Contraband - Contraband (1991)

“Supergroup noun (so̵̅o̅′pər gro̵̅o̅p′): a rock-music group made up of members of other well-known groups and/or a highly successful rock group”. Well, Contraband certainly satisfied the former but definitely not the latter being hardly a name the trips of the tongue of the majority of rock officiandos! An unlikely coming together of glam, hair and trad metal, Contraband comprised of Michael Shenker, Bobby Blotzer (Ratt), Tracii Guns (LA Guns), Richard Black (Shark Island) and Share Pedersen (Vixen) and this 1991 album was to be both their debut and swansong!

The album opens with a cover of Mott the Hoople’s 1973 single All The Way From Memphis, which was also a single release from this album, and is a solid rocker of an opener featuring some wah-wah soloing from Guns along with a strong solo from Shenker. Despite my initial misgivings about the compatibility of the players here, Memphis is certainly a strong opener for the album.

Kiss By Kiss follows-on from Memphis and again is a powerful riff-driven slow burner with a catchy chorus hook and, I would have thought, had significant commercial potential – there’s constant wailing guitar flourishes throughout to boot! The theme continues with Intimate Outrage with, I suspect, a Shenker-penned opening riff with, interestingly, the members of the band combining to produce a sound unlike any of their previous bands but rather creating a polished, powerful sound with a commercial edge that works extremely well.

Bad For Each Other slips into the ‘we must do a ballad’ territory which never wins brownie points with me and is overly formulaic in that respect. However, we are soon back on track with the appallingly named Loud Guitars, Fast Cars And Wild, Wild Livin’ which, to be fair, does what it says on the tin – provides plenty of loud guitars . . . not sure about the rest though, but it is a good, solid track best played loud and leans more towards the Ratt/Guns style of chorus and hook.

Good Rockin’ Tonight is a good up-tempo number – albeit lyrically childlike – with a striding rock and roll feel and some more wailing guitar breaks. Then the mood is dropped for If This Is Love, another ballad with a good harmony guitar intro and a certain amount of power is kept throughout so, fortunately, it doesn’t qutie descend into the formula mush of Bad For Each Other.

Stand features an acapella intro (well, with bass drum and hi-hat accompaniment from Blotzer), there’s even the odd flourish of a heavily midi’d Yes 90125-era keyboard and a strong solo from Shenker later in the track which is all good as far as I’m concerned.

Unfortunately, Tonight You’re Mine takes us back into ballad territory – of the more mushy kind but fortunately the album is then saved by a rocked-up Bowie cover with Hang On To Yourself which provides a storming finale. Unfortunately Guns provides the majority of the soloing as opposed to Shenker but that’s nit-picking really as it’s a cracking cover!

This album does leave you pondering the question: how did they not make the big time? Contraband had a really strong line-up (and Bobby Blotzer!) of members from really big-name acts and the music they produced was great – there’s no real filler, every track (even the ballads) are well-crafted so what went wrong is a moot point. The album itself seems very hard to obtain now too but I would recommend its purchase should you be able to find a copy . . . and it’s got Share Pedersen on it which is always a plus as far as I’m concerned: a forgotten gem of an album.

• Richard Black – Vocals
• Share Pedersen – Bass
• Michael Schenker – Guitar
• Tracii Guns – Guitar
• Bobby Blotzer – Drums

Deep Purple - Slaves And Masters (1990)

I have to say that a glimpse of the cover alone should be reason enough to give this Deep Purple album a wide birth! However, before die-hard Purple fans feel too aggrieved, I too am a long-time Purple fan and as such soooo wanted to play this album and feel the same excitement I did when I first put Machine Head on the turntable some 25 years ago, but alas, it was not to be.

The album features the ‘classic’ Mark II lineup minus Ian Gillan with extremely able ex-Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn turner providing the vocals. As a concept, that sounds quite good but when put into practice what was actually achieved was a dismal affair indeed.

The band sounds like they were merely going through the motions – Lynn Turner himself admits that the band were under pressure to update their sound and be more ‘commercial’ and so we don’t get any of the distinctive halcyon days Purple sound here, rather a bland and uninspiring AOR album. Jon Lord’s grinding Hammond and Ian Paice’s quick-fire rolls are sadly absent throughout – as are apparently a lack of ideas.

Never has the old adage ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ been ignored more completely than in their post comeback output with this being a prime example.

