I expected more really even by a band of this standard, it's a solid performance but the songwriting is average at best, with no stand-out moments whatsoever

Written by AndyMetalFreak on 03.02.2024 at 20:11

I expected more really even by a band of this standard, it's a solid performance but the songwriting is average at best, with no stand-out moments whatsoever

"Give It All" with its sax, and the slightly proggy "Blood Magic" are good, I think. But yeah, not much else stood out, and I was kind of put off by the Def Leppard-y backing vocals.

Honestly this is an early contender for album of the year for me. I have a few Striker albums, and I do like them, but found them a bit soulless in terms of songwriting. On this one though they've completely changed gears and gone for a 1980s tribute sound that I think they completely nailed.

Sucks to Suck is the song that reeled me in - it sounds huge (like Def Leppard arena huge) and just has an irrepressible good times energy. Best of the Best of the Best is in a similar vein - those two are the definite "hits", and I can see why they made videos for them. Give it All has glorious sax. Live to Fight Another Day is a straight-up montage song (if you're a child of the 80s like me, close your eyes and you'll see boxing/welding/fighter jets). I could write something about every song, so I'm baffled by any suggestion that the songwriting is average. Each track is different, which is already a huge plus in my book. (Looking at the "Top of 2024" list at the moment... can I say the same for any of those albums?) They're creative, and slightly weird at times - just like even random throwaway albums used to be in the 80s. And of course, this being Striker, the musicianship and vocals are high quality and completely polished.

All in all they somehow managed to bottle the joy and optimism of the 80s in an album and I'm thankful to them for that!