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Metal/Prog Metal CD Reviews

FireHouse O2 Review by Gary Hill This new release by Firehouse finds them continuing their career of ‘80’s styled metal done with a classic tilt. For fans of that type of music, this CD should be a good entry into the catalog. However, for this reviewer, the central flaw of the disc is that, although they are great at what they do, the songs (for the most part) are full of cliches (both lyrically and musically). The band are at their best here when they get edgy and risky by trying new things. Admittedly, they don’t always pull of those attempts perfectly, but either way it makes for interesting material. I personally wish they did that more often on this CD. All that said, I should reiterate that this disc is a competent CD, just a bit stuck in a formulaic style. Fans of the band, and the genre in general, should enjoy it. This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2001 Year Book Volume 2 at garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2001-and-2002 .

Track by Track Review

Jumpin’ With a great bouncy bass groove, this is a good ‘80’s styled hard edged hair-metal song ala Poison and their ilk.

Take It Off Beginning with drums, the guitar screams in giving this one a harder edged texture than the previous cut. The lyrical them is obvious from the title if you have even a slightly dirty mind. This is a pretty standard ‘80’s style sex rock cut.

The Dark Spooky tones start this one, but as the song proper enters it is very heavy, but not frightening. The lyrics are a bit silly, but the vocal style, partially rapped, is rather interesting. The cut feature a cool electronic break that leads to a tasty guitar solo and the instrumental break on the piece is quite strong. This one is not necessarily the best song on the album, but certainly the most interesting.

Don't Fade On Me This is a pretty straight forward rock ballad.

I’d Rather Be Making Love This one is set in a strong rock groove that seems to combine an ‘80’s metal style with a ‘50’ish chord progression and rhythm. The verse here really seems to call to mind the old Thin Lizzy cut “Whiskey in A Jar” which was more recently covered by Metallica.

What You Can Do The intro here is in a basic, but tasty metal riff. The cut drops to a verse in a very cool balladic style. The chorus has a harder edged style. This is one of the best cuts on the disc, and quite strong. It has a very tasty instrumental break.

I'm In Love This Time After an intriguingly arranged intro, this one becomes a very competent, but rather generic rocker.

Unbelievable This is a pretty basic, but catchy rock and roll love song.

Loving You Is Paradise An acoustic guitar based love song in balladic format, this one features a tasty guitar solo.

Call of the Night Another with an intriguing intro, the guitar riff that takes over smokes. This is the best cut on the disc and this harder edged rocker is a great way to end the CD. It is a bit Van Halenish in musical texture and has a great outro.

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