• Ritchie Blackmore – Guitar
• Roger Glover – Bass
• Jon Lord – Keyboards
• Ian Paice – Drums
• Joe Lynn Turner – Vocals

Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Black Moon (1992)

After calling it a day during the anti-prog sentiments of 1978, and after the awful Love Beach album, this was the band’s first studio album in 14 years to feature the full lineup of Emerson, Lake and Palmer and, having been a fan of their early work – and mildly pleased with their 1986 Emerson, Lake & Powell release – I waited with some anticipation for its release date. I guess it was fair to say that I was disappointed and happy in equal measure upon obtaining a copy!

Gone were the lengthy instrumental pieces and complex drum/keyboard interplay that made their early compositions sometimes breathtaking in their musical dexterity and in had come a heavily Greg Lake-led approach. Now, I’ve got a lot of time for Greg Lake but, whilst an integral part of ELP, for me it was Emerson and Palmer who held centre stage and really defined their ’sound’ but here it is Lake who largely relegates Emerson and Palmer to something of a backing group.

There are some really good tracks here – Paper Moon in particular is a cracking number, even a bit of Hammond sneaked is there for old time’s sake on a strong composition with Lake in rather ballsy form vocally. But for that, there’s Affairs Of The Heart and Footprints In The Snow which are insipid acoustic Lake numbers and even where there are instrumentals, things are not as great as they once were: Burning Bridges for example has a trademark Emerson keyboard approach but ends up in part sounding like a piece from some 80s film soundtrack.

And to make matters worse, there’s Romeo And Juliet – taken from Prokofiev – which I get the distinct impression was added as a result of a conversation to the effect of “we used to always have a classically influenced piece on an album, let’s think of one and put it on” and it is of very little musical merit.

The most disturbing part for me overall, however, is Carl Palmer’s apparent lack of interest throughout. For a drummer of Palmer’s undoubted ability and flair, he plays it straight here – and I emphasise STRAIGHT – being reduced to a metronome of staggeringly uninspiring proportions!

Not an album I’d recommend to be honest – if you wish to dip your toes in the waters of prog rock and/or ELP, go and get Tarkus and hear them in their prime – give a wide birth to their 1990s Prog-AOR pretensions.

• Carl Palmer – Drums
• Keith Emerson – keyboards
• Gregg Lake – Bass/Vocals

Extreme - Pornograffitti (1990)

Emerging as the death knell was rang for the mainstream metal movement that had dominated the 1980s, Extreme largely got their act together as grunge swept away the more flamboyant of the metal genre in favour of a very low-fi approach to music: tough time to be launching a career! Pornograffitti was the second album from the band, the first being their self-titled debut a year earlier in 1989, and really showcased the band’s talent and set them up perfectly for their album III Sides to Every Story released in 1992. What Pornograffitti delivered was 13 polished hard rock tracks with good commercial potential, strong musicianship – in particular from guitarist Nuno Bettencourt – and an original edge that would see Extreme explode into the mainstream, albeit somewhat for the wrong reasons.

Thunder and rain fades in at the start of the album before a piano intro to Decadence Dance breaks through for a moment before a more ominous tone slowly builds in a dramatic fashion and then Bettencourt begins to hit some chords and we’re off. A powerful rocker in the style of Sammy Hagar, Ted Nugent . . . and even Kiss on a good day . . . opens the album proper with Cherone turning in a fine performance and Bettencourt showcasing his style with some good flourishes. The chorus harks back a year or two to the height of the ‘hair metal’ bands in both its catchy approach and the vocal harmony styling but the track motors along well and gives a strong kick-start to the album. The half-time mid-section leading to the guitar solo works well too and when you get the feeling that there’s’ going to be one almighty shred, Bettencourt plays it cool and melodically which makes a refreshing change for guitarists of the period.

Li’l Jack Horny, whilst an unbearably corny title, opens with some guitar harmonics before descending into a sleazy guitar riff for a mid-tempo shuffle complete with the odd blast from a brass section. Again, it’s apparent that Extreme are intent on providing substance with their tracks musically and vocally strong with clearly defined sections to them and strong riffs which set them apart from many of their peers and was more akin to Van Halen – whom Cherone would later join – than the whole hair metal scene. Bettencourt finally lets rip on L’il Jack with a shred too – just for good measure!

