Artist: Fire 
   Title: Ignite
   Label:
Avenue Of Allies

Following the success of Fire’s first international release and second album ‘Thrill Me’ Avenue of Allies has released the bands debut album 'Ignite' to a wider world, as previously the album was only available in the bands native Malta, including two bonus tracks.

If you were impressed like us by the bands 'Thrill Me' opus then you’ll know what to expect from the band debut, good honest rock n' roll.

As things get underway with ‘Get Out Of My Way’ you can feel that same great rock feel that 'Thrill Me' had, with K Calleja delivering a great vocal and the twin guitars of Joe Vella (Pejxa) and Robert Longo giving it plenty. This is what everyone from my era wants from their rock n' roll these days, big licks and plenty of kicks.

The same no nonsense rock continues with ‘Make Believe’ featuring some great guitar hooks that drive this one all the way to the bank.  Although this song is soon put into the shade with the hard rockin’ 'Fire Flyer’, which is actually one of my favourite tracks off the album.  Chunky guitars and a head on back-beat make this track fill this old heart with joy.  This is what I was brought up on, good guitar driven rock.

That old school Melodic Hard Rock continues with the slung down sleazy feel of ‘Taste This (Rock n' Roll)’ before things get a little heavier with ‘Manhunter’, again a track that is very much 80’s driven.

The genre is full of great power ballads and another to add to this collection is ‘Goin’ Down’, a smouldering guitar drives this one and also gives Calleja the chance to show he has the full package as vocalist as he delivers a near faultless melody rich vocal on this one.

The tempo is picked up once again with the rockin’ ‘Behind Your Eyes’, the tub thumping Kiss like ‘Away For Good’ and another favourite of mine the bluesy ‘Home And Dry’.

But if you want good time rock n' roll then ‘Conspiracy Theory’ is the one for you.  Great boogie licks, think Helix / Y&T mixed with a little Triumph around a Deep Purple Hammond organ, with a little choral background.

The expanded portion of this re-release has two bonus tracks, first up is the re-recorded cover of Brian Adams’s ‘Run to You’, which if you're going to do a cover version (any cover version) then you're going to want to make it your own and not a karaoke version and that’s what Fire have done, they’ve made it their own version and done the original proud by putting their own spin on things.

The album is rounded off with the quite seasonal ‘Miss You This Christmas’.   This the most commercial track on the album which I believe was originally released as a single back in December 2007.  We don’t get enough seasonal outings in the Melodic Rock world so this is something that I’m sure will help get the mistletoe and eggnog out this festive season.

All in all it's a good debut release that is now more widely available.  If you haven’t got this one but have 'Thrill Me' then get this one as well to add to your collection. This isn’t anything new by any means but for all fans of 80’s Melodic and Hard Rock it’s a must.

 Tracklisting:

1. Get Out Of My Way
2. Make Believe
3. Fire Flyer
4. Tast This (Rock n' Roll)
5. Manhunter
6. Goin' Down
7. Behind Your Eyes
8. Away For Good
9. Home & Dry
10. Conspirace Theory
11. Run To You
12. Miss You This Christmas

                  

 

All content copyright of The Mayfair Mall Zine unless otherwise stated.