Second album from child prodigies, Sturm Und Drang.
The debut stood out, not just in terms of precocious musicianship and performance, but because of producer (and one time Per Gessle songwriting collaborator) Mats (MP) Persson's contributions to the material. This time round, teenage vocalist / guitarist / songwriter, Andre Linman has co-written much of the material on this follow up to 2007's '
Learning To Rock', and his progress up a very steep learning curve is clear for all to see.
Although '
Rock'n'Roll Children' has Jimmy Westerlund at the studio helm, Persson has again made his impression felt, with four co-writes here. The addition of several other notable contributions from outside writers means that once again, SUD's recordings possess a genuine melodic rock weight, but it's Persson's cutting edge metal melodies and armour piercing hooks, sprinkled across ten trim, no-excess-baggage tracks that make all the difference.
Westerlund's clean, uncluttered but sonically powerful production sweeps each song along on a tsunami of pounding percussive rhythms and dramatic, dynamic riffing.
'Sinner' and '
A Million Nights' particularly stand out, taking a more melodic, less aggressive metal stance, when compared to the borderline power metal of opening tracks '
Last Of The Heroes' and
'The River Runs Dry', both of which aim to sound every bit as epic as their titles suggest.
Elsewhere and a bit too often, musical metal clichés are employed to carry the music forward, whereas on the debut, imagination and inventiveness raised their handsome heads on a satisfyingly regular basis.
The other tracks that work here are the heavyweight, hard rockin', yet robustly tuneful
'That's The Way I Am' and
'Life' (also co-written with Persson). Outstanding songs, both of which seem to recognise too that naming your band after a culturally important movement in 18
th century German literature brings with it, at a minimum, an obligation to write lyrics with an adult resonance.
Although
'Rock'n'Roll Children' is frustratingly patchy, it's good to see that Sturm Und Drang have skilfully and successfully negotiated the "difficult second album" hurdle that's brought down so many other bands.
Album number 3 will be the true test I think.
Written by
Brian Wednesday, January 7, 2009
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