When I’m President opens with a Beastie Boys style rapped into before a syncopated riff breaks through and Cherone re-emerges with a semi-rapped verse, but slowly and in a rock style over which a strong harmony vocal is sung. Lyrically, Cherone’s social conscience is to the fore here too which makes a welcome change from the run of the mill metal lyrics prevalent in the day, something that didn’t sit well with the ‘cock rock’ posturing of Van Halen some years later!

Next-up is my personal favourite from Pornograffitti, Get The Funk Out. As a track it has it all, good vocals and great hook, funky bassline, brass section, strong riff and great solo from Bettencourt . . . who could ask for more: if this track doesn’t make you want to dance, nothing will! Get the Funk Out was reasonably well received as a single release too and received heavy airplay from MTV at the time, and still crops up from time to time on ‘classic rock’ programs. I can’t help thinking that if this track had been released 5 years earlier Extreme would have been huge.

That said, More Than Words is next which, as we all know . . . well most of us . . . was massive hit in both the UK and US and is a lilting, tender ballad featuring Cherone and Bettencourt with the latter playing acoustic guitar. It’s a really good track and a million miles from the insincere syrup dished out by Mr Big et al but unfortunately didn’t serve the band as well as it might. Unfortunately, as with Take My Breath Away by Berlin a few years earlier, More Than Words attracted a huge new audience eager to hear more from this ‘balladeering duo’ only to find that they were in fact, a powerful hard-rock band a nothing like More Than Words. Thus their biggest hit became a nail in the coffin and millstone around the neck of the band from which their career would gradually descend.

Money (In God We Trust) is another politicised lyric with a pounding rock backbone which is a theme carried into the more lyrically light-hearted It’s A Monster which opens with feedback accompanying a drum break intro and again the band really push the track along. The chorus is again catchy and the brass section makes an appearance. Extreme certainly mastered combining commerciality without compromising on the power of their music which was a trick missed by many of their peers. Bettencourt’s wailing guitar solo and dynamic runs are a real highlight here too.

The title track is a mid-tempo riff-fest with Bettencourt again providing a heavy but funky riff around which the track is woven – no three chord wonders here, each riff is complex but accessible and provide the perfect foil for Gary Cherone’s powerful and melodic vocal lines. Unsurprisingly, the theme here is the abundance/prevalence of sex in its many forms in society in general and appears as somewhat of a distancing from, and expression of distaste for, the obsession with sex as a marketing tool in music and the wider media.

When I First Kissed You slows the mood with a piano-backed ballad opening almost harking back to the mellow jazz of the Rat Pack, with a good, slow walking bassline from Pat Badger and some smooth crooning from Gary Cherone on this lounge lizard track. This shows a whole other side to Extreme as it’s a soft jazz number – even referring to Sinatra – and a million miles away from the rest of the album but it works very well, giving the listener a breather and allowing Cherone to demonstrate he’s not only a rock singer! On the downside, the keyboard strings should have been cut in favour of a string section but you can’t have everything can you?

Suzie (Wants Her All Day What) thumps away in much the same manner as the rest of the album and certainly gives you a kick after mellowing to the preceding track.

He-Man Woman Hater opens with a hundred mile an hour shred from Bettencourt to a overworking click track and is impeccably played throughout. At the time Bettencourt was being courted int he same circles as Vai etc as a new ‘guitar hero’ but, sadly, with the demise of the band doesn’t seem to get much of a reference in the present day. Once the lengthy guitar solo intro abates, the track proper comes in and is again a mid-tempo rocker and I have to confess that by now things are maybe getting a little samey but not at all disagreeable.

Song For Love is a tender love song with a strong but cheesy chorus – this is moving dangerously into 80s formula ballad territory which, in my opinion, is very dangerous territory and one that should be plundered with caution: few bands have been there and emerged with any musical credibility! Song For Love was released as a single and reached number 12 in the UK further reinforcing the public’s perception that Extreme were balladeers . . . not a good thing for their longevity as it was definitely not the case but I’m sure the record company thought they’d make hay whilst the sun shone.

The final track on the album, Hole Hearted, reached number 4 when released as a single in the US so guess what kind of track it was? Yes, it was an acoustic track but fortunately an upbeat one and not of the syrup variety. In fact, Hole Hearted is one of the standout tracks on the album with Bettencourt providing some good guitar work and Cherone singing really well and the whole track staying just the right side of formula ballad to remain credible. There’s almost a bluegrass feel to the track with some slide guitar thrown-in and the vocal melody is excellent. The track ends with thunder and rain and the album’s over as it began.

