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Artist: Fair Warning |
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Following the re-release of the bands debut album ‘Fair Warning’ this year and after a five year hiatus German melodic rockers Fair Warning are back. This time returning as a four piece, as guitarist Malecek has not returned to the fold, but original members of vocalist Tommy Heart, Helge Engelke returning to guitar duties, Ule Ritgen on bass and completing the line up CC Behrens returns to pound the skins once more. This album opens a whole new chapter in the Fair Warning history with the band returning stronger and more focused than ever. With their return their bring forth what is quite possibly the bands best release so far, the future looks bright indeed for the band, so you have been Fair Warned. The album gets off to a fantastic start with ‘Don’t Keep Me Waiting’, which is also the first single to be taken off the album and what an opener. The five year absence seems to have done wonders for the bands song writing abilities, as this is sure to be a fan favourite with Hearts vocals sounding just superb and the rest of the band are also on top form. The high quality continues with ‘Generation Jedi’, another monster track that tells of the seventies child inside all of us where Star Wars was the law as the opening lines of the speech by Yoda to a young Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi ... ‘No! Try not there is no try, do or do not, unlearn what you have learned’ ... a simple message underrated! This powerful hard rocker is just magnificent and Enelke’s guitars are just superb. After these first few tracks I was so totally hooked so anything else that followed was simply a bonus. The album continues with the melodic power ballad ‘ All Of My Love’, a song that reminds me very much of Gotthard in its structure with its meaningful vocal arrangements and soaring guitar riffs. The high quality material continues with ‘Rainbow Eyes’, a riff-laden track that meanders along at a steady pace with the vocals of Heart being the pardon my pun, the heart and soul of the track. The tempo is picked up a notch or two with ‘Push Me On’, which finds Engelke giving one of his best guitar performances of the entire album on this track. The album takes a break from the rockier side and delves into the more bluesy side of the band with ‘Wasted Time’. A more subtle effort that breaks the mould when it comes to bluesy rock. The album continues on its melodic trail with ‘The Cry’, a song that has all the makings of a melodic rock classic with its moody vocals and brooding guitar riffs, but this only leads into the more heavier hard rock broodings of ‘The Way’. A fantastic song that reveals more and more of its intricacies after each listen. ‘Once Bitten, Twice Shy’ is a little up tempo number that breaks up the second part of the album well and leads the way nicely into one of my favourite tracks of the album the meaningful ‘Tell Me Lies’, a track that is driven on by the drums of Behrens and the bass Ritgen and is substantiated by some excellent guitars by Engelke. With the album coming to a close is there anything more that Fair Warning has to offer? the answer is yes! ‘In The Dark’ is just that, a dark remorseful track that peters on the edge of power metal with its content, but not so much that it throws away its melodic edge, while the end solo by Engelke is just outstanding. The next track ‘Still I Believe’ is not a new song but one that was originally released only in Japan. Thankfully now it has been rerecorded for the European audiences to appreciate. A track that has rock anthem written all over it and is a great inclusion to this album. The
album closes with ‘All I Wanna Do’, another track that Heart makes
his own with the rest of the band backing him up 100%, with some superb
melodies and rhythmic drum sections and closes a great return from the
band and I for one can't wait to see them perform some of these live at
this years Firefest III later this year. |
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Tracklisting:
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