Bad Habit have been kicking around since the mid 80s. In fact, this is their 20th year together. All those years have only produced enough albums to be counted on one hand and touring has been nearly non existent. In fact, the last time they were heard from was 1998's "Adult Orientation". Eight years is a long time to go without surfacing in the ever changing underground industry. You might think all those years might have taken their toll, yet this new album, "Hear-Say" is just as fresh and kicking as ever.
The guitars are seriously heavy as hell, chunky and crunchy. Not what you would expect from an
AOR-ish pedigree such as this. The percussion even kicks alot of ass, with a harsh bottom end. Yet the melodies are richly creamy, making the disc an easy listen, but one
AOR album with a hefty dose of attitude. There's also lots of electronic tweaking going on that modernizes and spices up the sound. I would liken these bits to
Silver and Radioactive. It makes the would-be bland, quite interesting, but not so overdone that it wrecks the flow. These additions serve more as highlights than anything else. Some songs even border on flirting with progressive, such as
"I Swear".
The disc is worth a peek alone for the opening track,
"To Love You" which is harsh and unpredictable. Catchy and unique, it's a heart catcher and attention getter and sounds just pure awesome. I love the crunchy, powerful guitars and gutsy approach the guys take at melodic rock here.
Of course if you are looking for more traditional tunes of the melodic kind, they deliver that too.
"All That I Want" clocks in at 3 and a half minutes (and some change) of pure blissful sugary sweet stuff. A pretty confection with keys that are light as feathers and a chorus that just pours over the song like waves of melted chocolate. There is a comforting warmth about it but its tasty just the same.
"I Want To Know" is much the same, very
AOR-tastic with nice vocals from Bax Fehling and softer, rounder guitars from Hal Marabel and Sven Cirnski.
Then you get stuff like
"Reason" which just shoves the heaviness right down the throat and pounds your skull like a good hard rock band should. This is some really cool shit here, and I can't imagine anyone not warming up to it. Reminiscent of current day TNT, with the modern touches. But that guitar solo with the straight up piano tinkering along beside just creates one of those perfect rock moments.
Not to mention
"Take Control" which just gets the blood pumping and kicks arse and takes names. Anyone that has penned this as an
AOR album either didn't listen to it or just spot checked because this is straight off the page of Conception, the legendary melody conscious prog band from the 90s. A spitfire guitar solo is included here too.
Also have to name drop
"Tell Me Why". It has these breathless vocals and explosive chorus that just dials up the melody but retains that crunch. Then it just falls away and leaves this electronic backing to support the vocals for a dramatic moment before kicking into the full blown sound again. Excellent stuff penned here. Eight years? Definitely worth waiting for.
"The Air That I Breathe" leaves them on a high-as-a-cloud
AOR piece. It just spreads wings and soars, showing that while their hearts are heavy, the soul is still attuned to the beautiful side of melodic rock as well. A lovely ballad all around.
Bad Habit have served up an album that will likely shell shock their established fans (if any are still lurking around out there that remember them) but will absolutely blow everyone else away. "Hear-Say" is a fabulous combination of sharp, tech laden melodic hard rock but with an inner heart of
AOR shadowed in there that pops up full fledged occasionally. It's a delicious concoction that keeps the album interesting from start to finish. A great one to just put in the CD player and let the diversity overtake and delight.
Jonas
Reingold produced the album, which might explain the twist in sound. It reminds me alot of
Reingold's "Universe" disc from several years back, which remains a favorite of mine as well. I applaud this direction and hope the band turns out another album soon and not leave us hanging for 8 years again. Why? Because this is one
Bad Habit that's hard to break.
Written by
Alanna Sunday, January 15, 2006
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