Carried by the storm indeed.
After drifting aimlessly for the last 25 years,
Bronz's unfinished and therefore unreleased second album has been reconstructed from the original master tapes.
And voila, yet another 'long lost
AOR masterpiece' is finally exposed to public scrutiny.
In all too familiar story (stop me if you've heard this one), when their record label got sold on in 1985,
Bronz got dropped by the new owners before
'Carried By The Storm' could be released. Yet another victim of corporate shenanigans.
But, in all its eighties' guitar synth splendour (Max Norman produced) and boasting guest players like Phil (Uriah Heep) Lanzon, Chris (MM Earthband) Thompson and Saxophonist extraordinaire, Gary Barnacle, it has now opened and to good reviews.
Original vocalist, Max Bacon jumped ship after the debut '
Taken By Storm' and was replaced by Ian Baker for the follow up. Baker is an adequate vocalist who fits well with the clean lines and skin deep emotions of the eighties' melodic rock aesthetic.
The album starts off brightly with
'Can't Live Without You', an
AOR gem.
It's followed by the disappointing title track,
'Carried By The Storm', a song that aims to satisfy pop and rock fans but falls between two stools
. 'Man Girl Machine' blatantly nicks a Faltermeyer riff from Glenn Frey's 'The Heat Is On' (a hit the years this album was recorded).
More enlightened critics condemned this style of music as poprock fluff, exhibiting the shallow, inoffensive musical attitude that initiated the corporate rock backlash.
Then it gets better. At first,
'There's A Reason' looks like it's headed in the same direction, then 2 minutes in, it takes on an altogether different tone, exhibiting tougher axework and a welcome melodic subtlety.
The Foreigner-ish
'When The Lights Are Down' and the Journey-esque
'One More Time' continue in the same vein. Like a real rock band just bursting to break free of label 'play it safe' dictates, with impassioned vocals, blazing guitars and sparky axe solos.
Suddenly, you maybe want to hear this stuff again.
'Tell Her' and
'Figure In The Dark' (if you can blot out the synths) continue to carry the hard rock torch, if not quite so convincingly.
In the end though, you have to conclude that they never quite break out of the straitjacket that the fashions and the expectations of the time imposed on them.
All the same, it's a valiant try.
Written by
Brian Thursday, May 6, 2010
Show all reviews by BrianRatingsBrian: 6/10Members: 10/10 - Average of 2 ratings.
Member ratings
 | The Master
Rating: 10/10
This album is a fantastic British rock band at it's best
produced by Max Norman no less.
... · Read more · |
| Bronz
Rating: 10/10
Well 10 out of 10 from us but we are the band !
Feel the ROCK!
www.bronz-music.com... · Read more · |
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