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Hailing from Northern California, this five-piece band calling themselves
Talon are about to breathe a breath of fresh air into rock. With their
generous mixture of hard rock and the cliché power ballads the band have
been compared to a cross between The Scorpions and Dokken.
But I have to admit that to me the band have far more depth and range than
that going for them. Michael O' Mara's vocals have a nice crisp clean
powerful balance to them that contrast wonderfully with the guitar riffs
put forward by Kory Voxen.
The very riff's that are the backbone to this album. The feature strongly
throughout and are clearly standing proud to be heard by all.
Just when I thought this scene was getting a bit bland again a band like
Talon leap out and roar loudly in my face. Hurrah! Long life real rock
with teeth and balls. If you loved the big arena sound of the 80's guitar
lead hard rock bands that gave it to your straight and you knew what you
were getting, then this is a band that will once again inflame that heart
of yours and make it skip a beat once more.
This is much more serious than the previously released Voxen CD. Opening
with the lively 'Wrecking Ball' it's not long into the track that you get
a taste of what's to come from the rest of the album.
It combines good strong vocals with a great chorus. If you like hard
guitar driven songs then just you wait till the next song comes on. It's
even stronger than the opening track and you soon understand where all the
comparisons to the mighty Dokken come from.
I really do like this one, it has everything I held sacred in my guitar
orientated heroes of the past but ensures the sound is fresh and clean and
not old and stale like sadly some of these heroes have now become.
Perhaps the album should have been called 'Fire in your Soul' as opposed
to being a self titled release as believe me, these guys have buckets
loads of fire in their bellies. Oh my goodness I'm getting goosebumps just
listening to this album. Listen to the clarity of the vocals that have
been fantastically produced.
Even the ballad 'Still you Run' is simply delicious. Mid tempo it has
enough life in it to keep you awake but passion and meaning to make you
actually listen to what it's all about. What is it all about I hear you
ask, well it's a song about looking at what you've already got and
realizing it's something you should be treasuring.
No album of this calibre would be complete without a good strong
commercial track, one for the radio. Call it pop/rock, call it a sell out,
call it whatever you want to. 'Calling you Tonight' is the track that fits
this bill and no it doesn't sound too corny either.
OK so it's a fine balancing act but these guys have managed to pull it
off. If you enjoy this track them quickly forward to 'Falling Star'.
Another pop/rock track that's full of life and bounces along in a
light hearted fun way. Quite possibly a track that could be released as a
single, or at the very least a very strong contender for the next Union
compilation album.
When 'Rock n' roll Runaway' first started, the opening riffs and drums
made me instantly think of Motley Crue's 'Shout at the Devil'. Real big
arena rock sound with this one. You can almost imagine the fists punching
the air as this one gets performed live at full volume. Once started it
sounds so like the Scorpions it's freaky.
Sick of all these lightweight bands hogging the scene? Want a band with
loud guitars and plenty of life in them? Wanna hear the next guitar lead
legendary band to hit the scene? Well get down to that local CD supplier
and wrap your lugs around this one. Oooohhhhh Baby, this one is for you.
All you rock animals out there are gonna smile the sweetest smile when you
hear this album. It really was music to my ears when this flooded out
through my speakers.
Not only did it get listened to numerous times off the trot, it got
listened to at a lot higher notch on the speaker dial than a hell of a lot
of other CD's have. Crank it up and let rock live on!
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