesier based essence of their pre-American debut throughout the late 70s and earliest 80s, the rawness of "Slide it In" or the commercialized mainstream friendly sound that crossed pop into metal and back again. Swiss band
Gotthard took the reins for awhile, as did
Jorn Lande who some proposed the idea he was cloned from Coverdale, in The Snakes, and who can ignore Company of Snakes? Then there was also
Wicked Sensation, "Reflected" to pick up where
Gotthard strayed and
Jorn jumped ship. "Reflected" saw Robert Soeterboek at the helm, a capable Coverdale sound alike that swaggered through the resulting material with a fierce grace. My love for the album bloomed as the song
"Magic Moments" bursted into the top favourites of that year. Thus I was saddened to hear that the band had changed singers, this time calling upon the pipes of Fernando Garcia. Which resulted in instant wonder because Garcia was responsible for Victory's "You Bought It, You Name It" and "Voiceprint", two CDs that are truly Exceptional, but are far and away from the sound one would expect to hear from this band and a singer that might sound out of place unless the formula was heavily tweaked with.
But is
Wicked Sensation's latest as "Exceptional" as the title would lead you to believe? I wouldn't quite bet on it, but it's a fun ride nonetheless. Most notable is the washing away of all
Whitesnake trappings. With a different singer, and the input of ex-
Pink Cream 69'er and
Helloween piper for the past decade, Andi Deris at the writing helper's helm, the disc takes a sharp swerve away from the last, "Reflected". A lot of the bluesiness has been swiped clean and replaced by rougher material that straddles the barrier between metal and rock more boldly than before. Other listeners with keen hearing and/or eagle eyes when glancing over the booklet, will pick out ex-Threshold'er Damien Wilson on backing vocals again just as he was on the first outing, and it's a shame he wasn't allowed a solo spot or two because his smooth voice is the thing that
Ayreon dreams are made of. Whereas the debut had a more British hard rock sound with American influences, this one approaches things from a German point of view, more metal than rock and brings to mind another recent import from Germany, Shylock.
Pink Cream 69 bassist Dennis Ward puts his hand in the production again, and muddies it up a bit this time. The keyboards especially are lost in translation.
With
"Shining Light", all it requires is the first blaze of guitar to tell that it's apparent that
Wicked Sensation are no longer on the same page as before, anymore. Garcia has the energy to keep up with the song's tempo which is positively neck breaking and very much puts the heavy in metal. He pours on the catchiness by repeating a word three times over for the chorus before speeding again. It may be a gimmick, but it is one that works well, and leaves the listener yearning, yearning, yearning for more, more, more! A real firecracker of a song, and a dynamite introduction to the album, keyboard diddling
"Intro" aside.
"Back to My Bed" continues the frenzy with walloping rhythm guitar and thunder calling drums. Another catchy chorus, but the vocal delivery comes across a bit flat here, almost in a chanting way before soaring off to heights unknown. It leaves you a little. cold. But overall its wickedly catchy and all tongue and cheek goodness. The lyrics will never be in danger of being confused as poetry, but the sense of infused naughtiness is nice.
"We Arise" makes the singer sound whiny in the chorus, that's my only complaint other than the fact its "just another" rock tune but with some curves tossed in to swerve away from the straight road of the typical track.
"Your Beat Inside My Heart" not only has a cool name, but brings it back to quality with a cool vocal performance that reaches into the depth of darkness for some quick paced verses that skip along erratically and steps up to the podium for an anthemic chorus belted straight from the gut. Overall the tempo is lowered a bit, careful and deliberately laid out with heaviness bolting all around it.
"The One You Love Ain't Me" ain't a ballad, that's for sure, but keeps the pacing in check with some riffage in there reminiscent of Steve Vai's work from
Whitesnake "Slip of the Tongue". Something a bit like "Judgement Day" from that album, but not exactly.
"Exceptional" lacks much of what it promises, but is an all around, decent track that borrows a lot from others on the disc. It sounds too familiar, but in the context of the album, sits nicely. Martin Mannhardt's bass is large and in charge here.
"Kiss It Away" is a rollicking roller of a tune, featuring some fattened guitar riffs that chug and churn with a sizzling edge. The bridge is melodic bliss, a splurging decadent delight of oozing melody, that breezes into the punchy chorus that is somehow overshadowed by the ooze right before it. Garcia's vocals are sharp and tight, climbing to the higher range with ease. The perfect fusion of melody and metal, a balance tipped too far to the metal side for this band's established fanbase through most of the disc, and my pick of the disc without a doubt. The more you listen, the more you will learn to love it.
"Dying With the Wind" shows the candlelight flame weaning on the wick, as the song burns slow unwinding its environmental message as the light fades. The band seems like they are kind of reaching at times, pulling the emotional ties as hard as possible, but the song turns out alright in the end. Not a favourite for instant replays, but it fits the album more than others.
"Time Will Pass Me By" takes the slower thing and runs with it better, the band seemed to burn themselves with the previous tune, but all seems more together here, and of course rocks a little harder. The guitars seethe and swirl in electric circles before galloping off into the sunset.
"My Own Misery" cranks it back up to eleven and makes it feel out of place as the result. It has the fury of European metal and screams along with such brashness that it makes it seem as if it has pounced from another band's CD to crash the "Exceptional" party. It throws absolutely everything built from "Reflection" out the door. Not a positive thing, and I ended up disliking the song simply for throwing off the vibe of the disc.
"Rain On Me" takes a simpler turn and sticks to the base
AOR formula, the keyboards ring like chimes and the vocals are presented up front and swaggering in a hard rock fashion that suits the band like a "T". After the weird turn for the worse with
"My Own Misery", this comes as a fresh breath of air to close the disc out on a positive note. If only
"Exceptional" had more tunes like this to fall back on, it might have been what the title implies.
"Rain On Me" is high class, A+
AOR all the way, with a harder edge, of course.
While I can see many fans of
Wicked Sensation's debut disc sampling a few of these songs and then turning away in abhorrent disgust seconds later, those that stick it out for the long run will be horrified and pleasantly surprised in turn. "Exceptional" makes WS seem as if they are searching in the dark for the right sound and are not quite too sure which way to turn. Some tracks are power charged heavy metal, others are more along the lines of
AOR, and a few straddle the line in between to varying degrees of success. A more consistant sound, (find one and stick with it!) and a better production and the next album might very well be what the title of this one promises. There's a lot to like, especially
"Kiss It Away" and the final cut, so those that like it "on the rocks" should take a closer look.
Written by
Alanna Monday, May 17, 2004
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