Pornograffitti is a good album, not great, but very good – there’s just a tendency to slip a little towards cheesy from time to time that prevents it from being a great album. As far as Extreme go, it’s their strongest album and whilst the follow-up had some good moments too, the fun element that they had here had somewhat dissipated by that release which was a pity. If you like your rock loud, funky and catchy with lashings of strong guitar work and solos then Pornograffitti is an album you must hear.

• Gary Cherone – Vocals
• Nuno Bettencourt – Guitar
• Pat Badger – Bass
• Paul Geary – Drums

Manic Street Preachers - Gold Against The Soul (1993)

Whilst self-proclaimed Generation Terrorists Manic Street Preachers may have had more than their fair share of pretensions, particularly in their early days, and their latter-day pseudo-intellectualising lyrics may serve to wind-up some listeners, me included from time to time, there’s no escaping that their second studio album, Gold Against The Soul, is an absolute triumph for hard-hitting, guitar-based rock. It’s one of the few albums that you can listen to from start to finish and every track is a gem with each member of the band giving their strongest performances and I would argue it is the band’s strongest, although the subsequent Holy Bible tends to get the majority of the plaudits.

The album opens with the uptempo riff of Sunflower, a powerful number that belts along with James Bradfield in fine voice and the band managing to combine dominating guitar riffs with melody and hooks: something in which many bands fail miserably. The mellow bridge is also a nice touch and offers some respite before the track kicks back into its bludgeoning riff and guitar solo – a better opener to an album you’d be hard-pressed to find!

From Despair To Where showcases the melancholic, and later we’d learn nihilistic, mindset of rhythm guitarist Richey James who was, back in 1993, chief lyricist for the Manics. The track opens with an understated guitar and vocal proclaiming the classic lines “I write this alone in my bed. I poison every room in the house. The place is quiet and so alone. Pretend there’s something worth waiting for”. The band then kicks-in, along with an organ backing, for a track featuring good use of light and shade with the verses mellow then Bradfield building the intensity to the bridge and into the chorus. Some simple but effective soloing from Bradfield and a string quartet round the track-out nicely.

One of the ‘classic’ Manic’s tracks, Scream To A Sigh (La Tristesse Durera), is next which again starts with a lilting guitar picked melody and Bradfield singing in hushed tones before a drum break and the track is in full swing. Again, lyrically, melodically and vocally, Scream To A Sigh works perfectly and is a standout track on the album – which is difficult as it is in really good company on Gold Against The Soul.

Things then move away from the ‘catchier’ Manics numbers to out and out squealing guitars and an altogether heavier approach with Yourself which again has a memorable chorus but not in a ‘chart frieldy’ kind of way and the overarching riff of the track, played loud by Bradfield, and gently by staccato strings, in places works extremely well.

Life Becoming A Landslide again has a low-level intro before the main body of the track opens but this is a less heavy number than the rest of the tracks – closest to a ballad feel for the first verse and intro. However, guitars suddenly abound as the melody is picked-up by heavy, dampened guitar that provides a razor-sharp riff and Bradfield’s vocals, as ever, are both cutting and melodic simultaneously. The juxtaposition between the verses and the melodic chorus is distinct and the guitar break, chord based, with some powerful phrasing from Sean Moore adds to the texture.

Drug Drug Druggy, track 6, continues in a similar vein (no pun intended!) which is followed by what was a single from the album (reaching 15 in the UK charts), Roses In The Hospital. Again, ‘Roses’ demonstrates the band’s ability to be commercial, melodic and guitar-driven all in one.

Nostalgic Pushhead opens with a Moore drum riff which is built upon by a Bradfield guitar melody which moves into a powerful rock number on which Bradfield vocally is on great form. Symphony Of Tourette moves things up a gear and is a real uptempo riff giving the track a real sense of urgency and contains a great instrumental break and guitar work from Bradfield.

The title track closes the album and features a riff that wouldn’t be out of place on a Judas Priest album! Albeit, being the manics, they manage to cleverly meld the riff with a gentle vocal from Bradfield and provide a catchy hook.

As you can probably tell from the above, I can’t recommend this album highly enough. If you like loud guitars, powerful vocals, choruses you can sing along too, deep but accessible lyrics and riff-based instrumentation . . . and you don’t like your neighbours as you WILL want to play this album very loudly indeed . . . you must give Gold Against The Soul a listen!

