This is the fifth disc for
Chalice but my virgin outing with the band. What I have discovered is that they are a German outfit that has been around for awhile and have also enlisted the expertise of Dennis Ward to provide a spankin fresh production that sounds quite nice. The music, however, is of the standard German hard rock mold, such as Jaded Heart, Shakra, and even Pink Cream 69. All of the bands they are emulating produce far superior product, thus making
Chalice seem like the store brand equivelant of that niche of music. The packaging and presentation may look similiar enough to almost fool you but once you break open the can and steal a taste, you realize the brand names are far superior in quality.
The band is far from being just piss poor though, what we have here is average music that is a pleasant enough listen at times, it just will not be remembered a year or so down the line. Hell, I listened to it a few times and then promptly forgot about it other than recalling how much a few tracks truly stunk until the disc was uncovered a few days ago in a reorganization effort. Does not really bode well for
Shotgun Alley does it?
Vocalist Gino Naschke has a hit or miss voice that does not really have the charisma or range to carry an entire disc with this many songs. I have seen him compared to a German version of Vince Neil and that is a fairly accurate statement. He has that raw glam singer rasp coupled with a Klaus Miene like accent. A tough thing to perhaps settle into. The guitars are also rather uninviting and surely do not add much to the proceedings. They are just kind of there, as a hard rock necessity, but their presence is underwhelming. You expect to be atleast lifted a bit by some six string antics, yet the efforts just fall flat and are uninteresting.
The opener,
Opera Burns establishes the uptempo foundations firmly and this is backed up by the pulsating title track.
Shotgun Alley has a slight early
Def Leppard rawness collided with
Motley Crue attitude in the chorus, which puts it apart. These first two songs are fairly cool thumpin rockers with that no frills 80s flavor fully locked and loaded into gear. Too bad they were unable to find any flair to spice up the rest of the album.
Shadow of My Soul plods somewhat, but its a welcome reprieve from the stinker duo rock bombs that are
Hollywood Daze and
Twisted Lover. Those are two songs that might have done well twenty years ago, but the stakes are higher now. Such blatant mediocrity is to be kicked to the curb, not embraced.
Price of Love is a snore,
Kick It has some energy but it is ill used and falls into a loop of boredom.
Time reminds me of
Pretty Maids at their worst and has one of the most lackluster and misplaced guitar solos I have heard in awhile. The placement stinks, it kind of pops in out of nowhere and just noodles with an irritating tone for no particular reason.
Sweet Taste of Life puts its faith in songwriting and melody and thus
Chalice pulls off a decent song that has a nice pacing to it. It is more
AOR than the rockier fare found elsewhere, but works better because of that.
King of the Neighborhood brings
Pretty Maids back to mind, if they were thrown into a mixer with the Scorpions. A political track in nature, this thing has a spoken section that is just hilarious. Yes, I realize it is an attempt to make a statement, but they failed miserably. Sorry guys.
The last two songs are simply there.
Beyond the Light repeats itself far too much for its own good and
Make a Cross is a laughably sappy ballad that can be compared to Stryper. Not because of having the word cross either, its just the whole sparse cheesy acoustic vibe the song throws off.
Those that spend a few extra bucks recieve a second disc that offers a best of from their past works. My promo copy did not come with this additional bonus, but for a little more dough shelled out you get over twice as many songs. It is packed with sixteen additional tracks and from what I was able to investigate, the music is not as straightforward as
Shotgun Alley, but adds a slight progressive touch to the hard rock basics.
Not a bad deal if you get the double disc version, but otherwise, steer clear. This is just too bare bones, underwhelming and downright cheesy at times to warrant spending your hard earned cash.
Chalice is only for those that have it all and still want more. Even at that, try before you buy.
Note: the rating applies to the single disc version only. If you get the special edition with the extra CD, add another point to the overall rating.
Written by
Alanna Monday, February 13, 2006
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