Quick Reviews: Sweet & Lynch, and Circus Of Rock

Sweet & Lynch - Heart & Sacrifice

I would probably be a much happier person if I grew up a few years earlier than I did, and I had fond memories of the 80s. An album like this, with two 80s stars pounding out more 80s rock, might actually appeal to me if I did. I keep giving stuff like this a chance, since it doesn't seem to be going away. I keep hearing people say Lynch is one of the greatest guitar players ever, and Stryper was always better than their cheesy image suggested, but I don't get it.

This is the third album these guys have made together, and I've listened to all of them. Each time, I keep wondering what I'm missing that everyone else hears, because this is the very definition of bland to my ears. Lynch sounds like he barely cares what he's playing, and Sweet is belting out lyrics without a single hook on the whole record. The record sounds like every bad memory I have of being a kid, except this time I'm old enough to realize how boring it all is.

Luckily, being boring means it's also easily forgotten, so this is one of those album sure to slip out of my memory in short order. The downside is that if they ever make another one of these, I'm still going to be enough of a sucker to think there might be something worth hearing on it. There really isn't on this one.

Circus Of Rock - Lost Behind The Mask

Yet another jukebox album has arrived with a cast of singers I barely recognize. Like the Sweet & Lynch album, this one is awash in nostalgia for the 80s. There are plenty of synths that bring that decade back from the dead, but the songs never evolve past the point of pastiche. The riffs and melodies are so basic and bland none of these songs stand out, let alone have personalities to make you remember them. They're basically giving the same blank canvas to each of these singers, and hoping their voice is enough to make us care about them.

They aren't.

Like a circus, you're getting a different act everywhere you look, but I find that approach completely counter-productive. Aside from the fact this album doesn't sound that much like an album, when no one has a chance to establish their identity for more than four minutes, every song winds up as a feeling-out process. It's like going on nothing but first dates, then wondering why you don't care about any of the people you've seen. All I've learned about Circus Of Rock from this album is the 'mastermind' either can't decide on a singer to make this a real band, or they want to show off how many connections they have in the industry.

Everyone is still trying to be Avantasia, but they miss the point; Tobi is not only one of the best songwriters in metal, but he's always there to serve as the band's anchor. This might as well be a 'not so great, not even hits' collection. The name means next to nothing.