• James Dean Bradfield – Vocals/Guitars
• Sean Moore – Drums
• Richey Edwards – Guitar
• Nicky Wire – Bass

Phantom Blue - Built To Perform (1993)

If you’re thinking ‘Phantom who?’, you’re probably not alone – especially on the UK-side of the Atlantic! I have to confess to missing Phantom Blue the first time around completely despite working at the time they were at their ‘peak’ in a succession of rock clubs and venues . . . and being an avid subscriber to Kerrang! That said, Built To Perform was the second studio album from the US all-girl group and is an absolute stormer – quite how they failed to hit the mainstream attentions when they were musically streets ahead of their peers is beyond me. Whilst not wanting to harp-on about the fact that they were an all-female group – I have mostly found all-female rock groups to be rather lacking: The Runaways, Girlschool, Rock Goddess etc didn’t do much for me at all and I found their overall sound and musicality somewhat naive and uninspiring. However, Phantom Blue really threw that back in my face on hearing this album!

Built To Perform is an in-your-face metal album featuring some great vocals from Gigi Hangach and stunning guitar riffing and soloing from the sadly-late Michelle Meldrum which serves to blow any preconceived prejudices right out of the window.

Nothing Good is as strong an opening track as your likely to hear, an uptempo rocker with screeching guitar soloing and powerful vocals from Hangach with just enough melody to keep a commercial edge . . . just! This is not a fluke either, the subsequent track Time To Run keeps the pace, and was a single from the album, with an interesting eastern-inspired opening riff leading into a real powerful chugger of a number filled with powerful chords and great vocals. Meldrum’s soloing is first class and Hangach is a perfect rock vocalist, encompassing both power and range.

Track 3 is what I would normally consider a ‘no-no’, a Thin Lizzy cover – something which could quite easily have gone horribly wrong. However Phantom Blue turn-in a fine performance, sticking closely to the original (minus the deft drum flourishes of Brian Downey) but making it sound like something they could have penned – no mean feat. The harmony guitar work is also note perfect and once again, Meldrum really shines here: I could barely believe my ears on hearing this as I’m a huge fan of Mr Lynnot et al and when I see a Lizzy cover on a tracklist I’m always sceptical!

My Misery is up next and takes the mood down a notch from Bad Reputation – however, whist a ballad, it’s not in the cheesy rock ballad style of Winger, Mr Big etc but is a REAL ballad – one that sounds like it was written as an emotional piece, not a formulaic necessity as was often the case during late-1980s rock albums in particular. This is a classy piece, well sung and performed and further evidence of the band’s commercial, albeit untapped, potential.

Little Man is a solid riff-rocker and further evidence that Michelle Meldrum was one hell of a guitarist! The crashing chords of Better Off Dead lead into another powerful slice of rock with a rather sneering vocal and has some good use of twin guitars.

Anti Love Crunch gives a nod towards the speed metal genre for its main riff and Loved Ya To Pieces is another ballsy rocker. Things then slow, but with no loss of intensity, on So Easy before Lied To Me and Little Evil conclude the powerful tracks before the closing track You’re Free bursts through – a slow number with a chorus-fuelled picked guitar melody interspersed with crashing chords and strong vocal hook.

I have to admit I feel really sorry for Phantom Blue! If this album – their only major label release (Geffen) – had come out in place of their debut album some four years earlier (for which the band had been somewhat ‘forced’ into pitching their image at the commercial end of the ‘hair metal’ market, albeit their material erred on the heavy side) I’m certain the band would have really hit the heights. The band had all the ingredients to catapult them to rock stardom – great songwriting and good musicianship – but by the time they really got their act together the metal boom had subsided and despite brimming with talent, the album didn’t achieve any great sales and with numerous lineup changes and being dropped by their record company they never had the momentum, nor marketing clout, to really achieve the status their abilities deserved.

This album was a real eye opener for me and I’d urge anyone to give it a listen and to rue what could have, and should have, been for Phantom Blue.

• Gigi Hangach – vocals
• Michelle Meldrum – guitar
• Karen Kreutzer – guitar
• Kim Nielsen – bass guitar
• Linda McDonald – drums

Rollins Band - Come In And Burn (1997)

Come In And Burn is straight edge, ex Black flag vocalist, raconteur, philosopher, spoken-word poet and general all-round legend Henry Rollins’ last album with the ‘classic’ lineup of Rollins Band and features a tight set of powerful rock tracks with insightful lyrics and typical Rollins emotional power and angst. Always under-rated and an outsider to mainstream music, Rollins has always provided powerful lyrical content delivered with an intensity few can match and Come In And Burn is no exception.

