Album Review: Jim Peterik & World Stage - Tigress

I don't want to wade into the debate whether or not the term 'female fronted' is appropriate to use. I see why it can be viewed as chauvinistic, but I can also see its use in pointing me towards bands I would be more apt to check out for the very fact I wouldn't have a dude-bro screaming at me. What I would rather discuss is how great it is to see the number of women in the rock and metal worlds constantly rising. Not just for equality's sake; they often bring an element to the music that generic men can't, and I have found myself growing more and more appreciative of that as the amount of music I have heard in my life threatens to flatten everything mediocre into a crepe.

For this album, Jim Peterik has assembled a collection of songs to be sung by a roster of women, which makes this an interesting take on what I call 'jukebox albums'. For that reason alone, I'm giving this album a shot when I otherwise wouldn't. See what I said about the upside to the term?

"Prom Night In Pontiac" features the voice of Chloe Lowery, and takes "Paradise By The Dashboard Light", and refracts it back through the Springsteen prism from which it split. It's a song about youth, cars, and lust, and the hooky chorus makes it an appealing little number, even if it doesn't reach the cinematic heights of either artist it brings to mind. The same can be said of the opening title track, where Kate French's rasp plays beautifully off the strings, and sets a dramatic tone for the record. She returns on the slow ballad "Strong Against The Wind", with hints of Bonnie Tyler ringing in the air. I love that.

Like all albums of this kind, the biggest issue comes when you find one or two voices you love, and they constitute a small portion of the album. With this many singers on one album, it tests our limits to think we're going to love them all, or like them all in equal degrees. What becomes inevitable is to want your one or two favorites to have gotten more of a spotlight, or an album entirely to themselves. I will readily admit to that being true for me.

The other issue is the album being sixteen songs long. That also makes it hard for every song to stand out on its own. A shorter album would feel more focused, and would be stronger without two or three of the less immediate songs getting in the way of the best material. There's certainly enough here to make a very good old-school hard rock record, but it gets a bit watered down simply by virtue of struggling to keep my attention for so long. I get the urge to indulge yourself as an artist, but sometimes discretion really is the better part of valor.

But I'm not going to be harsh on this record, because it doesn't deserve it. There's a lot of 80s hard rock nostalgia to like about this record, and the singers all do an admirable job bringing it to life. Sure, I wish it was pared down to two of my favorites, as I think there's a great album to be made with Chloe in that Springsteen/Steinman mold, but this is a perfectly fine album too. And maybe it will introduce you to a voice you've been needing to hear. That's sort of the point, isn't it?