Album Review: First Signal - Line Of Fire

Though they have a lengthy history, Harem Scarem's latest album, "United", was the first time I encountered them, and singer Harry Hess. That record quickly shot to the top of the year, and wound up coming in at #2 when lists were tallied up. That was a shock, both because I had no prior experience to draw from, and because when I went back and explored some of their back catalog, none of it held a candle to that record. Something magical happened putting that one together, and even though I loved it, and heard Harry Hess as a phenomenal melodic rock singer, the prospect of a new First Signal album wasn't exciting me. That's because this project finds Harry singing the songs of the melodic rock factory, which means it bares more of the shape of the cookie-cutter we hear so often.

"Born To Be A Rebel" kicks things off in full 80s fashion, sounding a lot like a lost Bon Jovi song. Harry's voice has the same qualities as Jon's, and the riff through the verses has a similar vibe to "Livin' On A Prayer". The main hook of the song isn't that strong, but it sets the stage for what the rest of the album is going to deliver; 80s melodic hard rock that sounds very 80s.

I'm just young enough to not remember the 80s until they were already over, so the continued nostalgia for reverb and awful synths continues to baffle me. It sounded hokey to me when I heard those songs played as the old hits on the radio, and it doesn't sound any better to me now. Music production has come so far there are many ways to make melodic rock that doesn't sound dated and cheesy, and yet we're subjected to album after album that recall days when bands were judged for as much hairspray they used as anything. Why?

Getting back to the music, the songs picked for this album are stronger than I expected they would be. The usual suspects write so many that there aren't enough to go around for how many albums get released. Whether through bribery or luck, more than I thought made their way to this record. Uniformally, these tracks deliver solid music, nice melodies, and the opportunity for Harry to provide some great vocals.

No, nothing here is as good as that Harem Scarem album, but that's not what I'm comparing it to. Taken on its own, "Line Of Fire" is a great throwback to the sound of the 80s. I find some of the choices to be a bit too backwards looking, but that's also the point. "Never Look Back" is supposed to sound like a ballad that could have been on "Slippery When Wet", and it absolutely succeeds at that. In fact, as far as 80s rock albums go, "Line Of Fire" would certainly outrank anything Poison, or most of the hair metal crew ever did.

Basically, my judgment comes down to this; if you love 80s melodic hard rock, First Signal is an easy win for you. They do the style incredibly well, albeit differently than The Night Flight Orchestra does. This is pretty close to the best Bon Jovi record since Bon Jovi stopped being interesting. However, if you don't have as much patience for the sounds of the past, this might be a bit harder to swallow. The songs are good, the performances are great, it's just harder for me to connect music that's nostalgic for a time I never experienced the way Harry and his generation did. Don't let that dissuade you if you're not me. "Line Of Fire" is plenty of fun.