Band:	Rain
Album:	XXX
Style:	Hard rock, Heavy metal
Release date:	October 2011

01. Energy
02. Whiskey On The Route 666
03. Blood Sport
04. Rain Revolution
05. The Gate
06. Born To Kill
07. We Want R'N'R
08. In The Night
09. End Of Time
10. Only Your Dreams
11. Fight For The Power
12. Only For The Rain Crew
13. Rain Are Us [acoustic version]

Rain is one of Italy's best-kept secrets in the hard rock scene, or so it seems nowadays since I hadn't come across their music so far. So as to celebrate their 30 years of existence the band re-recorded and re-arranged some of their most well-known compositions with their recent line-up and composed a new one, "Whiskey On The Route 666". As the utterly representative cover artwork indicates, all you have to expect is pure hard rock from the past straight to the present which comes under the title XXX.

Pure summertime music to rock out with on the beach with good company and large amounts of beer is all you'll find in here. Yet, as this time of the year has come to an end you can still rock out at your apartment. It's nothing new since you've been doing this for years after all even if your neighbors had a different opinion. The good thing about this album is that it possesses a fresh and modern air without betraying the traditional vibe the compositions should have.

Energetic and dirty riffing blends with beautiful melodies and inspired solos in perfect combination with the spot-on drumming and the pulsating and omnipresent bass lines which create the main structure of the compositions. And at the right moment the charismatic vocals of Franscesco come to the surface to enrich the soundscape with various faces of expression, ranging either from melodic and fragile singing to high-pitched screams or from intense and slightly hoarse singing to sing-along shouting.

One may notice at times some very minimal but to the point keys or electronics. Neither expect much nor let this statement prevent you from giving this band a chance; they just add a more modern aesthetic whenever they rarely appear. Of course the whole album is not only about booze, rocking and everything that comes as a welcome consequence from the aforementioned attitude and the question that comes to the surface is: what's the salt n' pepper of hard rock? Ballads! Yeah, they couldn't be missing, they're part of the scene since its very birth and this couldn't change decades later, it'd be a sin, don't you think?

XXX will accompany you for about one hour. It might not be something you've never heard before, after all there's not much experimentation field in the meadows of hard rock and the lyrical themes (except for some concept albums) are very specific. But, it's inspired and has a fresh sound, something always welcome whenever the circumstances ask for it. Decent album for rolling heads; dancing on the thin red line between modern times and the glorious past.