The crunching chords of Shame open the album leading to a pounding mid-tempo track which makes good use of light and shade with the verses understated whilst the ‘chorus’ is sheer power. As with the majority of Rollins’ material, it is a dark track lyrically and the mid-section in particular is atmospheric with guitarist Chris Haskett turning-in a strong solo that conveys the overall mood of the track to good effect.

Starve has an interesting syncopated bass/drums/guitar timing which is taught and over which Rollins semi-talks the lyrics before the track explodes into the chorus. It’s here that you realise that Rollins Band where much more than a backing band for Rollins himself but were a fine bunch of musicians that created a unique blend of rock/punk/funk that was both extremely powerful but subtle and melodic in equal measure.

In All I Want Rollins demands ‘Don’t ignore me’ – and with the ferocity of the delivery it’s fair to say that it would be possible to ignore him! The plea of the track is again more than ably backed by the band who provide considerable musical interest that weaves in and out of the emotion of Rollins’ lyrical delivery to great effect. In fact, as I’m sure Rollins would admit, he isn’t the most skillful vocalists in the world but more than makes up for it with emotional and passion with the musical interests really resting with a band that is attuned to his mindset for each track and happily on the album throughout, he has just that band.

The End of Something is a standout track from the album and one of the best examples of the light/shade dynamic that works so well for Rollins Band. The line “If i saw your body burning in the street . .. I’d put you out . . . with gasoline” just about sums up Rollins’ mindset at the time of writing this track which references the trauma of a relationship breakup but verbalised like no other could – this is no ‘Love Hurts’! There’s real malice and pain here and once more, the band reflect this in their instrumentation: the mellow verses layout the scene for each of Rollins’ reflections before the power and aggression of the statement of fact and emotional detachment that ‘it’s just the end of something’ kicks-in with accompanying power of the band.

On My Way To The Cage is an up-tempo bass-driven track with a bit of a nod to his punky Black Flag days. The riff is really punchy and you can almost feel the track beating you in the face with each syncopation: see if you agree as the video below shows Rollins Band performing an very intense version of this track in a TV studio!

Thursday Afternoon slows things down in terms of tempo but certainly not of intensity. This more takes the form of spoken-word over the band’s backing which, as ever, is good and reminds me of Rage Against the Machine to an extent – which is only a plus as far as I’m concerned, particularly on the verses.

During a City takes an almost swing approach from drummer Sim Cain with bassist Melvin Gibbs providing the majority of instrumentation/melody on the verses and Chris Haskett providing added power for the chorus. The track runs into Neon which opens with a very understated bass and drum track before kicking-in to a slow, plodding riff. There’s also an explosive guitar solo from Haskett but not of a pointless shredding variety – Haskett has the ability to convey the emotion of the subject matter in his guitar playing and does so here excellently.

Spilling Over the Side moves up a gear for a funky, but heavy, track again veering towards RATM territory. which is followed by Inhale/Exhale which again is a rather doom-laden riff with the verses largely Rollins talking over them with his usual intensity of subject-matter.

Saying Goodbye Again refers to a friend of Rollins who was gunned-down and killed and his general anger at the futility of gang violence and gun culture and the emotions such an incident leaves behind: “You’re gone, I’m left to move on”. This incident, as you wold expect, really moved Rollins and a discussion of the vents surrounding it, and his insight, was a feature of his spoken-word performances for a number of years.

Rejection closes the album, although there are various later releases around with additional tracks, and you really feel that you’ve been through a few rounds with Mike Tyson as the track draws to a close!

Come In and Burn has incredible fire and intensity, rage and power in equal measure and is compelling listening for both the musical skill of the band and Rollins lyrics and delivery. If you’re not previously acquainted with Henry Rollins, this album would prove a good introduction in my opinion and everyone should at least have one Henry Rollins release in their collection: he’s quite a character and whether with a band or delivering his solo lecture, when he speaks – you listen and it’s always a worthwhile experience!

• Henry Rollins – Vocals
• Chris Haskett – Guitar
• Melvin Gibbs – Bass
• Sim Cain – Drums