This is better than you might expect.
Once you negotiate your way past the dreadful, "jokey" front cover cartoon artwork, and get up close and personal with the band's very accessible hard rock, you'll find that '
In The Face Of Danger' is a rewarding listen.
This is classy, no frills, melodic hard rock that occasionally ventures out into heavy metal land. When it gets there it clearly feels totally at home, staking out its own chunk of territory with a barbed axe solo or a razor clawed riff. Here a Godzilla sized chorus, there a whale ready hook, before swaggering back to its hard rock home.
Archrival was (and still is) the brainchild of noted geetarman, Michael Harris. Harris is one of those shredders / riffers you either love or hate. You'd expect him to be signed up to Mike Varney's Shrapnel Records. His playing is always passionate, compelling, always filling the space between, but like Schenker and Roth, he leaves no room for compromise, and that lack of generosity doesn't suit everyone.
Lyrically it's an unchallenging album. But this was 1991 and many rock bands thought they were still in the eighties. Sex, drugs and rock'n'roll were still the staple items in most bands' song writing lexicon.
But he chose his players well. While Greg Martin (d) and Gary Rigmaiden (b) readily conspire to lay down a pummelling rhythmic groove, in Steve Snyder he lucked upon a talented, muscular vocalist, one who can deliver a threadbare lyric in the macho style of the day without totally sacrificing emotional honesty.
He invests tracks like the titular opener,
'In The Face of Danger' and the up tempo
'Rock The Night Away' with an undeniable integrity thanks to a spirited, single minded perfomance. At times his vocals are very reminiscent of Dave Meniketti's mid range, seamlessly spliced to James LaBrie's higher register.
At other times, in those softer rocking, more intimate moments - as on
'Me Against The World' - he can sound very like Danny Vaughn.Tyketto with a metal makeover.
The Y&T comparisons continue into the pounding, percussive '
Fortune Hunter' and a rerun of the one that started it all, the anthemic
'God Bless America'. Neither songs take any prisoners, but replace the usual suspects - histrionics and bad sex - with conscience and conviction. Attractively strange and melodically compelling.
Subdued live versions of those earlier tracks,
'In The Face Of Danger' and
'Me Against The World' are the 2 bonus cuts, and there's also a decent quality DVD with 10 live tracks, 2 promo videos and a bunch of extras. A good value package you have to say.
Written by
Brian Thursday, February 25, 2010
Show all reviews by BrianRatingsBrian: 6.5/10Members: No members have rated this album yet.
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